forgiveness – The Raynville Rambler

What would Jesus write?

For Ash Wednesday, 14^th February 2024. Text: John 8:1-11

Jesus writing on the ground

Picture the scene: we are in the outer courtyard of the Temple in Jerusalem, at the time of the Feast of Booths, around the beginning of October. Jesus is teaching to the appreciative crowds who have come to hear him, but among them are some of Jesus’ opponents who are looking to find more evidence that he has broken Jewish laws.

A woman is brought in – unwillingly no doubt, perhaps even kicking and shouting – and dumped on the ground before Jesus, as ‘exhibit A’ in this kangaroo court. Here is someone who has clearly broken the law, the commandment forbidding adultery. Surely Jesus would not fail to judge her and find her guilty? Would he? Well, at the end of the story, while he did not condemn her, neither did he condone her part in the relationship, because he told her to sin no more. After that experience, I’m sure she didn’t.

But despite the title of this passage in most Bibles, this isn’t really about the woman. It’s about the men who brought her to Jesus, using her as a pawn to entrap him. And it’s Jesus’ response to them that I want us to ponder this Lent.

Challenged by them to give his judgement, Jesus doesn’t reply immediately. He lets them put their case for the prosecution before commenting, and as they do so, he writes something in the dust on the ground with his finger. This is one of those bits of the Bible where you really wish the writer had given us a bit more detail. Go on, John, tell us what Jesus wrote! There have been many suggestions over the years. Was it Deuteronomy 22:22, that made the man involved just as deserving of death as his victim? Was it the Sh’ma Y’Israel, the Jewish daily prayer in which believers are reminded to avoid the lust of the heart and eyes?[1] Was it the names of men in the community known to be two-timing their own wives? Was it all the ten commandments, meaning that no-one could claim to have kept all of them? Or maybe the sign of the cross? You can find several sermons on YouTube giving other suggestions, but no-one can be certain.

Whatever he wrote, it had the desired effect when he did speak. And he spoke not to the woman to condemn her, but to her accusers. He challenged anyone without sin to cast the first stone. In the light of Jesus’ writing, none of them dared risk the charge of hypocrisy by pretending to be perfect. Jesus alone had the moral authority to call out the men’s sexism.

Bracelet with WWJD

Some years ago it was common in the Church to hear the phrase ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ Some people even wore wristbands with that phrase on them. But today the question is, ‘What would Jesus write?’ Maybe you are aware that you have accused someone else of sin – to their face, or just in your heart. If you were to bring them to Jesus, telling him all about their sins and asking him to condmen them, what would he write on the ground with you in mind?

Leaving aside suitable Bible verses, I was reminded of several common English idioms that he might use.

“Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones”, perhaps? This reminds us that it’s difficult to criticise others without a charge of hypocrisy, as we all have our own failings and the stones that are thrown back may cause a lot more damage to us than we have caused to them.

“Walk a mile in her shoes”, perhaps? We don’t know the background of this act of adultery. Is it more likely in a male-dominated society that the woman seduced her neighbour’s husband, or that he forced himself on her? Was this an ongoing relationship or a one-off incident? And where did it happen that they were observed? It’s frustrating to say the least when other people criticise us for our faults without knowing what lies behind them. Equally, we don’t know the background of someone else’s apparent failings,

“There but for the grace of God go I”[2] are words that wouldn’t really apply to Jesus, but he might well invite us to apply them to ourselves if we are tempted to judge someone else’s behaviour. It can often only take one unforeseen incident or change in circumstances to force someone into poverty or homelessness, for example, and as a result end up shoplifting to survive. Can we really say we wouldn’t do the same in their circumstances?

“To err is human: to forgive, divine”[3]. That reminds us that the person we accuse of sin is, after all, only human like ourselves. We may want to be quick to condemn them for something we know we would not have done ourselves. But even if their sin is different from ours in nature or degree, we are all in the same position of needing God’s forgiveness for something. And the more we know God’s forgiveness in our own lives, the easier it becomes to forgive others.

