FREED BY THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS
When you were a child, were you ever caught with your hand in the cookie jar? Did you ever try to stay awake on Christmas Eve to catch Santa in the act? Did you ever catch mama in the act of kissing Santa Claus? Whenever you caught someone or you yourself were caught doing something that was forbidden, how did you or the one who caught you react?
We all have broken rules . . . tested the limits of the law . . . gotten off the straight and narrow path . . . gone astray . . . sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. When we were caught doing something we had been told by our parents "not to do" - at that moment of truth, what did we ask for? Of course, we asked for mercy, with a promise not to do it again.
When you were the one "catching" someone in a transgression and were asked for mercy (assuming you had the authority for granting mercy), how did you respond?
Whether we are the one asking for mercy or the one asked for mercy - there must be a response on the part of the one who can grant or deny mercy . . . on the part of the one who receives or is denied mercy.
Without exception, the response depends on one's attitude - toward the law . . . the transgression . . . the sinner . . . all three, bar none. In the Christian Church . . . a Christian society . . . a nation largely Christian, the law and the sin must be taken seriously, but so must the plight of the sinner!
In the confrontation that occurred between Jesus and His detractors, while He was teaching in the courtyard of the temple, Jesus demonstrated the order of priority in the administration of justice and mercy: (1) the sinner, (2) the sin, (3) the law - John 8:2-11 . . .
This particular incident - one that occurred not long after Jesus began his ministry in Jerusalem - tells us a lot about the attitude of Jesus toward sinners, and therefore, the attitude He expects of anyone who would be one of His disciples.
It is important that we see how Jesus treated this woman who, by the way, was just one of two people involved in the transgression against the Law; after all, it takes two to "tango".
It would be easy to use this passage to draw a wrong conclusion: like, it's okay for men but not women to commit adultery; or, as has been the case with some, it would be wrong to get the impression that Jesus did not take this sin seriously, as if it did not matter. Quite the contrary!
Jesus did not say, "Don't worry, it's okay." What He did say was, "I am not going to pass judgment on you right now (He did not come into the world to condemn), but, go prove that you can do better.”
A challenge that applies to you and me, and all forgiven sinners! For, at the end of the day, folks will see the wonderful change in a life that has been wrought by God’s forgiveness. Not only she, not only we, but all those who sit in judgment on us, stand in need of God’s forgiveness . . . face the challenge of doing better!
Jesus would not allow Himself to be trapped by legalists who lived in glass houses yet chomped at the bit to throw stones . . . zealots of the kind that would act as judge, jury and prosecution without due process . . . enemies of freedom in Christ - to be the person God wants His children to be - forgiven and forever blessed!
Our Lord's attitude and actions toward sinners demonstrated the opposite of the hypocrisy the woman was being subjected to. The mindset and manner of Jesus is the model for what we think and how we behave toward other sinners. His mindset was characterized by God's love. His manner of relating to sinners was characterized by God's grace - grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt.
Grace involves the second chance that God gives us all - the chance to redeem ourselves. A lady by the name of Hazel Feldman wrote a poem that expresses how we all have probably felt at one time or another about our need for a second chance:
“How I wish that there was some wonderful place called the Land of Beginning Again! Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches and all our poor selfish grievances . . . Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door, and never put on again.”
Jesus taught and practiced the gospel of the second chance - interested not only in what a person had been but also in what a person could be.
Jesus did not say that sinning does not matter. Broken hearts and broken laws, and broken homes always matter. But Jesus came that we might have life - abundant and eternal. He gave the adulterous woman that day her chance for a new life. To all people who are willing to admit the error of their ways and repent, He gives that chance. And it's never too late!
Grace involves pity. The scribes and Pharisees aimed to condemn. To them, to condemn was to get a chance to kill and experience a masochistic thrill.
Jesus knew the thrill of forgiveness and He aimed to give that thrill to all who would heed His Word, see their need, and respond in repentance and faith.
Grace involves a challenge. Jesus confronts each and every one who has been forgiven with the challenge of a sinless life. He does not tell us, “It’s all right, don’t worry, just keep doing what you have been doing.” What He says is, “That’s wrong; change your ways; get on with living a life of good to the fullest extent to which you are capable. And I’ll be with you.”
Freed by God’s forgiveness! Yes! But for some Christians there is a nagging question: “How could God ever forgive a sinner like me? I’ve still got a lot of good to do before I can feel forgiven.”
Every now and then I run across someone who feels that way – as if there is an unseen but divine balance scale with a "sin side" and a "good side", and that they must do enough good to outweigh the bad before God will forgive them.
You’d be surprised at how much harm this way of thinking has done to some people, not only those of world religions which teach “karma” as a law of retribution, but also to "Christians in name only" who have been crippled by an obsession with striving to "balance the scale" if not be perfect in order to earn God’s favor.
The famed psychiatrist Karl Menninger once said that if he could convince the patients in psychiatric hospitals that their sins were forgiven, seventy-five per cent of them could walk out the next day.
The lead singer of a popular rock group U2, in a testimonial to God’s grace, made this observation: “At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know: what you put out comes back to you; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; or like in physics, every action is met by an equal but opposite reaction. And yet, along came this idea called Grace to upend all that. You see, love interrupts the consequences of our actions, which in my case is very good news indeed because I’ve done a lot of stupid stuff.”
A sinner “caught in the act” was brought to Jesus for His concurrence with their intent to kill her; but Love interrupted their plan and grace abounded to the extent that they hung their heads in shame and departed from the presence of His holiness and her forgiveness.
God forgives us not because we deserve it, or have done enough good to outweigh our sins. God forgives us because He loves us. Let us love one another, and let us forgive one another. Amen.
