Jesus Defends the Wrong
Theme: Jesus protects the sinner from the self-righteous.
Text: John 8:1-11
Lucy is a pretty fourteen year old girl. Maybe that was half of the problem; she was too attractive too early in life. She started dating Mark at the beginning of the school year, Mark was a good boy, and he was sixteen. Lacy felt like she was in love and Mark was curious about sex. So on Christmas Eve, when Lucy’s parents were out at a Christmas party, Lucy and Mark had sex for the first time. It was Lucy’s present to Mark to show her true love for him. But on February 6th, Lucy went to the drug store with her friend Melissa to buy a pregnancy test. In Lucy’s head, she knew she was carrying Mark’s child, but she was hoping for a negative result. As Lucy and Melissa nervously sat in Melissa bathroom, it was the slowest time has ever ticked for Lucy. What was going to be the verdict?
The test changed colors and Lucy’s life changed too. What was she going to do? She called Mark that night. Mark knew something was wrong as he jumped in his green pickup truck. She came out to meet him, and the both of them drove to a back road. There she told him the news. Mark was scared. In five minutes Lucy’s life started to fall apart. Mark had a future ahead of him that did not include a child. He broke up with Lucy that night and drove away. That was the last time Mark ever spoke to her. He would not even look at her at school. Maybe Mark felt that if he did not accept the truth that maybe somehow the reality of her being pregnant would go away.
But this child was not going to go away from Lucy. She was afraid of the future. She went to see her minister to talk with him in private about her options. She was afraid to tell her parents. Her mother was a teacher in the local High School and her Father was a deacon at the congregation. This pregnancy would bring shame to her family. There was no way that she could envision her family loving her through this situation. She was hoping that the minister could help.
It was probably the most difficult words she ever said. She was crying as she confessed to her minister that she was pregnant. The minister handled the news well. He did not scold her or talk down to her. He understood that good people can make bad choices. Lucy told the minister that she did not want to keep the child. In fact she did not even want to have the child. “There is no way that I can raise this child and there is no way that my parents would help me” she said. “I want to get an abortion” she stated firmly. The minister empathizing with her, because he knew the tremendous fear she had, did not over react. He talked with her about giving the child up for adoption. He encouraged her to discussion the situation with her parents. But Lucy was adamant. She was determined not to carry this baby. She knew it was a sin to have an abortion. She knew God’s feelings on abortion. She heard sermons and classes talking about the sanctity of life. But if knowledge always stopped sin, there would be certainly less sin in this world. Finally the minister begged her to at least think about this before she had an abortion. She promised she would as she walked out of his office.
On February 19th, Lucy called her minister at his house. “I am sorry sir, but I am going to the clinic tomorrow to have an abortion” she said emotionlessly. Her minister pleaded with her not too. But she made up her mind; tomorrow she was going to have an abortion. He knew where she was going to go. There was only one place. Her minister’s heart broke that night thinking about this little girl’s decision. As he sat down, he wife, Marge asked him what was wrong. He said “you know Lucy from church.” “Yes,” she said. “She is going to have an abortion tomorrow. I do not know what to do.”
Marge did. The next day after her husband left for the office, she jumped in the car and headed down to the clinic. She must have sat in her car for three hours before Lucy got out and started walking towards the clinic. But as Lucy started to make her way to the clinic, it so happened that there was a church group protesting abortion that day. There were numerous Christians with shirts that stated “You are a murder. God hates abortion. The blood is on your hands,” and one shirt with “God hates you.” As Lucy was going towards the doors, the protesting Christians were screaming at her. Lucy’s eyes were beginning to fill with tears as she put her head down and tried to block out the voices. At that moment, Marge, the minister’s wife pushed her way through the crowd of Christians and wrapped her arm around Lucy. Lucy defensive at first, but then realized it was Marge. “What are you doing here” she asked. “I am not going to change my mind” she forcefully stated. “I know” Marge said. “I have not come to change your mind, but to love you through this.” “You know I am against abortion, but I am for you.” “I wanted to be here to love you.” So Marge and Lucy walked through the Christian mob into the clinic. During the time there, Marge said very little. As Lucy sat in the waiting room, Marge sat with her. Finally, Lucy was invited into the back, and she asked Marge to come with her. During the procedure, Marge stood next to Lucy holding her hand while Lucy wept.