How about this phrase, a little less well known: “A hundred pounds of sorrow pays not one ounce of debt”. It’s worth noting that the concept of sin has changed several times in religious history. One of the Jewish understandings of sin, was that is is not so much a breaking of rules, as a debt. If I sin against my neighbour, I owe her a debt, which might be repaid in a literal way by making a gift or a payment, by writing an apology, or by making efforts to restore a broken relationship. But if I sin against God, how can I ever repay a debt to him? The proverb is a reminder that repentance is more than saying sorry, it needs a genuine changing of our ways. It also reminds us that God’s forgiveness made posible through Christ’s sacrifice is one that we can never earn.

But I want to draw this reflection to a close with some verses from the letter of James. This apostle, possibly Jesus’ brother, is perhaps best known for his writings about good deeds being as important as faith. But he also wrote this: “For the one who said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’, also said, ‘You shall not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgement will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement”[4].

We all tend to judge others, but this passage about the men who brought a sinner to Jesus, along with many others in the Gospels, shows that Jesus’ approach to the Jewish law was radical. Time after time, he shows that while actual sins need to be acknowledged and repented of, the greatest element in God’s character is his ‘ḥesed’, his loving mercy. If something your neighbour has done or said offends you, before you criticise them openly or pray for them as a sinner, bear this in mind, that if you do not condemn them, neither does Jesus. He knows their sin: it is for him to forgive; it is for you to show mercy, that God’s mercy may be shown to you. Mercy triumphs over judgement.

On me, Lord, have mercy, On me, Christ, have mercy. Amen.

[1] Numbers 15:39

[2] Often attributed to John Bradford (C16) but uncertain.

[3] Alexander Pope, 1711

[4] James 2:11-13

Dare to forgive

Reconciliation sculpture, Coventry cathedral

Today’s song from Sing Praise is a Taizé chant, ‘God is forgiveness’. As with all such chants the words are few enough to reproduce in full –

God is forgiveness
Dare to forgive and God will be with you
God is forgiveness
Love, and do not fear

As so often, brevity of an instruction does not imply an easy task. For many of us, there will be events in our lives where forgiveness is the task of a lifetime, hence the challenge ‘dare to forgive’. Daring means going out of our comfort zone and taking risks. But God knows the heart and is still with us, even where our attempts at forgiveness fall short as memories recur or as others reject attempts at reconciliation. It is those who rule out the possibility of forgiving another, or for that matter the possibility of being forgiven themselves, who are farthest from God.

I was recently at Coventry Cathedral, which since its rebuilding after the destruction of the Second World War has become an international centre of peace and reconciliation. They pray this “litany of peace and reconciliation” each day:

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class,
FATHER FORGIVE

The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own,
FATHER FORGIVE

The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth,
FATHER FORGIVE

Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others,
FATHER FORGIVE

Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee,
FATHER FORGIVE

The lust which dishonours the bodies of men, women and children,
FATHER FORGIVE

The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God,
FATHER FORGIVE

Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

For some reason I found the melody of this chant harder to pick up than most examples from Taizé, although it’s in 4/4 time and without any very high or low notes. It’s only attributed to ‘the community’ but it would be interesting to know who composed the tune, or rather what cultural background they came from.

Shine, Jesus, shine

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise, continuing the theme of the Transfiguration, probably needs no introduction. Graham Kendrick’s “Shine, Jesus, Shine” may well be the best known hymn of the later 20^th century, sung in churches of all traditions. What’s the secret of its success?

A jolly tune, for a start. The chorus in particular is fun to sing, indeed the hymn is better known by the opening words of the chorus than by the first verse (Lord, the light of your love is shining). It is belted out, with clapping, even by those who bring their children for christening but are not regular churchgoers. The image of Jesus “filling this land with the Father’s glory” and “flooding the nations with grace and mercy” is an appealing one.

What that means in practice is expanded by the words of the verses. The light is “shining in the midst of the darkness” (verse 1), echoing the familiar words of the Christmas Eve gospel. But in this verse we also ask Jesus to “set us free by the truth you now bring us”, recognising that we are in fact prisoners of our own darkness. Verse 2 recognises that we have to come out of those shadows into the Lord’s radiance, and that only by his blood (shed on the cross for the forgiveness of sin) can we enter it. We therefore asked to be “searched and tried” and for our darkness to be consumed. Trial is the language of judgement, and that is the hard part about turning to Jesus: accepting that our dark actions and thoughts deserve God’s judgement. As St John puts it, “people loved the darkness because their deeds were evil”.

