WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.000 Just before I start this morning, Anne and Kim are going to hand round stones. I'd like to encourage each one of you to take a stone. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:27.960 And don't worry, I'm not going to invite a stoning session at some point this morning. Please don't be alarmed, although you might feel you want to stone me after I've preached, I don't know. 00:00:28.259 --> 00:00:42.140 Anyway, all will be revealed. I just encourage you to take one and to hold it and feel its weight in your hand. And as I preach, as I say, all will be revealed. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:48.439 While Kim and Anne are doing that, I'll just pray. 00:00:51.380 --> 00:00:57.060 Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you for your word. 00:00:58.620 --> 00:01:10.960 And we thank you for the many encounters that took place between you and people that are portrayed for us in your words. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:19.079 And we think particularly this morning of the dear, condemned, sinful woman. 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:32.399 And Lord, I pray that you would pour out your spirit upon us and speak to each one of us as we think about this passage, as we look into it. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:40.219 May we learn more about you and our relationship with you and with each other. 00:01:40.880 --> 00:01:43.800 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:50.180 So I'll just make a start while Kim and Anne continue. 00:01:51.640 --> 00:01:54.980 So Jesus is in the temple teaching. 00:01:54.980 --> 00:02:00.400 Let's just try and picture it. 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:08.259 The crowd is overflowing, drawn to this man who amazingly turns water into wine. 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:12.800 He feeds 5,000 and he heals the sick. 00:02:13.240 --> 00:02:15.039 He's the talk of Jerusalem. 00:02:16.120 --> 00:02:18.060 But not everyone is thrilled. 00:02:18.900 --> 00:02:22.219 Enter the Pharisees and the scribes. 00:02:22.219 --> 00:02:25.539 They're not there to listen or learn. 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:28.240 They're there to trap Jesus. 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:33.460 They burst onto the scene, dragging a woman caught in adultery. 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:37.879 Now, the first question is, where is the man? 00:02:38.819 --> 00:02:44.340 The law in Leviticus and Deuteronomy requires both parties to be brought forward. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:46.900 But he's noticeably absent. 00:02:46.900 --> 00:02:53.020 But of course, the Pharisees aren't really interested in justice. 00:02:53.420 --> 00:02:57.659 They're using this woman as a pawn to corner Jesus. 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:04.879 It's dehumanizing and wrong to use someone's pain for your own agenda. 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:07.580 And we see it all the time. 00:03:07.740 --> 00:03:15.099 In politics, in the media, social circles, places of work, everywhere. 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:18.859 Imagine, for a moment, the woman's terror. 00:03:20.180 --> 00:03:24.939 She's been dragged from a private moment into public shame. 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:27.340 Every eye is on her. 00:03:27.939 --> 00:03:29.780 What must that feel like? 00:03:30.019 --> 00:03:31.359 How did they catch her? 00:03:31.780 --> 00:03:37.680 They must have been peeping in windows instead of feeding the poor or helping widows. 00:03:38.079 --> 00:03:41.060 Instead of addressing the oppression of their people, 00:03:41.060 --> 00:03:44.640 they were more concerned with who was in whose bed. 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:49.659 Too often, we as Christians act like the Pharisees, 00:03:49.979 --> 00:03:57.120 more focused on judging personal lives than doing God's work of justice and compassion. 00:03:58.460 --> 00:04:00.480 So who is this woman? 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:07.060 Last week, Mike talked to us about a man who was little, loaded and loathed. 00:04:07.060 --> 00:04:09.099 And he was called Zacchaeus. 00:04:09.740 --> 00:04:13.159 After meeting Jesus, he turned his life around. 