The year was 1793 and there was a huge ceremony held in Washington D.C.. President George Washington laid the Cornerstone for the new Capitol building. Before the cornerstone was laid down, Washington placed a silver plaque beneath it, and I’ve read that this event was highly important to him because this building would be where the Senate and the Congress would meet. America would NOT be a monarchy, but instead – a republic where the course of the nation could be decided by representatives of the people. Washington’s desire was that this building would be a powerful declaration that America intended to be different from other nations. It would be a nation OF the people, FOR the people and BY the people.
The rest of the FOUNDATION of the Capitol bldg. was composed of mortar and rubble, but the cornerstone itself was about 5 feet long and weighed several tons. When it was laid down… it was a time of great celebration and excitement.
But a few years later – they had a problem. It seems that they’d LOST the cornerstone. They couldn’t find it. They knew it was underneath the Capitol bldg. someplace… they just didn’t know where! (https://www.senate.gov/about/historic-buildings-spaces/capitol/washington-lays-capitol-cornerstone.htm)
Somehow they’d MISPLACED the cornerstone and - even to this day – they don’t know where it is.
Cornerstones USED TO BE a significant part of any building. They were the first stones to be laid in a building's foundation, usually in a corner (which is why it’s called the cornerstone). The total weight of the building rested on that stone, and if it was REmoved, the entire structure could collapse. because that stone literally held the building together. (https://www.backtothebible.org/post/building-on-the-cornerstone)
Now, that brings us to our text this morning. “The stone that the builders rejected has become THE CORNERSTONE. This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:22-24
What’s this all about? What is this CORNERSTONE they’re talking about? Well… they were talking about Jesus. In the book of Acts, the Apostle Peter stood before the Sanhedrin, and he said: “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:11-12
Jesus was the Cornerstone that the Old Testament told us about.
But the builders rejected Him! They refused to have anything to do with Him. And who were these builders? Well, they were the Jewish leaders. They were the scribes, the pharisees and the chief priests.
In Luke 6:6-11 we read “On another Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and the Pharisees watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they might find a reason to accuse him. But he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come and stand here." And he rose and stood there. And Jesus said to them, "I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?" And after looking around at them all he said to him, "Stretch out your hand." And he did so, and his hand was restored. But (the Scribes and the Pharisees) were filled with fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.”
And in Luke 20:17-20 we’re told that Jesus looked directly at (the scribes and chief priests) and said, "What then is this that is written: "’The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him." The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
Now, notice - these builders didn’t “MISPLACE” the cornerstone - they just out-right rejected Him. They despised Him. They set out to destroy Him and His influence. They didn’t want Jesus to be the FOUNDATION of their lives. They wanted to build their OWN foundation. And things haven’t changed in nearly 2000 years. There are still people who realize that Jesus is an obstacle to their agendas.
ILLUS: There was a university professor that once boasted, “One of my callings in life is to shatter the faith of naïve fundamentalists as they come to my class. Just give me a room of young, naïve evangelicals and let me at ‘em. You can just watch them drop like flies hit with Raid when I challenge their faith in a deliberate, consistent manner.” (from Charles Swindoll)
Now, why would that professor do that? Well because that professor had an agenda, and any student whose foundation of belief was based on Jesus would resist accepting what that professor his agenda and anything he might teach. Therefore, that student’s faith HAD TO BE destroyed at all costs.
When it comes to the world wanting to get what it wants in this life, Christianity tends to get in the way. And for the people who realize that truth - Jesus has to be rejected. In fact, faith in Jesus is an obstacle that must be destroyed.
So, Jesus is the Cornerstone - but what building is He the cornerstone of? Ephesians 2:20 tells us “(The Church) is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” Jesus is the cornerstone of the church. He forms the basis of our thinking and our lifestyle as Christians. And if we actually build our lives ON Jesus, then we can be the salt of earth/ light of world. We’ll make a difference in our culture.
ILLUS: There was an Atheist - Tom Holland wrote a book called “Dominion.” Now, bear in mind as an atheist, Tom Holland had no love for Jesus. But he still made a startling observation: He said that he’d studied many of the cultures of the ancient world and he found that these cultures were often cruel and harsh. The killing of babies was common. Wives were routinely cheated on. The poor and the weak had no rights. The bodies of slaves were treated like outlets for physical pleasure by owners. And the Spartans routinely murdered “imperfect” children. But then JESUS came along… and even pagan culture began to change. Christians lived a different style of life. They followed the moral teachings of Jesus and that caused Christians to become salt and light - and they slowly began to change the world around them. Jesus was their cornerstone, and thus - because of them - the pagans around them different.
Now, that does raise another question: If Jesus is the cornerstone of the church, is every church built on the foundation of Jesus Christ? Answer: They should be… but too often, they’re not. Back when I was in High school (math class), I learned a cute little saying: “All squares are rectangles… but not all rectangles are squares.” In the same way – all churches SHOULD be built on Jesus - but not every church is!
Nowadays, folks tend to look for churches that have an exciting atmosphere, a powerful preacher and a fantastic worship band. NOT THAT ANY OF THAT IS NECESSARILY WRONG unless they’re not paying attention to what is taught!
