*Before this sermon, I handed out or had the ushers pass out stones to each person in the church. Makes for some good humerous comments. I told them to hold the stones in their hands and when they felt it was time to set them down then they could do so. Some held on to them through the entire sermon, others laid them down as they went out and a few dropped them to the floor. The idea is for them to get what the sermon is saying and lay down the stones without you having to tell them to do so. You can really run with this idea.
“Finding Mercy in the Dust”
John 8:3-11
Introduction:
Think for a moment how quickly technology is transforming our world. I think in my own life what has come to pass; inventions like the Microwave Oven, VCR’s, DVD’s, and the personal home computer.
In this rapidly transforming world in which our reality changes so rapidly it is no wonder that our society is moving from a rational mind set to that of a relational mind set. In the past you could make a strong defense of the gospel, by bringing out all your facts and evidence and proving without a doubt the God’s Word is true.
But in today’s society the facts are not as important as the relationships. People are looking for a sense of community or belonging. Something to hold on to. As our facts change with each new discovery, what was impossible yesterday becomes possible today and so individuals are looking for something to anchor their souls upon. And what they seek is community.
You see relationships have an amazing potential to transform our lives for better or for worse. “It takes people to make people sick, and it takes people to make people well.”
Throughout the History of the church great revivals led by the power of the Holy Spirit created and began within the spirit of community.
Psalm 133:1 says; “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!”
In the book of Acts we read; “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:44-47)
The very nature of God fills this longing for community. This spiritual bond of brotherhood found in being a Christian. Today I want to share with you two elements found in Christ that bring us into unity with one another and help us grow spiritually.
I. Nature of Christ
-Now at first glance these two elements may seem in opposition to one another, but in balance both elements bring unity to the body of Christ.
-Both of these elements are found in the very nature of Christ in perfect balance.
A. Grace the reflection of Forgiveness.
-The first element is Grace; which means ‘good favor’ or kindness
-Grace allows us to come out of hiding and bring our weaknesses into the healing light of another’s gaze.
-Grace reflects Christ’s forgiveness
-How Jesus can look upon our failures and show us kindness by pardoning us or our wrong doings.
B. Truth the reflection of Holiness.
-The second element is truth, that holy righteous aspect of Christ.
-Truth presents us with a sense of Christ’s direction and boundaries that work to protect us from falling further into sinful and destructive patterns of living.
-Truth in our relational world confronts our tendency toward self-deception.
C. Both Elements are in Harmony within Christ.
-Yet for Christ both truth and grace exist.
-Let’s look at an example of this in the Gospel of John [John 8:3-11]
(Read John 8:3-11)
Contextually I want to make you aware that this passage does have some problems. It is not found in most Biblical manuscripts we have today. It was most-likely inserted as a later time as most church father’s in the 1st century do not speak of it. However, it does fit beautifully with the very character of Jesus Christ and demonstrates His attitude on grace and truth supported by other passages in the Bible. Jerome, translator of the Latin Vulgate Bible, in 346-420 AD wrote, however during his time there was enough ancient manuscript support to count this passage as authentic. With all that aside:
-The Pharisees had tried to trap Jesus by forcing him to choose between truth and grace.
-The truth was that this woman was a sinner, she had been caught in the act, she had violated God’s law and deserved death. (Deut. 22:22)
-I guess they let the guy off the hook, another indication that this was a setup.
-Now, grace called for mercy; to give her another chance, to let her go unpunished.
-The Pharisees saw that if Jesus sided with truth and the woman was stoned, then her blood would be upon his hands, and the message of love would be drowned out by the screams of death.
-Yet if Jesus gave grace, then he would have violated the Mosaic Laws, scripture. Jesus himself would be labeled as a law breaker.
-And Jesus would also have violated Roman Law by ordering someone put to death.
-So for the Pharisees, both truth and grace were polar opposites, they had laid a masterful trap, but they didn’t know who they were really dealing with.
-Through God, both truth and grace are possible.
-Jesus say in Mike’s amplified version; “Okay, so you think you yourselves are so perfect, then the one without sin in their lives, you throw the first stone.”
