Sermon for Sunday November 9, 2003

Drop Your Stone by Jeremy  Houck

John 8:1-11

There is a little museum on Nantucket Island devoted to a volunteer organization formed years ago. In those days, travel by sea was dangerous. Because of the storms in the Atlantic along the rocky coast of Massachusetts, many lives were lost within a mile or so of land. So a group of volunteers went into the life saving business. They banded together to form what was called the Humane Society.

These people built huts all along the shore. They had people watching the sea all the time. Whenever a ship went down, the word would go out, and these people would devote everything to save every life they could.

They did not put themselves at risk for money or recognition, but only because they prized human life. To remind them what was at stake, they adopted a motto:

You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back.

You and I were made to be in the lifesaving business. We don’t always see it, because we can be blinded by our self -preoccupation, but people around us have little shipwrecks every day: A friend gets chewed out by her boss, a child fails in school, a wife fights with her husband and gets a little more disappointed in her marriage, a coworker makes foolish financial choices, a high school girl doesn’t get asked to the prom, somebody at church gets caught in a lie.

Mostly, the lifelines we have to offer are words. Every word we speak has the power either to give a little life to people or to destroy a little bit of their spirit and vitality. We have the ability to offer acceptance, love, and hope; we also have the ability to judge, condemn, and wound.

" Accept one another," the apostle Paul says. It is a remarkable action, difficult to define, yet unmistakable when we experience it. To accept people is to recognize that it is a very good thing that these people are alive, and to long for the best for them. It does not, of course, mean to approve of everything they do. It means to want what is best for their souls no matter what they do.

Jesus, a Woman, and a Bunch of Stone Throwers

Our passage today is about a woman who was about to go under, a group of men who forgot they were supposed to be in the lifesaving business, and the One who keeps searching the shipwrecks for what he treasures most.

She had been a young bride with dreams about married life. She had dreamt having a husband who loved her, of praying and worshiping with him, of having children and raising a family. But somehow, things did not turn out the way she had planned. She was disappointed in her marriage. Maybe it was her husband’s fault, maybe it was hers; probably, as is usually the case-it was some of both.

Somewhere along the line the woman met a man who seemed to care. At first it was all quite innocent. Then one day they crossed a line. Maybe it was a touch that lingered too long. Maybe it was a shared look that implied a kind of illicit promise. Maybe it was the sharing of secrets that violated her husband’s confidence and trust.

That day she crossed a line. Maybe she didn’t even notice it or think about it at the time. Satan always prefers to keep such moments dark and hazy so that we are hardly even aware of what we’re choosing. But she chose.

Then she started crossing other lines, until this became a full-blown affair. She used to be a truthful person. The first time she lied to her husband about where she was going so she could be with this man, her heart was pounding, she was blushing, and she was sure her husband would sense she wasn’t telling the truth. Now she has become so expert at deceiving her husband and children that she can lie without showing it. She doesn’t even notice. She has become a liar.

The first time she went to the synagogue and heard the Scriptures read after sleeping with this other man, she was sure everyone could read the guilt on her face. She thought they would all find out. She thought God would strike her dead with a bolt of lightning. She vowed to God she would never see this man again. But no one found out. There was no lightning. God did nothing. Now she is able to go to the synagogue and hardly think about her affair at all.

She has become a hypocrite. As long as her secret is intact, she hardly thinks about these things. Then comes this night. The door opens. There have been men outside waiting and watching, and now they come in and grab her. She screams, she cries, she begs for mercy. She would give anything if she could go back to where she first crossed the line. But you can never go back. She wants to hide, but has no place to go.

She would kill herself right then if they would let her but they won’t. They wrap her up in sheets and lead her away.

Like the paralytic from last week, she is taken to Jesus by a band of men while he is teaching. Only she is not carried on a mat but is wrapped up in sheets. The men who bring her are not her friends but her enemies. She is brought, not to be healed, but to be killed.

The point John wants us to catch is that this is not a private conversation to figure out constructive action. These men are more than willing to humiliate this woman because, it’s Jesus they’re after. They were looking for something with which to accuse him. So they accuse this woman in an attempt to put him on the spot. They do not have much joy in life, but they do find delight in accusing people they don’t like.

"She was caught red, handed. The law is clear, stone her. What do you say?" They think to themselves, We’ve got him now. If he shows mercy, we get him for being soft on the law; if he says, "Stone her," the Roman authorities have forbidden the Jewish authorities from executing anyone, so if Jesus said, "Stone her," he is in trouble with Rome.

Here is this woman, trembling with guilt and fear, wishing she could die, believing she is about to. But her accusers don’t even see her. All they can think is, "We’ve got him now." They stand there, with stones in their hands, just waiting for the word.

Now before we go on, before you judge them, let me ask you a question: Have you ever held a stone in your hand?