00:04:14.020 --> 00:04:16.540 Now, we don't know the height of our woman. 00:04:16.980 --> 00:04:19.560 We don't know how much wealth she had. 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:22.620 And we don't know if people hated her. 00:04:22.819 --> 00:04:25.100 We're not even told her name. 00:04:25.980 --> 00:04:29.639 But we know that with the Pharisees making her sin public, 00:04:30.180 --> 00:04:34.579 she would have been embarrassed, humiliated and ashamed. 00:04:34.579 --> 00:04:39.519 The Pharisees throw the woman before Jesus, demanding, 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:41.099 what do you say? 00:04:41.659 --> 00:04:43.639 The law says to stone her. 00:04:44.419 --> 00:04:45.779 They think they've trapped him. 00:04:46.219 --> 00:04:49.800 If he condemns her, he loses the crowd's favour. 00:04:50.339 --> 00:04:54.699 If he shows mercy, they can accuse him of breaking the law. 00:04:55.419 --> 00:04:57.719 But Jesus doesn't take the bait. 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:01.639 Instead, he stoops and writes in the dirt. 00:05:01.639 --> 00:05:07.819 And scholars have debated for centuries about what he actually wrote. 00:05:08.360 --> 00:05:11.860 Maybe he was listing the sins of the Pharisees. 00:05:12.339 --> 00:05:16.500 Maybe he was just doodling to disengage from their antics. 00:05:17.180 --> 00:05:19.419 Personally, I like to think he wrote, 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:20.719 Where's the man? 00:05:21.919 --> 00:05:25.779 Whatever he wrote, it made them squirm. 00:05:25.779 --> 00:05:28.579 And then they press him again. 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:33.139 And he stands and delivers that famous, well-known line. 00:05:33.799 --> 00:05:39.639 Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone. 00:05:40.479 --> 00:05:43.279 Imagine the tension in that moment. 00:05:44.500 --> 00:05:46.939 Stones are gripped even tighter. 00:05:47.659 --> 00:05:49.059 The crowd is silent. 00:05:49.619 --> 00:05:53.379 And then one by one, the stones thud to the ground. 00:05:53.379 --> 00:05:58.180 We have self-righteousness versus righteousness. 00:05:59.180 --> 00:06:01.899 Self-righteousness separates us from others, 00:06:02.139 --> 00:06:06.100 while righteousness connects us to God and each other. 00:06:06.939 --> 00:06:10.219 The Pharisees embodied self-righteousness, 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:15.360 using their scriptures as binoculars to scrutinise others, 00:06:15.939 --> 00:06:19.180 rather than as a mirror to reflect on themselves. 00:06:19.180 --> 00:06:21.699 As Walter Brueggemann puts it, 00:06:21.800 --> 00:06:26.120 The word of God is a mirror, not a magnifying glass. 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:32.139 To read the Bible as a mirror is to place ourselves in the story. 00:06:32.939 --> 00:06:37.360 For example, one day when I was reading Matthew chapter 26, 00:06:37.860 --> 00:06:39.500 when Jesus announces, 00:06:39.939 --> 00:06:43.720 One of you who breaks bread with me will betray me. 00:06:43.720 --> 00:06:47.840 From a window approach, looking in, I feel safe. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:49.820 I know exactly who Jesus means. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:50.620 It's Judas. 00:06:51.520 --> 00:06:55.540 But the mirror approach places me at that table. 00:06:56.100 --> 00:06:59.740 I can smell the fresh bread and the scent of the wine. 00:07:00.220 --> 00:07:02.220 I'm looking around at the disciples, 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:04.740 and suddenly I'm part of the story. 00:07:05.380 --> 00:07:09.580 I'm no longer detached, thinking someone else has failed. 00:07:09.579 --> 00:07:11.800 Instead, I'm asking, 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:15.240 I wonder if it's me, have I failed? 00:07:16.359 --> 00:07:19.079 Now, the focus isn't about our shortcomings, 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:22.300 but about the abundant grace of God. 00:07:23.939 --> 00:07:26.699 Imagine this in John chapter 8. 00:07:26.799 --> 00:07:30.079 You're standing there with your stone in your hands, 00:07:30.139 --> 00:07:32.560 which you've got to help you imagine. 00:07:33.039 --> 00:07:36.819 The woman is on the ground, humiliated and scared. 00:07:36.819 --> 00:07:41.199 You feel the rough surface of the stone in your palm, 00:07:41.740 --> 00:07:44.379 its weight, familiar and heavy. 