Sunday evening, America, once again, experienced the horror of an “unprecedented” mass murder, this time in Las Vegas. What seems to stand out this time is that as of this writing, there’s no known why to this killer’s heinous act. None of the usual markers – mental illness, radicalized terrorism, impending financial doom or relational strife seems to be the motive. One “expert” on TV theorized that the motive was probably some kind of rejection this person has experienced. Yet, so far, it seems that this was a person of privilege who had amassed all the creature comforts of life. So, with no explanation to offer a reason “why” behind this person’s actions, what rationale does one use to comfort the grieving, the injured and those traumatized?
All of this was fresh in my mind as I pondered a line from the assigned gospel text for this week. It says, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this, and it’s amazing in our eyes!” (Matthew 21:42) Watching the story of one American of Asian descendent, I thought of how her story could easily be your story or mine, but for the grace of God. Any of us can seemingly be sailing through life when we lose everything, suddenly & unexpectedly, including our lives.
As people of faith, we must offer those living with the effects of a tragedy like this one, the hope of Christ. As the Stone that the builders rejected, Jesus has become the cornerstone of our hope to heal from such tragedies. God made Jesus the cornerstone, so that we may get past the rejections life throws at us and live in God’s love, grace, mercy and acceptance. And as the writer of Matthew says, “it’s amazing in our eyes.”
Join us for worship at Covenant this Sunday. I’ll try to help us continue to live in God’s love, grace, and mercy in a sermon called “Rejection and Acceptance” based on Matthew 21:33-46
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