Today’s Readings: Psalm 118; Isaiah 25:1-9; John 7:53-8:11; Revelation 1:9-20; Psalm 51
I’m generally not a huge fan of the Gospel of John. I’m not a fan of John’s Gospel for a variety of reasons. The anti-Semitic tone of the Gospel is difficult for me to digest (i.e. John’s Gospel frequently shifts the offenses that Matthew and Mark associated with the religious leaders of Jesus’ time onto the whole of the Jewish people). I also tend to better relate to those Gospels that do a better job of developing a sense of Jesus’ humanity. Given my concerns about the Gospel, I find it ironic that one of my very favorite moral teachings in all of the Gospels is contained in John. In fact, it just so happens that that teaching is contained in today’s reading from John. In speaking to the religious authorities who were ready to stone a woman who had been caught in adultery, Jesus directed the actions of the group by saying: “The sinless one among you, go first: throw the stone” (John 8:7 from The Message). What a powerful moral precedent that is for us to follow! I’ve been in faith communities, for instance, where they have railed against the irresponsible environmental practices of our government - and yet that same faith community ignored the fact that they had no recycling programs in place themselves. I’ve been in faith communities where they have marched on behalf of the rights of undocumented residents – and then they turned around and exploited this segment of the community by hiring undocumented residents for manual tasks around the church at rates that were below the prevailing wages of their community. I’ve been in faith communities that regularly decry the presence of racism in their city – and yet that same faith community ignores the fact that the racial composition of their own worshippers looks nothing like the demographics of the neighborhood around them. It is so much easier to try to “stone” others who fail to live up to the standards you profess – all the while ignoring your own shortcomings. Imagine how differently the world would look if we all started living by the values to which we try to hold others accountable! Today, when you find yourself getting all worked up about some injustice in the world – stop for a moment and take your own moral inventory and see if you are living up to those same standards before you start throwing stones at others. Til next time…
I’m generally not a huge fan of the Gospel of John. I’m not a fan of John’s Gospel for a variety of reasons. The anti-Semitic tone of the Gospel is difficult for me to digest (i.e. John’s Gospel frequently shifts the offenses that Matthew and Mark associated with the religious leaders of Jesus’ time onto the whole of the Jewish people). I also tend to better relate to those Gospels that do a better job of developing a sense of Jesus’ humanity. Given my concerns about the Gospel, I find it ironic that one of my very favorite moral teachings in all of the Gospels is contained in John. In fact, it just so happens that that teaching is contained in today’s reading from John. In speaking to the religious authorities who were ready to stone a woman who had been caught in adultery, Jesus directed the actions of the group by saying: “The sinless one among you, go first: throw the stone” (John 8:7 from The Message). What a powerful moral precedent that is for us to follow! I’ve been in faith communities, for instance, where they have railed against the irresponsible environmental practices of our government - and yet that same faith community ignored the fact that they had no recycling programs in place themselves. I’ve been in faith communities where they have marched on behalf of the rights of undocumented residents – and then they turned around and exploited this segment of the community by hiring undocumented residents for manual tasks around the church at rates that were below the prevailing wages of their community. I’ve been in faith communities that regularly decry the presence of racism in their city – and yet that same faith community ignores the fact that the racial composition of their own worshippers looks nothing like the demographics of the neighborhood around them. It is so much easier to try to “stone” others who fail to live up to the standards you profess – all the while ignoring your own shortcomings. Imagine how differently the world would look if we all started living by the values to which we try to hold others accountable! Today, when you find yourself getting all worked up about some injustice in the world – stop for a moment and take your own moral inventory and see if you are living up to those same standards before you start throwing stones at others. Til next time…
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