Throwing Stones-- John 8, Mathew 7

We sometimes criticize others unfairly. We don't know all their circumstances, nor their motives. Only God, who is aware of all the facts, is able to judge people righteously. John Wesley told of a man he had little respect for because he considered him to be miserly and covetous. One day when this person contributed only a small gift to a worthy charity, Wesley openly criticized him.

After the incident, the man went to Wesley privately and told him he had been living on parsnips and water for several weeks. He explained that before his conversion, he had run up many bills. Now, by skimping on everything and buying nothing for himself he was paying off his creditors one by one. "Christ has made me an honest man," he said, "and so with all these debts to pay, I can give only a few offerings above my tithe. I must settle up with my worldly neighbors and show them what the grace of God can do in the heart of a man who was once dishonest." Wesley then apologized to the man and asked his forgiveness.

Too often, we judge people before we even get to know them. We equate certain stereotypes with clothing, appearance, facial features, and other aspects of a persons physique. We relegate people into certain groups and classes and make sweeping generalizations and judgments about those classes. Christians are not immune from making judgments about others particularly in recent year’s homosexuals and Islam have bore much of the condemnation from Christians. And in a sense because of it are being judged by others. The secular world sees Christians as condemning and judgmental instead of sharing Christ’s love. Second, they see Christianity as a set of restricting rules to follow, rather than as a religion that recognizes that all things were created by God with freedom in Christ to fulfill the cultural mandate in Genesis 1:28. As Abraham Kuyper once said “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'" God’s placing us here and all of the other elements of creation is not by mistake. God does have a plan and a purpose for everyone and everything. Third, Christians are seen as hypocrites as they are not able to live up to the standards that they want to hold the rest of the world to, some Christians are not walking the walk they expect the rest of society to live out. Christians are seen as elitists as they are predominantly wealth and separate from the rest of society rather than poor fishermen going out to tend to the poor and lame of the world.

Often given the opportunity, the people we judge can crawl out of these boxes that we have put them in but too often, our condemnation has superseded any chance for a loving relationship. We have been called to share God’s love not be God’s judges.

Today’s scripture readings come from John 8 and Matthew 7, respectively. Starting with verse 2 of John 8 we read…

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”  They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

•         But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”  “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

A few things to note about this passage are first that no one is without sin except for one. Some scholars have argued that Jesus was writing in the ground the sins of people in the crowd but such things are merely speculative. The point however is that if God has forgiven us of our sins what makes the sins of another so insurmountable. We are all sinners saved by grace. By the end of the story only one remains. The one who was left, knew no sin, and had all of the powers of heaven to judge her but did not. If the perfect man, Jesus, did not condemn the sinner, by what authority or ground do we have to cast judgment and condemnation upon another? The adulterous woman was given a second chance. While Jesus did not condemn her he did gently and lovingly instruct her to go and sin no more. He did not approve of what she had done but neither did he condemn her for her sins.

On the same note Matthew 7:1-5 speaks about judging others.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

We set such high standards for others, standards we struggle to keep ourselves. However, the measure we use to judge them scripture says will be the measure that judges us. Matthew uses as an analogy here, a speck of sawdust and a plank. The plank of ones own sins clouds the view we have of others. Often the reason we put others down is so that we might seem to be higher or more righteous than they are by proportion. Instead, such cockiness only adds to the plank obstructing our own eye. The fact of the matter is that all sin leads to death and separates us from God. Some struggle with sexual crimes, others greed or gluttony. We all have things that we struggle with that separate us from God. 1 Corinthians 6: 9-11 identifies the sins that are onto death that can be grouped into seven categories or are sometimes know as the seven deadly sins which include gluttony, lust, envy, pride, laziness, greed and hatred. So while perhaps we may not struggle with homosexuality, we might struggle with gluttony. Based on the statistics many do suffer from obesity, many who suffer from this temptation make it their goal to try to address it in things like new years resolutions but many fail to adequately address their need. Others struggle with hatred and dislike of certain people which 1 John 3:15 points out is a form of murder. Still others struggle with lust as they become enticed by media images or pornography. All of these things have become next to impossible to avoid. Many of us struggle with these sins on a regular basis. What is it that makes some sins like idolatry or homosexuality so unforgivable, so different that the God who forgave our trespasses cannot forgive another’s?