The third verse tells an important truth about the faith. “As we gaze on your kingly brightness, so our faces display your likeness, ever changing from glory to glory”. The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we become like him, and the more we are not only living in the light but enlightening those around us. As more individuals are changed in this way, the land can indeed be filled with the Father’s glory – a glory shining not from the sky but from the faces of those who make up Jesus’ body on earth, just as his body shone at the transfiguration on the mountain. The sermon I’m preaching today (which I will post separately) has a similar theme.

So although the hymn may be popular because it’s fun to sing, it has a deeper story behind it, that the way Jesus will shine in our land is by individuals coming to him in repentance, and accepting his light into our own lives so that we may give light to others.

Forgive us when…

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is one by Martin Leckebusch from the selection for Lent. The full words can be found on the Jubilate Hymns website. Sing Praise offers two choices of tune, neither familiar to me, and John Hartley has composed one for the occasion in a minor key, but in fact as it is in the frequently used “long metre” (eight syllables per line) there are many suitable tunes and the Jubilate website suggests the well-known “Tallis’s Canon”.

The first line is “Forgive us when our deeds ignore your righteous rule”. In fact all the verses begin “Forgive us…”, which is a good clue to the theme, which is that of penitence (saying sorry to God for the things we’ve done wrong and asking his help not to repeat our mistakes).

Traditionally the sort of sins repented of in Lent were greed, pride, lust and envy – sins of thought more than of deed, for the most part. Not that those are suddenly acceptable these days, and indeed in verse two we confess “dreams of pleasure, wealth and pride” and in verse three “our endless greed for what was never truly ours” (more than a nod to the traditional vices there).

But the focus of what we think of as sin has shifted in recent decades. The things that Martin asks us to repent of include what we might call “woke sins”, thoughts and actions that harm the world and its people and our relationship with nature. More specifically, verse one refers to “decisions that harm the poor”, reflecting the theology of “liberation” or “bias to the poor” that has become popular since the 1960s. Verse three expands the concept of greed beyond personal acquisition to encompass the way “we harness this world’s brutal powers” (meaning perhaps its fossil fuel and nuclear energy, although it may also suggest structural and corporate greed riding roughshod over the poor).

Verse four gives an interesting take on what ‘sin’ might mean in its widest sense: “we change the rules by which the game is played”. The Biblical understanding is that God’s commandments – his rules for living – are for everyone’s benefit. But by changing those rules to benefit ourselves more than others, by making greed a strength and living sustainably with a view to the needs of others a weakness, we undermine the way the world was supposed to work.

The last two lines combine a traditional observance of Lent with this more contemporary understanding as we ask God to “help us walk your holy way, to make your world a better place”. Personal holiness and concern for the world around us are not two opposing or different approaches to religion, they are more like the intertwining strands of DNA or the interplay of electricity and magnetism: only together can they bring life and power into being.

Awake, awake, fling off the night

Today’s hymn, keeping up the theme of light in this Epiphany season, is “Awake, awake, fling off the night”. The light of Christ is contrasted with the darkness of sin. It is a biblical message: “light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Sin and evil are often associated with darkness, because when we know that what we are doing is wrong – and most of the time we do – we naturally want to hide from it. So most crime is committed at night, or down dark alleyways, or in other places where the criminal will not be disturbed.

The constant theme of Scripture is that God is everywhere and knows everything we do, indeed every secret thought. There are no dark places, no hidden corners, where we can hide from God to do our evil deeds unnoticed. As the psalmist puts it. “Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?” (Ps. 139:7).

That sounds scary – God the policeman who patrols wherever we choose to walk, as well as being the judge who passes sentence. The good news is that in Jesus, God also becomes the one who pardons. But as in human relationships and penal systems, there can only be pardon where there is contrition. The first step is to admit our sin to God and ask forgiveness. Then the pardon can come, and light replace the darkness. So the last verse of the hymn encourages the forgiven sinner to sing for joy and praise God.

