COMMUNITY CHURCH OF THE MONTEREY PENINSULA
P. O. BOX 222811
CARMEL CA 93922
(831) 624-8595
www.ccmp.org
Rev. Paul Wrightman, Pastor
Independent and United Church of Christ
February 7, 2021
Dear Friends,
The storms have passed and many in our congregation our celebrating receiving their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. There DOES seem to be some light on the horizon!
Please keep Bonnie Bragg in your prayers. She had to part with her beloved dog Bindu on Saturday afternoon. There is strong Biblical and near-death evidence that we will be reunited with all those we love, including our animal companions. But even though we may believe this, such belief doesn’t do us much good at our actual time of loss. Surrounding someone we care about with prayer is the best thing we can do right now.
Jane Heider has asked me to post: This is a reminder that on Sunday, February 28, we will have a quarterly Church Family Meeting, via Zoom. This will be the first meeting in almost a year at which we can see one another’s faces. President Jon Close and the Board of Governors would like to have everyone attend! If you are already familiar with Zoom, let Paul know so that he (Zoom host) sends you a link. If you need help, contact Bonnie Bragg, who is finding church family willing and able to serve as “tech tutors” so that no one will be left out. See you February 28!
Always Remember that Jesus IS Emmanuel – God WITH Us – in ALL the Circumstances of Our Lives, Pastor Paul
WORSHIP SERVICE FOR FEBRUARY 7, 2021
INTRODUCTORY READING: ASSORTED READINGS ON THE MEANING OF “SIN”
The word “sin” does not “play” well anymore. It sounds old-fashioned and out-of-date. That’s why I’ll often use the synonym “brokenness” in its place. But for some “brokenness” does not resonate well either. Nevertheless, the reality remains that, on the whole, humankind is NOT living in harmony with God, with self, with each other, and with our planet.
Let’s review a bit. Original blessing, and NOT original sin is the primary and deeper reality. “Sin” originally meant simply “to miss the mark” (a reference to archery!), the “mark,” or goal, being to live in harmony with God, oneself, others, and the Earth.
I think most of us would agree that on all levels we have missed the mark!
God’s work in Jesus was and is to restore the harmony that has been lost.
We will talk later about how God does this. For now, let’s expand our horizons on the meaning of “sin.” Here are some significant quotes:
1. Original sin? It is probably the malice that is ever flickering within us. Seen thus, it is a grievous error for those who manage human affairs not to take sin into account. –Eric Hoffer
2. One shall not kill ‘the evil impulse,’ the passion, in oneself, but one shall serve God with it. –Martin Buber (Jewish)
3. [Sin] means the determined or lackadaisical refusal to live up to one’s essential humanity. It is the torpid unwillingness to revel in the delights or to share in the responsibilities of being fully human. –Harvey Cox
4. St. Paul says that the wages of sin is death, not that God condemns us to death for our sins, but that sin kills the life of the spirit. Sin is a sickness that leads to spiritual death unless it is cured by forgiveness and the soul kept healthy by grace.
--George Appleton
5. The smallest atom of good realized and applied to life, a single vivid experience of love, will advance us much further, will far more surely protect our souls from evil, than the most arduous struggle against sin, than the resistance to sin by the severest ascetic methods. . . –Father Yelchaninov (Russian Orthodox)
6. Eden is on no map, and Adam’s fall fits no historical calendar. Moses is not nearer the Fall than we are, because he lived three thousand years before our time. The Fall refers not to some datable aboriginal calamity in the historic past of humanity, but to a dimension of human experience which is always present – namely, that we who have been created for fellowship with God repudiate it continually; and that the whole of mankind does this along with us. Every man is his own ‘Adam,’ and all men are [in solidarity] ‘Adam.’ Thus, Paradise before the Fall, the status perfectionis, is not a period of history, but our ‘memory’ of a divinely intended quality of life. . . –J.S. Whale
SUGGESTED MUSIC Lead on Eternal Sovereign (leader + lyrics)
Payson Park Church Belmont, MA You Tube
OPENING PRAYER Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Lord, grant that anger or other bitterness
does not reign over us,
but that by your grace,
genuine kindness, loyalty,
and every kind of friendliness,
generosity, and gentleness
may reign in us.
Amen.
LORD’S PRAYER
Our Father,
who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
SCRIPTURE READING: John 7:53-8:11
Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them.
The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?
They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once again he wrote on the ground.
When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
Jesus straightened up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’
SERMON: A CRUCIAL INTERVENTION BY JESUS
Rev. Paul Wrightman
(The underlining indicates what I would emphasize if delivered orally.)
Do you ever wonder what the catch-phrase “Jesus saves us from our sins” really means? If so, an answer to this question emerges toward the end of this sermon. This answer may surprise you, because it has NOTHING to do with God demanding Jesus’ blood in order to be reconciled with humanity.