The fact of the matter is that the church is a body of sinners. All of us have temptations and struggles with sin that as a whole we need to be more open about as brothers and sisters in Christ. Only when we can see the magnitude of our own faults and sins can we really learn to love our neighbors and not be so judgmental towards our neighbors.  That isn’t to say that we cannot lovingly and caringly provide constructive criticism of those around us. In fact, a structure for doing so within the church is given in Matthew 18:15-19.  However, while confronting the sin, it is done with love and the best interests of the other in mind, not with the objective of marginalizing or ostracizing them.

The Universal Church has really struggled on this point over the last few centuries. We have went from an oppressed population under rulers like Nero to the oppressors Post-Constantine. Many of you know of Saul’s persecution of Christians, pre-conversion, but the persecution of Christians continued in the Roman Empire up until the reign of Constantine. Particularly during the time of Nero, Christians were martyred for their faith. Christians were stoned, beaten, whipped, and thrown into places like the Coliseum with wild animals who would destroy them for the cities entertainment. Yet it is during times of persecution that Christianity spread the most for two main reasons. First, the fact that Christians were willing to give their lives for their faith said more to the people than words could express. People became curious about why someone would die for a belief in a god. Secondly, people began to notice that they were outstanding members of their communities. Loving everyone around them, caring for the poor and needy, they were peaceful people not looking to start a fight with those who had beliefs different than their own but always willing to lend assistance. The holy spirit used these good deeds to reach out to people and add to their numbers. Christians were not the ones in power and so had to rely upon their own means and efforts to further the kingdom. However, this would change during and after the reign of Constantine. Constantine was the first Christian ruler, although many historians would argue that he was only a nominal Christian as he had many polytheistic tendencies and never received baptism until he was on his death bed. Nevertheless, the mentality of Christians changed. Christians had come to power and were sour about the persecution they had endured.  As tensions escalated for seven hundred years they came to a head in the Crusades, a two hundred year period of war between Christians and other religious groups. Armies of Christian soldiers went off to kill the heathen, which usually consisted of Jews, Muslims, and polytheists, all by orders of the Papacy. Christians were in charge and dictated by punishment of death that everyone be Christian. It was hardly a loving and tolerant society when the Christians were in charge of Europe. While in theory everyone was a Christian, we all very well know that is less than the case. Something had changed that made a once oppressed society become the oppressors in society. No longer were Christians the loving neighbors that were willing to die for their faith, instead they became condemning oppressors of other faiths. The powers that Christians held corrupted their calling focusing on staying in power rather than glorifying God. The Great Reformation, the split between Catholics and Protestants only escalated the conflict and condemnation. Europe split between Catholic and Protestant countries and were constantly in violent wars.  At the theological level, Catholics condemned Protestants for breaking up the Oneness of the Church. Whereas Protestants, condemned Catholics for some of their theological beliefs, particularly when it came to the sale of indulgences or forgiveness among other things given in Luther’s 95 Thesis. However, the whole country had to abide by the national religion whether it be Protestant or Catholic. Religious toleration and loving ones neighbor was unheard of at the national level. The issue was always staying in power and gaining power. One of the main reasons for the rise of Protestantism is the fact that it did not recognize the authority of the papacy giving the ruling authority more power. Needless to say, the drive for more power converted many rulers to Protestantism with the assurance from Protestant leaders that they were still committed to submitting to authorities as instructed in verses like Romans 13. The point however is that power is a corrupting and driving force in Western Christianity.

Many of the same problems of Christians in power with the condemnation and misguided motivations that come from it continue to this day. Two groups in particular that have become victims are homosexuals and Muslims. While there are a lot of views out there as far as reaching out (or not reaching out) to these groups within the Christian community. I would like to provide some of my own thoughts on the issues of homosexuality and Islam more specifically how the Western Church has responded to it and how the Church could do a better job at addressing these issues.

