Just throwing stones

Intro

This is something that has truly been on my heart for years, and honestly I don’t know how long or how meany time I will preach this message or a message like it.

Honestly at this time in my life and at this time in out world this message screams out from me unlike anything has before.

The title of this message is “Christ or Christianity”

I feel like as western Christians the majority of us have decided to choose policy over people, politics over love, and dare I say Money over the gospel.

I don’t write this for the christian, even though my heart goes out to them, I write this for the people we’ve hurt the walking wounded. The generation that only knows Christians as republican , gun loving , anti abortion crazies.

So, I would like to show you Jesus. The person I feel in love with the Gospel that can change the world and the love that only can come from heaven.

In the book of John chapter 8:2 we are brought to Jesus, he is preaching in the Temple and he is surrounded by people and he’s preaching to them.

Let’s read

The New International Version Chapter 8

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Pray

This is one of my favorite stories of Jesus, and I believe it really shows his heart, caring and love for the Women.

My wife and I moved from Texas to the PNW specifically Seattle a little over a year ago, I was blessed to be offered a Job from a large tech company so we packed out bags and off we went. We intensely fell in love with both the city and the people, everything from the weather (yes we love the rain) the food, the diversity and frankly the general kindness that we see in people everyday. (I know not what you would expect from this part of the country)

One day maybe three months after we moved here I was walking to work as I did every day and I say I man holding a sign next to a starbucks, this of course is not at all uncommon Seattle loves to show there support for things. But this sign specifically read “No God, Love” and after I read that sign I had to think about it for a moment, we as Christians had failed so badly at displaying God. That this man was looking for God, his soul was crying for it’s creator but he didn’t even know it.

We have whole groups of people that believe there sin can remove them from the love of God and.. it has, but guess what so has ours. Let look at this scripture again, we have Jesus preaching.

And we have this Women only the Women, (last I checked it takes to to commit adultery) but it was just her.. I imagine she’s ashamed, she’s beaten, hurting and scared. Remember the are in Israel most likely this is a Jewish women she would have grown up with the law she knows her sin.

and what do the Parisees do “They made her stand before the group” because they are going to use her to make a point. At this moment they care more about making a point then the person.

As christian I can think of so meany times that I’ve seen people be used to make a point.. I look at communities like the Gay community, even the Black community where we have used people to make a political or even a moral point. I’ve seen people look at a teenage girl who is pregnant and say things like (don’t be like her, or that’s what you get) without even giving the poor girl a second thought. I’ve heard preachers say that Aids is God revenge on the Gays . Because this is the sad case with this women and with most of these communities we are just trying to use them to make a point.. and it’s not God’s point it’s ours.

We want to trap them in Sin because if they can be made write I can’t consider myself better then them.

The only reason that the teacher of the law would bring her to Jesus in front of the people is because they believed they had the right to judge her, that they themselfs where better...

But not Jesus

Pick up on verse 6