Sermon - Reformation Day - Revlation 14:6-7

 

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

Perhaps you’ve heard the old joke about the man who goes to heaven, and sees all the different doors, with each denomination of Christian worshipping in their own way.  But the door marked, “Lutheran” also bears a sign, “quiet please”.  And when the man asks why, St. Peter explains, “Shh.  They think they’re the only ones here!”

I can take a joke as well as anyone, but it’s just not true.  We recognize the universal church far transcends those of us who call ourselves “Lutheran”.  I fully expect to see Baptists and Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Methodists in Heaven.  All who call on the name of Jesus Christ, have true faith in him, will be saved.  We Lutherans are not the only Christians.  And we are certainly not the only ones who will go to heaven.  Lutherans have never taught this.

However, that’s not to say that the differences don’t matter.  It’s not to say that we should sweep disagreements aside, and act as if we are all united.  We live in a fallen world, where knowingly or unknowingly, God’s holy Word is twisted and worked over, even by those who profess to be Christians.  Even the pope, this week, said some things that fly in the face of basic Christian teaching. 

We should not be surprised.  The Old Evil Foe has been doing sowing lies and deceit from the beginning, when he led us astray with his question, “did God really say...?”  And he continues to cast doubt wherever he can today.  It is a grievous situation that the church on earth is not united in the truth, as Jesus prayed in John 17.  Sin corrupts.  It even corrupts doctrine.

And yet despite all of this, the word of the Lord stands forever.  There is a universal and timeless truth to it.  Or as John puts it in our reading from Revelation, an “eternal gospel”. 

This is what the Reformation is truly about – the Gospel – the eternal Gospel.  Sure there’s the selling of indulgences.  Sure there’s the false claims of the pope, and the doctrines of man that had infected the church.  The church needed reform in its morality, its institution, and in many other ways.  But of course the central issue was and is really about the Gospel – the teaching of God’s grace in Christ.  The good news of salvation by grace through faith alone.  The Reformation, therefore, was not about a new teaching, but a timeless teaching, an eternal Gospel that would stand the test of time.

And this eternal gospel is a gospel to be proclaimed, “to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people.”  Friends, we are all living proof of this, even today.  That 500 years after Luther and 2000 years after the apostles and hundreds more after the prophets of old – that we have inherited the very same promises of God in Jesus Christ, is a blessing of no small measure! 

The Gospel is timeless and eternal, but it is also concrete and time-bound.  The Lamb of God was slain from the foundation of the world.  And though heaven and earth will pass away, he teaches, my words will never pass away.  The word of the Lord endures forever.  And yet, that word comes to us in time, and space.  We gather at a location, and hear it from a particular pulpit, from the lips of a particular pastor.  The Word is ever near you, in your ear, and on your heart.  It is a word that renews you daily.  And Jesus himself, the living word, is with you always, even to the end of the age.  So of course his Gospel is eternal.

And it is universal - that is, it is for people of all places and tribes and nationalities.  But it is also particular, that is, it is for you.  You have come to faith by the proclamation of the eternal Gospel.  You are baptized into the eternal, triune name of God.  And you continue to live by that same eternal gospel which you hear again and again, and which continues to give life.

Just what is this eternal gospel?

It is the whole and sum of God’s word to you, the sinner.  It is the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. 

It is the incarnation, the perfect law-keeping, the suffering, the death and the resurrection of Christ, for you. 

It is the fact of his promise that your sins are forgiven, that you belong to him, for you were bought with a price. 

It is the seal and certainty of our baptism, it is the eating and drinking of Christ’s body and blood for our forgiveness. 

It is justification, by grace, through faith, in Christ alone. 

It is the confession of Christ before the church and the world, before governors and kings.  The confession of the old and the young, even from the mouths of babes.

It is the work of Christ, and Christ alone - for you, on you, in you and given to you. 

The eternal gospel is Jesus, and all that is wrapped up in him; Christ, crucified for sinners, alive for sinners, who will come again to judge the living and the dead and make all things new.

To say we are “Lutheran”, is to say that we confess the eternal Gospel.  To say we are Lutheran means that we believe what God’s word teaches, and has always taught.  That sinners are saved by grace through faith in Christ.  That when God makes a promise, he keeps it, even when it doesn’t make sense to us.  That the heart and soul of our faith is not about what we do or don’t do, or should or shouldn’t do, but about what our Lord Jesus Christ objectively has done, and continues to do for us.