Jesus didn’t focus His attention on powerful preachers or impressive worship: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
But wait - they called Jesus LORD… they prophesied in His name. They even cast out demons and did mighty works in Jesus’ name. Why would Jesus reject them?
Well, read the next few words Jesus says: "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and DOES THEM will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and DOES NOT DO THEM will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." Matthew 7:21-27
Now notice… these people didn’t REJECT Jesus (in fact - they did a lot of stuff in Jesus’ name) but it seems they kinda MISPLACED Him somewhere. They weren’t LISTENING to HIM, and they weren’t OBEYING Him.
So, where am I going to find this stuff Jesus said I’m supposed to be doing? Answer: In The Bible! Our brotherhood has a motto: “Where the Bible speaks we speaks. Where the Bible is silent, we’re silent.” But don’t all churches study the Bible? Well, not all of them make it a priority. Too often, churches focus on their creeds, catechisms & books of doctrine (documents that describe what their group “believes” about Scripture and its teachings) rather than focusing on Scripture.
ILLUS: About 15 years ago, we had a youth minister here named Brad Taylor. Over the years of his ministry here, he’d had opportunity to interact with the youth ministers of various denominational congregations in town. He told me that sometimes they would talk together about different topics (for example, salvation) and often the denominational youth leaders would respond to a question by citing their church creed. Brad would ask them where the Bible said this or that, and they often couldn’t tell him, because they didn’t know their Bible very well. But they did know their creed, and that was sufficient for them.
Too often churches treat their creeds, confessions, and catechisms as if they had equal value as Scripture. But they don’t have equal value because they’re NOT Scripture. Those documents might be doctrinally sound… even Biblically based… but a creed is not God’s Word. It is merely a commentary on God’s Word. And when that happens folks can end up finding themselves listening (and obeying) the doctrine of a church rather than the commands of Christ.
Now, there are churches that don't have creeds... but the do have teachings that serve the same purpose. For example, there are churches where the preachers and teachers will talk about "asking Jesus into your heart" or teach something called the "sinner's prayer" - neither of which are in the Bible. There's no sinner's prayer, and no where does the Bible talk about asking Jesus into your heart. And yet preachers, teacher, popular religious singers and others will repeat that concept over and over until people THINK that's what Jesus taught. It's not. If you read your Bible closely you'll find that - to become a Christian - we need to BELIEVE, REPENT, CONFESS Jesus as Lord and allow ourselves to be buried in the waters of BAPTISM to rise to walk in newness of life.
CLOSE: At the beginning of the sermon I told about George Washington laying the foundation stone for the Capitol building. And most people don’t know about that. But there was something else he did that most people don’t know about: Washington was very focused on his faith in Jesus and in his respect for the Bible. He prayed often and was a serious student of the Bible. He once wrote: “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”
(PAUSE)
According to his mother's Bible, Washington was christened by sprinkling when he was about 2 years old (despite the fact that at age 2 he couldn’t have believed anything about Jesus at the time). But they did that because that practice was regarded as baptism in the orthodox Episcopal church. Then, later, when Washington reached the age of 33, he took an oath to conform to the doctrine of the Church of England.
During the Revolutionary War he approached a Chaplain in his Army named John Gano and said to him “I have been investigating the Scripture and I believe immersion to be the baptism taught in the Word of God, and I demand it at your hands. I do not wish any parade made or the Army called out, but simply a quiet demonstration of the ordinance.” Accordingly, George Washington was immersed in the Potomac in the presence of 42 witnesses, and a portrait of the baptism is on display at the William Jewell College in Liberty.
So, why was Washington baptized by immersion, even though his church had said it was OK to be sprinkled at age 2? Because he read it in the Bible. I’m not certain, but I suspect he read the passage from Mark 16:16 where Jesus said: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Mark 16:16
Despite what he’d been taught when he was younger Mark 16 did NOT say: “He who is baptized - and later believes - shall be saved." In Mark 16:16 Jesus was teaching us that we have to believe BEFORE we’re baptized… and we must be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.
INVITATION
FOOTNOTES:
John Gano was, at the time, a Baptist Minister and remained so all his life. His son (also named John) became a preacher in the Church of Christ in the early days of the Restoration Movement, and his son R.M. Gano, became a highly successful and popular preacher in our brotherhood as well. R.M. was an early leader in the church in Dallas and is said to have baptized 1000s of converts in his long ministry.
Sources:
* News From Home, 50 Maiden Lane, NY, NY, vol. V, No. 1, 1994 (reprinted by Philip L. Young, 304 N. Garfield St., Oblong, IL 52449
* 1932 was the Bicentennial of George Washington's birth and created a fair amount of research and publication of facts regarding his life. * Charles Edward Thomas published the first account of the baptism in the "Delta" magazine in August of 1932. Time Magazine picked up the theme and published an article about it on Sept. 5, 1932 and this in turn became the spark that led Ira Boswell to write a further report with information he gathered in an article in the "Christian Standard" dated Oct. 15, 1932. James H. Childress reviewed all the articles in the "Firm Foundation" Vol. 50, No. 15, April 11, 1933, p. 1,3)
