Rejected Stone

Matthew 21:42 - Jesus said to them, "Have you not read in the scriptures, 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the keystone. This comes from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.'"

The stone that the builders rejected. Why would a builder reject a stone? Clearly, it would had a flaw of some sort; maybe a crack or a weak spot. Actual builders would be wise to reject such a stone because it could compromise the entire building. In Jesus' metaphor, the builders are the chief priests and the elders who have challenged and rejected Jesus. This rejected stone has become the keystone of the Church.

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your Bible probably uses an incorrect translation. The words translated here as 'keystone' are actually 'head' and 'angle/corner.' Usually it is translated 'cornerstone,' which is not the head, but rather in the foundation; the stone the Church is built on. Peter is the stone on which Christ said he'd build his church. The keystone is either at the top of an arch or an entire building. It's job is to cement in place all the other stones of the building - holding it all together. The rejected stone is actually the most important stone. Jesus is that stone. As usual, it's a complete flipping of our ideas about masonry - and society.

Jesus was rejected by the chief priests and elders but did not reject them back. In fact, Jesus sees through our flaws and uses us anyway. Just like he made a very flawed Peter the cornerstone, all the other stones in Jesus' Church have been rejected by society; especially (in Jesus' day) people who were shepherds, mere fishermen, women, and people experiencing illness or disability. The chief priests, elders, and society in general all rejected such people. Today our society continues to reject people experiencing homelessness, poverty, disability, racism or oppression. But God does not reject anyone.

The House has passed a bill that updates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to put the onus of compliance on the person experiencing problems rather than on organizations to act proactively. Not that companies are that great with compliance; the ADA was passed in 1990 and my neighborhood is just now getting wheelchair accessible sidewalks.

"Under the bill, those wishing to sue businesses in Federal Court over an ADA public-accommodations violation must first deliver a written notice to that business detailing the illegal barrier to access and then give that business 60 days to come up with a plan to address the complaints and an additional 60 days to take action" (Washington Post) This means the affected person must wait 4 months to be able to sue, much less access the building. That is adding insult to injury and doesn't solve the problem they are trying to solve - lawyers who file suits for the money rather than gaining access for people.

Supporting people with disabilities is something many of us, me included, don't think about often. And I have a disability. However, we can confess and make our repentance meaningful by calling or writing our senators (calling is better) to ask them not to support such legislation. We can call our reps who voted for the bill and make our displeasure known. People experiencing disability have it hard enough without this theft of what power the ADA has give us.

PS - Did you know that Social Security Disability Income payments (payments for people who cannot work) are not enough to actually live on? While you're on the phone, you might mention this injustice to whoever you speak to.