-You see it was only Jesus Himself who had the right to throw that first stone.
-I have heard many theories on what it was that Jesus wrote in the sand with his finger, the truth is we don’t really know, but I like to think that he was writing each man’s secret sins, as one by one they cast down their stones and walked away.
-Jesus never condoned the woman’s sin, he never said hey that’s all right, God loves you anyway.
-No, he first gives her grace, pardons her sin, then says, go and sin no more.
II. Called to a Community of Grace and Truth
-We are called to extend both grace and truth as servants of Christ.
-Yet often we go to either extreme.
A. Nature of Man
1. Gracious Truth Avoiders
-For some people, words of encouragement and affirmation flow easily, but there is a fear of truth telling if it involves confrontation.
-There is that attitude of I’m okay, your okay and let’s not even deal with sin in our lives.
-Gracious Truth Avoiders may see themselves as loving Christians, but they are missing the point of Christian Community.
*A young man was walking into church and dog had fastened it’s teeth firmly to his leg and would every once in awhile growl and tear at the young man’s leg. Yet know one in church said anything, because no one wanted to offend the young man, after all the church was looking for new membership. Finally the minister could stand it no more, and in the middle of the sermon he said; “Son you want me to get that dog off your leg.” The young man replied; “What dog?” “That dog chewing on your leg.”, the preacher exclaimed in disbelief. “Oh that ain’t my dog reverend, I just picked him up walking through your yard.” The young man replied.
“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31,32)
-As we come to know Jesus Christ through God’s Word; it is Christ himself that frees of from our sins. He gives us pardon to sin NO MORE.
-Think about that adulteress, her life was a mess, she was selling her body, sleeping with men she barely knew. She didn’t need someone to tell her she was okay, she needed to get free of the sinful lifestyle that was holding her down.
-The truth will set you free.
-As a community of believers we must help people to be spiritually transformed, we must help people to get well, to get rid of the cancers that are eating away at their lives.
-There is almost always some pain associated with surgery.
-The doctors always say; “this won’t hurt a bit.” And you yell back, “you know doc, your right, it hurts a lot.”
-Getting better always is accompanied by some discomfort; just as it is with purging sin from our lives.
2. Grace Less Truth Inflictors
-The other end of the spectrum are the Grace Less Truth Inflictors
-They are those who are zealous to apply the truth of God in our lives and root out every sin no matter what the cost.
-They call us into account and as Christians to grow up.
“[That] we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:14,15)
-Yet the one thing they leave out is speaking the truth in love.
-That bit of grace that helps a person move from a life of rebellion toward God to a life of service to the Master.
-Sometimes we want to correct a person before we even get to know them.
-People are more willing to listen to good advice when it comes from someone they know and trust.
-Some sins run deep and it takes a good friend to root them out with a little love for pain killer.
B. The Balance of Grace and Truth
-As people come into our church, who may have issues they are dealing with, then lets give them a little grace, love them, care for them, then clean their wounds by sharing the truth of God’s Word and helping them move past their sins.
-Let us not be so quick to stone them, but realize we too have missed the mark, we too have rebelled against God.
-What kind of sins do we deal with today? We see broken relationships, deep pains, that sometimes hamper our ability to make commitments. We see people living together outside of marriage, or having children outside of marriage. We see homosexuality, which is sin. We see families struggling to raise children in a really messed up world, without the support of other family members, and the kids being fed with so much information, most of it bad. We live in a world were parents have their kids taken away if they discipline them and then if they don’t discipline it is called neglect and they can take away your kids. You have people with addiction problems of many kinds.
-The last thing these people want is to come into church and be condemned by some self righteous Christian who really doesn’t know their situation.
-The last thing these people need is to be told that they are okay, because they are not, they need the love of Christ to help them clean up their messy lives.
In Christ Jesus is the balance of both grace and truth.
We too can walk that balance, by putting down our stones, and loving the lost and gently leading them to life time relationship with Jesus Christ. In that way we will grow spiritually more like Christ in our attitude toward others.
