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No man, Lord – Reflections on John 8

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This is a guest post by Michael Andrzejewski who serves the Lord in Portugal and whose biographical information appears below.

Hand on Stone - John 8

With so much disdain, they shoved her down before him, the one that they called Master in public, but the Threat, in private. They hated him more than her. They hated him more than what they caught her doing.

They had just dragged her away, hastily ripping the two lovers apart from each other. From that first moment when they burst in, fear and remorse engulfed her.

Nothing made sense. She wanted to explain. What were they going to do with her lover? Why wasn’t he being taken too? She fought hard to put her thoughts in order. Where were they taking her?

Wave after wave of regret crashed down upon her fragile soul.

Still indecent and disheveled they threw her down at his feet and spat the words. At him.

Master, we caught her. We walked right in on her cheating. She’s supposed to be stoned. What do you think we should do? (John 8:4-5)

She dare not speak, but within, she begged for mercy. She longed to be forgiven. She longed to be free.

She never considered the consequences when the flirting began. She never thought about the other lives that would be ruined. All she saw was her lover’s attention.

The desire for immediate satisfaction shouted down all caution about what might happen if they were caught.

The law says that she’s got to be put to death. Judge her. Tell us what do.

Silence. Slow and deliberate. He knelt, ignoring them. He wanted to know about her. In her eyes he saw fear and pain. Sorrow. Shame.

Through the tears, she noticed him writing something in the dirt, as they insisted…

Should we stone her? Should we?

Accusers are always persistent, but Mercy is patient. Long-suffering.

Finally, he rose, looked at the mob and spoke.

He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. (John 8:7)

He was ready to answer. He was ready to give them his mind about the matter, but he asked one thing first: let all of those without sin rare back and let her have it. Then he would answer.

The leader, the oldest and wisest of the group, looked at Jesus, looked at the ground and opened his hand to let the jagged stone fall to the dust. He couldn’t. He knew that his heart was just as filthy.

The memory of our own sins should be a sufficient deterrent against judgment of others.

If it’s not, we better start remembering before we start casting stones. If it’s not, we should begin to question our understanding of grace. If it’s not, we should begin to question our understanding of forgiveness.

So, he turned and walked off. His conscience cutting far deeper than any stone possibly could.

But his conscience didn’t bring him to grace. Rather than bring him to the Lord, it stopped short.

Man’s conscience is able to convict of sin. But it’s not able to transform him into the image of Christ. Neither is it able to liberate him from the present or future power of sin. Without the conviction of the Holy Spirit, the conviction of conscience is incomplete.

The thud of rocks falling to the ground grew louder as the mob grew smaller and smaller until the last one, the youngest among them, finally let go of his anger and walked away in shame.

There she remained, alone with the man that had just saved her life. Before she could thank him, the question came.

Where did they all go? Did not at least one of them condemn you?
No man, Lord.
Neither do I. Go and sin no more. (John 8:10-11)

When there is no condemnation of sin, there is the presence of a command to live a holy life.

By mercy, the Lord spared her life. Through grace, he gave her a new one.

“Thank you, Lord for not condemning me when for so long I deserved it. Thank you, Lord for giving me a new life in You. Thank you for power to walk in that new life with You. I praise you today because I know that my life is no longer defined by sin, but by your grace and your love for me. Thank you for becoming my sin on the cross, even when you knew no sin. Let me ever remember that I have no condemnation in you. Help me to ever walk after Your Spirit. Amen.”

Conformity versus unity in the church

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conformityI have observed that sometimes when a pastor or church leader speaks about unity what they really are talking about is conformity. There is a big difference.

As believers, we are called to be unified in Christ. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:14-16 that we who were formerly enemies have not been reconciled to each other because we’ve each been reconciled to Christ. The differences that once divided us no longer are able to do so.

This reconciliation does not wipe away our differences, nor does it mean that we immediately become easy to live with. Yet we are called to unity. This unity is in response to a common relationship with Jesus Christ and it is to be based on honesty about who we are and what we would like to become. Unity is an internal motivation.

Conformity, on the other hand is the result of pressure applied from the outside to adhere to an external standard. In short, it is pressure to appear to be something that we are not. I have seen this pressure in far too many churches.

There are several clues that will give an indication that you have conformity and not unity in a church:

  • Watch how the pastor or other leaders interact with church members. If there is an authoritarian tone it is likely a church that practices conformity and not unity.
  • Watch how the members interact with each other. If there are some who are accepted and others who are not, then you have conformity and not unity.
  • Find out if there is spontaneous ministry happening or if the leaders control all the activities of the church. If the leaders exercise control over body life, you likely have conformity and not unity.
  • Watch how well the children that grew up in that church do once they get to college age. If a high percentage of them walk away from Christianity, it is likely a church that practices conformity and not unity.

In a body that practices unity, we are allowed to be the mess that we really are and not try to appear to be a paragon of holiness. Biblical unity allows us the freedom to be honest about who we are and be loved in spite of our flaws.

