SEPTEMBER 24th, 2023 PASTOR DON PIEPER
ONE AT A TIME Ephesians 4:26-32 / John 8:1-11
“THE POWER OF GRACE”
Claudia, and I have talked about writing a book about our years in ministry. Don't worry, we'll change the names to protect the guilty – I mean, the innocent. A possible title: “God Sent Who...?”
When we do I might include a prologue covering my early years serving in Kansas... I led a small group Bible study there for young adults, as I was a young adult myself at the time. If our youth group heard that they'd probably wonder when that was – the Jurassic or Paleozoic era?
At one point, some of the couples were having babies and one couple named their baby girl, Grace. Such a pretty name, and such beautiful baby – at least when she was asleep, but when she woke up or got hungry - look out! Boy, could she scream! It didn't matter how heart-warming the conversation was, or moving the text, when little Grace tested the range of her tiny lungs and let loose, she always brought the conversation to a complete stand still! That was the power of Grace!
So goes the prologue. But what about the power of God's grace? The grace Jesus embodies and offers has the power to silence our fears and shame, anger and angst, sin and regret.
The story we just read from John 8 is a classic example. Here we meet a woman in a world of hurt, full of shame and regret. We know very little about her other than she's been caught in the act of adultery, which meant that she was married and was 'found' with another man. According to the Mishnah, the oral tradition of Mosaic Law, the sentence for her crime was to be stoned to death.
The circumstances here are a little suspicious. For instance, how is it that she got caught? She knew the lethal consequences. No doubt she and her lover had been discreet. It seems someone had it out for her. After all, where's her cheating partner? Why isn't her lover being held accountable as well? Something' s kind of fishy here – and it's not flounder, it smells more like scapegoat.
So, they drag her through the streets and drop her to the ground in front of the crowds gathered to hear Jesus teach. She's never felt more alone and vulnerable - which is saying a lot because she must have felt that way all the time. Considering the dire risks of adultery in her time and culture one must assume that her marriage was a deeply lonely and unhappy one. Maybe her husband was never home, or maybe he was emotionally or physically abusive, or maybe he was simply one cold fish...!
So desperate was she for affirmation and affection that she found herself crossing a line, and then another..., until she found herself half-naked and humiliated, there in the temple courtyard, with all of her neighbors and friends a-gaping and a-whispering: (It's shameful, disgusting, such a tramp....)
That's when she heard one of her accusers speak. “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The Law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” (John 8:4-5)
Can you sense their anger? Everyone in the crowd sure could. It must've prompted a lot of murmuring. More accusations & angst. Others began looking for a rock to throw. Anger feeds anger.
Anger has a way of stirring up those around us. It's what psychologists call, The Anger Band-wagon Effect. Anger is a contagion that feeds on itself and spreads. It's visible in cases of road rage and it has become increasingly evident in our culture as people have become so angry with each other.
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It's evident in the increasing need for more anger management classes, the spike in cases of domestic violence, in how our schools have become war zones, and the rise of trolls on social media.
Psychiatrists note that when we hold on to anger and bitterness toward someone it has a way of leaking out and infecting our other relationships. It's called transference. Unresolved anger has a way of forming into a wall we build around our heart so no one else can hurt us, but in the process, we not only pass on the hurt to those closest to us, but we entrap ourselves in that hurt and anger smolders.
So, who makes you angry? The relative who hurt you growing up? The spouse who deceived you? The peer who insulted you? Your boss? Your neighbor? Those democrats? Those republicans?
Jesus, and his apostles who learned from him, made it clear that angrily pointing out a person's sins never leads to repentance and transformation. One of the great fallacies repeated among Christians today is the expression, “love the sinner but hate the sin”, but mostly what comes across is a hatred of the sinner. As a result, we Christians are sadly known more for what we're against than what we're for.
In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talked about how we're to treat others, and warned against the gravity of anger. Jesus quotes the commandment that condemns murder and then declared, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.” (Matthew 5:22)
He's saying that unresolved anger, anger that lashes out and slaps a label on another person in order to judge and condemn them, is liable to the same judgement as a murderer. That's how serious it is. Trained in that mindset Paul writes: “Don't sin by letting anger control you..., for anger gives a foothold to the devil. So get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words and slander!”
