A letter from Thomas Goetz in Japan
August 27, 2007
Hello from Japan!
For those of you who ask “When speaking to a group of non-Christians, what do you say?” I have here a recent chapel message that was preached spring term in Webster Groves Hall, our university chapel.
Webster Groves may be a familiar name. During the 1960s, Webster Groves Presbyterian Church, in Webster Groves, Missouri, made the chapel possible through a generous financial donation. Thank you very much.
The Cornerstone
While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.
The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”
Greetings and welcome new and returning students. This is the first English chapel for the year. We hope to see you here often. Have you ever had an upside down day? Have you ever decided upon waking up to do things in reverse, like instead of eating breakfast, have a dinner? And your day progresses through an ordinary lunch and then a supper which looks like breakfast. For me that would be pancakes with maple syrup and butter. Wouldn’t it feel to you like the day was upside down?
In a similar way, the members of the Sadducees and the others had an upside-down day when Peter spoke to them openly in the temple.
The temple of today’s reading was the main one in Jerusalem. It was the home of the Jewish faith and by that time, the Jews had suffered terribly under Babylonian, Greek and Roman rule. By this time, Rome controlled Palestine as a province with Jerusalem as its capital. Through the merit of certain rich and powerful Jewish families, the Province of Palestine had achieved some degree in self-governance and religious freedom. We must remember that in Jesus’ day, Romans worshiped many gods while the Jews believed in one. In order to preserve their religion, the leaders of the time set up many and often complex rules and laws for all Jews to follow.
One Jew, Jesus of Nazareth, questioned many of the rules and laws. The authorities did not like that at all and had him crucified on the cross. After he was pronounced dead, he was taken down and placed in a tomb. Then two women found Jesus to be gone from the grave. An angel announced that he had risen. The meaning of this message was clear to all who followed Jesus. His life continued, he was not dead, his promises and miracles were just as valid as before. But if you were not a believer, like the Roman rulers and the local religious leaders, you believed Jesus and everything he stood for to be dead. They thought that by killing him, the leaders could stop his movement. And keep their lives in proper balance with Rome.
This did not happen.
In today’s reading, we hear of a man named Peter making a speech in front of some very important people, the Sadducees and others. In fact, together with his friend John, they were under arrest, because as we can see earlier in the passage, they were teaching in the temple and converting lots of people. Peter’s speech had all the power necessary to turn their day and world upside down!
Who was Peter? He was first a fisherman and then a follower of Jesus. The Sadducees were the educated leaders of the day. They came from well established families in Jerusalem, Judea and Palestine. Peter came from Galilee, a remote part of Palestine where he met Jesus and received his education from Jesus. But the Sadducees were not listening to Peter’s message. They saw someone who was beneath their level, yet talking if he had authority. This was enough to turn their day upside down.
But Peter did more than just talk. He completely reversed the religious order. With Jesus risen from the grave, salvation was possible for all people who believed. There was nothing that the religious leaders could do to stop this. In particular he said this: “‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”
Well, enough about the Sadducees. What is a cornerstone?
A cornerstone is a ceremonial stone, set in a prominent location on the outside of a building, with an inscription on the stone indicating the construction dates of the building along with important names. The ceremony of laying a cornerstone is an important cultural component of Western architecture. Most of our buildings here at Hokusei University have cornerstones. This chapel is called Webster Groves Hall on its cornerstone. Please find it and you shall see when this chapel was built.
A cornerstone represents belonging and identity, two key ideas that go well with the even greater idea of salvation. The Sadducees rejected Jesus in favor of their own way. But God raised Jesus from the dead, making Jesus a cornerstone of faith. In other words, if you build your life with Jesus as your cornerstone, the promise is that you too will belong forever with him, that your sins will be forgiven and the death that we all will face in time will not be an ending point, but rather a turning point leading us on to heaven.
In simple English, Peter asked, “After death, where will you go? I am going with Jesus because he lives even after death. How about you?”
Later, Peter would become identified as the founder, or cornerstone, of the Christian church. And, similar to Jesus, he too met a violent and painful death on a cross. According to legend, so as not to be confused with his Lord and Savior Jesus, he was crucified upside down.
Thomas H. Goetz
The 2007 Mission Yearbook for Prayer and Study, p. 249