00:07:45.420 --> 00:07:46.860 Jesus looks at you. 00:07:47.500 --> 00:07:48.959 His eyes meet yours, 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:53.579 and you can't tell whether they're filled with sadness or understanding. 00:07:54.539 --> 00:07:56.060 What does he see? 00:07:56.860 --> 00:08:01.719 What does he know about the weight of the stone that you're carrying? 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:04.420 The shift is profound. 00:08:04.420 --> 00:08:07.379 Rather than putting others on trial, 00:08:07.840 --> 00:08:11.800 the mirror approach makes us all active participants. 00:08:12.840 --> 00:08:16.400 It challenges us to see ourselves as the Pharisees, 00:08:16.540 --> 00:08:19.080 holding stones in our hands. 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:21.300 It makes us ask, 00:08:21.920 --> 00:08:26.139 where am I clinging to judgment instead of offering grace? 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:30.519 When the Pharisees slink away, 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:32.340 Jesus turns to the woman, 00:08:33.139 --> 00:08:34.620 where are your accusers? 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:36.840 Has no one condemned you? 00:08:37.580 --> 00:08:38.740 She replies, 00:08:39.139 --> 00:08:40.100 no one, Lord. 00:08:40.980 --> 00:08:42.240 And Jesus says, 00:08:42.779 --> 00:08:44.819 neither do I condemn you. 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:47.120 Go and sin no more. 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:50.500 This moment is transformative, 00:08:51.179 --> 00:08:53.759 both for the woman and for us. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:56.939 It reminds me of Les Miserables, 00:08:57.139 --> 00:09:00.240 when Jean Valjean steals silver from a bishop, 00:09:00.980 --> 00:09:02.639 and instead of condemning him, 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:04.720 the bishop gives him more. 00:09:05.240 --> 00:09:09.799 That single act of grace changes Valjean's life forever. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:14.600 Grace has that power to restore and transform. 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:18.360 Jesus doesn't ignore the woman's sin, 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:21.759 but he offers her a new path forward. 00:09:22.500 --> 00:09:25.200 He sees her not as a sinner to condemn, 00:09:25.860 --> 00:09:28.000 but as a person to restore. 00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:32.560 And God sees each and every one of us here this morning 00:09:32.560 --> 00:09:34.259 as people to restore. 00:09:35.180 --> 00:09:37.800 God's in the restoration business. 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:41.019 We can see that throughout the Bible. 00:09:41.019 --> 00:09:45.039 It says in Joel chapter 2, verse 25, 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:49.299 I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten. 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:53.419 God doesn't just restore, he redeems. 00:09:54.939 --> 00:09:59.159 I wonder how the woman's life turned out after this encounter. 00:09:59.860 --> 00:10:03.860 Her life now free of guilt, condemnation, and shame. 00:10:03.860 --> 00:10:07.500 Jesus had set her free and restored her. 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:12.720 She walks away accepted, loved, and forgiven. 00:10:13.340 --> 00:10:15.440 Grace has won the day. 00:10:16.620 --> 00:10:20.500 Think about how grace transforms our own lives. 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:23.759 Maybe there was a time when someone forgave you 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:25.399 when you didn't deserve it. 00:10:25.779 --> 00:10:28.820 Or maybe you've seen the healing that comes 00:10:28.820 --> 00:10:30.460 when you choose to forgive. 00:10:30.460 --> 00:10:34.040 Grace doesn't erase what happened, 00:10:34.620 --> 00:10:37.600 but it opens the door to what can be. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:43.180 So what stones are we holding? 00:10:44.139 --> 00:10:47.560 Maybe it's a grudge against someone who wronged you. 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:50.960 Maybe it's judgment against someone 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:53.620 whose choices you don't really agree with. 