PROMPTINGS: A Fresh Start

It's the only occasion in scripture where we have an example of Jesus writing something down. No, it wasn't the text of a talk he was about to deliver. He wasn't preserving his wisdom for posterity's sake. Actually, his writing was kind of simple. In fact, John says simply that Jesus scribbled in the sand.

The occasion? A woman caught in adultery had been brought to Jesus by the religious leaders demanding that she be stoned for her sin and evidently seeing just how Jesus would rule. "This woman has been caught in the very act of adultery," they told Jesus.

Jesus scribbled in the sand.

Dismayed by Jesus's apparent dismissal, they pressed him further.

"Well, then. The one who hasn't committed any sins be my guest. Cast the first stone," Jesus said.

At this, the crowd dispersed, leaving Jesus and the woman alone. Trembling and afraid - perhaps thinking that Jesus would lecture her on her morality and tell her how lucky she was to be alive, the woman lingers.

"Where are your accusers? Is no one left?"

"No one," the woman replied.

"Then neither do I accuse you. Go and sin no more."

In a moment, the burden of sin and guilt is lifted. Forgiveness is imparted. There is reconcilation with God - the opportunity to let go of anything that could possibly be in the way of a new life. God speaks new life into this woman. It is time for a fresh start. It's time to begin again.

Over and over people describe in detail the actions, the hurtful words, the patterns of behavior from their past that prevent them from beginning again. As if the script had been written by their parents for them or by their grandparents and they were simply living it out. Addiction. Alcoholism. Depression. Despair. No doubt many of these things were breathed into our lives by others. And it's beneficial to become made aware of influences on one's life that operate at times below the conscious level.

Jesus's message to these people - indeed to us - indeed to the woman is that there is no script more powerful than God's love and forgiveness. God's message in Christ is of a new kingdom - a new reality altogether where all the old rules no longer apply. Rather than being bound to a law of determinism - that we must settle for our brokenness because it's what we've inherited or what we're used to - God says through Jesus that there is new life.

You can't put new wine into old wineskins, Jesus said, knowing that what he had to offer us was new wine.

Are you ready to leave some of the old wine in the old wineskins? Are you ready to leave the old habits, the old fears and anxiety and self-doubting back in the old life you had before? Then do like the woman caught in adultery. Go, now. No one is accusing you. Your accusers are all dispersed. It's just you and Jesus and he's writing in the sand. And he's telling you to "go and sin no more."

Let today be the fresh start you've been praying for.

PROMPTINGS: A Bold Response To Fear

I woke up this morning to read of another series of bomb blasts in the London subway.

Soon after 911 occurred, a friend of mine asked poignantly how soon it would be before Americans got back to their lives as usual without asking itself the hard questions that would need to asked about our relations with Muslims, with Muslim fanatics, with third world countries in general, with people of minority viewpoints even in our own communities.

Some would say that the church should stick to spiritual “issues” and leave politics alone. Believe me, that’s certainly a much more preferable option for those whose training is in Bible, prayer, and theology and not in “American National Security.” But here’s the question I have to ask myself as a pastor. What do we do when politics and international affairs result in fear and anxiety which indeed are pastoral issues to be treated by the church. Do we simply deal with the symptoms or does the church ever really get to the root causes?

In my opinion, the root causes are too vast and complex and historical to be treated in a weekly column. I would recommend for background’s sake an older book by NYT columnist Thomas Friedman that is even handed, well-researched, and readable – From Beirut to Jerusalem. It was written pre-Gulf War (the first one) but nevertheless provides a basic understanding of Middle Eastern dynamics. If you read his columns in the New York Times (online) as well, you’ll get a fantastic education about Middle East affairs and how they relate to our national life as Americans. Friedman is read by both Republicans and Democrats alike and his writing lacks any demagogic tone. Sometimes a little good knowledge goes a long way to helping us cope with our fear about the unknown (it ceases to be unknown, after all!).

What Jesus said was that his followers would hear of “wars and rumors of wars” and that this would be the sign of the “beginning of the birth-pains.”

^{Mt 24:4} Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.

Just the beginning of birth pains? That’s not very encouraging. But I suspect that this is Jesus’s way of saying to his disciples “don’t spend too much time looking for the end-time” but get about the work of the kingdom. We all know what that work is too. It’s loving the unlovable, it’s taking a risk for loving and trusting and relating even when all we hear about is doom and gloom. Kingdom work is drawing believers in (Mt 28:16-20) one hurting person at a time and simply loving each other, caring for each other, meeting each other’s physical and spiritual needs, and serving at the “table” of our community.

In the midst of uncertainty, scripture teaches us that Christians don’t cower or throw up their hands in bewilderment. Read the book of Acts and you discover that in the face of war, terrorism (yes! Christians faced terrorists in the first century), death, destruction, and disease – followers of Jesus band together and they go out and they minister to others.

One of the critiques of the Muslim fanatical community is that America is a country on a military crusade against a Muslim holy land. I’d like to turn that description upside down and when their Muslim brothers and sisters who live in the United States (and in Jackson/Madison County) write home to their brothers and sisters in Muslim countries, I’d like for them to write… “No, no, no, you’ve got it wrong. These Christians here are on a mission all right. But what we’ve seen in how they treat each other and how they treat us is that they are on a mission of LOVE.”

A mission of love. Now that’s a bold response to fear.