Don't overlook the cornerstones

 

As I reflected during my Scripture reading today, I could almost hear Paul Harvey, a radio voice from the past, intoning, “And now you know the rest of the story.”

In Genesis, Joseph, the last son of Jacob, seems a person easy to hate.  It's easy to see why Joseph's brothers, Reuben and the rest, hated him so much.  After all, here was the youngest, the least productive, the smart aleck kid who was the apple of his father's eye.  No matter how hard the other brothers worked, they would never be doted on like Joseph!  He got the fancy coat; he had his father's ear; he was the favorite.

The brothers, green with envy, wanted to kill the boy.  But Reuben, the eldest, the one who charged with protecting all the brothers, the one who had most to lose in Jacob's preference for Joseph, had a twinge of conscience.  And so, selling Joseph into slavery, the brothers moved on with their lives [Genesis 37:3-28].  Probably for some years the brothers thought, "Well, it was tough to see Old Jacob grieve but, geez, that kid was a royal pain!  He was just so obnoxious!  It's good we're rid of him."

We KNOW that Joseph eventually became powerful and rescued his brothers.  

In Matthew, Jesus tells the chief priests and Pharisees the parable of the tenants.  The landowner sends his servants to the tenants at harvest time to collect the fruit of the vineyard.  One servant is beaten, another killed and another stoned.  The landowner sends other servants with the same results.  Finally, the landowner sends his son, thinking they will respect his son.  The son is murdered [Matthew 21:33-46].

We KNOW that Jesus died at the hands of His enemies and eventually triumphed.  

It’s hard not to instinctively finish the stories mentally.

We have to remember that Joseph’s brothers didn’t expect to see him again and that the Pharisees couldn’t have imagined that Jesus would be worshiped worldwide 2000 years later.

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” [Psalms 118:22]

This says something important to us about our dealings with other people, especially those less powerful than ourselves. Our words and actions can have unimagined and unintended repercussions for years to come.

For example, our company for the last 10 years or so gave every team member an opportunity to evaluate their immediate supervisors anonymously and without fear of reprisal.  I usually had a team of anywhere from 10-25 persons who would comment on my interactions with them.  While most remarks were kind, I was chagrined to find out that throw away remarks during the course of a workday could inadvertently hurt feelings, or that I came off as insensitive, unfair – you name it.  It wasn’t intentional but it happened.  Mea culpa.

We need to remember that the “stones” we’re inclined to reject because they’re irritating, slow, pompous, misguided etc. might well “become the cornerstone.”  Like Joseph’s brothers and the Pharisees, we just don’t know.

However, we can never go wrong by being saying something encouraging when someone looks downcast and taking extra time to reach out and help.  Even small things may have unknown impact for the good.  One more thing to work on during Lent!