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:58.080 Maybe it's a hurt you can't seem to let go of. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:01.720 Whatever it is, that stone is heavy. 00:11:02.160 --> 00:11:03.620 It's weighing you down. 00:11:04.139 --> 00:11:07.020 You can feel the weight of it in your hand. 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:10.040 Imagine it carrying every grudge, 00:11:10.280 --> 00:11:11.080 every judgment, 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:13.860 every hurt you've struggled to release. 00:11:14.900 --> 00:11:16.440 Forgiveness is a process, 00:11:16.800 --> 00:11:19.580 and healing can take time sometimes. 00:11:20.220 --> 00:11:21.220 And that's okay. 00:11:21.220 --> 00:11:23.580 In a moment, 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:25.899 I'm going to invite you to come forward 00:11:25.899 --> 00:11:30.040 and lay your stone at the foot of the cross, 00:11:30.180 --> 00:11:32.639 the place where it needs to be left. 00:11:33.500 --> 00:11:35.100 If you would like to, 00:11:35.580 --> 00:11:38.420 this can be your act of letting go 00:11:38.420 --> 00:11:40.980 of grudges, judgments, 00:11:41.800 --> 00:11:44.420 failings, hurts, or pain. 00:11:44.419 --> 00:11:47.740 Or if you'd rather take it home, 00:11:48.740 --> 00:11:49.399 please do. 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:52.799 Let it remind you of this wonderful encounter 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:54.360 of Jesus and the woman 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:57.620 and his call to grace and growth. 00:11:58.659 --> 00:12:00.719 As you lay your stone down, 00:12:01.099 --> 00:12:03.659 think about what it represents for you. 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:05.139 Picture it, 00:12:05.579 --> 00:12:06.620 feel its weight, 00:12:07.439 --> 00:12:08.799 and let it go. 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:11.439 The stones we carry 00:12:11.439 --> 00:12:13.039 don't just hurt ourselves, 00:12:13.699 --> 00:12:14.419 hurt others, 00:12:14.539 --> 00:12:15.579 they hurt us. 00:12:15.959 --> 00:12:18.039 Their weight drags us down, 00:12:18.599 --> 00:12:20.459 and Jesus invites us 00:12:20.459 --> 00:12:21.559 to put them down, 00:12:21.939 --> 00:12:23.679 to lay aside judgment 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:25.740 and embrace grace. 00:12:26.620 --> 00:12:28.339 That's his invitation, 00:12:28.719 --> 00:12:30.659 to trade judgment for joy, 00:12:31.500 --> 00:12:33.439 condemnation for compassion, 00:12:34.079 --> 00:12:36.299 and burdens for blessing. 00:12:36.299 --> 00:12:39.559 What might your relationships 00:12:39.559 --> 00:12:41.539 look like without the weight 00:12:41.539 --> 00:12:42.179 of judgment? 00:12:43.199 --> 00:12:44.939 How might your heart feel 00:12:44.939 --> 00:12:47.759 without the burden of grudges? 00:12:48.959 --> 00:12:51.479 Jesus shows us a path forward. 00:12:51.699 --> 00:12:53.879 He says to each one of us this morning, 00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:56.519 neither do I condemn you. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:59.579 Go and sin no more. 00:13:02.740 --> 00:13:04.079 Heavenly Father, 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:05.660 we thank you 00:13:05.660 --> 00:13:08.480 for your amazing love, 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:12.379 your wonderful grace, 00:13:13.379 --> 00:13:19.480 and your power to restore, 00:13:21.680 --> 00:13:22.200 transform, 00:13:22.860 --> 00:13:23.420 and redeem. 00:13:25.420 --> 00:13:26.960 Thank you, Lord, 00:13:27.080 --> 00:13:28.240 that like the woman, 00:13:29.680 --> 00:13:32.060 we can hear Jesus Christ 00:13:32.059 --> 00:13:33.239 say to us, 00:13:33.939 --> 00:13:36.219 neither do I condemn you. 00:13:37.839 --> 00:13:39.099 Please fill us 00:13:39.099 --> 00:13:41.319 with your Holy Spirit afresh, 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:43.519 and give us the resolve 00:13:43.519 --> 00:13:45.239 to accept your forgiveness, 00:13:46.199 --> 00:13:47.859 and heed your call 00:13:47.859 --> 00:13:50.899 to go and sin no more. 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:53.759 Amen. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:53.939 Amen. 00:13:54.479 --> 00:13:55.039 Amen. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:55.099 Amen. 00:13:55.099 --> 00:13:55.099 00:13:55.099 --> 00:13:55.099