The danger for those of us who grew up in the church is that we develop a high tolerance for phoniness and sometimes don’t pick up on the dynamics that pressure us to conform. Like Pavlov’s dogs, we respond to the stimulus and toe the line without even thinking about our response. As a result we hold others at a distance and don’t let anyone really get to know us. We can promote conformity without realizing it.

If you find yourself in a church that practices conformity and not Christian unity, the only advice I can offer is for you to flee from that church. Your spiritual health, and that of your family is at risk in staying.

There are churches who get this right. When you find a church that truly practices Christian unity, it may be a little uncomfortable at first. You might wonder if the people are being genuine in their interaction. It may take time to let your guard down.

But, it is worth working through the discomfort and staying in a church that understands and practices Christian unity.

The counter-cultural church

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Counter Cultural ChristianityIsrael and his sons encountered a warm welcome in Egypt because of the work that God had done through Joseph to save Egypt from starvation. The Israelites enjoyed a comfortable position in the land and the favor of the Pharaohs for many years.

Then things changed. Exodus 1:8 tells us, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” (ESV)

From being the group that formed policy and whose culture and background were dominant in the society, the Israelites became slaves and outcasts. They became political outsiders. They were abused by the system and were persecuted for who they were and what they believed.

The solution to their problem was not reformation of the political system. Moses tried that and found that it didn’t work out so well when he killed an Egyptian middle manager.

The Israelites did not suddenly find favor in the eyes of Pharaoh. They did not regain their status as it was when Joseph was alive. God had to break the Israelites free so that he could begin a new work in them for the benefit of the whole world. When God did this, it got much worse before it got better.

When the communists took over China, they announced an end to Christianity in that country. Yet, the church in China is the fastest growing church in the world. This despite significant persecution that continues.

In the west, our political systems were founded on a Judeo-Christian worldview, the same worldview that is under constant derision by much of the ruling intelligentsia. We wonder at the breakdown of the moral fabric of our country, yet that breakdown is inevitable given the crumbling support for our moral underpinnings.

It may be that God will bring revival to the countries in the west. If so, the church should play a role in that revival by being the conduit for the good news of Jesus Christ. Or, God may choose to allow the west to continue to decline.

The health of the true church is not dependent upon the political system in which she finds herself. We do not need the support of the government for our churches to be healthy.

Whether or not we have the support of the current Pharaoh, Prime Minister or President, the church is called to be counter-cultural. When the government seems to support the church, we should not be lulled to sleep by that illusion. When the government is in open opposition to the church, we should not be overwhelmed and feel that God failed us.

In the end, it is to Jesus that every knee will bow (Phil 2:10). The church should be leading the way in this and bowing only to Jesus. That is the most real and best counter-cultural move we can make.

More righteous than the Pharisees?

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More RighteousI have written on this verse before but have some thoughts to add. In verse 20 of Matthew 5, Jesus makes a curious statement about being righteous:

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20, ESV)

Let’s set the Way Back Machine to approximately 30 AD when Jesus made this statement in an attempt to understand how his listeners would have reacted to it.

The Pharisees were the group that sought to reclaim the religion of Israel and drive it back to it’s Biblical roots. They were the fundamentalists of their day. They sought to follow the law of God in every particular. They were obsessive about being righteous according to the law of what we call the Old Testament.

A few hundred years earlier, the Pharisees began as a group in reaction to the general disregard of the law of God. They sought revival of correct belief and practice. Therefore the Pharisees were the ones who were pushing the nation of Israel toward following the Old Testament law. They also lead by example and practiced what they preached. The Pharisees were the poster boys for righteousness according to the law.

When Jesus made this statement in the sermon, his hearers would have understood how radical it is. How can one be more righteous than a Pharisee? They display ultimate obedience to the law. This would be like telling me to be a better basketball player than LeBron James. No amount of effort could make me better than LeBron.

We, like Jesus’ first listeners, have a tendency to hear this statement in terms of what we do (or perhaps this is only me). Too often we take it as an encouragement to try harder, to work at being righteous. But if it is impossible to be more strict in our observance than the Pharisees, then what could Jesus mean by this statement?

Habakkuk 2:4 tells us that the righteous must live by faith. Abraham was declared righteous because of this faith, not because of his perfect obedience as the Apostle Paul demonstrates in Romans 4. It is belief and not practice that allows us to be declared righteous. By the exercise of faith, we can be more righteous than the scribes and Pharisees.

But faith is only effective if the object of the faith is effective. As Christians our hope is in Christ alone. Paul follows up his discussion of the faith of Abraham with these words:

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1–2, ESV)

We are justified (declared righteous) by having faith in Jesus Christ. What many of the Pharisees (ancient and modern) miss is that the path to true righteousness is through faith in the one who trades our mess for his righteousness (1 Cor. 5:21).

It is this trade that allows our righteousness to exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.

This post is #18 in the Sermon on the Mount Series

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