"The Unexpected Jesus: Forgiveness"
Dean AngellMarch 22/23, 2003
So let me set the scene. A woman was caught right in the act of adultery - maybe she was sleeping with someone else's husband. Maybe they were in the heat of an affair. Or maybe she was a prostitute - someone who earned a living from a life of sin..Either way, she was caught (right in the act). And not just caught by anyone - but by a couple religious leaders in her church. And they told their friends and now all of them knew..And they were right. They had her..they were always so right and proper..
Now, of course she knew what it meant to be "caught" as well. She knew what the Jewish law said, that she should be publicly shamed and then taken outside the city where the whole religious community would hit her with stones until she was dead. Now, realistically, it hadn't happened in a while but this time it looked like they were serious. And after all, she was so obviously guilty..
Man was she guilty. She'd been guilty as long as she could remember, and now they were gonna tell Jesus. Now to her, he was just another religious leader (although she had heard he was different than the rest). That sets the stage..
Now, in this story there are clearly 3 people that I want to talk about this weekend..
#1 - Pharisees
Religious leaders of the day..they were well-educated, highly respected by the community, very pious - but also incredibly rule driven. They were all about doing the right thing at the right time..right down to the last detail. They were squeaky clean. Black is black, white is white - and there was no tolerance outside of their list of rules. And I mean no tolerance. Now, we immediately in this story tend not to like these guys..they seem so mean, so angry, so harsh, so cut and dried. But you gotta remember..they were in the right and they had been violated. And this woman's breech of their law made them angry and hurt..They had every right to be doing exactly what they were doing.
They had been hurt, and they were gonna take the rocks in their hands and kill her..And if Jesus didn't take vengeance they were gonna.
Key point here - they were far more interested in what she had done than who she was as a human being. Their hate for her sin/violation caused them to not see any value in her humanness/personhood.
#2 - The Woman
Again, I will state the obvious. She had been caught in the act...no need for a trial. No need for a jury. No guilty verdict needed. And she knew it and so did they..Now it doesn't say a lot about her. She could have been a wonderful woman who simply had gone astray, or maybe she made a set of bad choices, and ended up hurting those people around her, and obviously hurting the people she loved. (This is always the view I had of her until this week..) I felt sorry for her..but then I got thinking. What if this story wasn't so clear (good guys and bad guys).
What if it was a little more hazy than that. See..life isn't always crystal clear. Life is often a little foggy when it comes to motives and hurt and pain and actions. Maybe she was arrogant in her sin and didn't care about the marriages and homes she had been breaking. (Maybe there was a long string of them.) Maybe she had been living a life that clearly damaged others and herself for years. And maybe she didn't care anymore that she was guilty..because she didn't know any other way of life. Think about that. But to be honest, even the hardest of sinners - when their sin is made public and their reputation is dragged through the streets..When they are facing not only humiliation but possible death for their crime..even the most arrogant people realize their guilt at that moment.
Key point - her sin clouded her view of life and God and the church.
#3 - Jesus
Then there is Jesus, an innocent bystander thrown into the whirlwind of this real life drama. And his response is very public. There was likely a fairly large crowd with him.
(American Idol/Survivor - your performance in the moment gets you voted on or off.) This was clearly a voting moment for people watching Jesus' life. Would his walk match his talk or not? Jesus had to do the right thing..
before God and man..Always a tough spot to be in. And now he was right in the middle of it with a woman's life hanging in the balance.
So here's the question - What would you have done? Really. (That's the question I've been asking myself this week.) We all say we'd be like Jesus..
But in order to make it real, I had to fast forward it to 2003 and our lives.
So let's play this out. We gave you a rock when you came in for a reason - because we want you to feel this deeper. Hold onto it. Feel the weight of it! Now let's talk about real life. Maybe you have been hurt and/or violated in your life by someone else's sin..by someone who made a choice to do wrong and their choice hurt you deeply. Or maybe your husband or wife cheated on you..or left you or abused you, and now you're alone with a ton of responsibility and more baggage than you know what to do with. And you hate them, and you hate what they did to you. Or maybe you were raised in a home where dysfunctional would be the only way to describe it.
And dysfunction has many levels. It could have been alcoholism that led to sexual abuse or physical abuse or it could have been a controlling parent that has led to your lack of self-esteem as an adult. Or it could have just been rules with no love. Pick anyone you like..And what's left is a child who grows into an adult with a backpack full of unwanted baggage..and there are days when you hate them for it..
Or maybe your business partner took money from you. Or your boss fired you or your prof failed you or maybe your spouse's words just wound you more and more every day. Maybe that's you and you've got a rock in your hand right now. Squeeze it. That rock represents what you're holding. Anger, bitterness, rage, hatred, judgment. And you would love to have an opportunity to figure out what to do with it and what it represents. Hold it or throw it or drop it. That could be you.
Or maybe you've got that rock in your hand and you're on the other end. You're the guilty one..You know what the woman in this story feels like. You understand regret and guilt and shame..because you live with it every day. Maybe you're the one who left the marriage or walked out on your kids..or allowed your anger to control your actions too many times - and now you've got broken relationships all over your broken family.Or maybe you did the cheating..and you can relate clearly to this woman. You've felt the shame and guilt that goes along with way too many partners and way too many mornings waking up - wondering if what that was was real love...and knowing that it wasn't. And you're sitting here today holding that rock - knowing that you've been guilty and you know what shame and regret feels like. Man do you know. Well, hold on to that thought and your rock...let's look at what Jesus did.
So very quickly, Jesus came up with a solution. He saw inside the people - knew where they were coming from and knew what to do..check it out..He started writing in the dust with his finger..Kinda strange, because it doesn't say what he wrote, or even if what he wrote had anything to do with the situation. It just says that he wrote in the dust - could have been that he was just ignoring them - hoping they would go away..Could have been that he was buying time so that he would know what to do. Or it could be that he wrote a message. See, I think he wrote very pertinent information on the ground that morning. A couple things come to mind. He could have started writing the 10 commandments..knowing full well that even those good Jewish boys had broken a few of them. Or maybe he started listing off some of their sins - pride, greed, arrogance, lack of love, selfishness..and wrote those words on the ground. Either way, it got their attention and then he said, "All right, stone her. But let those who have never sinned throw the first one." His point was simple, really. Their role was not to judge or to deal with this sinner by condemning them to a life of shame or even death. That wasn't their job. And folks (hear this), that's not our role either, no matter what someone has done to us. God's role is to judge. In fact, Jesus clearly said it in another place.."Judge not or you too will be judged"..By the way.."If you want to start playing God, you'd better be perfect/sinless yourself.." Because that's the only one who gets to judge! Jesus said if you've never sinned, go ahead and judge. But if you've ever needed forgiveness and mercy for your actions, maybe that should govern the way we respond to somebody else..
Folks do you hear the lesson in there for us? This stuff hit me so clearly between the eyes this week. We have got to learn to forgive. We've got to learn to let go. We've got to quit playing judge. Instead of looking at them, look at us..inside.
Jesus had this incredible way of keeping the values he held..even under extreme pressure. Yes, I know the law says kill her..judge her..condemn her..but I say, show mercy and grace and forgiveness and compassion.because sooner or later we all need forgiving..Mercy and forgiveness always must overpower bitterness and hate. See - Jesus knew that holding that anger inside and then acting out of bitterness and hatred would not only create much damage for the woman but also in their lives..as they threw those rocks.
Folks, do you have any idea the incredible toll that holding bitterness and hatred inside takes on you? I mean, how is holding that hate against the person who offended you or hurt you or damaged you in the past helping your life? Is it allowing you to live free and have great joy and be able to enjoy the blessing of life? Or does it cause hurt and tears and frustration in your life and the lives of those around you who now get hurt by your anger and pain as you lash out? Nearly every week for 15 years I have sat in my office with someone who is hurting..And you know what? It's real. The pain is incredibly raw and real. But the other side of it is this..In every situation holding onto that hurt and hate is way more damaging than the original sin was (multiplied by several years).
Here's what Jesus said to them and I think he'd say it today..You've got a rock in your hands - go ahead. Throw it. Take vengeance. Hurt them back..but it will create a lot more damage in your life than it will for them. And before you throw it, look at your own life, because you too probably need love and grace and forgiveness for your follies as well. (Let's move on)
It's interesting to play it out..because it says the accusers slipped away quietly..beginning with the oldest first..until they all went away. They dropped their rocks..when they saw the damage they were about to cause and when they had a good look at their own need for forgiveness and compassion. Interesting that the older ones went first..I think there's something to it. See, the longer you hold hate and hurt and judgment, the more you realize how heavy it is..the more real the pain - the more costly the price of holding it is. Hear this..
Folks, if that's you and God is talking to you - drop your rock (really). Don't hold on to the anger/hurt and pain and hate any more..Let it go - and walk away, and let a new day - a new era of your life begin.
This next part is the best..clear picture of who God is in Jesus..
After all the guys leave, it's only Jesus and the woman left in the middle of the crowd, and he simply says, "Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you? Neither do I. Go and sin no more."
I've got this visual in my mind of a woman who has been dragged through the city by a mob of people - publicly accusing her of sexual sin..
She's embarrassed..she's sick and tired of her life..She's crying and sitting on the ground. She's ashamed and she's unbelievably guilty - guilty - guilty..And I can see Jesus - just lift her head. Where did they go? You're not gonna die this day, and not like this..Not with all that weight on your shoulders and regret in your heart. And so he says..go...and live this day different than you did yesterday.
See, notice Jesus didn't ignore or condemn or (wink and nod) at her sin. He told her to leave her life of sin as he forgave her. Some of us need to hear this clearly today. If you are knowingly walking away from God's plan in your life - and if you are clearly choosing a life of sin - instead of walking on God's path..If that's you - stop. Hear this next couple minutes. You're in danger of damaging your soul..See, you've got this rock in your hand..and some of you right now are feeling incredibly aware of your sin. Well, today's a great day to let it go..to let Jesus look right into your heart and clean up that stuff for good no matter what you have done. (Drop it!)
Last week - communion..quoted Isaiah.
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
"As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:12)
People, the heart of Jesus is all about forgiveness and compassion and love. And today if you need that, if you've gotta let go of something you've done - then let it go. Put down that rock and receive his forgiveness. It is incredibly real and so freeing..
Last group - you're holding a rock and you're not bitter towards anyone..nor have you hurt anyone or sinned so that you need to be released from it..Good folks - following God. Here's a challenge for you. People, we are constantly going to be placed in situations in your life where you can apply truths from this story. You can condemn or you can forgive. You can judge or you can give grace. You can hate or you can show compassion. And my point is simple. When you choose love and grace and mercy and compassion..when you choose to forgive, you are being Jesus to the people around you..You have within your power the ability to lift someone's head and look into their heart and pour God's love into them. You have the ability to help God erase shame and guilt and sin from people's lives..simply by not condemning - by not judging - but by showering them with His love and grace and compassion. "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8)
In a couple weeks we're gonna hear about another woman's face to face encounter with Jesus and how Jesus overlooked racial and religious barriers in order to show love and forgiveness. You know, we church folks have got lots to learn about seeing people as Jesus did, and about intentionally stepping out of our comfort zones to show his love..because sometimes when we just stay in our own circles and groups..safely inside the church..
by that simple act (which seems quite spiritual) we are actually judging those outside the church. Often it is by our inaction that we show our lack of love.
Folks - real community is about including everyone - loving everyone - and showering this city with compassion and mercy and love and grace..No matter who they are - no matter what they have done - no matter what their background or skin color or salary..Real community is about everybody owning it together. No boundaries, no barriers. That's what Jesus was about and that's the kind of church he's called us to be. And you know what? That's the kind of church we are. Every week - love expressed through your lives..Love expressed through your living out your faith. Every week here at Lakeview, love is covering a multitude of sins. And every week he's calling us to be more like himself..full of love and grace and forgiveness and laughter.
