Monday, February 04, 2002

Leaving the Past Behind 05

Finding Forgiveness
John 8:1-11 A wise man once said, Id rather see a sermon than hear one any day. I want to do that this morning. Before I speak on the subject of forgiveness I want to show you what it looks like to be forgiven. Mike Leatherwood is one of our newest members. Ive asked him to tell you his story. John 8:1 This is the last week of Jesus ministry before the crucifixion. Verse 2 says early in the morning. The word meant, sunrise. Dawn. Jesus has taken up his place to teach in the temple square called, The court of the gentiles. It was a large open pavilion where people from all over the world would come to investigate the Jewish faith. The chill air is heavy with the morning mist. Jesus is quietly explaining what it means to live by grace. Suddenly a commotion shatters the calm. Noise and crying and confusion are heard across the way. A woman is weeping and pleading. Strongmen are coming. Everyone turns to see the tragic scene theyd witnessed too many times. Temple guards have a woman barely clothed, clutching her nightgown. The Pharisees are in front, and behind and around like a pack of wild dogs. Nobody has to wonder what this is about. Theyd seen it too many times. The moral police had another criminal. When they got to Jesus they threw her at him. She sprawled indecently on the ground, barely managing to keep herself covered. Now the scowl and the disdain turned to the gentle teacher. Verse 4, Teacher, his sarcastic tone was so thick you could slice it, not the respectful, Rabbi. This time it is didaskale. Teacher. He continued, This woman has been caught in adultery. Not implied, or insinuated, caught. This isnt second hand hearsay this is first hand apprehension. Look at the modifier, in the very act! You wonder who caught her. Probably her husband. No question about guilt. This lady is busted. She deserves whatever punishment the law affords.

Leaving the Past 04 Verse 5. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; Notice they type her. Not this woman, but women like this. What then do You say? Verse 6. Notice they dont care about her. Shes an object lesson to prove a theological point. They want to show the world how Jesus is soft on the law. Jesus never panicked. He simply stooped. The court of the gentiles was a large open stone floor. In that arid world sands and dust would routinely settle. Jesus bent down and wrote in that fine layer of dust. We dont know what he wrote. Some think he wrote a list of sins. This annoyed the accusers. So Jesus stood up and said, He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. In other words, the only person capable of that kind of judgment is the one who is sinless. While they were processing the information Jesus bent back down and wrote again. Verse 8. Again, we do not know what he wrote. Some think that beside each mans name he listed a sin. Whatever it was they got his point. Verse 9. beginning with the older ones. The older ones are those most familiar with their frailty. This is a powerful lesson on God being the judge. But dont miss the finale. Here is the power of forgiveness. Verse 10. Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you? She must have looked like a deer in the headlights. Verse 11, No one. Jesus replied, Neither do I. Wow! There is perhaps no more telling account of the heart of God than this. He chooses not to condemn.

Accept His Assessment.

Unspoken is perhaps the most telling. At no point do we ever hear her say, I didnt do it. She was clearly wrong. She was clearly deserving punishment. There is no question about whether or not she deserved judgment. The first step in finding forgiveness is to admit that it is your fault. You sinned. No excuses. No defense.

Monday, February 04, 2002 This is so hard. We want to defend ourselves or cover our crime. We will lie cheat or steal to keep from confessing. Ill. . . One of our coaches told me about his class. One rule is no eating in class. He heard some munching. Looked up and this girl has Cheetoes all over her face. Bag of Cheetoes in her hand. No eating in my classroom. Im not eating. Well if you do it again I will take your bag. He turned around and caught her with a handful of Cheetoes in her mouth. Put the bag in the trash. She gently set it in the can. Im coming to get those at the end of class. He said, I got a Kleenex and blew my nose. Big time. Then walked over to the trash, pulled out the bag and put the Kleenex in. You can have them back right now! All she had to do was admit her crime, and stop doing it. She would have eaten all of those Cheetoes. Why lie? Why cover? Because its our instinct! Adam and Eve did it and weve been doing it ever since. This woman in John 8 couldnt lie. Verse 4, Caught. . . in the very act! She was busted. So are we. Whether we want to admit it or not. God already knows what you did. Movie, I know what you did last summer. God knows what youve done all your life. Nothing hidden. You are busted. So agree with His assessment. 1 John 1:8 -9 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Leaving the Past 04 from his wickedness; whereas a righteous man will not be able to live by his righteousness on the day when he commits sin. 13 "When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in that same iniquity of his which he has committed he will die. A good lifetime will not make up for a single sin! The law brings death and punishment. So there is no way to make up for sins. In the early 1500s there was a dedicated young Monk needing forgiveness. He was so riddled with guilt that he repeatedly confessed to the Father. Finally the older friar grew weary of the tedious confessionals, Young Martin come back when you have something to confess. Still he struggled. One day he found himself agonizing in the tower. Wrestling with God. What can I do to find forgiveness? As the story is told there was a bible there, chained to a table. No one ever read it. The monk picked it up and for the first time looked carefully at the Greek text. Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, "The just shall live by faith. That single bit of revelation mesmerized him. Justification is not by works. It is by faith. And from that single experience the church rediscovered the truth about Grace. NOTHING YOU EVER DO WILL ATONE FOR SINS. YOU MUST HAVE GRACE. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

Follow His Lead

Notice His instruction to her, Go and sin no more. In other words, change your lifestyle. Change your lord. Respond to what Im saying. Our works become a reaction to the forgiveness not the cause. When God forgives you will forever be changed. Follow his lead. Richard Bellinger was the young son of a South Carolina Baptist minister. One Saturday night Richard decided to shine his dads shoes. The following night his father put a silver dollar on his sons dresser with a note telling him how much he appreciated what his son had done. The note explained that the dollar was his reward.

Seek His Grace

That lady was defenseless. Notice Jesus never denied the law. Truth is, the wages of sin is death. Fail in one and you are guilty of all. But instead of Law, he gives grace. Neither do I condemn you. We will never be justified before God by how good we are because if you blow it even one time you are guilty of the whole law! Powerful word in Ezekiel 33:12 "And you, son of man, say to your fellow citizens, The righteousness of a righteous man will not deliver him in the day of his transgression, and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he will not stumble because of it in the day when he turns 2

Monday, February 04, 2002 The next morning, when that dad put on his shoes, he felt something in one of them. He took off the shoe and reached inside. He found that silver dollar he had given to his son the night before. There was also a note that read, I did it for love!" Thats the spirit of gratitude that we live by BECAUSE WE ARE FORGIVEN. Tony Campolo writes, To be a Christian is to love Jesus so much that you want to be like Him. To be a Christian is to try to do what Jesus would do, not for reward, but out of loving gratitude for all that Christ has 1 done for you. Your relationship with Christ will mark you. Do you need forgiveness? All over this room there are people in need. The only difference between you and Mike is that he recognized his need before it was too late.

Leaving the Past 04

Ibid 93