Dropyyourrocks
Title: Drop your rocks!
Text: John 8:1-11
Introduction: As we prepare to enter 2008, our country is preparing for the next presidential election. You can watch the presidential debate and the campaign adds for each candidate with somewhat amusement. Each candidate is always trying to be one up one their opponent. One way they do that is called in political terms “mud slinging”. This is where you dig up negative info or personal issues or scandals on a candidate to discredit their position and persuade voters not support that individual. What is funny to me is that those who participate in this low life tactic to win are not better than the one they accuse. Despite whether or not the scandal or issues are true, these party got nerve to say anything negative about anybody else. They need to stop pointing fingers and get right themselves! But this mud slinging does not happen only in politics. We deal with behavior in our daily lives. This is what our story today is about. We need to drop our rocks and get right ourselves!
Our text opens up with Jesus as it was his custom is in the temple early in the morning and people came out hear His divine teaching. As He was sitting teaching the eager listeners, a crowd of the scribes, the lawyers of that day and of the Pharisee, the elite religious sect interrupted with a situation. It was a situation that went against the moral law and was punishable by death. This crowd brought into the temple a woman who was caught in adultery. They saw a woman engaged in a sexual act with a man that was not her husband. Doing so, she broke the covenant of marriage. They caught her in the very act and snatched her out. It was such an urgent matter they had to bring her to one who was said to be sent for God himself expecting a judgment against her. They brought her in the temple exposing and shaming her in midst of the parishioners much like what they did when a young girl got pregnant in church back in the day being humiliate for her sin by religious folk. The crowd said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act”. We have to note that she was already treated as a third class citizen being a woman in that culture. Now to add sin to her equation, she was even more morally deprived. She was caught in the middle of act by those who were supposed to be upright and moral. She was caught by those who walked upright before Yahweh and who were keepers of the law. Church, have you ever been caught in the middle of an act of something you know you should not have been doing? You got caught and you were exposed and humiliated. I don’t know how her countenance was when she got caught because I was not there nor does the text imply. But I bet you anything she suffered private pain. Some of you know what I am talking about. You did it what you did because you wanted to satisfy something that you thought was good. But you got caught. You may not have been caught in adultery but you got caught doing some other stuff that broke God’s covenants. You were into things that were not yours. Some of us ran thru the 10 commandments breaking the covenant of God and got caught. But somebody here may be saying, “I never got caught”. Please don’t be so arrogant. People may not have caught you. But as you were doing the very act, God caught you. A matter of fact He did not have to catch you, He knew you were going to do it. He is just watching you act it out. Forget about what people might say. What about what God sees? But I got a problem with this story. It only tells us that the woman got caught. But I thought it took two to tango? Where is the man? The story does not tell us about his whereabouts. It just ostracizes a woman. But it does not surprise me. People will always attack or condemn the weak and the powerless. Those in power will always take the opportunity to crush the weaker vessel. They only point their fingers at the woman. But remember when you point your finger you got 3 pointing back at you! Also, I imagine how the proud, arrogant and angry looks on the faces of this “holy mob”. Much like snobbish church folk who look down on those who feel are lesser than they are. In verse 5, religious mob is now going after blood. They are now demanding justice to be served on this sinful woman. By law, she should be stone to death. They presented their case to Jesus for His opinion on the situation. But the reason why they presented to Him was not because they believed he would do the right thing but according to v. 6a to test him. The reason why they wanted to test Jesus was because of who He proclaimed to be in chap. 7. That he was the One sent from God. He was the Christ, the Messiah, the One that they have been waiting for to redeem the lost. But they reject him. Why? Because of where he was from saying there was not prophet out of Galilee. That is a message for somebody. People will reject you because of where you are from but they can’t stop God’s purpose and plan for you life. They tried to set Jesus