Dirt Writing Lessons

Scripture: John 7:53-8:11

Dirt Stories

Theme: Lessons in Dirt

Title: Dirt Writing Lessons

This sermon is dedicated to the lessons we can learn when Jesus wrote in the dirt in John 7:53-8:11. Jesus teaches us lessons that that deal with the seriousness of sin and other things that can lead to living a life of salvation.

Intro:

Grace and peace today from God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit!

I want to talk to you today about some lessons we can learn from dirt writings. I want to talk to you today about the lessons Jesus teaches us when He wrote in the dirt right outside of the Temple.

It’s a rather interesting picture that the Apostle John paints for us in his gospel. Interesting not just from the aspect of how a group of men seemed to entrap a certain woman with the goal of then trapping Jesus but what Jesus does with the whole situation and what we can learn today from all of it that will help us live a better life in Christ.

It’s also interesting in the fact that Jesus took that time to write in the dirt. It’s funny how God seems to use dirt to teach us humans all kinds of lessons.

+We were made from dirt. I believe that God did that to help us experience not only amazing glory (dirt that comes alive with God’s breath) but humility as well. After all, we who were made just a little below the angels also have to remember that we were created from dirt.

+How many lessons has God taught us using the picture of the potter and the clay understanding that clay itself is just a specific type of dirt/soil.

+How many of Jesus’ teachings are tied to the dirt; the Parable of the Soils, the Parable of the Tares and others we find in the Gospels.

+Jesus even uses dirt as a medium to heal a man of blindness as he makes mud and put it on the man’s eyes.

And now here we are again with God in Flesh playing in the dirt. God; the Son of God reaching down and writing in the dirt. Dirt that He created. Dirt that He had used to create human beings. Dirt that could experience everlasting life if it possessed God’s breath.

This morning, I would like for us to look at some lessons that I believe that Jesus wants us to understand from His writing in the dirt. While we do not know exactly the words or the symbols that He wrote in the dirt that day there are some lessons that we can learn. Lessons that I believe can help us live out a more fulfilled life in Christ. Lessons that I believe can help us not only be better individuals ourselves but be a better community as well.

I. Lesson #1- Sin Is Serious

You may be surprised to know but in several states today Adultery is still a crime and is punishable by law. These state include: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.1

+ In Alabama

Section 4184 of the Code of Alabama provides that ‘if any man and woman live together in adultery or fornication, each of them must, on the first conviction of the offense, be fined not less than $100, and may also be imprisoned in the county jail or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not more than six months.

On the second conviction for the offense, with the same person, the offender must be fined not less than $300, and may be imprisoned in the county jail, or sentenced to hard labor for the county, for not more than 12 months; and for a third or any subsequent conviction with the same person, must be imprisoned in the penitentiary or sentenced to hard labor for the county for two years.”

+In Illinois

The consequences for adultery in the state of Illinois is up to a year in jail for both cheaters.

+In Oklahoma

Adulterers face fines of up to $500 but also incarceration for up to five years.

Needless to say even though those laws are on the books the chance for them to be enforced is minuscule. Adultery is now seen as merely a natural part of our nation’s moral health. Sad, but true.

In our modern world adultery is basically no longer viewed as a crime. Any of the countries today that would prosecute adultery are likely those governed by Islamic law, including countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Somalia. Prosecutions are common in those countries with the punishment ranging from a monetary fine, public flogging, imprisonment and some extreme cases the death penalty.