sermon by Pastor David Layman

February 5, 2006

Deuteronomy 22:22
John 8:2-11

Our reading from Deuteronomy catches our attention: both a man and woman
committing adultery are to be put to death! If this law was enforced in
Hollywood, a serious shortage of actors and actresses might develop! In
our permissive age, the death penalty for unfaithfulness seems shocking.
But were suffering from a lack of faithfulness today. Newsweek Magazine
(Jan. 30) reports One of the most reliable predictors of whether a boy
will succeed or fail in high school rests on a single question: does he
have a man in his life to look up to? Scouting is an outreach that
provides boys with men in their lives to look up to, and much more. But
thats an ingredient that is consistently missing in our day. A lack of
faithfulness not only hurt people 2,000 years ago; its destructive
today as well!

Jesus contemporaries brought a test case before him, as recorded in
John 8. The scribes & Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus and said
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? The religious leaders were hoping to trap Jesus. If he said Obey
the law, they could turn Jesus over to the authorities, for the Romans
did not allow them to put someone to death. If Jesus said Release her,
they could accuse Jesus before the people, saying he was soft on sin.
Laws and rules are important. Society benefits when people follow the
letter and spirit of good laws. We can picture what our schools would be
like, if there were no rules! The chaos would prevent much education
from taking place.

Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees believed that adultery was wrong. We
live in a different world today, where many have come to the conclusion
that just about anything is OK, that everything is relative, that its
wrong to declare certain forms of behavior wrong! Jesus didnt say to
the woman Whatever you feel like doing is OK with me! He said to her
Go and sin no more. And Jesus didnt say to the scribes and Pharisees
Its OK with me if you stone this woman to death. I dont want to get
involved. No, Jesus said Let anyone among you who is without sin be
the first to throw a stone at her. Jesus was in effect saying to the
mob You also are sinners. If you want grace for your own sins, show
some grace to this woman for hers. Dead people cant repent. Take the
log out of your own eyes before you try to take the log out of
anothers! There wasnt a lot of grace in Jesus society. There was
great emphasis on laws and rules, and unequal enforcement of them. Its
pretty hard for a person to commit adultery by themselves; only a woman
and not also a man was brought before Jesus.

If anything, Jesus made the rules of his day more challenging when he
said Do not even look at a woman lustfully, do not be angry at a
neighbor in your heart. (Matt. 5:21-23, 27-28). Jesus made the rules
more challenging, so we could see that none of us can be perfect. We
need to be humble, call upon Gods abundant grace, and share the grace
we desire for ourselves with others!

Jesus saved the life of the adulterous woman. He showed grace to her,
not because she was innocent. But because he wanted her to experience
the mercy and forgiveness of God, and in the power of that, begin to
live a new life. Go and sin no more, Jesus told her. Go and live in
the power of Gods unexpected grace. Let its power transform and change you.

Jesus also extended grace to those who were accusing the woman. He
pointed out that they were also sinners. Jesus did not pick up the
stones they meant for the woman and punish them with their own weapons.
He let them consider their own sin, desiring them to seek the grace and
forgiveness of God themselves! Youve got to realize you are a sinner
and in need of grace, before the grace of God can begin to transform
your life! Thats one of the reasons Hope House is such a powerful
laboratory for amazing grace. There are men there that know full well
theyve hurt their family members, broken laws, messed up royally.
Entering Hope House and receiving the grace of God is somewhat like
entering a nuclear reactor, receiving power for change!

The scribes and Pharisees of Jesus day seemed to focus only on law and
punishment. In John 1:17 we read The law indeed was given through
Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Some today may focus
ONLY on law, some only on grace, implying that the undeserved grace
Jesus offered the adulterous woman is the only thing that matters. Jesus
not only receives and forgives us. He challenges us to let our sinful
lives be transformed in the power of the grace he shares with us. If we
leave out Gods expectations of striving to transform our lives, we wind
up acting like spoiled children, not new creations. There was nothing
cheap about the price Christ paid for our forgiveness: death on a cross
is a terrible price to pay. Such grace is expensive, and to think that
Christ died on the cross for one such as me, is simply amazing!

And so, those of us who have received the grace of God, and know we
dont deserve it, are called upon to extend Gods grace to others as
well. God doesnt ask us to say to those to whom we extend grace to
Think nothing of it. Think a lot about it! Think about how amazing it
is that God would send His son to die for the likes of you and me!
Remember that we are not condemned for our sins, but the risen Christ
gifts us with grace and then challenges us, Go, and sin no more! Well
never perfectly succeed at this, but receiving His amazing grace
empowers us to do our best to become new creations. And to extend His
amazing grace to others!

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