SERMON
February 22, 2026
Mark 12:1-12
- INVOCATION
- PRAYER
- TODAY WE CONTINUE OUR LENTEN JOURNEY ENTITLED “JOURNEY OF STONES”
- I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT IT IS A TERRIBLE THING AND FEELING TO BE REJECTED
- TO BE TOLD IN WORD OR ACTION THAT WE’RE UNACCEPTABLE OR UNWORTHY IS A TERRIBLE THING INDEED.
- MAYBE YOU WERE REJECTED WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG BY SOMEONE YOU CARED ABOUT …TURNED DOWN BY YOUR COLLEGE OF CHOICE OR A JOB THAT YOU WERE HOPING TO SECURE…AND THE LIST GOES ON..
- I THINK IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT WE DO EVERYTHING IN OUR POWER TO “NOT” BE REJECTED
- YET…HERE WE HAVE JESUS WHO KNEW BEFORE HE CAME DOWN TO HUMBLE HIMSELF AND BECOME HUMAN…KNOWING THAT HE WAS GOING TO BE “REJECTED!”
- I HAVE COME TO KNOW IN MY LIFETIME THAT REJECTON CAN PROPEL US IN ONE OF TWO DIRECTIONS…
- IT CAN EITHER CAUSE IN US “RESILIENCE AND A DETERMINATION TO SUCCEED…
- OR IT CAN MAKE US BITTER…RESENTFUL AND YES, EVEN ANGRY
- REJECTION CAN TRANSFORM US INTO A CARING…SENSITIVE AND COMPASSIONATE PERSON
- OR IT CAN LEAVE US COLD…JUDGMENTAL AND ANGRY
- STORY OF “WHITE FENDER STRA-TO-CASTER ELECTRING GUITAR” I WANTED TO LEARN HOW TO PLAY…FRIEND ASKED TO BORROW IT FOR A HALLOWEEN COSTUME THAT HE WAS GOING BACK HOME FOR THE WEEKEND …WOULD BRING IT BACK WHEN HE RETURNED…WHEN ASKED…SAID HE HAD LEFT IT AT HOME BY MISTAKE…UPSET…STAYED CALM…KEPT FORGETTING AND EVENTUALLY SCHOOL ENDED WITHOUT GETTING MY GUITAR BACK…A MUTUAL FRIEND EVENTUALLY CONFESSES TO ME…HE WAS GETTING A BIT CARRIED AWAY…PROBABLY SOME BEVERAGES WERE CONSUMED…DROPPED MY GUITAR ON A CONCRETE FLOOR AND IT SHATTERED…HE DIDN’T HAVE THE GUTS TO TELL ME THE TRUTH…I NEVER SAW HIM OR MY GUITAR AGAIN
- GRRRR…CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW I FELT IN THAT MOMENT?
- THAT FEELING CAPTURES A SMALL GLIMPSE OF THE EMOTION THAT JESUS IS TRYING TO DESCRIBE IN OUR STORY TODAY
- THIS STORY IS NOT ABOUT A BORROWED AND BROKEN GUITAR BUT ABOUT A RENTED VINEYARD
- THE STORY IS QUITE SIMPLE…
- A MAN HAS A VINEYARD THAT HE RENTS OUT TO SOME TENANTS…SOUND FAMILIAR???
- THEY MISUES HIS PROPETY AND WANT TO KEEP IT FOR THEMSELVES
- WHEN HE SENDS MESSENGERS TO COLLECT WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY HIS…THE TENANTS BEAT AND KILL THEM..EVENTUALLY…HE SENDS HIS OWN SON AND THEY KILLL HIM ALSO
- THE LANDOWNER IS OBVIOUSLY ANGRY AND HE IS ABOUT TO EVICT HIS TENANTS
- THEN JESUS QUOTES PSALM 118 WHERE IT IS WRITTEN:
- “HAVE YOU NOT READ THIS SCRIPTURE: THE STONE THAT THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CORNERSTONE…
- YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT , IN ANCIENT TIMES, IN THE DAYS BEFORE LASER BEAMS AND ELECTRONIC LEVELS…THE CORNERSTONE OF A BUILDING WAS MORE THAN JUST A PALCE ON WHICH TO WRITE THE DATE OF THE BUILDING…IT WAS THE IMPORTANT STONE IN THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE.
- IT ALONE WOULD ESTABLISH A BUILDING’S “GROUND LEVEL”
- IT ALONE ASSURED THAT THE FOUNDATION WOULD BE SOLID
- THE CORNERSTON ENSURED THAT ALL THE OTHER STONES WOULD BE KEPT IN LIE…STRAIGHT AND LEVEL AND SECURE
- GOD HAD SAID THAT THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL WOULD BE THE WORLD’S CORNERSTONE…THAT ULTIMATELY THEY WOULD BE POWERFUL AND RESPECTED AND HONORED.
- WELL…THEY MAY HAVE BEEN GOD’S CHOSEN STONES…BUT THEY WERE STONES REJECTED BY THE REST OF THE WORLD…
- WHEN JESUS IS TELLING THIS PARABLE IN TODAY’S GOSPEL LESSON…HE IS SPEAKING TO THOSE SAME JEWS…THE ONES WHO WERE CHOSEN BY GOD BUT REJECTED BY THE WORD.
- THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE CORNERSTONE CHOSEN BY GOD BUT REJECTED BY THE WORLD
- THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE CORNERSTONES…
- THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE MORAL AND ETHICAL AND RELIGIOUS CO,PASS FOR ALL OF HUMANITY…
- BUT INSTEAD…THEY BECAME COMPROMISED AND REJECTED THE BLESSING OF BEING GOD’S CORNERSTONES
- REMEMBER THIS PARABLE IS TOLD TO THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS OF THE TEMPLE AND ALL OF ISRAEL…IT IS WEDNESDAY OF PASSION WEEK…FRIDAY JESUS WILL DIE…HE KNOWS THAT…HE KNOW IT AND IN THIS STORY/PARABLE..HE SAWS WHAT THEY’RE GOING TO DO TO HIM
- HE’S BEEN SAYING IT FOR MONTHS…FOR MIONTHS…HE’S BEEN SAYING TO HIS DISCIPLES..”I’M GOING TO BE ARRESTED…I’M GOING TO BE BRUTALIZED…I’M GOING TO BE KILLED…AND I’M GOING TO RISE FROM THE DEAD.”
- HE’S BEEN SAYING THIS FOR MONTHS…THERE ARE NO SURPRISES IN THE LIFE OF JESUS.
- JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD ON THE MISSION THAT HIS FATHER SENT HIM ON SOME 33 YEARS EARLEIR…
- HE CAME TO RESTORE THE BROKEN RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HIS FATHER AND ALL OF HUMANITY DUE TO WHAT SIN HAD DONE…HAD BEEN BROKEN
- HE CAME TO DIE PLAIN AND SIMPLE…HE KNEW THAT FROM THE BEGINNING…HE KNEW JE WOULD BE ABUSED…HE WOULD BE BEATEN…MOCKED…HE KNEW HE WOULD BE CRUCIFIED
- IN THIS PARABLE ON WEDNESDAY…HE TELLS THE VERY PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO KILL HIM IN A FEW DAYS
- NOW JESUS IS THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE…HE BECOMES THE MOST IMPORTANT STONE FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD…
- NOW IT IS EASY TO BLAME THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS AT THE TIME WHEN JESUS TOLD THIS PARABLE RIGHT IN THEIR FACE.
- BUT WE HAVE TO ASK OURSELVES HOW HAVE WE RECEIVED THIS CORNERSTONE CALLED JESUS?
- HOW HAVE WE FOLLOWED HIS CALL TO EACH ONE OF US…
- ASK YOURSELF IS JESUS THE CHIEF CORNERSTON OF YOUR LIFE?
- I REMEMBER READING SOMETHING THAT SAINT AUGUSTINE WROTE AROUND 400 AD…HE WROTE ABOUT THE “SIX MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN OUR LIFE”
- FAMILY…MONEY…REPTUATION…JOB…HEALTH AND GOD!!!
- BUT THEN HE ASKED TO TAKE TWO AWAY…WHAT WOULD BE LEFT…PERHAPS “FAMILY…JOB…HEALTH AND GOD!”
- THEN HE ASKED TO TAKE AWAY TWO MORE…WHAT WOULD BE LEFT??
- THEN HE SAID…”DON’T YOU SEE THE DILEMMA…WHEN YOU GET DOWN TO THAT ONE FINAL THING…THE THING THAT YOU SAY IS MOST VALUABLE…THAT IS YOUR CORNERSTONE
- WE SOMETIMES FAIL TO REMEMBER THAT JESUS IS THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE NOT US…
- THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD ARE NOT BUILT ON US.
- WE ARE BUT A SMALL PIECE IN ALL OF CREATION…
- I AM NOT THE MAIN FOCUS HERE…BUT NEITHER ARE YOU
- THERE IS A CROSS THAT STANDS IN OUR CHANCEL AREA TO REMIND US OF THAT TRUTH.
- THE ONE WHO HUNG ON THE CROSS OF US IS THE MAIN FOCUS…
- WE KILLED HIM AND YET HE STILL SAVED US…HE DIED ON THE CROSS BUT ROSE AGAIN TO BREAK THE POWER OF SIN AND DEATH.
- HE THEN…ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN TO RECLAIM HIS THRONE.
- HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO IS WORTHY…
- ONCE AGAIN TODAY…YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED TO HOLD YOUR STONE AS A REMINDER OF WHO WE ALL ARE…WE ARE SINNERS AND HAVE FALLED SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD…BUT THAT IS NOT THE END OF OUR STORY
- MAY THIS STONE REMIND YOU AS TO WHO IS THE “CHIEF CORNERSTONE” IN YOUR LIFE??:
- YOU ARE ASKED TO COME FORWARD AT THE END OF THE SERVICE TO PLACE YOUR STONE AROUND THE CROSS AS A REMINDER AS TO ALL THE TIMES YOU ALSO HAVE REJECTED JESUS.
- BUT THAT IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY…OUR JORNEY OF STONES…IT IS TO REMIND US THAT OUR END AS SINNERS IS REPLACED ON GOOD FRIDAY WHEN JESUS TOOK ALL THE SINS OF ALL TIMES WITH HIM AND SPOKE THOSE THREE WORDS…”IT IS FINISHED!” CHRIST’S MISSION WAS COMPLETED…THE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS FATHER AND ALL OF HUMANITY HAS BEEN RESTORED
- THAT IS WHY I KNOW WHAT I MUST DO…NOT JUST NOW BUT ALWAYS IS TO PLACE MY STONE…MY SINS…MY LIFE AT THE CROSS OF CHRIST…
- (WALK OVER TO PLACE STONE AT CROSS)
(FOR THOSE WHO ARE ABLE WE STAND FOR THE SINGING OF HYMN # 335…”JESUS, KEEP ME NEAR THE CROSS”