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Sunday in Matthew August 26, 2007 The stone, which the builders rejected, the same is become the cornerstone." Matthew 21:42 This phrase from today's Gospel reading, alludes to the Building Trade. About 1000 years before the Lord uttered these words, the same were spoken by the Great Prophet and King David in his 118th Psalm, verse 22. This phrase was aimed at the arch enemies of Jesus, the Scribes and the Pharisees, who sought every opportunity to incriminate the Lord, because He stood in their way. This verse is profound, because the Lord presents the Scribes and Pharisees, as the supposed morality builders of society in His day. But, what did these builders do? Instead of using the cornerstone, which was Jesus, to construct the Building, they rejected Jesus, so that their controlling the society, would not be interfered with. But, regardless of their scheming efforts, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ became the Cornerstone, to support the Superstructure of Christianity. If we pause to think about it, in all human endeavors, there is always a need for a cornerstone, to support the building being erected, whether it be an ideology, a profession, a scientific discovery or any of the many expressions of our society. But, so many projects have been damaged, because of selfish people, who sought and succeeded in casting out the cornerstone. The rejecting of the Cornerstone was mentioned by the Lord, after he related the Parable of the husbandmen, that is, the tenants of the Vineyard. He related the Parable as follows: A certain landowner planted a vast vineyard, with a large tower and a winepress. He then departed for a far off land, leaving the tenants to take care of the crops. When the time came for the harvest of the grapes, the landowner sent three of his servants in succession to collect the crop. The tenants beat one, killed another, and stoned the third. In spite of what happened, the landowner sent additional servants, who suffered the same fate. He then decided to send his own son, reasoning, that they would respect him. Instead, the husbandmen saw the opportunity to kill the son, and seize the inheritance. To the persons hearing this Parable, Jesus asks them, "when the Landowner comes, what will he do to the wicked husbandmen?" They all promptly replied: "He will destroy those wicked men, and He will let out His vineyard to other husbandmen, who will render to Him the fruits of the vineyard." At this point Jesus emphasized, "the stone which was rejected by the builders, the same is become the head of the corner." This was a rebuke to the Scribes and Pharisees, when He said: "the Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and will be given to the Nations, who will bring forth the fruits thereof." Analyzing this Parable, it is easy to comprehend, that the Landowner is God, and the servants He sent to collect the fruits of the vineyard were the Prophets of the Old Testament, whom God had sent to preach to the chosen people, the Israelites, in order to bring them back to God's ways. These Holy Men were scourged, and even put to death by the rulers of that time. Since the Israelites did not heed the teachings of the Prophets, then God sent His only Begotten Son, Whom the rulers of the day, the Scribes and Pharisees, did not only scorn, but finally succeeded in putting Him to death. Thus, the Lord Jesus was the rejected Stone. But, He no less, became the Cornerstone, which supports unshakably the Edifice of Christianity. The Parable in essence, is dogmatic or doctrinal in character. The Lord alludes to Himself, as the Son of the Landowner, which is God, the Father. Jesus distinguishes Himself from the Prophets of old, who also had come to instruct the people of Israel, whom He calls servants. But, the Lord describes Himself as the Son of the Landowner, and thus, He is the inheritor. The Parable also has a prophetic character, in that the Lord foretells His Death, at the hands of the rulers of Judaism at that time, who are presented as the wicked husbandmen. Furthermore, the Lord foretells the founding and the building o€ His Church, of which He is the Cornerstone, even though the builders, that is, the leaders of Judaism, had rejected the Stone, and cast it aside. These facts constitute the historical truths of the Parable. But, there is another aspect, besides the dogmatic and prophetic, which brings us to our present day living. It is the ethical character of the Parable. For instance, --- God has planted the Vineyard, which we recognize as our Christian Society, and which was destined to bring forth the fruits of the spirit, which are understood as Christian fulfillment on earth and the inheritance of life everlasting. God gave, and gives a vineyard to every Christian, to cultivate the seedlings of the Christian virtues of love, -- of faith, -- of hope, - of mutual guarantee, - of reverence, and of self respect. But, instead of the Christians cultivating these virtues, and bringing forth nourishing and pleasing fruits, we see Christians uprooting the seedlings of Christian virtues, originally planted by God, and in their place, planting their own seeds; the seeds of egotism, of selfishness, of lust, of envy, of hate, of avarice, of revenge, of disrespect of disbelief and unbelief. Enveloped then, in this egocentric complexity, the people who are Christians in name only, ignore the moral precepts of the Son of God, our Saviour. Instead of their having Christ as the Cornerstone of their life, the Christians in name only, through their actions, they reject, or cast aside the Stone, which is the Lord, and commence to erect their own building, virtually without the proper foundation, since the true and saving faith is totally lacking. Rather, it shall be as the Lord taught in St. Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 7, verses 24-27, "Therefore, whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house on a rock, and the rain fell, and the floods followed, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it did not fall, because it was built upon a rock." "And everyone that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods followed, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell; and the fall was disastrous." Beloved Friends: As tenants of the vineyard of the Lord, we, as dedicated Christians, must always cultivate our spiritual self, to bring forth rich and wholesome fruits, which will nourish us, and all those around us. The Lord expects us to continuously cultivate our own spiritual vineyard. No less, as members of our loving Orthodox Family o€ Ocala, we must also cultivate our Ocala Family's Vineyard. All of us must do our part. It is not the makings o€ only one half of our Family, who has come forth to be part of our Building Fund. As I announced last week, a continuously supporting Member sent me an additional $5000 check for our Building Fund. Also, one of our loveable Members John Fountas, who is always in the front line of volunteering, went to N.Y. for his Family's reunion, and to celebrate his birthday. Asked, what he would like as a present, he said, I want to help build our Church. As a result, he brought us a check for $600. It is only this type of motivation which brings forth miracles. Don't wait to be asked, but always step forth to volunteer. We all should be involved directly in the life of our Church. Let's not forget, that our submission to the Lord's saving will, always commences with a sound spiritual foundation, based on the Cornerstone, which is none other, than our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
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