Neighbor, Love YourselfSample

THE SOUND OF FORGIVENESS

The John 8 passage in today’s Scripture readings tells a story about a woman caught having an affair. Malicious people tear her from her lover’s arms and push her to stand before Jesus. The woman’s accusers shout angrily, saying she broke the law and must die. Attention turns to Jesus, all eyes watching to see how he will answer.

Jesus reminds these people that the answer to bad choices isn’t stones, and it isn’t death. The answer to bad choices is love.

What happens next in the event isn’t recorded in the Bible, but I know it occurred. A sound comes from the crowd—a sound Jesus hears, a sound the woman hears. It’s the sound of the stones as they fall from the hands of the people holding them and hit the ground.

There is a thud as each accuser drops their accusa­tions. Thump, thump, thump. These stone drops are a drumbeat of freedom for this woman.

Like the woman, we’ve condemned ourselves with the choices we’ve made. We’re caught in the act of bad things all the time, and our terrible decisions gather like a crowd of peo­ple, all armed with consequences that will kill us. Daily, we find ourselves in situations where we’ve removed love from the mixture the Creator’s made.

We need to hear the sound of our grudges hitting the ground, and we need to hear the sound of all the doubts we’ve had in ourselves drop to the ground in a reverberating thump of freedom.

Love saves us when no saving is deserved. There is love for the alcoholic who received his five-year chip but fell off the wagon again. There is love for the church leader caught in a lie and for the spouse who wasn’t faithful. For the man who stole something and the woman who treated someone horribly, the disrespectful daughter and the son filled with hate.

Remember that God has forgiven you, and forgive yourself too. Let the shame go.

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).

Is there a past mistake you are stoning yourself with? Drop it. Go and sin no more.