FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT - NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU, GO AWAY AND DON'T SIN ANY MORE

21/03/2010

NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU, GO AWAY AND DON'T SIN ANY MORE. (JOHN 8:11)

"The meaning of life is to see" - Hung-Neng

Dear Brethren,
1. When I find myself confronted with this particular reading from the Gospel of John, I have always tended to consider only one side of Christ, namely, his loving mercy. Here is a sinner, caught red-handed. And its not just sin, it is adultery. This among the Jews, as well as among many other peoples of the world, was hideous, punishable with death. This is a man condemning his fellow man. How much do we know our fellow man? Who are we to condemn her so severely that she should die? We ourselves have been guilty at one time or another. Who knows if among the people who were accusing this adulterous woman there were themselves guilty of adultery? We know the story of Susanna in the Old Testament. The people who wanted her to be stoned to death were the very one who wanted to lead her into sin. I heard of a gentleman who married several wives; one of the daughters found a man and went to live with him. That gentleman got into his car and followed his daughter and brought her back home. He would not condemn himself, but he would severely condemn his daughter.
2. Mark the difference between us and our Lord. Being all holy, we would naturally expect him to condemn sinners severely; we would expect him to uphold the Law of Moses. According to the law this woman must die. How can we imagine Jesus, justice itself, letting her go free?
And this is exactly what he did "neither do i condemn you, go away." Its possible for a Christian to fall into despair. Overwhelmed by his sins, so frequent and so grave, a Christian may say like Judas: "I have sinned" and give up hope! The man who despairs of forgiveness and salvation is the one who does not know Jesus, who is the friend of sinners. Forgiveness is within everyone's reach, only if he will place himself at the feet of Jesus the saviour.
"Go away and do not sin any more"
Here is a condition for our forgiveness. being a friend of sinners does not mean that Christ liked sin. He refused to condemn the sinner, but he condemned the sin. As for the sinner the saviour wants from her a firm purpose of amendment. I do remember reading a book where the writer described the depositions of some penitents. He said there are some who make a resolve not to sin until communion. So they struggle to keep themselves scrupulously pure in mind and heart until communion. After that they are not at all concerned! Christ does not say to the woman "keep away from sin for this week" but "go away and do not sin any more."
3. Now the second aspect contained in this story, and aspect I have often over-looked, is that of respect for human life. What is happening in the world? The number of people who are killed every night in our streets and country is astonishing. The bodies are found lying by the roadsides, forests, farms. If a person is caught still a tyre of a car he is likely to be dead. One day I happened to see a man being stoned to death with a tyre tired around his neck; most probably this was all he was trying to steal. I have no intention of pleading for thieves! But as human beings and above all Christian we are bound to respect human life. Today we have this whole circus about constitution and Abortion, we know what needs to be done, what is true but we are simply dragging our feet. In the first place keep yourself safe and you will not get tired into stupid discussion. I call them stupid because we have failed to reason properly. Parents’ severely punish-husbands beat wives.
The Jews had the law on their side, and Jesus does not question this. But human life is sacred, and the saviour would not let anyone touch it. We shall never feel secure in society until there is real conversion of mind and heart, a conversion which will include respect for man's life, however guilty he may be in our eyes. We pray for conversion, which includes confidence in saviour, to resolve not to sin, respect of life.
"Nothing is more expensive than a start" - Nietzsche

--
Padre Joseph Nyamunga Mubiru
P.O.BOX 15318-00509
NAIROBI-KENYA
BLOG: http://nyamusus.blogspot.com
Mob. +254-722-585-329