Psalm Reflection: The Fourth Sunday of Easter (Cycle B)

“The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone.” - Psalm 118

I don’t know if you have seen The Chosen yet, but you need to: www.thechosen.tv

My favorite tag line from the show is when Jesus tells Simon: “Get used to different.” I don’t know if you feel this way, but I honestly feel like I have no clue what God is doing most of the time. I know that God is good and that He is constantly working to bring about good in my life, but any time I try to fathom how He is doing it or what might be coming next, I am virtually always wrong. And that is okay, because every time I realize that I am wrong, it is because God has blown me away by revealing something beyond my expectations. In the end, it is always good and always different. God is sort of like lightning, never striking the same place twice. He is always present everywhere, but what I mean is that He is always doing something new, always creating, and always loving us in new, profound and beautiful ways.

As this weeks Psalm references those who rejected Jesus, I am reminded that these words continue to apply to all of us. Jesus came to do something different, and so many people refused to abandon their pre-conceived notions and beliefs to see it. We still reject Jesus and how He is seeking to work in our lives on a daily basis through our sin, our desire for control, and our unwillingness to let go of the plans or things we think will make us happy.

Maybe you are reading this and you are really hoping for something to work out a certain way. Maybe you just got some really bad or disappointing news. Maybe something you have been waiting and hoping for fell through, or an unexpected opportunity presented itself and you do not know what to do. Maybe something “different” than you expected happened. I invite you to consider how Jesus might be trying to bless you abundantly through whatever that might be.

Do you trust that God can bless you and bring good through this?

Are you willing to let go so your hands are open and empty, ready to receive something even better from your Savior who loves you?

Do not reject the gifts God wishes to give you because they come in unexpected packages. You would not do it on Christmas morning, you would still dive in and rip the gift open simply because you knew it was a gift. So this week, simply receive everything as a gift, because, even if it does not look like it now, it will be.

I am praying for you, please pray for me, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt