Sermon: "The Rejected Stone"
The Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg
Third Bishop of East Tennessee

[This sermon by Bishop vonRosenberg was delivered using the following notes.]

Whenever I hear the phrase, "the stone that the builders rejected", I think of Bill Dixon in Greenwood, South Carolina. I was rector of Church of the Resurrection there during the 1980's. And, by the way, your rector was my assistant during part of that time, and she became the interim rector after I left. In any event, though, we enlisted Bill Dixon to perform the job of overseeing the construction of a new parish hall. Bill checked the project each morning and every evening, too - and sometimes during the day as well. And, part of his responsibility was to look out for inferior materials. If Bill Dixon moved some board or brick over to the side, then it was destined for the trash heap!

Therefore, "the stone that the builders rejected" is as important in its own way as all the stones - and boards and bricks - that the builders accept. That is, the rejected stone's removal makes the rest of the building strong and well-made and substantial.

But, in the Gospel reading today, Jesus uses this image in a surprising way - this image of the stone rejected in a building project. And the psalmist before him used the image in similar terms. "The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Ps 118:22-24). Marvelous, happy, a reason for rejoicing, and yet, quite surprising, too, is this image. Listen again to what happens to the rejected stone: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." Of course, the cornerstone is important in construction, and it often is the one everyone sees. And, in the image, that cornerstone is the very one that had been rejected by the builders.

The principle stated there comes most clearly into focus in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The Jewish people - the holy people of God - lived in expectation of the Messiah. This sense of expectation was a major part of their tradition through the centuries. But - from the perspective of Christian people anyway - when the Messiah did come, those very Jewish people rejected him. And so, in Jesus himself, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."

The principle has other applications as well - applications that may be quite profound indeed. For instance, I remember a time that the youth of a church I served traveled to Washington, DC. As we toured around, it seemed that we encountered reminders of the significance of Abraham Lincoln everywhere.

I remember from American history that Lincoln was defeated in elections time and time again - for the state legislature in Illinois and twice for the US Senate. However, eventually he was elected President of the United States. As President, Lincoln provided leadership during one of the most difficult times in our history as a nation. While he certainly was not universally popular, he did not waver from his responsibilities. He provided us with key understandings of who we are as a nation. For instance, borrowing from biblical ideas, he declared, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe the government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free."

Abraham Lincoln had been rejected by the voters on several occasions. Yet, he became a cornerstone for our country. Therefore, in the case of President Lincoln, too, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."

In more personal terms, we may consider those aspects of individual personality that are not prominent but which are so very important in sometimes-unknown ways. Carl Jung and others have referred to the "shadow side" of our beings. According to those theories, the "shadow side" tells us a great deal about who we really are … and this side includes traits of which we may not even be aware ourselves.

For instance, some years ago, I attended a course at the College of Preachers. During the week, the participants took a personality inventory. And then, for our major project, we were instructed to write a sermon from the perspective of our "shadow side" - that is, using ways of thinking that represented the completely opposite personality type from our test results.

I must tell you that was the most difficult sermon I have ever written! Rather than the broad strokes that I like to use in painting my word pictures and the intuition I like to employ in drawing conclusions, I had to concentrate on tiny details - on precision and exactness. And, I hated it! My text was one from the Good Friday readings. And for that sermon, I described the cold, hard wood of the cross of Christ in excruciating detail. It was boring and tedious and awful, I thought. But, I received a different reaction from my colleagues. They told me that the sermon seemed powerful and heart-felt to them … much better, in fact, than anything else I had preached all week! Therefore, I began to get in touch with a part of myself that I usually suppress ... an internal part, apparently close to the heart of who I am.

The shadow side, the rejected stone, of our personality provides a key to self- awareness and understanding. Indeed, that rejected side may indeed be a cornerstone of our very being.

In conclusion, therefore, the writer of the book of Isaiah describes a marvelous vision - an image of completeness and of perfection, words that recall what the psalmist wrote. "Do not remember the former things," he writes, "or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing … water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, drink to my chosen people." These are images that we would reject as unlikely - even impossible - signs. Indeed, they are almost too wonderful to contemplate. Nevertheless, in similar terms, Jesus affirms, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone."

Could it actually be that the stones that we have rejected - in our relationships, in our lives, in ourselves - could it be that these rejected stones share a place in the completeness of God's marvelous order? Could it be that our "shadow sides", along with people we have rejected - and those who have rejected us - could it actually be that we all share a place in God's plan for a fulfilled creation? Indeed, it actually could be, for that is God's promise to us. Therefore, one day, may we claim all of this creation, may we accept one another and ourselves completely, and may we then proclaim with joy, "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!"

Copyright © 2007 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee