Rev. David Holwick K
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 26, 1995
John 8:1-11
|
I. Saints vs. Sinners.
A. Philip Yancey and a Gay March in Washington.
A few years back Philip Yancey happened to be in Washington,
D.C., when 300,000 gay-rights activists were having a march.
He was standing on the sidelines directly in front of the
White House when a startling confrontation took place.
About 40 mounted policemen had formed a protective circle
around a small group of outspoken Christian protesters.
Thanks to huge, orange posters announcing hellfire, the tiny
knot of Christians was attracting most of the press
photographers.
The believers began shouting, "Shame-on-you-for-what-you-do."
Then they switched to, "AIDS, AIDS, it's comin' your way."
Yancey, along with everyone else in the crowd, had seen the
group of marchers at the head of the column:
a sad procession of hundreds of people with AIDS - some in
wheelchairs, some covered with purple sores or gaunt faces.
Philip Yancey couldn't imagine how anyone could wish that fate
on another human being.
How did the marchers respond to the Christians?
Some taunted or mocked them.
But one group came to the spot, stopped to face them, and sang,
"Jesus loves you, this we know, for the Bible tells us so."
The irony was unsettling.
On the one side were "righteous" Christians.
On the other were "sinners," many of whom openly admitted
homosexuality.
Yet one side spewed out hate and the other sang of Jesus' love.
#3110
B. Megan's law offender now in Roxbury: what should Christians
do with someone like this?
In Philipsburg, they beat the offender up.
Well, not the offender, just some unfortunate guy.
What would YOU do?
C. Christians and judgmentalism.
1) This passage not original to John, but must be true.
2) Goes against most historical behavior of Christians.
II. The setup.
A. Adultery usually not given death penalty by Jews.
1) Taken seriously, but divorce was usual option.
2) For death, two witnesses had to catch in act, have identical
testimony.
B. Usually a only a set-up could accomplish this.
1) Note that two had to be caught in act, but only woman is
before crowd. Guy must have been in on plot.
2) Rationale - With divorce, she gets her stuff; with death
penalty husband gets it.
C. Using shame as a weapon. #1449
1) Religious leaders are willing to use the situation to get
Jesus.
a) If he condemns her, he's in trouble with Romans.
b) If he releases her, he's in trouble with Jews (lax).
2) They want to embarrass both woman and Jesus.
a) Shame is natural and God-given.
b) These leaders abuse it, turn it into weapon.
c) They use shame to hurt, Jesus uses it to heal.
III. Turning the tables.
A. Jesus writes in dirt.
1) List of her sins?
2) Quote from OT?
3) His judgment, which he then gives orally?
B. Let he who has never sinned...
1) Changes from cold judgmentalism to self-inspection.
a) Oldest leave first.
1> Maturity can leave us jaded, disillusioned.
b) Finally, all are gone.
2) All have sinned, all are liable to judgment.
C. One is left - Jesus.
1) "Go and sin no more."
2) Jesus is not lax toward sin, but generous toward sinners.
IV. Discomfort with this passage.
A. America is in moral decline.
1) Talk show with gay admirer, murder results.
2) Nobody condemns anything, society is crumbling.
a) Society loves Jesus and "judge not..."
b) An excuse to avoid discerning right from wrong.
B. Can we deal with sin?
1) Can we confront people? Can we condemn sin?
2) Not throwing stones can be equivalent to silent approval.
3) Even Christians waver on condemnation of sin.
a) Liberal Christianity has become silent about all but
social sins.
b) Evangelicals are silent on all but personal sin.
C. A little bit of shame can be a good thing.
1) Newsweek issue highlighted topic.
Shame can't be legislated, but must arise out of the
"moral sense" that exists in all humans.
Theologian Richard John Neuhaus thinks that shame faded
away not in the moral relativism of the 1960s, as is
usually argued, but in the Pollyannaish 1950s.
That's when spiritual leaders argued that "you could have
the positive side without the negative."
This is philosophically and practically impossible."
After all, adds Neuhaus, "we SHOULD dislike much about
ourselves, because there is much about ourselves that is
not only profoundly dislikable but odious.
It's not for nothing that the Ten Commandments are put in the
negative."
Somewhere along the line shame picked up a priggish,
finger-wagging connotation that has lingered in our
moral attics.
But now the pendulum seems to be swinging again, this time
away from making people feel good when they do bad.
#2974
2) Shame should never be destructive, but instructive.
V. Jesus is serious about sin.
A. Go and sin no more.
1) Jesus upholds standards.
a) "Leave your life of sin."
b) The whole concept of salvation means something isn't
right in us, and has to be fixed.
2) Apply standards to ourselves before we apply them to others.
a) Many Christians are lax regarding personal righteousness.
b) Look in mirror before judging another.
3) All of us must acknowledge our hidden sins.
a) Gay marchers should acknowledge sin.
b) Self-righteous should acknowledge their secret sins, too.
B. Cross is ultimate expression of shame.
1) Naked, lifted up and exposed to all.
2) He took our shame upon himself, so we can look at God with
raised eyes.
3) Any person we meet is a potential redeemed sinner.
VI. Jesus is serious about God's love.
A. Jesus loves sinners.
1) Not execution, but acceptance and forgiveness.
a) No sin can exclude from God.
b) Christians aren't more moral, just more forgiven.
2) He doesn't want to condemn, but to SAVE us.
B. "Christian Right" takes political thrust, often judgmental.
1) Roxbury gay issue.
2) Abortion and demonization of enemies.
3) We must be careful, or Christians will always be associated
with hatred.
C. Love is our greatest (and least used) weapon.
1) To whom can you show God's love?
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Easily create Web Help sites