The Apocrypha in Lent – 16 March

If this is your first visit, please see my introduction to these Lenten readings.

16 March. Ecclesiasticus chapters 27-30

I have picked two short passages from among these chapters, which belong together in the approach to life that they commend: the passages which in the Jerusalem Bible are headed “resentment” (27:30-28:9) and “happiness” (30:21-25).

The first of these classes resentment, along with anger, as a sin, and exhorts the reader to “forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you, and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven” (28:2). That reads so much like the Lord’s Prayer, that I expect Jesus knew this passage and perhaps was quoting it when he replied to the disciples who asked him how they should pray. The next verse explains how this works – “if a man nurses anger against another, can he then demand compassion from the Lord?” For an attitude of unforgiveness, even if we think “justice” deserves that some hurt done to us be avenged, cuts us off not only from our own soul but from God. If you are still in any doubt, verse 6 brings us up short – “remember the last things, and stop hating”. In other words, we all die, and if we end this life in an attitude of hatred towards other people, how can we expect God to show love towards us in the life to come?

The second passage warns of the dangers of “sorrow and brooding” (30:21). Why? “Jealousy and anger shorten your days, and worry brings premature old age”. This ancient wisdom is only now being rediscovered by those who in our own time warn of the dangers of stress, which does indeed increase the risk not only of a heart attack or stroke, but of other diseases that shorten life expectancy. The contrast is with “gladness of heart and joy” which “give length of days”. There is also a reference to the effect of stress that reduces appetite: “a genial heart makes a good trencherman, one who benefits from his food” (30:25).

So taken together we have several good reasons to stop being resentful, angry or sorrowful about the things that other people do to us, and do our best to remain cheerful and to forgive them when we can. It’s not easy, but then living well never is. It takes an effort. But putting your efforts into reconciliation, forgiveness and relaxation is better than putting the same amount of effort into trying to get even with someone.

The Bible in a Year – 13 December

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

13 December. Hebrews chapters 7-10

Chapters 5 to 10 are a lengthy explanation (originally for the benefit of Jewish readers) of how Jesus has superseded all the requirements of the Jewish law, at least those that relate to sacrifices, food laws and anything else to do with Temple ritual. Judaism has of course moved on itself since those days and no longer has a Temple or sacrifices, so the distinction is not as great as it was. But the point is still worth making, that Jesus started a completely new way of relating to God.

There are several points to the writer’s argument, and some of them (such as Jesus being equivalent to the obscure priest-king Melchizedek from the time of Abraham) are rather too obscure to explore here. More to the point is the fact that the old system of sacrifice required an endless succession of priests who died like everyone else, making regular sacrifices in a specific place (the Tabernacle or Temple), using animal blood, to forgive sins that had been committed, but could not achieve atonement (putting right) for sins that people had not yet committed. So there was no end to that system and it had no effectiveness outside the Jewish community who participated in the rituals.

Until Jesus, that is. He came as the one who outlived death, so requires no successor. He shed his own innocent blood instead of that of young animals, so no animal sacrifices are needed. He ascended into heaven and is therefore connected with all places at all times, so his sacrifice is also effective at all times and places. And he came for the benefit of all humanity, whether or not of Jewish heritage.

So why does the Church re-enact Jesus’ last meal (and thus symbolically his sacrifice) every day in many places, and at least every month in most congregations? Isn’t it enough to take Communion once, as we are baptised only once? Although Jesus’ death is effective at forgiving the sins of those who confess them in faith, we fallible people constantly need to be reminded of that.

We also need to be reminded regularly that “Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (9:28), which is why we have the annual season of Advent in which we are now living. And “in a very little while, the one who is coming will come and will not delay; but my righteous one will live by faith.” (10:37).

The Bible in a Year – 20 November

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

20 November. Luke chapters 14-16

The first ten verses of chapter 15 comprise the two short parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin. They go together, two ways of making the same point, which is: “there is joy in heaven over one person who repents”. Why does Jesus make this point about joy? Because the “scribes and Pharisees” – those full-time theologians who became the bane of his life – were grumbling again. “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them”.

