TEXT: John 8:1-7, Psalm 103
TITLE: Growing Pain #1: Growing through failure!
SERIES: The Growing Church
TOPIC: Spiritual Growth
OCCASION: Burnside Christian Church, April 6, 2008
PROP.: Everyone fails. It’s what you do in the midst of that failure whether or not growth will take place.
INTRODUCTION: Hello and welcome! Please take an attendance pad and pass it down your pew!
You’ve no doubt heard the old cliché: No pain, no gain. Some of you may have even experienced this familiar phrase. It’s old. It’s true. Nobody ever escapes pain in the process of growth - not even Christians. From the weightlifter who has sore muscles, to the kid with skinned knees learning to ride his bike; pain is a process of growth. We sometimes forget that in order to become who Christ desires us to be, means that we have to stretch beyond our comfort. It’s that “stretching” that causes pain. It’s not pleasant. Not even a little bit. Our heart will ache. We will at times feel like a colossal failure. But that is not the end! Even Jesus our Lord “learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Heb 5:8)
So I’ve titled this month’s messages: Growing Pains. Because, in order to become the Growing Church, we are going to look at one area that we are called to ‘stretch’. To grow!
Well today, we are going to see that spiritual growth takes place in the times we don’t expect it!
Today, God has called us to:
GROW THROUGH FAILURE
And maybe your saying, well that sounds like fun! Failing is never fun. It not kept in check, our failures can conjure up feelings of inadequacy and self esteem issues.
But, if kept in proper perspective, failure can produce growth!
T.S: How to grow through failure:
Our text is John’s 8th chapter. In this familiar account, I want us to focus our attention on the one we more often than not skip right over! You see, when we read this story, Bible scholars love to talk about the Pharisees and leaders of the Law. They love to talk about what was Jesus writing in the sand. They love to talk about how they were just trying to trap Jesus. Well, today, I want to focus on the adulterous woman! She was a real person, with a big-time failure that was made public!
John 8:1-11
Lets read the first 4 verses:
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
The first way to grow through failure is:
1. Admit your failure! (John 8:3,4)
The adulterous woman is not heard denying her actions. In fact, she was guilty. She was caught IN THE ACT OF adultery! Sometimes the best thing to do is to admit your wrong! But often times, the best thing and the hardest thing ends up being the same thing. It’s not easy to admit “hey, I was wrong.”
But when you admit your failure, you have conquered pride! Own your mistakes! Don’t shift the blame. Don’t say: “well it’s not really my fault…”
Listen, this was a lifestyle of sin she was battling! It wasn’t an isolated event! The men knew exactly where to find her and when to find her. And find her they did. They brought her before Jesus.
--(Our failures do have consequences).
Hey listen! I want you to know something else loud and clear. Our failures do have consequences! Notice that she wasn’t trying to get out of what she deserved. You don’t hear her pleading and begging. Or offering up excuses. Her crime deserved death…she was aware of this. The Law made her guilty!
A. (the reality)
HERE’S THE REALITY:
EACH OF US FAIL: Isn’t it funny then that we are often taken by surprise by our own failures? We think to ourselves that failure is something that happens to the other guy.
We each have felt like colossal failures in regards to our own spirituality. We have addictions we can’t shake. We have flaws that we keep secret. We can’t even keep up with our Bible reading! We don’t pray enough. We aren’t nice people. Our thoughts are perverted. Our hearts filled with hate. To sum it up: WE ARE A MESS!
B. (the remedy)
But that’s the beauty of Christianity. It’s not based on how bad of a person I AM. It’s all about how Gracious and merciful God is!
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS: The Bible says ADMIT YOUR FAILURES TO GOD!
1st John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
God’s promise: Not only will God forgive our failures, but he will PURIFY us!
Have you admitted areas of your life that are failures?
Well let’s continue reading if we may.
Verses 5 & 6
5In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
The second thing to do in the midst of Failure is:
2. Understand that my failures are amplified!
A. By Others!
(Sin is a big deal)
Let’s call this what it is. IT IS SIN. And sin IS a big deal. That’s why Jesus died! God cares about sin! God cares about YOUR sin! These teachers of the law and the Pharisees were religious experts. They knew that sin required punishment. They were within their rights!
(But they didn’t care about her)
But it’s obvious by their timing, their actions, that they were not calling for repentance. Look at it. They brought this woman before Jesus (not in private) but in public! WHILE JESUS WAS TEACHING IN THE TEMPLE! They interrupt His lesson and make her stand before crowd. They wanted to make an example of this woman. There was no love in their actions. They had forgotten that she was a real person, with feelings, created by God, loved by God…instead these experts in the law transformed this guilty woman into a way to make Jesus look bad.