I believe, and I confess that the Evangelical Lutheran Church - the church which confesses the writings of the Book of Concord - confesses the eternal gospel with truth and purity.  And I hope you can say the same.

There was nothing special about the reformers, really.  There was nothing exceptional about Martin Luther.  What makes this confession worthy of our attention, is its crystal clear presentation of the eternal gospel.  No cooperation with God, no act of human will or reason.  No experience or heartfelt yearning is necessary, or even relevant.  Jesus Christ comes to save sinners, to heal the broken, and raise the dead.  Which we all were in our sins, completely beyond hope.  Lost eternally.

But the eternal gospel gives hope to the hopeless, righteousness to sinners, and breathes life into the walking dead.

In a way, all those who confess this gospel confess the same.  And all those who believe and teach it, could in a sense be called, “Lutheran”.  I’ll often make a joke of my own, about how Lutheran Abraham was, who believed in God and was credited as righteous.  Or how Lutheran David was, who when confronted by Nathan about his adultery and murder confessed, “I have sinned”.  Or how Lutheran were the prophets and patriarchs, and all the believers of old - who Hebrews says looked forward by faith to the salvation God would accomplish in Christ alone.  They were believers in the eternal Gospel.  They were Lutherans.  They just didn’t know it.

And that is why, also, there will only be Lutherans in heaven.  For when the dust settles, and we see all things clearly, and all falsehood and misunderstanding melts away - we will see Christ and his word clearly.  His eternal gospel will stand.  And we will all of us, together, believe and know that salvation is by Christ alone, for us, forever.

Being Lutheran, you see, isn’t about Luther at all.  It’s about Christ.  It’s not about me or you, and what we can bring to the table.  We have only wretched sin.  Instead, it’s about Christ, and what he brought to the cross - himself, and gave his body and blood there, for you.  Receive that same body and blood today, for the forgiveness of your sins, according to the promise of his eternal gospel.

And have a blessed Reformation day.

Sermon - 20th Sunday after Pentecost - Matthew 22:15-22

“The Things of God”

“Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”

Today we have this wonderful saying of Jesus in answer to the Pharisees’ disciples and the Herodians.  By it, he confounds and outfoxes them.  He once again beats them at their game.  They sought to entangle him in his words, get him in hot water with either the crowds or the Roman overlords.  They wanted him out of the way, but it would take more than just a contest of words to do so.  The Eternal, Creative, Living Word made Flesh will not be entangled by humans using their own scrawny and puny words against him.

But even more, with this answer he also teaches a timeless and universal truth for the benefit of his church.  A short saying in which is compacted a treasure trove of guidance and instruction, for life in this world, and for life in the kingdom of God.  And so it is especially upon this sentence we concentrate today:  “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”

Caesar.  The top dog, at least in terms of the world.  The Romans had been in charge of the place for about 100 years at this point, and the Jews didn’t like it one little bit. The Romans were pagans. The Romans were cruel.  They crucified people.  They taxed their subjects and appointed locals to do their dirty taxing.  And I’m sure the Jewish people had a much longer laundry list of complaints against Rome.  Here’s another one – Caesar claimed to me divine!  A son of the gods!  He even had his face stamped on the denarius with these words included: 'Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine August' and on the other side 'Pontifex Maximus' which title 'high priest' . . . making him both the highest civil and the highest religious ruler of the land.

Who would want to pay taxes to such an outfit?  Who would want their hard earned money taken from them, at the point of a sword if necessary, to do whatever corrupt and pagan things Romans do with money?  And what good Jew would want to lend any credence to the idea that the man on the throne in Rome was divine, or a high priest.  No, they rather found the whole idea repugnant.

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, Jesus says.  His face is on it.  So give it to him.  And with such a short turn of phrase, Jesus both shows honor to the office and implies condemnation of the man.  He teaches the proper use of money, and shows us what it is truly worth – nothing.  He despises it.

Now don’t get me wrong, and certainly let’s not get Jesus wrong.  He is saying to pay your taxes.  And more than that, he’s telling you to give to the government whatever is due.  As Paul says in Romans, in a slightly longer fashion:  “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” (Romans 13:7)

And taken in the context of all that Jesus teaches about money and earthly goods – he warns us about making them into our gods.  He calls it all “mammon”.  He tells us the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  And the rich man has great difficulty to enter the kingdom.  He tells parables about foolish and wicked rich men.  And he tells us “blessed are the poor”.

And Jesus isn’t teaching us that money is in itself a bad thing either – it’s all in the use of it.  He rather commends the poor widow for her offering of two coins – that she gave more than all the primping and preening Pharisees who loved it when everyone heard all their coins clanging in the offering box.  The gifts and offerings of the faithful are commended by God.  The Lord loves a cheerful giver.

Jesus calls us first today to render unto Caesar.  That is, to check and see if we truly honor and obey the authorities he places over us.  But it’s far more than paying taxes.  It goes to obedience to the representatives of God – despite them being sinful human beings themselves.  If we can render to Caesar what is Caesar’s, then we can respect our own parents, our boss, our leaders, We can even love and cherish them.  A hard pill to swallow for many of us.

And so his words of rebuke to his opponents are also words of conviction and correction and a principle of guidance for us.  They also accuse us, for we don’t render to Caesar as we should. 

But perhaps the more weighty part of Jesus’ equation is, “Render to God what is God’s”.  And that screams a question to begging for answer, “What then, are the things of God?  What belongs to God?  What do we owe God?” And the answer, of course, is “Everything”.

Whatever belongs to Caesar, first of all and last of all, belongs to God.  Caesar is God’s Caesar.  We honor the earthly authorities precisely for this reason.  But while the unbeliever is bound, in his mind, only to the powers-that-be of this world, Christians also have a conscience captive to the Word of God.  We are subject to both tables of the law.  We are governed by all the commandments.  We must love our neighbor AND our God fully and perfectly. 

So what are the things of God?  What we owe him, what he is due.  Oh how we’ve failed and what a debt we’ve accrued!

We must acknowledge that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.  And he would demand of us not just a token portion, but our whole life.  “Take my life and let it be” we sing.  We are his creation.  We belong to him.  You are not your own, you were bought with a price, therefore honor God in your body. But we act rather as if we belong to ourselves.  It’s my life, I’ll do what I want.  It’s my body.  It’s my time.  Mine, not God’s.  My things, not God’s things on loan to me.

And if the denarius is marked with the image of Caesar, and that coin belongs to him.  You are marked and made in the image of God – for in the image of God he created them, male and female.  And so you belong to your creator and maker.  Job (1:21) said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord" As such, he is the Lord of your life, and he alone numbers it’s days.

Yes, you are made in the image of God.  Ah, but you’re a broken image.  Marred by your sins.  Blurred and unrecognizable. Just like me. You need a re-print, a re-minting, a renewal of heart and mind, a death and resurrection.  And Jesus Christ does just that.

Jesus himself is “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Col. 1:15). Such as the Father is, such is the Son.  And the God-man came, first of all, to restore the broken image of Adam in a life of perfect righteousness.  But fix your eyes on Jesus, and on the image of Christ crucified, if you really want to see the things of God.  Behold the cross, where the Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world, and of you.  The blood of Jesus upon us and on our children, which washes our robes to make them clean.  The baptism of Jesus, by which we are buried and raised with Christ anew.  These are the things of God, that he gives to you by grace.

And what do we render unto God that is God’s, what does God want from us more than anything and everything?  Our faith.  The cattle on a thousand hills are his.  He doesn’t need your offerings, you good works, your inward or outward piety.  He wants your fear, love and trust.  He wants you to receive what he wants to give you.  The things of God, in this way, he renders unto you.

This world would teach us to hold on to what is ours.  It is a world of rights and property and wages and laws.  From an early age we learn to keep score, to keep our possessions, what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is yours.  And there is some good in that.  It preserves order.  It curbs sin.

But the things of God are so much more.  The things of Christ are free.  They are given freely.  They are grace, mercy, love, kindness.  They are received by us but to be given just as freely.  So that when we love our neighbor, we might also see in him, the image of God.  So that when we visit, feed, clothe and care for the brother, inasmuch as we do it to the least of these, we do it unto Christ.

On my heart imprint your image,

Blessed Jesus, King of grace;

That life’s riches, cares and pleasures

Never may Your work erase;

Let the clear inscription be:

Jesus, crucified for me,

Is my life, my hope’s foundation,

And my glory and salvation.