What was the motivation of the Pharisees for their grumbling? I think it was jealousy, for they saw people coming to Jesus, finding forgiveness, and responding joyfully. They themselves, caught up as they were in their own detailed commentaries and interpretations of Jewish law, had no time for joy. Joy, in the sense that Christians use the term, is not physical pleasure but the deep contentment and happiness of a fulfilled life, something that God always intended for us. It’s easy to lose that sense of joy in the busyness and troubles of this life. Sin, self-centredness and materialism (all of which characterised the Pharisees) work against a joy-filled life. But Jesus saw it as part of his mission to restore it. In John’s Gospel he says, “I speak these things so they may have my joy made complete in themselves” [John 17:13].

There’s nothing like a sense of guilt for making people joyless, and nothing like having that guilt removed for restoring joy. That is why repentance is more than merely praying for forgiveness. Saint Paul experienced this, as he writes to Timothy. He may not be using the word “joy”, but “the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 1:14) surely describes such joy. This “joy in the Lord” comes when someone experiences, as Paul did, the assurance of forgiveness and being made at one with God.

Looking again at the second of Jesus’ short parables, the lost coin, he is describing the joy, the relief, of finding something that we knew all along was missing. The coin was not additional income, but something that already belonged to the woman. In the same way, repenting and finding peace with God through Christ is restoring a relationship that we all should have had in the first place.

For that reason, it’s more than just a matter for the individual. Christianity is never a closed shop, our mission is always to help people see what they are missing and find it. The shepherd, or the housewife, in the parables represents not only Jesus, but each one of us. Jesus says there is “joy in heaven”, or “joy in the presence of the angels of God”, over one sinner who repents. It is a matter of rejoicing for the whole Christian community when another person understands what Christ has done for him or her, and turns to him.

How might we express joy when we see someone coming to faith? The charity “Christians Against Poverty” work with churches throughout the country to offer debt counselling. Each local church is encouraged to celebrate when someone is set free from debt, after the counsellor has negotiated cancellation of some of their debts and a repayment plan for the rest that they can afford. But more than that, along with debt counselling, CAP advisers take any opportunity they can to share their faith and tell people of Jesus who can set them free from sin as well as financial debt. In CAP head office in Bradford there is a bell, and that bell is rung whenever it is reported by a local church that one of their clients has decided to become a Christian.

Have you found a lost sheep recently? Helped another person along the way back to God? Or experienced joy when he found you? Then meet up with with other Christians and rejoice together.

Extracts from a sermon for Holy Trinity, North Greenwich, 15 September 2013

The Bible in a Year – 9 March

If this is your first viewing, please see my Introduction before reading this.

9 March. Deuteronomy chapters 30-31

As Moses completes his summary of the law, he once again presents it as a choice for the people: to obey means blessing, prosperity and life; to disobey (especially in ‘turning to other gods’) means curses, poverty and death. He does his best to present it, to use a contemporary term, as a “no brainer”, or to put it another way, “what’s not to like about serving God?” To choose to believe in God and take the commandments seriously is to follow a path that will result in a happier life not only for oneself but for the whole community, because the more people who do, the less hatred, crime and injustice there will be.

But it is a choice. And Moses is all too aware, as is God himself, that in practice the people will, most of the time, choose to ignore God, and follow their own desires. The scene is set for the next thousand years in which the ‘chosen people’ will rebel and return, again and again. When Moses prophesies (30:4-5) of exile and return, he may have been given a vision of the exile to Babylon several hundred years in the future, or maybe even the greater diaspora in which the Jewish people would have no home in the promised land for nearly 1900 years.

How would he have felt about that? To be told at the end of forty years of hard work leading the people to this point when they could claim a permanent inheritance, that soon after his death they would forget all he had taught them and go their own way. But always God gives a longer view, a hope that beyond rebellion is the call to return, beyond sin is the promise of forgiveness, beyond betrayal there is the possibility of restoration. That applies as much to individuals as to the whole nation. If I turn way from God, I know he will still accept me back, whether it’s the next day or much later in life. Praise God for his constant love!