Sins of the Spirit

Historically, we have divided sin into two categories: "sins of the flesh" and "sins of the spirit." Sins of the flesh are sins like: lust, greed, drunkenness, adultery.

The second category is called "sins of the spirit." They have names like pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, and judgmentalism. They are not as colorful as sins of the flesh. They don’t provoke nearly as much gossip. Churches in our day are not usually scandalized by sins like arrogance or self- righteousness. But Jesus was.

The New Testament tells many stories that involve a "sinner of the flesh," a "sinner of the spirit," and Jesus. There is the story of the Pharisee and the sinful woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, of the Pharisee and the tax collector, of the prodigal son and his older brother, and yes of the religious leaders versus the woman caught in adultery.

In all these stories, the people guilty of the "sins of the flesh " knew they were in big trouble. They also saw Jesus as a person they could run to. They finally came home.

In all these stories, the people guilty of pride and arrogance were also blind. They thought it was possible to love God and despise people. They actually thought they were shining examples of spiritual maturity because they avoided sins of the flesh. They had no idea that their sin crippled their ability to love which makes sins of the spirit the most dangerous and destructive sins of all.

You see the problem with sins of the spirit is that the carriers don’t have a clue. At least with sins of the flesh, you find out you have messed up. With the sins of the spirit, you may not even know. You just walk through life with a stone in your hand:

Judgmental thoughts
A superior attitude
Impatient words
Bitter resentments
Little room for love

People stand around you, trembling in brokenness, guilt, and fear but you’re so caught up in your own self-righteousness you don’t even see them. Or worse yet, you see them and are not moved. You don’t even notice you’re not in the life saving business anymore.

A Church of Stone Throwers

I wonder about this a lot. I have been in the church my whole life. I love the church. But I wonder sometimes: Why do churches produce so many stone throwers?

I think of a church I was a part of where a lot of the people were just cold. They didn’t laugh, they didn’t rejoice but there is one thing they enjoyed: passing judgment on others.

Somebody’s kids were a little wild-people would pick up stones.

Somebody’s marriage wasn’t working-another stone.

The song leader chose the wrong kind of song, or sang it wrong, more stones.

Somebody crossed a line, had a problem, word spread. People picked up stones. The truth is though they would never admit this it energized them, gathering stones. They looked forward to it.

It is never done openly. It happens like this: A woman is caught in adultery. Other women in the church talk about it: "Did you hear? What a shame. The poor children! How could she?" They shake their heads and carefully adopt a pose of concerned disappointment.

Why is it that in Bible times women like this so often ran toward Jesus, where in our day they so often run from his followers?

So there they stand, this woman waiting to die; her judges, with stones in their hands; and this man, Jesus. The stone throwers ask him, "What do you say?"

Then Jesus does a curious thing. He bends down and starts writing in the sand where the words will quickly be lost. This act of writing bothers the stone throwers. He doesn’t seem to be paying attention. So the teachers of the law keep pressing him: "You’re the rabbi, so make the call. What do you say?"

Jesus stands up and speaks: "Go ahead and stone her. That’s what the law says. Just one rule: Let the man without sin go first." Then Jesus goes back to writing on the ground.

"Go ahead and throw your stone if you want. Pass judgment. Condemn her, your call. Just remember that sinful people, fallen people are in no position to throw stones. When sinful people start passing judgment, they end up passing judgment on themselves."

Then an amazing thing happens. Somebody lets go of his stone, someone else, then a third person. Maybe their hearts melt a little bit and they become a little more human. Maybe they remember what it is like to stand in need of forgiveness. None of the stones get thrown in anger.

Jesus’ audience would have divided people into two categories: sinners like the woman and the righteous like the men. Yet Jesus in one brilliant stroke replaces them with two different categories: sinners who admit, and sinners who deny.

Letting Go of Our Stones

Today are there any stones you need to let go of?

Condemnation and judgment have become so deeply rooted in the human spirit that most of us can’t imagine having to function without them. We must let people know how much we disapprove of them, particularly those we don’t like. And of course, we are richly rewarded by the sense of superiority such condemnation breeds in us.

So, do you have any stones you need to let go on Maybe against your mother or father, or against an ex-spouse, or against a boss or co-worker, or against someone who has hurt you.

You have carried the stone for so long you don’t remember life without it. Put down the stone.
This may mean you need to take action:

If you have spread gossip-go to the person you talked to, and apologize. Set things right.

If your heart is hard toward someone-do an act of service for them. Don’t tell anyone else. Ask God to change your heart.

If you have behaved badly toward someone-go to them. Today. Ask forgiveness.

What if we were to cease ever again attacking people’s worth or holding them in contempt?

Imagine becoming known as one who will never pick up a stone. Then we will join Jesus in the life saving business. Then we, in our own smaller ways, will reflect the One who on the cross-lived out the aspiration of the Humane Society: "You have to go out. You don’t have to come back."