Sermon - 19th Sunday after Pentecost - Matthew 22:1-14

 “Come to the Feast”

We’ve been hearing a number of parables in these last several weeks, all from Matthew’s Gospel.  Some of Jesus’ most treasured teaching is couched in these earthly stories with a heavenly meaning.  They are word pictures drawn from fairly universal situations and experiences – but they draw us in to a deeper spiritual reality.  Here again, today, with the Parable of the Wedding Feast, we have the same.  Here again we see law and gospel, sin and grace.  We see Jesus describing the invitation of the Gospel and how different people react.  But behind it all is a gracious king who wants to provide for us and have us join him at the great celebration.  So come with Jesus, today, to the Parable of the Wedding Feast.

As usual, the stories Jesus tells capture our imagination. The king throws a feast for his son's wedding. For any of us who’ve watched the British royal wedding ceremonies with all their pomp and pageantry, we already have a mental picture of what a big deal a royal wedding can be.  If even average people pull out all the stops for their wedding celebrations, how much more a king for the marriage of his son, the prince?

He invites the guests, as any organizer of a great party would do.  Perhaps they were the nobles and the wealth, the rich and the famous.  The people you would expect at an occasion such as this.  Nothing notable or unusual is mentioned about the invitees except for this:  strangely, they won't come. They do not accept the royal invitation to the party of the century.

You'd think they would be honored. You'd think they would come quickly and joyfully to the feast – not just any wedding, but a royal wedding – an invitation from the king himself! But some ignore the invitation – we aren't told why. Then the king invites them again (remember how persistent the master of the vineyard was, too?), and the disrespect escalates -they find better things to do – tending the farm, minding the shop. Even more bizarre, some mistreat the servants bearing the invitation and even kill them. And this nonsensical response to the invitation draws us in to consider the deeper truth behind the earthly story.

Here the heavenly meaning is clear. God the Father, the king, sends invitations of grace and mercy, not to a literal wedding feast, but to faith in his Son. And here, Jesus summarizes the history of God's chosen people – who repeatedly ignored his grace and mercy, and even mistreated and killed the prophets. Soon their mistreatment of God's messengers would reach its apex as they put the very Son of God to death. They would even kill the Apostles, all of whom met violent death except for St. John.  Though some believed him, indeed the apostles themselves were all Jews, on the whole God’s people rejected his Son.  And unbelief only leads to death.

And so, the king would destroy them.  Jesus predicts the destruction of ancient Jerusalem, which came to pass nearly 40 years later. In 70 A.D. The Roman general Titus sacked the city, and dispersed the Jews from their homeland. The very temple of God was destroyed. Jesus knew it would happen. He talks about it a lot in Matthew’s Gospel. It was the punishment of God upon a people who, as a whole, rejected his repeated calls to faith, and finally refused to hear the good news of his son. But it is a mere shadow of the final destruction in store for all who reject the Christ in this life – a foretaste of the condemnation and wrath to be revealed on the day of judgment.

Let all of this serve as a stern warning to any who would reject God’s grace in Jesus Christ.  A warning against unbelief.  A picture of the judgment day and the final end of the wicked.

So the king turns to others, inviting anyone and everyone to come to the feast. Here we have the invitation to the Gentiles. The Gospel is free and it is freely preached to all people – rich and poor, men and women, young and old, from all tribes and languages. And so we have seen the good news of Jesus Christ touch every corner of the world. Most of us have come to the kingdom only through this world-wide invitation, and thank God for that. For now we enjoy the blessings of his banquet, the lavish food of his feast.  That our gracious God would invite and include us, you and me, shows just how merciful and kind he is to sinners.

And what about the wedding garment? Well, even today, it’s important to dress properly for a wedding.  The groom and groomsmen wear a tux.  The bride wears a white dress.  And the bridesmaids wear something ugly to make the bride look good, right?

In ancient wedding custom, appropriate dress for such a high occasion included a special garment for all of the wedding-goers.  This robe was customarily provided by the host. To reject it was to reject the host's generosity and favor, and would have been a social insult. So when the king finds a wedding guest without the proper garment – he is astonished.  The man seemed to accept the invitation, but in reality didn't. So the king treats the man harshly who was found without proper attire. He had no excuse for his lack of wedding garment.

The garment reminds us of the robe of Christ's righteousness each of us has received in Holy Baptism. There he covers our sin with his grace and mercy, which keeps us our whole life through. When, at Christian funerals, the body of our loved one is brought here to God's house, a white pall – a garment – drapes the casket, to signify that robe of righteousness.

