Rejected Stone

Again Jesus and the disciples came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” They argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?”

When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away. Mark 11:27—12:12 

When I studied curriculum development, many years ago, the professor asked a critical question. "What are we intentionally leaving out and why?" That question has always stayed with me, always wondering what I was choosing to leave out, what I was ignoring and my motivation for it. Too often the answers were motivated by discomfort and fear. I often leave out what I don't want to face.

Jesus, teaching by parable, tells the story of the vineyard tenants, who think they own the place. They leave out what they don't want to face. They don't own the vineyard. This story makes the religious leaders uncomfortable because they didn't own the temple or the faith, but they ran it as if they did. An important parable for all of us in church leadership. Whatever we do, we can never behave as if this ministry, the buildings, or the church, is ours. We, the ministry and everything we do belong to God. We are invited to live like respectful tenants today, grateful for our livelihoods and the role we have to play.

Today, I ask God to help me remember to face the discomfort and fear, knowing I am not in charge. May we daily turn over the work and ministry to God, so that we, and those we serve, can be truly blessed.