When we sit back and think about it, human beings have not changed much since the dawn of time. All of us are quick to point out one another’s sin. And we can tell by today's Gospel reading, it isn't just, what we now call today, the “holier than thou” Christians that have had this attitude. The scribes and the Pharisees in today's Gospel gives us evidence that this is something that has been around for a very long time and it's not just those Christians who like to be Bible thumpers and point out every rule and law that there is, as if they were somehow observing every single one of them.
Two women were brought before the young king. They were prostitutes, and shared a house together. Both had given birth, but the son of one of them had died. Now both were claiming the living son as their own. How could anyone tell in the days before DNA testing which one was speaking the truth?
The king gave his judgment. Bring a sword, he said, and cut the boy into two. Each woman can have half of him.
The instant reaction of the two women told him the truth. One of them agreed with the verdict. The other one begged that the boy should live, even if her rival was allowed to keep him. No question which was the true mother.
The king was, of course, Solomon; the story is told in 1 Kings (3:16-28). It was the kind of thing that got him his reputation for remarkable wisdom. And this is the kind of story that people in the 1st century would think of when they heard this story about Jesus, the woman taken in adultery, and the men taken in hypocrisy.
The story takes place during the Festival of the Tabernacles. (A Jewish festival wherein the people gather together in Jerusalem not only to remember God's provision in the Wilderness but also to look ahead to that promised Messianic age when all nations will flow to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.) Jesus was teaching in the temple at this time, and the crowds and authorities were getting increasingly interested in asking who he is and what he's about. John 8 has an altogether darker tone, with Jesus accusing the Judeans of willfully misunderstanding him, failing to grasp what he's trying to say and thus wanting to kill him.
This particular chapter is a whole change of mood, brought on by something which has caught Jesus’ attention, and has made him realize just how steeped in their own patterns of thinking his Judean contemporaries had become and how devastatingly unlike God's pattern of thinking they were. So whether or not the story of the woman and her accusers originally belonged in this particular part of John because there are those that feel it was not part of the original manuscripts of the Gospel of John and was merely placed here at a later date. However, it certainly helps us to understand the chapter which it now introduces. The chapter, as it now stands, begins with people wanting to stone a woman to death; it ends with them wanting to stone Jesus. They were stone happy, and we live in a gun happy nation. Hasn’t changed much.
The story is a classic example of Jesus’ own wisdom, the sort of wisdom that kings were expected to display. It is here we might remember that the underlying question of this whole part of John's Gospel is whether or not Jesus is the Messiah, the true king? We should remember that John the Baptist had asked his disciples to go to Jesus and ask him if he is the one that was to come or if we should be waiting for someone else. AKA: the king and Messiah.
And the story turns up the heat with the scribes and Pharisees attempting to set a trap for Jesus. They suspected he would want to tell the women that her sins have been forgiven; but that would mean that he would be teaching people to ignore something in the Law of Moses.
Already we can sense the temperament of this situation rising, and with it, Jesus’ anger. They were using the woman, however guilty she might be of serious sin, as simply a tool in their attack on him. And, in so doing, they are enjoying their sense of moral superiority over her as well as their sense of having to put Jesus in a corner he can't easily escape from.
Nobody knows, of course, what Jesus was writing on the ground. In the ancient world, teachers often used to write or draw in the dust; that's how some of the great geometry teachers would explain things, in the days before chalkboards and overhead projectors. We can guess if we like; maybe he was writing lists of other sins, especially of those of the scribes and the Pharisees and their hypocrisy. Maybe he was making a point about sins of the eye and the heart; such as the log in their own eyes that we heard in the Gospel last week. Or possibly he was just doodling, treating their question with the contempt it deserved.
But his answer when it came, though apparently risky, was devastating. When you point the finger at someone else, there are three fingers pointing back at you. He hasn't said the law of Moses was wrong; only that, if we're going to get serious about it, we should all find ourselves guilty. And one by one they get the point and go away.
The story doesn't mean, as some people have tried to make it mean, that adultery doesn't matter. That's not the point at all. Jesus’ last words to the woman are extremely important. If she has been forgiven - if she's been rescued from imminent death - she must live by that forgiveness. Forgiveness is not the same thing as tolerance. Being forgiven doesn't mean that sin doesn't matter. On the contrary; forgiveness means that sin does matter - but the God is choosing to set it aside.
And the sin that matters even more, as the rest of the chapter makes clear, is the deep rooted sin which uses the God-given law as a means of making oneself out to be righteous, when in fact it is meant to shine the light of God's judgment into the dark places of the heart. By confronting sin, Jesus has put himself, literally, in the firing line from which he has just rescued the woman. Jesus has taken our place for the sin that we commit.
Ultimately, today’s Gospel is meant to show us that we do indeed need to call sin for what it is, but we should start with ourselves and fix ourselves instead of trying to fix each other. As I have said many times before, and as many have already probably heard before; if the church were perfect and sin-less, then no one would be allowed in!
Let us pray.
In today’s Gospel, we see Jesus being merciful toward the woman being accused of adultery, while pointing out that no man is with out sin. We ask that, by God’s grace, we too can be equally merciful and understanding. We pray to the Lord.
We pray when exposed to someone who we perceive to be “sinful”, that we remember that we too are sinful and in need of mercy. We pray to the Lord.
We pray for all who are sick, and for all who are grieving. May the Lord comfort them and bring them his love. We pray to the Lord..
We pray that we may be wise in our decision making. May we open our ears and hearts to hear the word of God. We pray to the Lord.
We pray for persecuted Christians being martyred in Africa by terrorists from the Islamic State. We pray to the Lord.
We pray for all who are sick or suffering, lonely or bereaved, that the Lord will bring healing to the sick, comfort to those in mourning, and light to those experiencing darkness. We pray to the Lord.
We ask that the Holy Spirit lead some benefactors to our humble parish and see our vision and invest in our ministry and parish so that we may have the financial wherewithal to continue our ministry. We also pray for vocations to the priesthood. We pray to the Lord.
For those on our parish prayer list, that they may receive swift answers to their needs and that they may find consolation through Christ’s healing presence. We pray to the Lord.
We bow our heads and remember in silence our own personal intentions and the intentions of those who have asked for our prayers (pause). We pray to the Lord.
Heavenly Father, when our wilderness journey ends and normalcy returns to our lives, remind us to look back and see where you carried us, deepened our faith and provided us with your loving care.
When suffering is the result of our own sin, inspire us to turn around, ask for help, accept your forgiveness and live a new life in your grace. We ask, reconciling God, that you make us a new creation by forgiving our sins and sending us out with a mission to be your ambassadors of love, peace and new life.
We pray for those who need to be reminded that there is healing in your presence and homecoming, because there is a home. We know there are times when we look upon others and their sin, prior to looking inside to our own. Give us understanding that we may make for better disciples and more generous in our forgiveness and keep our mouths and minds from hypocrisy. We ask all these things, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
God Love You.
The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Chapel
San Diego, CA.
As a small parish, we come to you all as beggars! All non-profits compete for your support, and many serve the community’s great needs, and we do not ask you to stop giving to them. But maybe one week or month, we ask that you consider a small donation to our humble parish. Your generous support also allows us to continue these important projects that fuel the movement of progressive Christianity. God will look on your donation grant you his grace in abundance! Thank you and God bless you! +++
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