(Ephesians 4:26-7, 31)
So, here's this woman, caught in the act, lying at Jesus' feet, and what is Jesus doing? Not much. John tells us he's scribbling something in the dirt. Scholars love to debate what he might've been writing. The woman's name? The sins of the religious guys? Doodling a fish? Who knows! But one thing's clear, his doodling slows everything down. John makes a note of mentioning it twice. First, when they dump her there, in a angry attempt to entrap him. And then again after he pauses, lifting his head to answer them, we're told he again starts to scribble.
His scribbling initially forces them to wait for his response. How often would we do well to likewise slow down when we're angry? Instead of adding your two cents worth to that post that triggers your anger, or raising your voice in protest to a comment or action that pushes your button, slow down.
Jesus scribbles again after giving them something to think about: “Whoever among you who is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) Having said that he gets back to his fingerpainting, giving them a chance to mull that over and then one by one, they drop 'em....
Their acknowledgement that they have no right to throw stones starts with the one dropping his.
It starts with one at a time slowing down and letting it go. What if that first one was you next time?
It's a powerful moment. They realize, as should we, that when we want others to get what they justly deserve, we're to remember that the same applies to us! Thankfully Jesus assures us, those who cling to him, will not be getting what we justly deserve. After all, who of us isn't guilty of acting or speaking out of anger on occasion? Jesus was clear, doing so just once, makes us liable to judgment.
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So it is that this broken, sinful woman, lifts her brow-beaten head and looks around. And what does she see? She sees Jesus doodling in the dirt. Their eyes meet and then Jesus asks this wonderful question: “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” (John 8:10)
She looks around. Her accusers have scampered. All the stones are back where they belong – on the ground. Even the crowd is slowly dispersing. Who's condemned her? “No one, sir.”
(John 8:11)
Their eyes meet again and there she sees what she's been missing, what she so desperately needs - instead of condemnation there is only compassion. Her heart is melting. All remnants of entitlement are dissipating. And he says, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11)
It's not condemnation, it's an invitation! That's the power of grace - the chance to start anew, a second chance, not based on goodness or privilege or political savvy, but on God's powerful grace. It's a moment mirrored by so many other stories in the gospels. With Jesus, every story of destruction has a chance to end in celebration. With Jesus, something broken can become beautiful, one story at a time, as one person at a time experiences forgiveness and compassion instead of judgment & condemnation.
What we see here in action is the all too human tendency to be hypercritical and judgmental of those whose struggle is different than our own. Her accusers thought her sin defined her, that she was her worst mistake, that her transgression diluted her value, that it made her disposable & undesirable.
How prone are we to the same. Just this week a Seattle police officer was caught on camera joking that a woman who was killed by a police cruiser had “limited value”, and that the city should just “write a check”. The victim's diminished value was due to her ethnicity. How we like to judge.
As Jesus' ambassadors we are called to acts of compassion not condemnation. We are to be conduits of God's grace instead of malice. We are, as Paul put it, “to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
Jesus makes it clear here as elsewhere that God loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to leave you that way, and the way he moves you in a new way is thru His powerful grace.
I recently watched a documentary in which a man was convicted of murdering a young couple in cold blood. The victims' families were given an opportunity to address him before the court. The mother of the young woman he killed stood up and approached the bench and then told him that though she agreed with the jury of his guilt and it's consequences, she herself had no malice for him, that she forgave him and wished him well. The man shuddered, and then crumpled in a torrent of tears, before saying, “How can you do that? I stole from you that which is most precious to you?”
“I can”, she replied, “because through Jesus Christ, God has forgiven me of all the hurtful things I've done, as undeserving as I am. I pray you will come to know the same, to experience the power of his undeserving love and grace for you. After all, you, too, are his beloved child!”
It's not your words of correction, or your anger, or your bitter silence, that can redeem a grievous hurt, much less change your heart or those who hurt you, but the second chance of grace! So
be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)
This is the hope to which we cling, and the means by which we most resemble the one we seek to follow and emulate, and through whom Lives can be transformed, one act of grace at a time!