This will be my last sermon with the Pottersville UMC and the RWJohnsburg UMC. I am retiring from ministry. It has been a honor serving here and with other congregations, but it is now time to rest. It is time to allow the next generation to take on the task of leading worship. I will continue to post my reflections and thoughts, but this should be my last offical sermon that I will be sharing. May God continue to watch over you ... and now my final sermon:
The young man quietly steps up to the small lectern, the one reserved for the liturgist. The large Bible is already open to the page from which he will read. He takes a deep breath, most likely to calm himself before he begins to read from the scriptures. He does not tell us what book he is reading from, nor are we told the chapter and verses; these will come later, when the pastor will share with us his thoughts on the scriptures.“Early in the morning [Jesus] came to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them.”[i] The young man’s voice is clear and strong, he seems to have practiced this reading many times. While the young man is reading this passage, the pastor walks across the chancel and sits at the head of the steps while two men from the choir come to sit at his feet. “The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them.” At this point the young man has to raise his voice for there is a commotion in the central aisle for the nave has become the scene of a brief drama. Two ornately dressed men are dragging a woman who is desperately pleading to be released. Behind them are several men carrying boxes. They stop at each pew and begin handing out small rocks as the two men throw the young woman at the feet of the pastor.
“… [T]hey said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.’ Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” Now I’m holding a stone in my hand and the choir has joined in with the two men passing out the stones. Over and over they are saying “Stone her! Stone her!” When the last of the stones are handed out, everyone stops and looks at the pastor.
“They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.” As the pastor bends over and draws on the ground with his finger, the choir begins once again in a low voice which is close to a whisper, “Stone her … stone her … stone her …”
The young man’s voice is strong as he reads loudly part of the next verse above the choir’s chanting, “When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, …”; the choir is silent now, the pastor slowly rises up and says in a clear voice, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
My hand aches, and it is then that I realize that the stone I’m holding in my hand is biting into my flesh. I’m squeezing it as hard as I can and it has become hard for me to see. I’m fighting back the tears that want to run down my face, and I know that their threat is not because of the pain in my clenched fist.
Just as the young man begins to read the next passage, I realize that there is not a sound in the entire sanctuary. “And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.” As the young man continues to read, the others, with the exception of the young woman, leave the stage. “When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her …”; the pastor now looks directly at the young woman and speaking with great warmth, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
In a small voice the young woman answers, “No one, sir.”
The pastor looks her deep in the eyes and says, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”
As the woman quietly walks away; the pastor rises and steps to the center of the chancel. He slowly looks at everyone in the congregation, and then asks all of us a profound question, “What are you going to do with your rock?”
During his time of reflection and proclamation he points out that John 8:2-11 is not a part of the Revised Common Lectionary, and he also points out that this congregation at this moment in time very much needs to experience this passage. There are many thoughts that could be delved into using this story as a starting point: once again the religious leaders are testing Jesus and looking for a way to undermine his ministry among common people. Maybe this story could be used as a beginning point to challenge the very concept of a male-dominated societal structure, or maybe this story could be used to reinforce the idea that only God has the right to judge people and their actions.
Our pastor chose to use this story and its dramatic presentation as the starting point for a discussion about holding on to a grudge. The woman in the story was guilty of the crime charged against her, and the punishment called for was one that her society allowed at the time. No one in this story came forward to claim that the woman was innocent. Even the woman herself failed ever to claim that she was innocent. In fact, at the end of the story Jesus tells her to go and sin no more. She is indeed guilty of the crime charged against her, but Jesus does not believe that the punishment of being put to death is a fitting punishment in this case. Maybe it’s about the woman herself, or maybe it’s because Jesus knows that the leaders were only asking for the death sentence because they wanted to be able to trap Jesus. Either way, Jesus has once again decided that he would rather hope for the future and therefore be willing to extend mercy and love into the present.
We are asked to think about how we may sometimes hold onto a grudge when we feel that someone who has done something wrong seems to be “getting away with it.” He points out that there are even some people who take such great joy in making it their personal “business” to see to it that the guilty ones are punished.
The pastor is right when he points out that even when the guilty are punished, the wrong is never removed; all actions have consequences, and the past can never be undone. But he also points out to us that there is nothing even more important to come to grips with.
As I hold that stone tightly in my hand; as I contemplate at whom I will symbolically cast my stone, I can hear the pastor reminding us that when we pray the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples we use the words, “and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Now the stone in my hand has taken on a new meaning. No longer is it an object of weight to be used as a weapon against another; now its weight is reminding me of the countless times that I have failed to keep myself from sinning. How can I refuse my brother or sister the forgiveness that I have so ardently begged God for?
The pastor is right. This congregation, at this time, is deeply in need of hearing this message of forgiveness. We are not only in need of personal forgiveness, but we are deeply in need of understanding that we have been called to forgive each other. There is still more to hear from the pastor. He is reminding us that there is a relationship between forgiving and loving. It is easy for us to forgive those whom we love, and it is a sign of love when we forgive the other.
In my pocket today, I still carry a small stone. At the start of each day, I pick up the many objects that I will place in my pockets. Among them I find a small stone, and I am reminded to pray for the strength and the wisdom to forgive those people I see sinning that day. Later, when I reach into my pocket for a coin or my keys, I will find that same small stone and I will be reminded of this special sermon and the love that we are challenged to show to each other. At the end of the day, I will remove the many small items from my pockets and place them on my dresser. Among them will be this small stone, and it will remind me to pray that I will never cast my judgment upon another. Maybe your stone can do the same … and it might even remind you that you have been forgiven.
[i] John 8:2-11 – The New Oxford Annotated Bible NRSV. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
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