“THE STONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED”

A Sermon for Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, & Our Saints!
First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans
The Rev. Melanie Morel-Ensminger
Sunday, February 14, 2010

READING: Psalm 118
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures forever!
Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
With the Lord on my side I do not fear.
What can mortals do to me?
The Lord is on my side to help me;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in mortals.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in princes.
All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me like bees;
they blazed like a fire of thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
The Lord is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.
There are glad songs of victory
in the tents of the righteous:
“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.
O give thanks to the Lord,
for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.


"This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes."

You may be wondering how I’m going to tie all these disparate themes together; there were times this busy, chaotic week when I wondered the same thing. For weeks now, as the Saints' winning season has worn on and on to greater and greater heights, Psalm 118 has been running through my head, seeming to have resonance in more than one way to recent events. I thought that it would have relevance to us, as a congregation and as a city.

The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. (Some translations say “cornerstone.”) In other words, something – or someone – that was trashed and spurned by powerful people in decision-making positions turns out to be crucially important.

Do you know how Michelangelo’s David came to be? A large block of pure white Carrara marble, called “The Giant,” was delivered to Florence in 1464. An artist was contracted to carve a statue of David for the cathedral, but abandoned the project after 2 years, having only blocked out the legs and feet. The gigantic block of marble then remained neglected, open to the elements, lying on its side, for 25 years. At that point, a brash young sculptor, only 26 years old, convinced authorities that he could do something with it. The block was set upright, and Michelangelo began work in 1501 – before he was even officially given the contract. In 1504 when the David was unveiled, it was acknowledged as a masterpiece, as it is today. To some in the art world, it is the epitome of fine art, a universal symbol of high culture.

Closer to home, during every Saints game this season, I was struck by all the stories of how certain key personnel were unceremoniously dumped by other teams before being picked up by the Saints. After his shoulder surgery, quarterback Drew Brees was told his football career was over. One player, Mike Bell, cut from his previous team for his “bad attitude,” was reduced to coaching a high school football team as a volunteer when the call came from the Saints. Defensive coach Gregg Williams was thought an unnecessary expense by the Saints front office, until head coach Sean Payton gave up some of his own salary in order to bring Williams in. Running back Reggie Bush, a Heisman trophy winner, was widely considered to be not worth the big money his contract called for. After missing 2 key kicks in a previous game, many thought kicker Garrett Hartley should be traded. Despite his obvious talents, tight end Jeremy Shockey was judged a problem for his tendency to cut practice, make inappropriate remarks, and act wild off the field. Our Saints turn out to be a collection of rejects, misfits, and screwballs. Now, having surprised the world by decisively winning the Super Bowl, they are World Champions who have revitalized their, and our, city. And Saints fans are being held up to the rest of the league as exemplars of how to support a NFL team.

After Katrina, New Orleans herself was widely said to be not worth saving. Some commentators expressed the (crazy) idea that the city should be moved to some unspecified location on higher ground. A few conservative religious leaders thought the city’s destruction was an act of divine judgment. And while we know we still have long way to go, the attention focused on the Crescent City in recent months has found people around the country impressed with how we have moved our own recovery forward, with little or no help from official, governmental sources. Our city is now considered a rare exception to the national recession.

“The stone the builders rejected.” German theologian Raymund Schwager, commenting on the passage from Psalm 118, posits that the builders who reject that stone are not just mistaken, but suffering from an almost intentional collective delusion, a stubborn willful blindness. There is nothing actually wrong with the stone – just as there was, and is, nothing inherently wrong with the Carrara marble block, the Saints personnel, or our beloved city.

As today is Valentine’s Day, I see something of that process going on today in the hysteria over same-sex marriage. Here is another case where something that is both good and useful, beneficial to individuals and families and society as a whole, has been willfully categorized as wrong and undo-able. Millions of committed couples long for the opportunity to make their relationship not only legal but have their partnership recognized and sanctioned by society, and reap the multiple benefits of such recognition. In a time when straight marriage is declining, with male-female couples delaying marriage, marriage duration growing shorter, and multiple marriages common even among social conservatives, a vocal group of people have demonized the very idea of same-sex marriage. In the end, in the future time that I am sure is not far off, when same-sex marriage is both normal and common, I believe that we will see a renewed commitment and dedication about the covenanted legal partnership that is marriage. I believe that marriage itself will be revitalized by the participation of same-sex couples.

As we all know, this weekend is the culmination of the carnival season, ending with Mardi Gras on Tuesday. As much as we love Mardi Gras, as much as we New Orleanians feel the necessity for the release and celebration of Carnival, there have been times in our history when it was outlawed or curtailed by local authorities as excessive and chaotic. After Katrina, there were people around the country who advised us not to hold Mardi Gras, saying it wouldn’t be right to hold a celebration so soon after the disaster. But we knew then, as we know now, that Carnival is vital to us, as needful as food and as essential to our health and well-being.

“The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.” First Church knows what it feels like to be rejected, to be set aside, to be thought non-essential. But what we have been doing since the Storm has shown the Unitarian Universalist Association how a congregation can not only recover from a major disaster but begin a renaissance. Our urban ministry is as strong, if not stronger, than it has ever been, and our plans for the future are bold and innovative. We will be a leader in the UUA, a role model for other congregations, those that have experienced a disaster and those that have not, urban, suburban and rural.

This is what I get from all this: we need to look carefully at ideas and concepts and people that we reject and dismiss. Sometimes we act from our own preconceptions and prejudices, and we pass by something or someone that would be important, life-changing. And sometimes we can be so affected by the judgment of others that we can accept a self-definition that is belittling and devaluing. The Saints are not the Aints; New Orleans is not a failed city; gay and lesbian couples are not less-than heterosexual couples; and this church is not a struggling, borderline congregation. The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone. Let us remember this and make it our motto. So might this be! AMEN – ASHE – SHALOM – SALAAM – NAMASTE – BLESSED BE!