Jesus was with his disciples when a crowd of religious leaders tossed a scantily clothed woman at his feet. "This woman was caught in the act of adultery! The law is clear: death by stoning! What do you say?" (The religious leaders hated Jesus and hoped to trap him with his response!)
Jesus thought for a moment, wrote on the ground with his finger — the very same finger that carved the 10 Commandments in stone tablets for Moses), looked up and said, "Let him who is without sin throw the first stone!" Then he went back to writing.
One by one each man looked at what Jesus wrote, dropped their stones and walked away. We can only guess what Jesus wrote in the sand. It might have been "Liar," "Thief," "Adulterer," "Slanderer" — naming the sins of each man who had judged and condemned this woman to die.
With the crowd gone, the woman sat with the only sinless person who could honestly judge her and condemn her. "Where are those who condemn you?" "They're gone! Since no one condemns you, neither do I. Go and sin no more!" She walked away passing by the heap of stones that were meant to kill her. I believe that Jesus' act of love, acceptance and forgiveness caused her life to take a radically different trajectory — one of healing and wholeness in God.
Sometimes somebody complains to me: "Pastor, when are you going to really come down hard on sin in your sermons?" (What they mean are the "big" sins of people "out there" beyond the church walls. They don't mean their sins — gossip, slander, gluttony, etc.) The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to convict people of sin and righteousness. Our ministry is to love people and be Christ to them — allowing God to do the work of transformation. Unlike religious people, Jesus doesn't differentiate between sins. He forgives them all!
Christians carry stones in one hand and Jesus in the other. When we encounter "those people out there," or when they show up at church, we have a choice to make. We can judge, condemn and let them have it right between the eyes! Or we can offer authentic relationships — the kind Jesus had with "those" kinds of people. Relationships that earned him the title, "Friend of sinners."
Everyone knows John 3:16. But we neglect the impact of what immediately follows: John 3:17. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
Churches should be places of hope, acceptance, love and transformation, where people guided by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God who themselves are in the process of finding wholeness for their brokenness and sin form loving, compassionate, grace-filled communities. These places must then reach out and welcome all people — especially "those people out there" — to join with them in the redemptive journey of forgiveness, healing, and love that can only be found and experienced in union with Jesus Christ.
Let's put down the stones and use both hands to be like Jesus!
The Rev. William Thomas is pastor at Hereford United Methodist Church. He can be reached at pastor@herefordumc.org.