And we do well to receive this garment. For too often we are tempted to think our own clothes will do. But the filthy rags of our own good works do not make us presentable. Only what he provides will do. Only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are we made righteous and holy. Our own works are simply a response to his goodness, but they don't earn us a thing. Salvation is a free gift. The invitation of the king is without cost.

And what Lutheran could read a story of a great feast given by the king and not think of the Lord's Supper. For in this royal feast, he gives us all the same blessings – forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. We are worthy to receive such things only when clothed in faith, and especially faith in the promises of Christ, “this is my body- this is my blood.... given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins”.

The feast of the Lord's Supper is also a foretaste of the feast to come. It's not an accident that Revelation pictures the kingdom to come as a wedding celebration – the great consummation of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and his bride, the church. When we gather at his table here, we gather with all the people of God from all times and places, and even those already gathered to him.... we join at table in a grand feast of celebration and receive his bountiful provision. What could be better?

In this parable which Jesus told during Holy Week, he compares the kingdom to a great wedding feast. And he warns of destruction and dishonor for all who reject the invitation and the king's provision. But for those who receive the gifts he gives, the King and his Son provide a royal banquet without end. Thank God that through his Son Jesus Christ we are invited to the feast. May we wear his robe of righteousness with thankfulness and celebrate with him eternally. And today, receive our foretaste of the feast to come, as we gather at his invitation.

Sermon - Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost - Matthew 21:23-36

“Judgment and Grace in the Vineyard”

Matthew 21:23-36

A couple of weeks ago we had a very different parable that involved a vineyard – the one about the laborers that arrived at different hours of the day – and yet were all paid the same.  It was a picture of the absurd grace of God in continuing to bring workers into his vineyard, and reward them generously.  It was really less about the work or the workers, and more about the grace of God.

Today, a very different vineyard parable.  Today we have what’s called the parable of the wicked tenants.  It is holy week in the temple – and the tension between Jesus and the Chief Priests and Scribes continues to escalate.  Now he’s telling parables against them.  They are, in today’s reading, the wicked tenants.

But not only them.  It’s no accident that Isaiah 5 is our Old Testament reading today – an oracle about the destruction of the Lord’s vineyard.  There the picture is of a man who lovingly and laboriously builds and plants a vineyard.  Only the best – the most fertile hills – the best choice of vines.  He does everything right, gets everything just so.  The perfect conditions for grapes to grow.  Then he waits. 

And nothing.  Nothing good, anyway.  Only wild grapes – not good for making wine, or much of anything else.  The man is more than disappointed.  Rather than just abandon this worthless vineyard, he actually disassembles it – destroys it.  It becomes a waste.  A patch of thorns and weeds.  He even commands the clouds not to rain on it.  And now we see.  This isn’t just any old man who made a vineyard.  This is the Lord’s vineyard.  And the inhabitants are the people of Israel. 

He had gone to great pains to bring them out of bondage in Egypt, parting a sea, sustaining them through 40 years of wilderness, driving out Canaanite enemies before them, and establishing them in the land of promise – the land flowing with milk and honey.  The vineyard of Israel that he established for his people.

But they rebelled.  They tolerated, they toyed with, they even embraced the false gods of the nations around them.  They worshipped the Baals, the Asherahs, the Molechs of the world.  The leaders were corrupt, preyed on the poor, and led the people astray.  Woe to those shepherds of Israel.  And so when God came to the vineyard – when he looked for the good fruit of faith:

he looked for justice,

but behold, bloodshed;

for righteousness,

but behold, an outcry

And therefore he pours out his judgment upon them. 

Here we have what we might call an Old Testament parable.  And Jesus, who was certainly familiar with the Scriptures – more than that, for they are his very own Word – Jesus seems to have Isaiah 5 in mind when he retells a very similar parable.  Many of the elements are the same.  God is, of course, the master and owner of the vineyard.  The people who live in it are simply tenants.  And God’s looking for fruit from them.  But Jesus recasts the story and sharpens it, even.  He shows forth even more the wickedness of the tenants, and the persistent grace of the Master.

In Jesus’ Vineyard story, the master sends messengers, over and over, to try and collect the rent – which is a share of the fruit.  But these wicked tenants will not pay.  Not only do they refuse to pay the rent, they treat the servants shamefully, one after the other, escalating their wickedness each time.

