Sermon 02.14.10 - "Caught in the Very Act"

Introduction

Around Valentine’s Day there are a lot of people who talk about love. Valentine’s Day is a shortened form of St. Valentine’s Day – but who is St. Valentine? The answer is that we don’t really know. There were two (maybe three) leaders in the early church whose name was Valentinus – Valentinus of Rome (martyred in 269 A.D.) and Valentinus of Terni (martyred in 197 A.D.). When it was first established as a holiday in 496 A.D. it had nothing to do with celebrating love or giving gifts to our loved ones. That tradition seems to have developed much later in England and France. Then in modern times a story about St. Valentinus was embellished by American Greeting, Inc. (a greeting card company - imagine that). Now more than one billion Valentine’s Day cards are sold (2nd only to Christmas) and men spend twice as much on cards as women do on those cards.

But love is not about Valentine’s Day or cards or flowers or chocolates – real love is so much deeper than that and expresses itself in so many ways. Love is what the Bible is all about, because, as the Bible says, “God is love”. Read 1 John 4:7-12. Wow! What a challenge we have before us – to learn about what real love is and to put it into practice in our daily lives.

We can know what love is in practical terms by looking closely at the life of Jesus and especially his interactions with various people. If we understand that Jesus always acted with love towards everyone, we can examine situations in Jesus’ life and we can learn a lot about love. Today, let's consider John 8:1-11; the woman caught in the act of adultery. Most early manuscripts do not have this story in John’s gospel, or any other gospel account for that matter. However, even if it is a later addition, it is certainly completely consistent with how Jesus acted and interacted with people.

Consider the Circumstances

Read John 8:1-2. Jesus was in the temple teaching the people who had come to him. He was in an completely public place that was open to all and there was, presumably, a large crowd gathered around him. What happened? Read John 8:3-6a. The Scribes and Pharisees lead a woman, who had been caught in the very act of adultery, into the midst of the crowd and stand her before Jesus. Try to picture the scene. The scribes and Pharisees were full of rage, both at the woman and Jesus. The woman, perhaps clothed in a bed sheet or a robe, was disheveled, frightened, ready to die of embarrassment and filled with shame and guilt. Probably a hush fell over crowd as they whispered finger-pointed and joked coarsely. Then the scribes and Pharisees made a pronouncement and asked a question: “In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women as these. So, what do you say?" Their motive was not obedience to the law or justice for the offended parties; they were using the woman to test and hopefully trap Jesus. Can you feel the tension, the anticipation, the anger and even the self-righteousness?

What does Jesus do? Read John 8:6b-11. He stooped down and scratched away with his finger on the ground! What was he doing? Why was he ignoring the religious leaders as they continued to question him, yet he remained unmoved? When, finally, he looked up he said to them, “The one among you without fault (sin), let him be the first to cast a stone.” And he bent his head down again and wrote on the ground! What was he writing? Many have speculated that he wrote a list of sins on the ground – lying, cheating, lust, overindulgence, anger, self-righteousness. And that may be, but given what Jesus was about to say, I would rather think he wrote things like: faithfulness, mercy, kindness, love, forgiveness or patience.

There was a silence among the crowd – no one was speaking. Who would make the next move? One-by-one, the scribes and Pharisees started leaving, with the older men going first. Finally only Jesus was left (presumably the crowd was still there), alone with the woman standing right where the religious leaders had left her. “Where are they?” Jesus asked. “Does no one condemn you?”She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and from now on, sin no longer.” If you are the woman, what are thinking and feeling at this moment? What do you do? If you’re in the crowd, having seen all this, what are you feeling and thinking?

Consider the Implications

The response of the scribes and Pharisees was far too typical of them. But before we get too critical and self-righteous towards these religious leaders, think about our own reactions to those who sin in ways that we don’t. Think about drug use, child abuse, driving under the influence, assault, bribery, fraud or robbery. How quick are we to criticize, judge and condemn? Aren’t we often ready to be prosecuting attorney, judge and jury all in one?

Is our first response, one of grace or one of law? How about when it is a Christian who is “caught in the very act” of sin? And it isn’t just the religious who are often quick to judge, but it is an all too human response; it is self-elevating and it is hypocritical. For when those who constantly denounce people of faith and pass judgment on them as hypocrites are they not acting as hypocrites themselves? Are they not trying to justify their own lack of faith by criticizing and condemning those, who though imperfect, are at least trying to follow Jesus.

The scribes and Pharisees had no compassion for this woman and no concern for her soul or her relationship with God. In exposing her sin, they weren’t trying to help her – they didn’t care about her at all. They cared only for themselves and tried to justify their lives and their theology.

The woman was caught in the very act! She was a sinner – absolutely guilty of sin - as she stood there wrapped in a bed sheet or a robe, disheveled and still reeking of her sin. What could she say? But what can we say? We are that woman – each and every one of us. We have been caught in the act, over and over and over again. God knows exactly what we have thought, said and done this week – every slanderous thought, every angry word and every lustful look. Nothing is hidden from his sight. We can say nothing in our defense. We made choices. We gave into temptation. We are guilty of spiritual adultery, as we choose sin and self over God!

But then there is Jesus with a love that is in perfect balance: honesty without condemnation, truth with grace. Love puts us all in the same boat – we’re all sinners; no one is better than another – "Let him who is without sin be the first to cast a stone at her!" Honesty – Jesus confronts and exposes sin, not to shame or embarrass or humiliate, but to help us overcome our self-deception and see our need for God. He was honest with the scribes and Pharisees as he called upon them to see their self-righteousness, hypocrisy and lack of love. He was honest with the woman – she was guilty, caught in the act, and had no excuse; he doesn’t excuse her sin or feel sorry for her. But he did extend grace – “Go and from now on sin no longer!” He gave her another chance – he forgave her adultery and he called her to live for righteousness and not for sin. Love is honest enough to confront with the truth but graceful enough to forgive and show others a different way to live.

Conclusion

Can you see yourself there? Do you understand and accept that you are the woman? You were caught in the very act of sinning and Satan and his demons have dragged you before the throne of God and his angels. They are screaming and appealing to the word of God, “This person is a sinner and sinners must die!” But Jesus says, “I am the only one who can judge, because I alone am without sin and I say to you, ‘Go and from now on sin no more.’”

Think about how you, this week, have been that woman. What sin did Satan catch you in the very act of doing? What accusations did he bring against you? What scriptures did he use to try to convince God that you are worthy only of judgment and condemnation? Have you heard Jesus say, "Where are they? Has no one condemned you?" Have you heard him offer you grace and say, "Go now and sin no more"? How have you responded to the honesty and forgiveness of God this week?