Neither do I

Only once in elementary school do I remember getting my name on the board. I don’t remember what I did but I remember the embarrassment I felt. I thought that day would never end and my name would be erased. In high school, I hated reading Nathaniel Hawthrone’s “The Scarlett Letter”. The idea of a woman being branded and publicly shamed for life was more than I could stand.

Today my office is directly across from the county courthouse. It’s not uncommon to look out my window and see prisoners being led into the courthouse shackled and dressed in orange. It never fails to bring tears to my eyes. I cannot help but think that each one is someone’s brother, sister, son or daughter and it breaks my heart. I can hear my Dad say as he often has, there except for the grace of God go I. It’s true. “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard." (Romans 3:23 NLT) Fortunately, my sins have not brought me public shame but punishment is what we all deserve. I’m not suggesting that crime should go unpunished, I’m just saying it breaks my heart to see lives branded with their failures.

Every time I’ve read the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8, I think of reading the “The Scarlett Letter” . And every time, I’ve asked just like many of you, what about the man?! Just like the man in the “The Scarlett Letter” stayed in the shadows, the man seems conspicuously absent. I’ve heard many people suggest he was part of the plot. After all scripture does tell us this incident was part of a political scheme plotted by religious leaders who wanted to trip up Jesus. Indeed they may have taken advantage of this woman for their own political motives. Either way, it seems clear from Jesus’ words to her that she was guilty of something, “Go and sin no more” he says to her. As clear as was her guilt, clearer still was the mercy she found at the feet of Jesus. I can only imagine the fear and embarrassment she felt as she was thrown at his feet as He was teaching at the Temple. Not just anywhere in the temple, in the Court of the Women. (A place by the way that no other man would have stopped to teach.) As horrible as this moment must have been for her and the events that led her here might have been, she was right where she needed to be, at the feet of Jesus. A place where she received mercy. That same mercy is there for you and I.  "Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” (Romans 3:24 NLT)

There is also a lesson here for those times we reach for a stone to throw. Jesus, knowing that the men were correct that there was a prescribed punishment for the crime, stops the crowd in their tracks with his words. “Stone her, but let he that is without sin throw the first stone”, he says. And then, he waits. The only one who meets His criteria waits until they’ve dropped their rocks and walked away leaving her there at His feet. He asked her, didn’t any of them condemn you. Then she hears the words that brought life back to her, “Neither do I.” What relief she must have experienced. What a motivation to obey the balance of His words, “Go and sin no more”. 

One of the not so lovely things I’ve learned along the way is that life gets messy for everyone. People make mistakes and people misuse other people. But these two things I’ve also learned -

1. There is no escaping the reach of God.

“If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.” (Psalms 139:8 KJV)

2. There are no mistakes beyond His mercy.

The prophet Nehemiah described His mercy this way, “Yet whenever your people turned and cried to you again for help, you listened once more from heaven. In your wonderful mercy, you rescued them many times!” (Nehemiah 9:28 NLT)


If you find yourself in need of His mercy once again, don't wait to be thrown at His feet. Turn to Him and fall at His feet.  You are guaranteed to find mercy!

Thanks for listening,

See you next Sunday,

Ronda

The words below are from an old hymn, “Neither Do I Condemn Thee”. My mom and I sang this song together at my Grandpa’s church when I was child.

Neither do I condemn thee,
Precious words divine,
From the lips of mercy
Like the sweetest chime.
Wonderful words of Jesus,
Sing them o'er and o'er,
"Neither do I condemn thee,
Go and sin no more."


Greg Long is one my favorite Christian artist and one of my favorite songs is “Mercy said No”. Here’s a few lines and link to audio.
Mercy said no
Sin will never take control
Life and death stood face to face
Darkness tried to steal my heart away
Thank You Jesus, Mercy said no
When sin demanded justice for soul, Mercy said No


http://www.myspace.com/music/54867/songs/28336112/?ap=1&sms_ss=blogger&at_xt=4cb27bb0fc6094a0,0