DAILY BYTE
Many worry that in John 8. 1-12, Jesus is being too soft on sin. After all, adultery is a really bad business, isn’t it? It causes such hurt and damage. Well, of course it does, but Jesus came to switch the lights on for us in issues like this – this is why verse 12 (Jesus being the light of the world) should not be read separately from this story, but as part of it.
Adultery, Jesus once taught, can be committed through just looking at someone lustfully. In other words it is a matter of the heart. Sin is inward not just outward actions, so those who have never committed major ‘outward’ sins, don’t make the mistake of judging those who have.
Someone once said that if our thoughts were written on our foreheads, then we would never take our hats off.
If the worst sin is throwing stones, even if it is only within our hearts, then we are all guilty. If everybody reading this who had ever struggled with self-righteous gossip or thoughts suddenly vanished, then I would be the only one left ... because of course, I would be the only one who hadn’t!
Isn’t that how it always works – everyone else is guilty of it but me? Like the pastor who once said during a sermon: “Everybody who wrestles with gossip, may your tongue stick to the woof of your mowf!”
The worst sin is picking up stones and we only do that when we think that we ourselves have no need of forgiveness and mercy. We become vulnerable and judgemental when we are dissatisfied with our lives. That’s when instead of seeking forgiveness and new beginnings, we distract ourselves with another’s problems.
It’s time that we learnt we are all equally helpless, that we are brothers and sisters in our need ... helpless but certainly not hopeless.
PRAY AS YOU GO
Gracious God, the ground is truly level when we kneel together at the foot of the cross. Each and every single human being is equally in need of your loving redemption – help us to remember that, but to also remember at the incredible hope we have in you for new life. Amen.
FOCUS READING
1 John 1. 5-9 MSG
This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him.
If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth—we're not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin.
If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins — make a clean breast of them — he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God — make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.
