“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 bent down and 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.’” – John 8:7-11
This is a story about canceling. At first glance, it looks like the scribes and Pharisees brought this woman to the Temple and riled up the crowd in order to cancel her: to cancel her existence in the community by canceling her heartbeat and breathing. She had offended their sense of righteousness and they took it upon themselves to ban her existence. Pointing out the wrong in the other would make people feel better about themselves, and would help to purify the people. She had no defense, so no opportunity to defend herself was granted. She was guilty because she was accused. This was the work of the righteous.
But there was much more at work here. Taking another look, we see that this woman is simply being used as an opportunity to cancel the troublesome Jesus of Nazareth. It was hard to pin any real wrongdoing on him, so he would need to be condemned for who he condemned, or who he didn’t condemn. They brought her before him so that he could be canceled for canceling her or for not canceling her; for being too strict or being too lenient; for being a hypocrite or being a libertine. He would call judgement down upon himself for judging her or for letting her live. It was a typical trap.
Jesus doesn’t fall for it. He doesn’t comment on the importance of the law or on right behavior.
Instead, acknowledging that we all have a past, he pointed out (later by word, here by question) that when you take it upon yourself to judge another you are very likely to bring judgement upon yourself. He reminds them, and us, that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God.
Then he points out that we are not bound by our past. He allows us to let go of the shame and stereotypes we place on others and ourselves. We can stop causing harm to ourselves and others. He frees us to be who we can be.
I posted the following online yesterday:
A man goes to the physician, moves his arm and says, “Doc, it hurts when I do this.”
The physician says “Then stop doing that!”
Dr. Seuss Enterprises, which owns the rights to the Dr. Seuss books and maintains this legacy decided to stop publishing six books. They aren’t burning Theodor Giesel in effigy. This isn’t about the past; it is about what they will do from now on.
To continue to publish these could potentially cause hurt. So they stopped doing that.
Of course the hurt is a symptom of an underlying affliction. We certainly must address the deeper issues.
For now, though, Dr Seuss Enterprises has given us all an example of how to thoughtfully act going forward.
We all have a past. Our present and future are not bound by that past. If you have caused hurt, you can, as a first step, “stop doing that!”
Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he said “go and sin no more.” And perhaps the diagnosis of the deeper issue was what he was doodling in the sand. (Actually, I want for him to have written, “Where is the man?”)
This is the work of Lent: to shine a light into the shadowy recesses of our lives and find the places where we are harming others and ourselves, to examine why that is happening, and to lift this up to God for removal and cleansing, so that we can be rid of that.
Jesus doesn’t cancel people, he cancels sin. Or as Charles Wesley put it in 1739:
“He breaks the power of canceled sin”
You speak, and listening to your voice new life we now receive;
Our mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
In humility set free.
Your questions for Sunday:
1. In what way would Jesus still be a threat to people’s way of life today?
2. When have you chosen to remain silent rather than speak up on behalf of truth?
3. How can you tell the difference between speaking God’s truth and speaking your own thoughts?