Most churches believe that homosexuality is a sin. Those that do not argue that homosexuality is more a sin for the particular culture in that day like men wearing long hair or women wearing short hair in that culture was a sin. In other churches, the severity of the sin is an issue. Most notably the Evangelical Lutheran Church split over the issue of homosexual clergy. On one side there is those that argue that homosexuality is an equal sin to others like gluttony and we cannot expect our clergymen to be perfect, they are humans too. Others argue that such conduct is inappropriate for clergymen and therefore should not be allowed. Hopefully if there is disagreement, we can agree to disagree and live in peaceful harmony with one another, rather than make a mountain out of a mole hill.

The Bible addresses many forms of adultery. The questions before us in this issue is are there different severities of this sin? Is homosexuality worse than pornography? Are there different severities between sins like idolatry and murder? James 2:10 argues that “whoever keeps the whole law and stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” By breaking one you’ve broken them all and have fallen short of the glory of God. All sins result in punishment. But God does forgive as he forgave the adulterous woman. However, this pardon came with the instruction to sin no more.

Another controversial issue is the idolatry of Islam. Again, we see Christians take different stances on the issue. On one side, we have people like Pastor Terry Jones who as many of you know wanted to burn the Quran, the holy book of Islam. Basically, it is a act of condemnation and war with what they see as a violent and corrupt religion. Those who follow this route build a wall between them and Muslims. They are unwilling to educate themselves with Islam or look to build a relationship with them. On the other side, there is a movement to better educate the public about the Islamic religion. Multiple Christian organizations go into the Middle East to minister to the needs of the people. As Christians, we need to build bridges not walls. We must learn to love them in spite of their faults such that we might be able to share Christ’s love.

The Church in the West is struggling with loving sinners particularly in the homosexual and Islamic groups but these are only two examples of a much larger issue. The church has become an enemy of conversion through its rampant condemnation as Matt Chandler of Desiring God Ministries explains in the following video clip…

The question we must ask ourselves this day is if we are the body of Christ where is the love? Why do we feel a particular way about certain groups? Are we willing to give them a chance to get outside the boxes we have placed them in? Or have we already condemned them? Jesus did not condemn the adulterous woman for her sin but guided and instructed her in righteousness and love. We have been called to do likewise, sharing Christ’s love and ministering to their needs.

Christ’s love surpasses all understanding. To use a verse from one of the hymns that we have sung today “Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above, Would drain the ocean dry. Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.” What a great analogy to try to capture the love God has for His creation. Pause for just a moment to reflect on this verse from The Love of God… God’s love is so great that all of creation cannot hold it. God’s love is beyond our comprehension. Nevertheless, as Christians we can feel it in our hearts and see it on Christ’s death on the cross. But we cannot just narrow God’s love and forgiveness to just ourselves.  Christ came and cleansed the world from sin, as far as the curse be found. The God that forgave our sins is more than capable of cleansing others. He has equipped us to share this cleansing love with others through word and deed. We are called to serve and love others as the Christians of old, rather than throw stones of condemnation that have ostracized many as the Christians of late.

So maybe you have been listening thus far and let us just say that you agree with my argument that the church needs to be less condemning and more loving. The question then becomes practically speaking how one could make this transformation from someone who has been very condemning of others to someone who lovingly instructs in righteousness. The fact of the matter is that it is not easy. Here are a few suggestions as to how to deal with the issue.

First, we should always be in constant prayer about our struggles. This is no exception to that rule. Only with God’s assistance can we truly be transformed into His likeness. Through prayer, we assert our total dependence upon God. We assert in prayer that it is only by God’s loving and compassionate grace that we have our being, that we are able to have communion with Him, that our sins are forgiven and that He would allow us the privilege to participate in His mission to restore creation onto Himself. We are totally and completely reliant upon Him for every good work not the other way around. It is only with God’s assistance that the temptations and demons inside of us are cast out that we might become more like Christ. Prayer forces us to acknowledge our dependence and faults as we seek Him and His leading in our lives.

Second, we must make a conscientious effort to change our ways. Often old, bad habits die-hard and will require work on our part to fix. We must hold ourselves accountable for our lapses and catch ourselves before we fall back into our condemning behavior. There will be times of relapse, in which case we must acknowledge we have done wrong and that this is not the path we want to follow but not dwell on it. Forgiveness is a key element in the process, forgiving yourself, and asking for forgiveness from those whom we have harmed.