Today’s Scripture text captures an event which has been replayed countless times throughout human history: a person is singled-out as a sacrificial victim by mob violence.
Different groups of people have been singled out at different times throughout history, but women, persons with dark skin, persons from a different faith tradition, those considered to be “foreigners,” and gays have consistently been popular targets for group violence.
Theologian Leo LeFebure, commenting on this text, describes it as . . .”an exposing of the scapegoat mechanism itself, the pattern of a male-dominated society blaming women one-sidedly for sexual misconduct and using women as scapegoats so that men can feel virtuous and righteous.” (Leo D. Lefebure, Revelation, the Religions, and Violence, p.68.)
What makes this particular story stand out from the innumerable stories in which the victim is actually killed is the fact that someone makes a successful intervention and the violence of the mob is dissipated. That “someone,” of course, is Jesus, and this story has long been seen as paradigmatic of Jesus’ entire ministry and identity.
In other words, like the parable of the prodigal son, this story has long been considered to be a “mini-Gospel,” a summary of the “Good News” about a God of love and compassion that Jesus embodies in himself and freely offers to others.
Of interest is that fact that today’s Scripture reading does not appear in the earliest manuscripts of John’s Gospel. Scripture scholars are largely in agreement, however, that this is an authentic account from the actual ministry of Jesus. They think that it circulated in oral form until it was put in writing by one of the editors of the Gospel of John.
A huge majority of scholars would situate this story pretty much where we find it in John’s Gospel: there is growing hostility between the leaders of the religious establishment and Jesus. Indeed, their animosity toward Jesus has reached the point where they will do anything to destroy him.
Let us go back in time and make ourselves part of the group that Jesus is teaching in one of the porticoes of the temple at Jerusalem.
We notice that Jesus is seated, the customary position that teachers took in that day when they wanted to emphasize both the importance of what they were teaching, and their authority to do so.
So the scene is rather solemn: a revered teacher is in the midst of serious discourse. We and the rest of the group are “hanging onto” every word that Jesus is saying.
Suddenly the gravity of the situation is broken – broken by a gang of scribes and Pharisees dragging a disheveled woman and forcing her to stand in shameful display right next to the seated Jesus.
One of the scribes – remember that the scribes were the lawyers of the religious establishment – self-righteously complains: “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”
We as participants in this scene can’t help but wonder at the brilliance of the trap that the scribes and Pharisees have set for Jesus. There seems to be no way out.
On the one hand, if Jesus upholds the law of Moses and concurs with the death penalty – effectively unleashing hundreds of stones hurled at the guilty woman – he will immediately lose his hard-won reputation as “the friend of sinners.”
On the other hand, if Jesus rejects the law of Moses and demands that the woman be released, he will be taking a stand on the side of immorality, and will no longer be taken seriously as true teacher or prophet.
The dilemma appears to be insoluble.
The silence is palpable as all wait with baited breath to see which of the two alternatives Jesus will choose. Those whom Jesus has been teaching, including we ourselves, feel sick to their stomachs at the thought of their revered teacher being taken down. The scribes and Pharisees hover in gleeful anticipation of Jesus incriminating himself.
And then Jesus does something exceedingly odd: he bends down and writes in the dust. The word used in our text is not the usual word for “write,” but an infrequently used word meaning “to list charges against someone.”
Like everyone else, you take your eyes off the woman and lean forward to see what Jesus is writing.
You see that it is a simple list of common sins:
lust,
greed,
self-righteousness,
violence,
envy. . .
You can’t help but wonder what Jesus is up to.
Then he straightens up and – looking directly at the vigilante committee of scribes and Pharisees – quietly says to them: “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Then, instead of reveling at his brilliance in foiling their trap, Jesus takes the attention off his enemies and draws it back to himself by once more bending down and writing in the dust. . .
lust,
greed,
self-righteousness,
violence,
envy. . .
You suddenly realize the dignity that Jesus is offering his enemies as he gives them time to be with their own consciences and ponder.
Eventually the unbearable tension is broken as “one by one, beginning with the elders,” the group of scribes and Pharisees breaks up and goes home.
Jesus, still bent down, still maintaining his respectful silence toward his enemies, still making no eye contact with them, is left alone with the woman standing in front of him.
We, part of the group that Jesus was teaching, remain in the background, listening closely for what Jesus will say to her.
Finally, when all the scribes and Pharisees are gone, Jesus, still seated – still in the position for giving authoritative teaching – straightens up and says to her: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replies, meekly, “No one, Sir,” to which Jesus responds, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”
We realize that just as Jesus had tried to teach the scribes and Pharisees by bending down, writing in the dust, and then challenging anyone without sin to cast the first stone – that now Jesus is teaching us, and that the words he speaks to the woman are addressed to us as well: “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”
We sense that we too have been given a second chance, a chance to start over. Some of us immediately begin to worry about how in the world we will be able to pull off not sinning again, but our hearts are instantly comforted with the thought that we are not alone in this battle against sin, in this struggle with our brokenness, but that Jesus is somehow with us.
