Defensiveness and the Cornerstone

“When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.”  Matthew 21:45 (read Matthew 21:33-46)

I do not have a problem when I hear someone speaking some critical message. Just so long as it is kept as an academic exercise or something I am meant to conceptualize, I am fine to hear some good ol’ fashioned tongue-lashing. Yet, as soon as I recognize that someone is speaking directly about me, that is when I bristle up like a porcupine.

The Pharisees in today’s lesson from Matthew are just like me (and most religious folks today). We love to hear a good story, but when it begins to point the finger at us we get defensive. We may very well know that we have a problem. You may know that we have a problem. Jesus certainly knows when we have a problem. Still as long as we can pretend that we are the only ones that recognize it we are fine. It is like an ostrich putting its head in the ground. To personalize this practice: "If I keep my head down here maybe my problems will disappear."

Jesus though urges the religious people of his day, and us now, to recognize that we play a part in blocking the work that God wants to do with us in the world. Sure we in the church can point to those who do not believe in God, those who only come around every once in a while, the spiritual/not religious crowd, or even to those in other traditions. We can say that it is their fault that the God's servants are mistreated and the Son is beaten and killed, but Jesus is talking to us, even if it is hard for us to hear. We all can struggle with denying that we have a problem.

When I was on a three week geology trip out West I had to spend virtually every minute with other people. My fellow students got to see all sides of me: good, bad, and ugly. Towards the end of the trip, I heard one woman whom I had been around the entire time say to another man (even as she was looking at and speaking towards me), “I am so happy that you are such a mature gentleman, unlike some others on our van.” I knew the implication. She didn’t want to speak directly to me, but she wanted me to know that I was not acting in the right way.

I had a hard time hearing those words, just like we have a hard time hearing Jesus’ words. We might not kill or harm God's people in physical ways, but how are we respecting the dignity of others? How are we caring for the least among us? How are we treating the lowly messengers of God? We cannot and do not get it all right! Yet, there is good news in this. There is good news in us being wrong. There is good news in us being broken. It is okay to be broken. For when we are broken on the cornerstone that is Christ we can be rebuilt.

Jesus urges us to be smashed, so that we can with God rebuild our lives. Christ wants to construct our lives with the brick, mortar, and elbow grease that are love, peace, and joy. Jesus wants to be our firm foundation, not just a part of our lives. With his presence we can restructure our brokenness. When we hear criticism we can choose to be defensive like the Pharisees, we can pretend it does not exist, or we can allow others to speak Truth into where we must be broken and rebuilt on the sure foundation that is Christ.