Meditation for December 13

From Peter Munson

John 7:53-8:11

 

Enough Material to Work With

 

"Early in the morning he came again to the temple.  All the people came to Him and He sat down and began to teach them.  The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to Him, 'Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.  Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women.  Now what do you say?' They said this to test Him, so that they might have some charge to bring against Him. Jesus bent down and wrote with His finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, 'Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.'  And once again He bent down and wrote on the ground.  When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before Him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they?  Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.'  And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you.  Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.'" (John 8:2-11)

 

Most scholars agree that this passage was not originally part of the Gospel of John, and yet it made it into the Gospel - somehow.  Many people have wondered and offered all sorts of guesses about what Jesus wrote on the ground - not once, but two times.  The answer is that no one knows what He wrote, although some ancient manuscripts of the Bible add in verse 8 (the second time He wrote on the ground) that He wrote on the ground "the sins of each of them."  Whether He wrote that or not, Jesus' response, which He evidently took some time to think about before He made it - being perceptive, He knew they were out to get Him, and that they were more worried about Him than this particular woman - His response penetrated right to the heart of the matter, wouldn't you say?  Go ahead, throw a stone at her if you have never sinned before.  One by one, beginning with the oldest ones, they all walked away. He had them - each one of them - nailed to the wall, when they were the ones who were trying to trap Him!  For who among us can say that we are without sin?  Who among us can say that we have never turned our back on God or another human being, that we have never done something to damage or break the relationship that we have with God, or damage the relationship that we have with someone else?  If we had been there, if we had been in the midst of that finger-pointing group and heard Jesus' response, we would have had to walk away, too.

 

It is so much easier to point the finger at others. There is that idiot driver who just cut me off in traffic, that person who is complaining about everything, that family member who acts selfishly. There are those gay people, those illegal immigrants, the morons in the other political party (whichever one I'm not affiliated with), the kids who drink or smoke or wear black trench coats, those of another religious persuasion (whether within Christianity or outside of Christianity) who do terrible things or believe wacky things. If we want to find someone, there is always someone to point the finger at and say, "What are you going to do with this one, Lord?  Don't you think this one is worth stoning?  Isn't this one surely to wind up in hell?"

 

The older I get, the more I realize that there is plenty within me that needs transforming, there is plenty in me that needs work.  The truth is this: there is enough material to work with right here - namely, me! - that I probably don't need to spend my time trying to figure out what is wrong with everyone else. God has given me a lifetime project to work on, and I'm probably going to need some of eternity, too, come to think of it.  And I am definitely going to need a lot of grace and compassion and help from God, because ultimately He is the one who is going to bring about this transformation. We tend to say, "You can't change anyone else. You can only change yourself."  And I think that's true.  But you can only change yourself with a lot of input and help from God, it seems to me.

 

Yes, there is plenty for me to work on.  I still don't love others and "do" my relationships the way that I think God wants me to do them.  I still avoid confrontation too much.  I still care too much about what other people think. I still fall into being a "nice guy" when that might not be what is most needed in a particular moment. I still settle for running around doing too many activities when what God wants me to work on is being more vulnerable and honest and open with whomever I am with at any given moment.  I still beat up myself too much when God wants me to increase my capacity for self-love, which will only happen when I increase my capacity to receive His love, freely showered upon me.  And I can only increase my capacity to receive His love if I will take the time to stop and breathe and listen for that still, small voice that is God's.

 

Yes, there are many days when the biggest truth I know is that truth that Paul wrestled with before us.  "So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (Romans 7:21-24)  Yes, I need to be rescued.  As I see it, we all need to be rescued, we all need a Savior.  We don't need a Lord who gives us permission to stone or cast insults on someone else. No, that's not what we need.  We need a Savior, Someone who helps us wrestle with our demons, Someone who forgives us our sins and says "Begin again!", Someone who says, "I am with you always. Get up!  Keep coming, keep following. It might not seem like you are making much progress, but you are. Keep being courageous. Keep being faithful. Keep getting up and starting again. I am with you and I love you more than you can ever know."  We need Someone who says, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.  It may seem that you will always fall back into sin, but I am here to help you, and My grace is sufficient for you.  Keep going, keep growing, keep learning, keep trying to love others." 

 

Sometimes I fall flat on my face and fail miserably.  "Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25)  Yes, Jesus is the Savior that I need, the One who compassionately helps me to look at the stuff - WITHIN ME! - that I need to look at, if I am going to grow and be transformed.

 

Maybe this passage wasn't originally part of John's Gospel. But I'm glad it got in.  It reminds me that it's not about me pointing the finger at everyone else and judging them.  It's about a compassionate Lord and Savior saying, "Look within.  I'm here to help you do that.  I'm here to help you with the struggle.  I'm here to help you be transformed, so that you can become all that you were made to be."  Yes, there is plenty of material here, plenty for me to work on, without me getting all distracted with what I think is wrong in everyone else.

 

Lord, we need You.  Thanks for Your love, Your presence, Your saving grace, Your compassion.  Help us to grow into the people that You call us to be.  Amen.