He gives us the strength we need to resist temptation, and offers additional forgiveness, additional second chances, additional chances to start over, when we honestly do our best and still fail.
We intuitively know that just as Jesus has shielded this woman, Jesus will shield us.
Suddenly we understand what a costly expression of love this was for Jesus.
He knew that every time he shielded someone, which he did over and over again in his ministry – he knew that every time he shielded yet another, he was moving closer to his own violent death.
He knew that every time he sided with the poor, the outcast, and the broken – the scapegoats of his own society – he was redirecting the hostility of the religious and political establishments from them to him, and moving that much closer to becoming a scapegoat himself.
The wonder is that he knew this and still chose to be their – and our – shield.
Biblical scholar Kenneth Bailey, in his remarkable book, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, sums up his chapter on this text as follows:
“The stage empties and Jesus is alone with the accused. In any culture, one of the quickest ways to get into trouble is to humiliate powerful people in public on their own turf. Yet this is precisely what Jesus does.
The Pharisees planned to humiliate Jesus but were themselves put to shame before a crowd. A few minutes earlier the terrified woman had expected brutal violence and a painful death. Suddenly the Pharisees are angry at Jesus rather than at her.
At great cost he has shifted their hostility from her to himself, and he doesn’t even know her name! The famous servant song of Isaiah affirms, “With his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5 KJV).
She knows that Jesus’ opponents will be back with a bigger stick and that Jesus is in [the] process of getting hurt because of what he is doing for her. She is the recipient of a costly demonstration of unexpected love that saves her life.
Jesus demonstrates the life-changing power of costly love.
This scene provides an insight into Jesus’ understanding of his own suffering. . . Great theological and ethical bells ring in this story and the greatest among them is Jesus interpreting his own cross.” (Kenneth E. Bailey, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, p. 236.)
Here we are approaching the mystery of what happened at the crucifixion, when the powers that be had had enough, and violently did away with the incarnation of God’s compassion, forgiveness, and love.
It’s NOT that God demanded the sacrifice of his Son to let us off the hook. It’s that God so loved the world (John 3:16) that God took on Godself the violence and brokenness of the world in the person of Jesus.
God “took on” the violence and brokenness of the world in two distinct ways: God “took on” the world’s violence and brokenness by challenging and overcoming it in Jesus. And God “took on” the violence and brokenness of the world by taking it into Godself through the person of Jesus.
At first it looked as if the violence and brokenness of the world had scored a definitive victory with the death of Jesus.
Imagine again our witnessing the encounter between Jesus, the sinful woman, and the scribes and Pharisees.
How our hearts must have been on fire at witnessing the sinful woman – and ourselves – being forgiven and given a second chance, a new start, a multitude of new starts!
And how our spirits must have been crushed at hearing that the political and religious establishments had finally had their day and put Jesus to death.
Like the first disciples, we too would have scattered and hidden behind closed doors.
And like the first disciples, we would have been dumbfounded at the presence of the risen Jesus in our midst – risen, but still with the wounds in his hands, his feet, and his side –
to show us once-and-for-all that God’s way is the way of love that gives itself for others,
to show us once-and-for-all that God’s final word is not retribution but compassion,
not condemnation but restoration,
not death but life.
We could not break the curse of self-judgment, self-condemnation, and endless rounds of shame and remorse by ourselves,
so God, in the person of Jesus, broke it for us.
Thanks be to God!
Amen.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
What speaks to you the most in this fateful encounter between Jesus and the woman, between Jesus and this group of scribes and Pharisees?
Many of us grew up in churches that emphasized the necessity of Jesus’ sacrificial death (and the spilling of his blood) in order for us to be reconciled to God. This is NOT the theology of the earliest church!
For me, the most important point in this sermon is the following: It’s NOT that God demanded the sacrifice of his Son to let us off the hook. It’s that God so loved the world (John 3:16) that God took on Godself the violence and brokenness of the world in the person of Jesus.
How does the above DIFFER from the contemporary Christian emphasis that God could only be reconciled to us by demanding the death (and blood) of Jesus?
Which of the readings on sin do you resonate with the most and why?
CLOSING PRAYER Vienna Cobb Anderson, Contemporary
The blessing of God,
whose love reconciles all who are divided,
be with you as you seek to heal
the brokenness around you.
Amen.
SUGGESTED MUSIC World Peace Prayer 2.3K Views
Marty Haugen – Topic You Tube
BENEDICTION
Patiently and persistently, God loves.
Relentlessly and unconditionally, God loves.
Now and forever, God loves.
AMEN.