Week of August 28, 2022
John 8:1-11
If you don’t have a bible handy to review John 8:1-11, click the link above and it will take you to an online version of that passage. Lila Breitner spoke from this passage last Sunday. There are so many aspects of this we need to pay attention to.
Lila encouraged us to think of ourselves in each of the roles presented in the story: The young woman who was cast as an adulterer, the pharisees condeming her, the crowd watching the “show”…
The part that strikes me with this, even several days later, is that the pharisees were setting Jesus up, trying to trap him. They were playing games. I see this behavior a lot during the school year. Drama, drama, drama. Jesus handled the situation beautifully…let the sinless one among you throw the first stone. And wouldn’t you know, they all slunk away, one by one. And the grace with which he handled the young girl gives us all hope. And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” Basically, yes that was wrong. Just don’t do it again.
It’s not our place to judge, but to extend grace to all. It’s God’s place to do the judging. To quote Lila, “God does not call us to be the policemen of the world, he calls us to be ambassadors of Grace. It is God’s job to judge people, it’s our job to show people a better way.”
As Lila said as she wrapped up the message, “As we prepare to leave here today and you head into your week, you are going to encounter rude, harsh people, put on the cloak of Grace. There may be people who try your patience or get on your last nerve, put on the cloak of grace. There may be someone who made a mistake, put on the cloak of grace. There might be someone who hurt you, put on the cloak of grace. There may be someone who is sad or needs a listening ear, put on the cloak of grace. There may be someone who angers you or you disagree with, shower them with the grace you have been so graciously given. Give them a warm fuzzy, Be the Jesus in the story. Amen.”
Want to know about the warm fuzzies? Watch the message in the service here.
Amen.