What was Marge to do? Was she to join the protesters? Was she to pretty that nothing was happening in this young girl’s life? Was she to clean house and fit dinner, hoping that inaction somehow proved her stance against abortion? Or was she to go to the clinic and support this young lady through this terrible situation? She could have done nothing. What if people thought that she endorsed this abortion? Imagine her reputation if people recognized her in supporting this young girl through this abortion. The safe approach would have stayed home, but bold love caused her to go. She knew she had to stand with the wrong.
Is this what Jesus would have done in a similar situation? John 8:1-11 provides some help. “But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. And the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the midst, they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. "Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?" And they were saying this, testing Him, in order that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the midst. And straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" And she said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more.”
The next day, Winfred comes into the minister’s office. His face is red. “What was your wife doing?” “I was down at the abortion clinic protesting against this terrible sin. “And I saw your wife.” The minister seemed confused. “What do you mean Winfred” he asked. “Marge was with Lucy at the abortion clinic yesterday.” She walked in with her and walked out with her. I think Lucy must have had an abortion.” What was your wife doing there?” The minister knew, he should have never told Marge about the situation. It was a good question, was she there to try to talk her out of it, he wondered. “I don’t know Winfred, but I will find out.”
When the minister arrived home that evening, Marge had a wonderful supper prepared for him. He sat down at the table. “Winfred came by my office today, and told me that you were with Lucy at the abortion clinic. What were you doing down there?” He asked. “I was loving her through this terrible situation” she said meekly. “I wanted to be with her.” “She needed someone to love her through this dark valley in her life.” “What” the minister yelled. “You supported her having an abortion. Abortion is a sin. You did not go down to talk her out of it. Marge, abortion is a serious sin. As Christians we need to make a stand against sin. If we go around condoning sin, everyone will just get an abortion. How could you do that?”
Marge said “look at John 8:1-11. It seems that Jesus is willing to stand with the wrong. Instead of judging the adulteress woman, Jesus defends the lady from her self-appointed judges. The woman is guilty, guilty of sin. The text clearly indicates that she was caught in the act of cheating on her husband with another man. She was caught in the bed with this man. What she did was shameful, but how the religious people are acting is despicable. According to the Old Testament law, adultery is punishable by death. You know this from Deuteronomy 22:22-24. Certainly, there were more than two people who witnessed this act of sin. You can imagine this woman staring at the ground, just like Lucy did. She was ashamed of herself. Her sin which was private is not public. She is going to have to live with this sin for the rest of her life. This woman is not looking up. There is no love or kindness in the crowd. There are just self-righteous people, with stones in their hands, ready to kill her. It was like Lucy’s situation, all the religious people were condemning her. I wanted her to see the love of Christ in me. The people at the clinic protesting abortion were screaming at her, I just wanted to love her. But look at Jesus’ reaction. You do not see him freeing the leaders to stone her. He simply writes in the sand and makes a statement in verse 7. “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." He looks up again, and all the people are gone. It was from the oldest to the young that they left. The people realized that they were not perfect either. Jesus even greets her now in a respectful way. There is not hint of moral superiority in his greeting. He says woman, not in a degrading way, the original language indicates, but in a respect way. He knows that she is guilty, this is indicated to us in his statement to the woman to “sin no longer.” But he does not condemn her. He loves her instead of judging her. He protects us from those who were unloving to her. Jesus stands with the wrong. Christians today run around telling everyone about the sins that they are committing. Maybe instead of judging everyone, Christians should seek to love them. Instead of condemning others for sins, they should start ministries to help people through those sins. It is easy to stand back and judge people for sins they committed; it is the Christian things to stand with them through sin. Instead of throwing stone, maybe we should throw out love to them.
Stu Weber understands this courageous love from others. Stu has a terrible temper. In fact, early in his ministry, he stopped playing church-league basketball altogether; his temper kept flaring, embarrassing him self and the church. A decade passed. “I hadn’t had a flash of temper for years,” Stu said. But then his oldest son made the high school varsity basketball squad. “I began living my life again through my sin.” Stu terrorized the referees. On one occasion, seated in the second row, Stu wound up on the floor level, with no recollection of how he got there. He received nasty letters from the church members judging his actions. He knew they were right. But then he got another note from Steve, a member in the congregation. “Stu, I know your heart. I know that you want to life for Christ and his reputation. And I know that is not happening at the basketball games. If it would be helpful to you, I will come to all the games with you and sit beside you.”
Instead of standing in the stands judging another’s sin, why don’t we sit and love the sinner through the sin.