Here we have a picture of the prophets.  The messengers of God throughout the ages who came looking for the fruits of repentance and faith.  The prophets – who were treated shamefully, beaten, imprisoned, and even killed.  And although many of the prophets died in peace, the Apostles of Jesus didn’t have it so easy.  All but John died a martyr’s death.  Today we still say, “don’t kill the messenger”, because so often the bearer of unwelcome news becomes the brunt of the angry reaction.  And sometimes even pastors and preachers face such shameful treatment in the very vineyard of the Lord.

Indeed, it’s not just the ancient Jews who can dishonor the messenger and reject the message.  All of us are tenants – and we are of two natures.  There’s a wicked tenant in there that would shake his fist at the master, rebel against his laws, trash the vineyard, and who shows no gratitude for all the mercy and kindness of the master.  Our Old Adam is a wicked tenant, who’s asserted his own sort of squatter’s rights, and he won’t be evicted until death.

But there’s also another nature in us – a good tenant who bears and shares the fruit of repentance and faith.  The Christian – the New Man – born by the grace of God and persistently renewed by the call of God’s messengers.  Season after season he calls us to labor and produces in us the very fruits he requires.  Fruits not of works, but of faith.  And then the good works follow.  But it wouldn’t be this way for us, had the wise and merciful and persistent master of the vineyard not sent his own Son.

And here is perhaps the strangest part of Jesus’ vineyard parable.  After all the mistreatment of the messengers, after things went from bad to worse.  After the wicked tenants had confirmed their wickedness through rebellion and violence.  Even then – his patience is not exhausted – but instead he takes a drastic measure.  He sends his own beloved Son.  Perhaps they will respect him.

No sane earthly father would ever put his own dear son in the line of fire in such a way.  He might call the authorities.  He might muster an army.  But who would send his son, alone, into the lion’s den of wicked and violent men – knowing that they’ve shown their true colors before.  What did he think would happen?

And here the parable condemns these wicked scribes and chief priests who will soon do the same and worse to Jesus.  They will shamefully mistreat and kill him, and cast him out of the city onto a bitter cross of shame.  They will reason that the vineyard will be theirs – when it never was and never could be apart from Christ.

But the parable also invites us to faith – in a master who is so kind and persistent that he would send his son, even to a scoundrel like me, and you.  That after all we’ve done to him, all we’ve sinned against him.  After all we’ve failed to pay him what is due – our fear, love and trust – our obedience and respect.  After we’ve dragged his name and his creation through the mud, tried to make ourselves little gods in his place.  And yes, sometimes even killing the messenger when he’s tried to correct us.  After all of that – he sends his Son.

That Jesus is killed – that the Son dies – is really a must.  For ironically, now in Christ the inheritance is ours.  But not through our grasping at it, or usurping his kingship.  Bur rather in humble faith in the king of the Jews who rules by serving, making himself last, lowest, and least. 

The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.  Jesus was rejected but in that very rejection he is glorified.  By his cross he conquers.  He turns the tables on his enemies, and on the great enemies of sin, death and devil.   His enemies, more importantly yours.

And then this last little comparison – that the one who falls on that stone is broken, but the one it falls upon is crushed.  A strange little saying.  Jesus of course is the stone.  And no one can stand against him or defeat him.  If we fall on him – that is – if we submit to him, to his word of law – then we must be broken.  We must despair of ourselves, and recognize him as our capstone, our leader, our king.  We must pay him the fruit for which he is looking – the fruits of repentance and faith.

But if we refuse, it is far worse.  For the stone will fall and crush his enemies. Just as the scribes and chief priests couldn’t be rid of Jesus even by a cross – nor silence his gospel by persecuting his followers.  Just as the serpent who bruised Jesus’ heel by the cross is himself head-crushed by the woman’s offspring. 

While Jesus’ comments today end on a rather harsh note of law – this isn’t the last word that the Scriptures have on the topic.  Consider how Peter picks up the metaphor and fleshes it out in 1 Peter 2:

 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

    a cornerstone chosen and precious,

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone,”

8 and

“A stone of stumbling,

    and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Thanks be to God for his persistent and amazing mercy to those of us in the vineyard.  May we ever receive his Son, Jesus, who is the capstone, and ever be built up in him, by repentance and faith, to the glory of God and in service to our neighbor.

In Jesus’ Name.