In the midst of her failure, others seem to be rejoicing! Have you ever felt that way? That there were people who couldn’t wait to see you fall flat on your face? Why do they do that to us?
Reasons others like to judge:
--To take the focus off of themselves. “Hey. Look at this one! How horrible she is!”
--To make themselves feel better “Well I at least don’t commit murder!”
But Jesus brings the focus back to them. “let you who is without sin, pick up the first rock and hurl it at her.”
People will have ulterior motives in judging your faults!
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE HAVE TO SAY ABOUT AMPLIFYING THE FAILURES OF OTHERS?
Jesus Himself says:
Matthew 7:2
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Jesus makes it crystal clear that we shouldn’t be quick to Judge. We should be quick to offer forgiveness. And in the 8th chapter of John, these religious leaders are pretty quick to point out this woman’s faults!
(Warning to Christians!)
Christians are pretty good at amplifying the faults of others aren’t we? We whisper things such as, “can you believe her?” We stare disapprovingly at the stains of imperfection. We find a sick sort of joy of pointing our accusing finger at the failure of others!
And because we have become good at judging others, we don’t see repentance OR confession take place in the church. And I know the reason for that. It’s because we wonder to ourselves: What will they think if I come forward? My secret sin will be found out!
STOP AMPLIFYING THE SINS OF OTHERS! Offer love! Offer forgiveness! Offer your support!
Not only are others quick to amplify my failures, but my failures are amplified:
B. By me!
Illustration: Zit face. When you have a zit on your face…who is the most paranoid about it? WE ARE!
We are probably our most critical of our shortcomings than anyone else.
--Somewhere along the line we end up beating ourselves so severely that we often times make ourselves feel horribly guilty! A lot of us have unrealistic standards. We have this idea that we are supposed to be super-Christians: Maturing faster than a speeding sermon series, more powerful than a trainload of temptations, able to leap human imperfection in a single bound.
Here’s the truth, though:
We’re not going to save the whole world - no one person can do that.
We’re not going to live a sinless life - only Christ did that.
We’re not going to make perfect decisions all the time - Only God is all seeing and
knowing, all wise and all loving
We’re just normal, garden variety human beings in need of God’s redemption and constant care. And that’ not only OK…it’s Biblical! We are “earthly vessels (as Paul calls us in 2 Cor. 4:7) or cracked pots! And cracked pots will leak and spill, but once they’ve been in the hands of the Mender, they can again hold beauty for all to see.
You are a cracked pot! But you have been mended! You are made beautiful by the one who makes all things beautiful!
Let’s finish up our text this morning: Let’s read
verses 7-11
7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At 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. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
The third thing to do in the midst of failure is to remember:
3. There is forgiveness in failure!
I believe firmly that this is the part of the message that we need to hear more than anything else. Some have forgotten that there is sweet forgiveness in the midst of failure!
A. (Jesus silences the voices of the accusers!)
This story is amazing! We see the compassion of God upon those who are guilty. This woman was guilty! But I love verse 9.
“At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time.” When God speaks, suddenly, your accusers not only be silent, but they will go away!!!
Some of you need to let God’s words speak to you this morning:
(silently put these verses on the screen)
Isaiah 1:8
"Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
Romans 8:1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
Psalm 103:12
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
B. (Jesus fulfills His mission!) (John 3:17)
And when the woman’s accusers are silent and gone. It’s just Jesus and this woman. And you can hear it in His voice: Where are your accusers? And Jesus offers compassion and mercy and hope where none had offered it before.
This sinful woman was experiencing the very thing that Jesus came to offer this world!
John 3:17
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
“Neither do I condemn You!” were the words that Jesus spoke to this hopeful woman!
You can almost sense the relief that this woman feels! Her life had been spared. But I can’t help but wonder: Did she leave her life of sin? Did she grow from her failure? We don’t know.
So we conclude this morning with a very real question:
CONCLUSION: I want you to consider how this story would have been different had Jesus not been present? Would this woman had been stoned to death? Would her accusers win out? Would her punishment had fit the crime? Would her failure have ended in defeat?
This is the message I want you to know today: If you have JESUS PRESENT IN YOUR LIFE, YOUR FAILURES WILL HAVE A DIFFERENT ENDING!
And so it leads us to end with this question:
Do you have Jesus in your life? If you have not accepted the forgiveness that only Jesus offers for the sin that is present in your life, won’t you please come today and accept His forgiveness by being baptized this day?
If you have all ready accepted His forgiveness, then may I ask: “Are you growing through your failures in life?“ Maybe it’s time to admit to some failure in your life. Won’t you come and make that known as well.
