May 3, 2026

Tripping Over the Cornerstone?

When we first built out log home in the woods, I created a garden for Dadgie.  The only problem was that beneath the two inch layer of soil in which the grass of our alleged lawn is planted there lies virtually nothing but rocks.  It’s rocks and a little sand all the way down to China, near as I can tell.  So, I dug up rocks.  I pulled them up and laid them around the garden area so that I could use them to build a stone wall around the raised-bed.  All of which is to say that when I came across this lectionary reading for today about the stone that the builders rejected, and folks tripping over it, it jogged my memory and struck a particularly resonant chord.

This passage in the first epistle of Peter is a particularly intriguing one.  He uses the image of stones in profound ways.  Peter draws upon some Old Testament references to stones to make his point.  The first comes from the Prophet Isaiah: “thus says the Lord God, See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation . . . .”  He goes on from there to quote Psalm 118, which reads: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.  This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”  And finally, Psalm 8, which says: “the LORD . . . will become a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against; for both houses of Israel he will become a rock one stumbles over.”  It was really quite elegant, pulling all these references to stones together in this passage.  Peter takes a dig at the Scribes and Pharisees, who were in his day referred to as “the builders.”  He uses the Psalm to say that these “builders” rejected Christ who was the true cornerstone.  But because they didn’t recognize him for who he was, they set aside that stone and stumbled and fell over it.

The whole picture of tripping over the cornerstone captured my imagination.  It really would be a hard thing to do, you know – to trip over a cornerstone.  Even if the stone had been set aside on the ground, not put into its place in the structure, it would be a pretty large, impressive stone.  A person would have to either be in a very big hurry, or not paying any attention to where they were going (or both) to trip over such a stone.

Which takes us back to Isaiah.  Peter mistranslated the most interesting part of the Isaiah passage.  The complete quote in Peter’s version is: “thus says the Lord GOD, See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: ‘One who trusts will not panic (Isaiah 28:16).’” That last phrase is referred to as the motto that’s inscribed on this cornerstone.  And the last word in the motto is the corker.  It’s the Hebrew word שוח (chush) which simply and literally means hurry.   The RSV translates it as panic, and says this motto reads: “One who trusts will not panic.”   Peter takes some liberties and translates it, “whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”  As for me, I like the original, clear Hebrew meaning: “The one who trusts does not hurry.”  I think Isaiah was onto something.  Trusting enough to not hurry is a good way to keep from tripping over something so grand and obvious as a cornerstone.

You and I hurry everywhere, along with everyone else.  Have you ever tried driving at the actual speed limit?  It’s amazing the line of cars you’ll get behind you and the dirty looks.  I think that’s one of the big reasons we get tripped up so much of the time.  We’re just too darn busy, going too many places, too fast.

I’m not a big Stephen Covey fan, but he did have some very helpful things to say.  One of them bears directly on this business of tripping over the cornerstone.  He asked the simple question, “What is the one activity that you know if you did superbly well and consistently would have significant positive results in your personal life?”¹  I’d actually like you stop with me for a few moments and consider that question. What is one thing you could be doing that would make a big difference in your life?  I’m going to take a couple of minutes here for us all to reflect on that, and try to come up with an answer.

Have you got it?  Now for the follow-up question.  If you know it would make such a great difference, why aren’t you doing it?  I submit that for most of us the reason we’re not doing the things that would make life better (more abundant) is that we’re in too much of a hurry.  Is it possible that we could be too busy with the shopping and the daily routines to pay attention to Christ and his truth?

Peter makes it clear that Christ is that cornerstone.  And I agree.  But what exactly does it mean to put Christ in the proper place in your life?  This morning we might get as many different answers to that question as there are people here.  Clearly, recognizing Christ as the cornerstone means letting go of that which doesn’t matter and taking hold of that which does matter – perhaps the very lessons that Jesus came to teach.  What matters most?  The most important thing you could be about in life (maybe the very thing you thought of a few minutes ago) is sitting right in front of you.  It sits in front of each of us like a big, beautiful cornerstone that’s been tossed aside, and we fall over it flat on our faces time after time because we don’t trust enough to slow down and pay attention.  We are too consumed with all those things that Covey says are merely urgent, and so we miss out on that which is truly important in life.  There’s a big, bold warning etched into that stone we’ve tossed aside:  “The one who trusts does not hurry.”

By slowing ourselves down enough to pay attention, we have the time and the space to reflect on what it is that truly matters in life, and how we can seize the opportunity to pursue those things that truly matter.

I learned about a woman who figured out what truly mattered.  Her name was Mary Johnson; she died a couple of years ago, but her story lives on.  Her only son was shot dead during an argument at a party in 1993 by another young man, Oshea Israel.  Mary Johnson spent the years that her son’s murderer was in prison visiting him.  She learned to see him as a human being, and Israel learned to see the young man he killed as a human being.  Their bond grew greater over the years.  When he was released from prison after serving a lengthy term they lived next door to each other, this murderer and his victim’s mother.  Her forgiveness of him changed his life.  Speaking to Mrs. Johnson, Israel said, “Sometimes I still don’t know how to take it, because I haven’t totally forgiven myself yet.  It’s something that I’m learning from you.  I won’t say that I have learned yet, because it’s still a process that I’m going through.”

“I treat you as I would treat my son,” Johnson said.  “And our relationship is beyond belief.”

Mary Johnson turned her rage and hurt into an opportunity to refocus and sort out what to do with the rest of her life.  She founded From Death To Life, a support group for mothers who have lost their children to violence.  Speaking to Israel, she said, “Well, my natural son is no longer here. I didn’t see him graduate.  Now you’re going to college.  I’ll have the opportunity to see you graduate, I didn’t see him getting married.  Hopefully one day, I’ll be able to experience that with you.”

Her support made all the difference in Israel’s life.  “It motivates me to make sure that I stay on the right path,” he said. “You still believe in me. And the fact that you can do it, despite how much pain I caused you – it’s amazing.”

And then, these remarkable words from these two: Israel said, “I love you, lady.”  And Mary said, “I love you too, son.”²

There is a woman who took the time to figure out what is most important, and it turns out to be the kind of thing Jesus was all about, and what he told us is most important: loving, forgiving, helping.  And, boy, did she love, and, boy, did she forgive, and, boy, did she help.

I love the ancient Sufi legends of the meaningful blunders of the Mulla Nusrudin.  In one of the classic tales, Nusrudin is seen by a man groping around on the ground.  The man asks the Mulla what he’s looking for, and Nasrudin says, “A key.”  So the man begins to search with him.  After a while, he looks up and asks Nasrudin, “Where did you drop the key?”  The Mulla answers, “In my own home.”  “Then why aren’t you searching there?” he asks.  Nasrudin says, “Because the light is much better here.”

We are often found looking in the wrong places for the key to life’s puzzle when it might be found right where we live – right beneath our noses.  It might be as simple as paying attention to a thought about what might be a life-changing decision.  It could be as powerful and profound an act as the lady we heard about turning the hurt and rage that one might otherwise trip over into an act of forgiveness worthy of lifting up into prominence for all to see.  But one thing is for certain, you won’t find it while you’re racing through life at seventy five miles an hour.

I hope you will join me in continuing to reflect on that question about that “one thing” that can make a big difference.  And join me in continuing to challenge ourselves to take it up.

“The one who trusts does not hurry.”

¹ Stephen R. Covey, First Things First, Simon and Schuster, 1994, p.32.

² StoryCorps, PBS, Aired May 20, 2011.