Third, we must clear the slates and start a fresh in our relationships with people particularly those whom previously we have condemned. We must be willing to forgive and forget. We must be willing to accept that everyone has their faults and temptations and be willing to work through them in a loving way.

This often means, fourth, that we will have to step outside our comfort zone. It’s not always comfortable for us to be in the company of some people particularly those whom our society has marginalized. However, it is often these people that need to see the love of God the most. Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone to share Christ’s love? The religious leaders of Jesus day could not understand why Jesus would eat with the tax collectors and other marginalized groups in their culture just like many Christians today would not understand why we would waste our time with people like homosexuals or prostitutes. As it did then, it poses a challenge to the established order and may force us to make sacrifices. But we can rest assured in Jesus promise in Matthew 19:29 that “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life”. The cost is great but the reward even greater. Nevertheless, go and do as you are led by the Holy Spirit.

Fifth, we must let the love of God flow through us. As Christians, we have been called and sent to share Christ’s love with all of creation. The love that Christ gives us should continually flow through us. It should affect every aspect of our lives. Like a fountain, the love of God springs forth from within and permeates every fiber of our being, it flows from us touching those whom we meet along life’s way such that they will know that we are Christians by our love.  

Sixth, we must look for the created good in everything rather than dwelling on the specks of sawdust in their eyes. Too often we only focus on the bad aspects of others rather than the image of God that is within them. We cannot forget that Christ identifies with the poor and marginalized in society, what we do for them is done for Christ, as our skit for today intended to show.  Although all are fallen, God still holds title on His creation, everything is under His control. God is constantly guiding and directing things according to His perfect will in accordance with His plan to restore creation onto Himself. Even what we mean for evil He can use for good. We must seek and recognize the goodness of everything that God has created. And that it is God’s will that nothing perishes but that everything might be restored onto Him.

Seventh, as a whole the Church must learn how to give and take constructive criticism. While we can provide some valuable and loving insight to others about living more holy and upright lives at one and the same time we are not perfect ourselves and must be willing to take guidance from others where we fall short. We all come from different worldviews and traditions but are joined as a body of believers not that we might become the same but instead that our unique spiritual gifts might compliment each other. Each of us has some glimmer of the truth that God has revealed to us that we are to use to help those around us. Likewise, there are things that we do not understand or misinterpret that we need someone to help us with. As the eye cannot say to the hand I do not need you (1 Cor. 12: 12-26) nor can the Baptist say to the Calvinist or Lutheran or other denomination I do not need you. We are all part of the same body and compliment each other.

Finally, there is a lot of valuable insight studying the life and ways of Jesus. Jesus spent much of his time with the poor and marginalized in the world. Those who were outcasts of society, like the woman at the well, the tax collectors, or the adulterous woman from today’s lesson were the people that Jesus paid special attention to, as Jesus said it isn’t the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. Since so much of his life was spent with them studying how Jesus interacted and communicated with them we can learn and develop our own abilities to care for the oppressed. There isn’t much left to scripture if you take out all the references to the poor and oppressed in society and our duty to care for them. In light of this, we must ask ourselves, where would Jesus be in this day and age? Who has been marginalized and oppressed in our society today? We must find these oppressed and marginalized people and join Him in His mission to restore them onto Himself. In my mind, the homosexual and Islamic communities are some of the most oppressed in our society, and where we could expect Jesus to be if He were still on the Earth. Are we going to step up to the challenge? Are we going to participate in God’s mission to the oppressed in the world? Or are we going to stay amidst the affluent in society, never wanting to step out of our comfort zones while we throw our stones of condemnation upon them?

As we conclude this service, my hope is that as a whole we might learn to better share Christ’s love, building bridges to the marginalized of the world rather than building walls through our condemnation and judgment. Second, that we might learn from Jesus example and provide loving and constructive instruction and guidance recognizing the planks that cover our own eyes or gloating over our own righteousness in comparison with another. Let us live up to the mission statement that we set for ourselves a few years ago and Teach God’s Word, Share Christ’s Love, Reflect God’s Grace, Reach Our World, All for His Glory. May we join God in His work ministering to the needs of the poor, oppressed and marginalized of the world stepping out of our comfort zone and thereby fulfill our calling as Servants of the Risen Lord.