Isaiah 43:16-21
This section of the book of Isaiah contains the words of a prophet to God's people in exile in Babylon. Here, he encourages them that one day they will be free to return home to Jerusalem. This journey will be through desert, but God will transform this barren wasteland to ease their passage home.
Philippians 3:8-14
The city of Philippi was located in what is today northeastern Greece, a country where Olympic-type games were popular. Paul draws upon this image to motivate the people to keep pressing forward in their spiritual growth.
John 8:1-11
Bishop Untener's Homily
If you took a survey and asked people to name the Gospel passages they love most (apart from the story of the birth and death of Jesus) I think the following passages would all be in the top five - I'm not sure what order they'd be in, but these would be in the top five:
- the parable of the Prodigal Son
- the parable of the Lost Sheep
- the raising of the son of the widow at Naim
- the parable of the Good Samaritan
- the incident involving the woman caught in adultery
Now, your list may differ a bit, but I think today's passage about the woman caught in adultery would be in most everybody's top five.
This is a very dramatic scene, and the "staging" (if you can call it that) is well done. You know the story well, but I want you to take time to picture the scene. It all takes place in the temple area, so the set remains the same. The stage is empty at first, but then Jesus comes on stage, and then it begins to fill up with people. Jesus starts to teach them.
Then, the action starts. The scribes and Pharisees arrive bringing a woman who was caught in adultery. They confront Jesus with the facts of the case, remind him of the Law of Moses, and ask for his opinion. Everyone is hushed, waiting to hear what Jesus is going to say.
But he doesn't say anything. He simply bends down and begins more or less doodling on the ground.
The scribes and Pharisees keep pressing him, so Jesus stands up to his full height and says that the one without sin should throw the first stone. Then he bends down again and writes on the ground.
At this point, a very dramatic thing happens. There is once again a hush. Then, one by one - and that's what the Gospel says, "one by one" - everyone begins to leave the stage. It happens slowly and takes some time, but then… Jesus and the woman are all alone on stage. (St. Augustine wrote a wonderful line about this scene. He wrote in Latin and his words were, "And two were left: misera et misericordia - the one filled with misery, and the one filled with mercy.")
Jesus is still bent down, writing on the ground. And the frightened woman is standing in front of him. Then Jesus stands up and the scene closes with his beautiful words: "Has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you."
Those are the words I want us to pay special attention to.
People sometimes wonder how Jesus could say this, because they think that the opposite of "condemn" is "condone." How could Jesus condone sin?
Well, the opposite of condemn is not condone. "Condemn" comes from the Latin word which means "to damn," which means to hold someone or something as worthless, useless, cursed. The opposite of this is not "condone." The opposite of "condemn" is to "save," which means to help, to heal, hold valuable. The opposite of "condemnation" is "salvation" - deliverance from evil and ruin.
We need to notice carefully the difference between Jesus and the authorities who brought this woman to him. Keep in mind - they agreed that what the woman did was wrong. They both thought that it was sinful. The difference is that they condemned her, and Jesus didn't. That's the difference.
It's one thing to condemn the conduct of a person. It's another thing to condemn the person.
Do you know what? Jesus never, never condemned any person... And do you know what else? We are never allowed to condemn anyone. Never. We can condemn actions; never the person.
As we think about what Jesus did here, we can draw a lesson in two directions. First, the Lord towards us. We realize that the Lord treats us just like he treated this woman. He never condemns us. Despite the worst we've done, the Lord never stops loving us.
Second - and I want to close with this one - the direction of us towards others. The Lord expects us to treat others the same way. I can summarize this in one simple statement: "Don't ever be mean to anyone."
I can never be mean to anybody. Ever. I can disagree with them, I can condemn their activity. But I can never be mean to anybody. And that means mean in my thoughts, mean in my words, mean in my wishes… I can never be mean to anybody.
Meanness can creep into our system, like a virus. It's an evil thing, an instrument of evil, and the person it hurts most of all is you. It's bad for our stomach. It's bad for our heart. It never does us any good at all to have the acid of meanness inside us.
We've got to teach this to our children. We've got to teach it to ourselves. We've got to take it seriously. We've got to flush the acid of meanness out of our system, and experience the peace this brings. It's not complicated. It's a simple lesson that Jesus taught in this Gospel passage: Don't ever be mean to anybody.
We're going to take about 60 seconds of silence now, and I want each of us to think of the person we'd most like to be mean to... and say a prayer for them. That, by the way, is usually the best formula to neutralize the acid of meanness inside us: say a prayer for the person. I invite us all to do that now.
Originally given April 1, 2001