Our Ministries
1 Apr

Fifth Sunday of Lent

Throwing Stones or Dropping Them

“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” No one knows the whole story. Who was she? And what was her life like? What made it such that she would risk death by seeking comfort in another man’s bed? We don’t know!

Another unnamed woman, another accused of breaking the law, of sinning, is presented to Jesus to test him. They are ready to stone her to death—an awful way to die! But Jesus stops them. They are a mob, thinking and acting like a mob. Jesus singles them out, one by one, asking who will be the “first” to cast a stone. And they leave one by one. Personal introspection leads to a different ending. The woman lives to see NEW LIFE! No one condemned her.

Two thousand years later, how are we the mob gathered to cast stones? What mobs do we become part of? How do we test authorities in demanding punishment? In what ways do we cast stones? Who are the persons we target?

When our hands are full of stones, even one stone, we are held back from showing love and mercy. The stones we hold are gossip, envy, jealousy, holding grudges, name-calling, exclusion. When we think of what Jesus would do, do we drop the stones, one by one, realizing that God’s love and mercy include everyone! Even the one that is ME!

We don’t know the whole story?

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