John Gunter: Well, thank you for being here. Thank you for being you and being present as we worship God together today. It is a blessing to stand before you to lead singing. I already sat in the front, so I get to hear you pretty well, but right here is just just perfect. You don't lead singing, you're missing out.
I'm just saying. We are we are right in the middle of a series called Encounters with Christ, Lives Transformed. And again, just to just to repeat what what this is all about, this is about experiencing episodes where somebody comes into contact with Jesus. And so we explore what happens there and the lessons that are learned. And so today, we're going to to start out with a very specific story, but before we get into it, I want you to imagine for a second, you are forced into the center of a room.
This is your worst moment, your worst mistake, your worst secret, and everybody knows. Anybody just loving the feeling right now? That that secret thing that you have that nobody else knows, the sin that you struggle with that nobody knows yet, and all of a sudden, you're standing right in front of everyone, and now everyone knows. Today, we meet a person that is in that exact position. This woman is not just guilty, because she is, she is exposed.
She is humiliated, I'm sure she feels used, but today we're going to see what happens when she experiences our savior. Our main text is going to be from John chapter eight, the beginning of it actually is seven fifty three, and it begins like this. They went each to his own house, but 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 taught them.
The scribes and the pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst, they said to him, teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now, in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women, so what do you say? This they said to test him that they might have some charge to bring against him. And so, when we talk about this woman being used, this is why. This is not about her.
This is about Jesus. How can we trap him? We've heard the claims, we've heard who he says he is, but if we can trap him and say, hey, he's not following the law of Moses, what the law of Moses says to do is to stone this woman, and if we can get him here, we'll discredit him. And so, all of her misdeeds are put on display for their ulterior motives. Can you imagine that?
And what I wanna do quickly is to go through some more scripture just to kind of show you the background into what they are bringing here. And so and from Leviticus twenty ten, if a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. And after reading that scripture this morning, you should ask the question, now where's the man in all of this? We've drugged the woman into the circle and claimed we need to stone her, where is the man? You understand at this point, they really don't care.
All they desire to do is to get Jesus. In Deuteronomy 17 and verse seven, the hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death. So they come as witnesses, and afterward the hand of all the people, so you shall purge the evil from your midst. And so, they're saying, here's what the law says. Right?
Pretty cut and dry? I think that's what we should do. What should we do, Jesus? And the reason they're bringing this to Jesus is Jesus said things like this in the sermon on the mount. From Matthew seven and verse three, why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own?
Anybody ever had that problem before? You may not even notice it when you do it, but you certainly notice it when someone else does it to you. Right? Who are you to say something to me? You ever felt that way, maybe you didn't say it, but you go, hold up just a second.
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? And and as we've talked through this verse before, we've talked about Jesus uses this as an absurd image. Right? If I stood up here with a four by four post sticking out of my head, and I'm coming to you about the speck that we can barely see, that's absolutely ridiculous. But Jesus knows that's absolutely how we act.
Why do you see that, but not see this sticking out of your own? Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye when there is a log in your own eye? How can you even see it? Right? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
And we understand, because as we explore the life of of Christ, we understand all the ways that they are trying to do things that are also against the law of Moses, like trying to find any reason to kill Jesus. Right? Their hearts are hardened against what God is trying to do, and they continue to to try and justify murder. Yet, they're just trying to catch Jesus in every little thing. And so, they bring only the woman, they don't care, they don't care about the man, all they care about is, alright, what's Jesus gonna say?
And so, we often highlight sins that make us look better while ignoring the ones that expose us. I think that's one of the worst things the church does nowadays, is we are real fired up against certain sin. But 98, 99% of the time, that's not the sin I'm struggling with. I don't really wanna talk about that one as much. And as we walk through this story, I believe you'll see that is exactly what is at at play here.
And so, going back to the end of verse six in John eight, Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. Well, that's a good challenge, isn't it? Alright. Whoever sent he's setting them up.
Okay. Well, let's let's get along with this. Okay? Let's let's go. Whoever doesn't have sin, you you go first.
Let's let's do this. And once more, he bent down and wrote in the ground. Now, there's been a lot of speculation about what Jesus is doing here, and I don't have any clear answers for you this morning. I'm sorry. But I am gonna show you some things in scripture that are are very interesting and may have something to do with with what they would have understood Jesus to be doing.
In Exodus thirty one eighteen, and he gave to Moses when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone written with the finger of God. What is Jesus doing in this moment? He is writing in the dust. I wish I knew what he was writing. Is he like me?
Is he just doodling while other people are talking just to calm the the mind? Or is he doing something like this and and showing something about who he is? In Jeremiah 17 verse 13, oh Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame. Those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water. Isn't that interesting?
Again, I wish I knew I could tell you for certain what Jesus was doing, but I I can't. John one seventeen, for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus. And so what we see here is Jesus is not rushing to get on their side and to condemn this person who it says is caught in adultery. Not accused of adultery, we think we've seen her in the wrong place at the wrong time type of thing. It says this woman is caught in adultery, she is guilty, and Jesus is in no hurry to condemn her.
Now, we're going to see that Jesus doesn't say, hey, all this is fine, you're good to go, just keep on doing it. But what we see is Jesus is not rushing to condemn us. Remember when we went through a series, and a lot of us grew up with, again, God hovering over the book of life, waiting for us to mess up just so he can erase our names. That's the way we felt. Maybe that's the way we were taught even.
But that's what that that was mainly God's deal. He was over lecturing like this with a big eraser, just, oh, I'm gonna get John today. But what we see is patience, and Jesus waiting and slowing and asking questions. He's not ready to condemn, he is he is stopping to wait before he even speaks. Back to verse seven again, and as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw the stone at her.
In Romans three twenty three, we know Paul says this, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. You think Jesus knew that? You think when Jesus said, hey, whoever is sinless, won't you go ahead and pick up that rock there? You think he knew? Now, that is a little risky.
If somebody too arrogant or something like that picks one up, I don't know what Jesus does in that moment. But we probably all know somebody like that too, oh, yeah, I'm good. But at least for a moment, they thought about it. Alright? First person who is sinless, let's start with you, let's throw this out here, but we understand, Jesus understood that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, yet they are angry at somebody else for falling short of the glory of God.
Yes? In Psalm one thirty verse three, if you, oh Lord, should mark iniquities, oh Lord, who could stand? You wanna humble yourself this week? Keep this verse with you. Because often, it is very easy to quickly pass judgment on other people about their things that we we immediately assign motive, and an evil heart, and an evil intention.
You did this because you're just an evil person, but when I do it, I just messed up. Right? I want to smooth it over as best I can, and the psalmist reminds us, if you, oh Lord, marked all of our iniquities, who in the world could stand? Because it's implied there, nobody. Right?
Because we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Why is it different when my brother sins versus when I sin, and how I view those things? Right? I think we are selective about our sin. I'll tell you, as a minister, when I get asked about sin or to preach about sin, it is always something that someone does not struggle with.
I've shared this before, and I'll share it again. A preacher I love to watch, he said he's learned over the years that when someone comes up fired up about you need to preach more on sin, he understands it's not they don't want to hear about theirs, and so what he'll do is say, Hey, write out your top three or your top five that you struggle with, and I'll be happy to bring a series. And guess where that goes? Nowhere. Because I don't want to talk about mine.
I'd rather talk about yours because I'm fired about I'm fired up about those. I'm angry about those. I'm not I'm angry about this thing you struggle with. I'm not angry about the greed I have. Right?
God, I think greed is the most talked about sin within Scripture. I've never, never yet, maybe you guys can do it today, had someone come up fired up. What we need to talk about, preacher, is all this greed I see going around. You ever had you ever had that thought? You ever had somebody say, boy, I wish John would just preach on greed.
I see it in the church. No. It's that other thing. That other thing I don't I don't have, maybe, but I know they do and we need to talk about it. Okay.
Well, I think what Jesus is pointing out is if you really want to get serious about the law, and you're saying, well, the law says, well, you really want to get serious about it, you've to look at yourself in the same serious manner. Where do you stand with this versus how fired up you are about this other person? Back to John in chapter eight and verse nine. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones. For my kids, that's 40 and above, if you're wondering.
And Jesus was left alone with a woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? I can't imagine what was going through her mind. Certainly, was ashamed of the whole situation, but all of a sudden, as these people walk away I I don't even know what to take from the older starting with the older ones.
I I I think in my mind, the wisdom they had in life kicked in at that moment. I've lived a life long enough to know, I need to walk away right now because if he starts asking some more questions about all this, I'm going have to come up with some answers. That's what I think. It doesn't sell us, but I think that's what's happening there. But all of a sudden, this woman finds herself alone and with no other accusers.
In Roman eight Romans eight and verse one, there is, therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and we're about to see this play out. In Hebrews four verses fifteen and sixteen, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now, the only person within this whole scenario that has the right to throw a stone chose mercy and chose grace. Isn't that interesting?
The person that had the right, she was guilty, he is not guilty of any sin, and what he chose to do in the moment was show mercy and give grace. Now, next time you're in a situation with another person and you're real fired up, can we have this come to mind? Even when they have wronged you, they're wrong, you're right, you have the right, what will you choose? And notice it says that that that Jesus is not someone who can't sympathize with us because I think what we experience when we fail, when we sin, is that we end up living with this shame of why? Why have I done this?
If everyone knew about my struggle, they wouldn't allow me in, they wouldn't accept me, they wouldn't be my friend. And so we end up living with a shame that says I'm I'm not good enough, or I can't I can't do this, nobody will accept me. And I think that's what you ought to hold dear, is this Hebrews four fifteen and sixteen, because Jesus understands us. He sympathizes with our weaknesses. It says, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Now again, if that was us, if we were in Jesus' shoes, we'd probably strut around the place. Well, I went through all this, and I managed to do it perfectly. What does Jesus choose? Jesus understands us. Again, we should lose that feeling of God just hovering over the page ready to wipe us off the book of life, and understand that Jesus understands that we are going to sin and fall short.
That doesn't mean we go, hey, I can do whatever I want. But when we sin, we don't have to live with this kind of shame and this debilitating feeling that we're not good enough, or that nobody else struggles like I do because we all have struggles? Yes? Maybe not. Yes?
We do. And as soon as we are comfortable saying, I am a sinner in need of a savior, we're going get better as a church because we're going to grow closer together, and we're going to encourage one another, we're going to support one another, we're going to be there, we're going to be able to share things with each other where we can, again, draw closer to each other and closer to God. In verse 11, the woman said, no one, Lord. And Jesus said, neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, sin no more.
Jesus refuses condemning this woman. He does not okay it. He tells her, you go and sin no more. You don't have to, again, stay in this shame that you've just experienced, but you do need to be transformed. I'm not gonna condemn you, I'm not gonna kill you, I'm not gonna call people to stone you, but what you need to do is be transformed from this and change your life.
In Titus two verse 11, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. And if you don't do it perfectly, you're done. It does not say that up there, does it? Because again, Jesus came and lived the same kind of life, was tempted in the same kind of ways, he understands you. He understands you are going to sin and fall short, and he gives you grace anyway.
Because that's how much God loves each and every one of us. From Romans six verses one and two, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died to sin live still live in it?
Paul was dealing with people who thought, you know what? The best way to show the grace of God is to keep sinning so we can show how gracious God is. Wouldn't that be kind of us? Let's We'll start this morning, we'll just have a sin party here in the church. That'll be the only quote that gets out of here from this morning.
Right? John said Oh, okay. And so he was dealing with people like, hey, let's let's help God out, let's show how gracious he is, let's be evil people so that we can show our God is a our God is a gracious God. No. Paul says, by no means should you have that attitude.
You should understand that you sin and fall short, you should know that Jesus understands that. That doesn't mean we have a heart that says, well, let's just go sin. That heart needs to say, it needs to be broken when we sin and come back to God. Because God shows us he is there waiting for us, arms wide open, ready to have us back. That's the way God loves us.
You don't have to live with any kind of shame. This freedom from this shame is not permission to go back to sin, it should be empowerment to walk a little bit differently. To understand when I fall short, I'm not unloved by God, that God still loves me, he still cares for me, he still wants me back. Second Corinthians five twenty one, for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. It's not about us, it's about what Jesus did for us.
In him, we might become the righteousness of God. Researcher Brene Brown defined shame as the intensely painful feeling of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging. And I think that right there is a tool of Satan to keep you from feeling like you belong to the household of God, To keep you feeling shame when things are not going the right way, you sin this week, it's that same thing you keep battling and beating yourself up because I thought I had it beat. I told God last time it wasn't going to happen again. And I believe Satan uses shame to make you feel unworthy, that you can't be loved, that you don't really belong, you're really just an outsider.
All these other people in here have it figured out their lives are pretty good, yours is not. And I think that's a tool of the devil. May we release that this morning. That with an encounter with Christ, what we see is not a rush to judgment, not a rush to condemnation, not not a a pointing out all of the things and and how you should feel shame about this. You should come to him and confess those things, but release them because that's what Jesus does.
I don't condemn you either. Go and sin no more. Go live your life. God's got you. So that is our encounter with Christ this morning.
We wanna encourage you as we have a a time of invitation. If you're feeling that shame, bring it to Christ this morning. Relieve yourself of that. Let's pray together. Now, let's walk side by side together.
If you haven't begun that walk with him, Heath McCartney's got a hot tub ready for baptism. Right? Let's begin that walk with him. Experience the grace, the love, and the mercy of Christ. Will you come as we stand and as we sing.