up to fail and discount His divine authority. If Jesus said she was guilty his message of forgiveness and mercy to the sinner would be nullified. If he said she was not guilty, He would not keep the law. So what is Jesus going to do? Jesus does something strange. In the midst of their demand for justice, in v. 6b Jesus stoops down and starts writing in the ground with His finger. The text does not tell us what he was writing. But I want to emphasis that He bent down and touch the ground. This takes us back to Genesis when God out of heaven touched the dirt to create mankind. Jesus was just giving them a visual reminder of who they really were; dirt. But I don’t think they got it. Oftentimes, the Lord will give us reminders of who we really are but we just don’t get it. If we did, we would not be so self righteous and condemning everybody and be honest with ourselves of what we do and have done. We all need to drop our rocks! In verse 6c, it tells us that when Jesus stooped down to write in the ground, He acted like he did not hear them in other words, He ignored them. How could he ignore such a crime that had legitimate witnesses? This show how God usually and mostly deals with us when we sin or hypocritical or act foolishness. He ignores it for a minute then he responded. He may give us time to meander it before He acts. But He will deal with it! Think about it. Most of the sin or mess you do and your ungodly behavior, God did not always respond immediately. He did not shut you up after you cursed the first person out. He did not expose you the first time you cheated or stole. It seems that He ignores it for a little while. But He will respond. So don’t think you will get away with stuff. Look at the text in verse 7. They persistently continued to ask what He would do. I guess Jesus could not ignore their negative plea any longer. He raised himself from the ground and then responds. He lifted himself up to deal with the situation. There is always something that happens when Jesus is lifted from the earth. When He is raised up from the ground not only does he draw all men but He shuts Satan’s mouth. Look at the text. He says “he who is w/o sin cast the first stone”. And when he was finished talking He stooped back down on the ground and continued writing. Look what happen to the angry crowd when He spoke these words. The scripture says that those who heard which implies not everybody is going hear the Word, but those who heard it were convicted in there conscience (soul). This shows us the power of the Word when we received it. Jesus, the Word incarnate, spoke to the hearts in the accusing crowd and they were convicted. This also proves according to Heb. 4:12 that the word of God is quick, powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword… The word cut to their hearts and the crowd stopped their witch hunt and dropped their rocks. Truth will expose hypocrisy. They crowd felt that they were better than this woman until the Lord spoke. The Word of God is like a mirror to your soul. It will show you the good, bad and the ugly about yourself. The Word is light that dispels the darkness of humanity. After this crowd of accusers heard the word, they drop their rocks and did an “about face” and beginning from the oldest to the last walked away until it was the woman and Jesus only. When Jesus got up from the ground from writing, (again, when Jesus gets up) He says to the woman, “Where are your accusers who were trying to condemn you?” She replies in v. 11, “No one Lord”. Watch this. The religious folk called Jesus “teacher” in v. 4. But this sinner calls Him “Lord”. This tells us that there will be people in church who don’t recognize Jesus as Lord but the sinners will call him Lord. Which one are you? When Jesus truly becomes Lord in your life you can’t act any ole way. You have to revere and honor Him by loving His people despite their hang ups. Jesus responds to her “I don’t condemn you either, go and sin no more! He erased her passed at that moment and commanded her not to do it again. He does not have a counseling session with her. He does not ask for a confession. He just tells her to go from her sinning life!
We learn something from this text. Stop pointing the finger at people when they don’t do right. Yeah, they may be wrong as two left shoes but God is the judge and he will deal them and He will also deal with you if you are a hypocrite. Don’t throw stones in a glass house! So drop your rocks and look at your self in the mirror. Drop your rocks your not all that either. Drop your rocks live a life of integrity. Drop your rocks become accountable to somebody. Drop your rocks exercise self control yourself. Drop your rocks you make mistakes too! Drop your rocks stop pointing the finger. Drop your rocks he forgave you and He will forgive me too. You got to drop yours rocks but go to the rock, the Rock of your salvation. Go the rock for you forgiveness, mercy, restoration, joy, love and peace. Go to the rock and drop your!