Caught in the Act of Adultery and Ash Wednesday
One of the most moving aspects of making a sacramental confession (i.e. confessing sins out loud before a priest) is the part where the priest asks at its end,
"Please pray for me, for I am a sinner also"
What a beautiful request to make of someone who no doubt has sweated, struggled and somehow found the courage to bare their soul to another… and how very wonderful to find that there is another who understands and does not condemn.
All the more reason for us to cringe at the following words from the reading we've just heard:-:-
'Teacher's this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery!' cry out the scribes and the Pharisees.
(sounds like something from the poem Please Mrs Butler by Alan Ahlberg)
Can you possibly begin to imagine that woman's shame and embarrassment, as she was hauled in front of Jesus and made to stand before them all?
Can you imagine if it were common practice nowadays to shame someone in his or her sins before an entire congregation?
It used to be common practice to do this in puritanical religions in the past, but we've also got to look no further than our newspaper headlines which seem to compete with each other to see which paper can be first to destroy a particular Celebrity, that is if they prove to be a little less than perfect.
Character assassination is rife in our world today, and even presidents and princes and princesses are not exempt from the judgements of people. Not so long ago we saw such ones on television publicly confessing their indiscretions.
The press today even take delight in photographing actresses who dare to go out with make-up, or show a minute spare tyre or wear the wrong sort of dress to award ceremonies.. These poor souls, these flawed idols fall from grace so quickly even though what they have done is NOT a sin!
Why do we condemn so readily, why do we seem to enjoy someone's downfall?
Is it because it puts us, in a better light? Is it jealousy? Are we just cruel for the sake of it?
We do do it! Let's not deny it! We're so quick to point out the sins of others, and we sit so smugly rejoicing in the knowledge that our sins are buried deep and are unseen.
Perhaps that's why Jesus told such parables as the man with a log in his eye, trying to take out the grain of sawdust in another's eye. We so rarely see our own sins, we rarely look deep enough!
Yet… in the light of the Old Testament reading, who can honestly say that we are not guilty of many of these collective sins?
Oppression, injustice, greed, neglect, a pointing finger, negative and evil words?
Here in our story we have quite a different reason today for the condemnation of the woman, and it backfires upon them all of her accusers.
(Note well they did not produce the male participant in the offence, just the woman!)
No it says that they condemned the woman in order to TEST Jesus, and bring a charge against him.
.
If he had said, 'Let her go,' he was questioning the Law of Moses himself.
If he had said ,'Go ahead stone her' he was going against his preaching of compassion and forgiveness.
But Jesus was not so easily caught in their snare.
One sentence took the wind right out of their high and mighty sails, as Jesus' by his words indirectly turned the finger of accusation upon themselves.
''Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."
And slowly the crowd dispersed, one by one, beginning with the elders.
No-one was left to point the finger.
I wonder how the woman felt when her dignity was handed back to her, in the form of pardon and not a death sentence . . . her heart kissed and her sin washed clean by the pure love of Jesus.
'Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.'
Soon you will be invited to receive upon your head in ash, the sign of Jesus love for us, the cross; the symbol of our salvation. (let ash pour into bowl)
When you receive the ash, receive also in your minds yet another image (let golden glitter fall into a bowl)… the outpouring also of 'golden rain' ; the gold of Christ's love, mercy and forgiveness to each one of us, shown by the sacrifice of his lifeblood in exchange for our sin.
We deserve the punishment for our sins…he took the blame and paid the price in full!
Let us pray for one another this evening, and remember that we are all sinners, we've all fallen short…
…and pray for me for I am a sinner also.
And so let us listen again as Jesus still speaks to us today,
'Neither do I condemn you, go sin no more.