Fifth Sunday of Lent, cycle C

JOHN 8:1-11
ISN'T IT FUNNY HOW THINGS CHANGE? IN THE DAYS WHEN THIS GOSPEL PASSAGE HAPPENED, ADULTERY WAS CONSIDERED BY THE JEWISH PEOPLE TO BE ONE OF THE THREE MOST SERIOUS SINS, ALONG WITH MURDER AND IDOLATRY. TODAY WE STILL CONSIDER MURDER SERIOUS, BUT IDOLATRY? WE DON'T CARE. AND ADULTERY? IF THIS WOMAN HAD BEEN ALIVE TODAY, SHE'D BE ON THE COVER OF PEOPLE MAGAZINE OR TALKING TO OPRAH ON NATIONAL TELEVISION.
IN THE GOSPEL TODAY, JESUS' ENEMIES ARE TRYING TO TRAP HIM, AND WE SEE HOW HE CLEVERLY AVOIDED THEIR TRAP. WE SEE HOW MERCIFUL JESUS IS TO THE WOMAN, WHEN HE REFUSES TO CONDEMN HER. AND WE COULD COMMENT ON THE DOUBLE STANDARD WE SEE HERE – BECAUSE IF THIS WOMAN WERE CAUGHT IN ADULTERY, THERE HAD TO BE ANOTHER PERSON INVOLVED. WHERE WAS HE?
BUT JESUS LOOKED DOWN ON THE GROUND. THINK OF IT. THE SON OF GOD, THE SINLESS ONE, FACES NOT ONLY A WOMAN WHO WAS A SINNER, BUT A MOB OF PEOPLE, ALL FULL OF SIN, ABOUT TO COMMIT STILL ANOTHER – THE SIN OF MURDER. AND JESUS MUST HAVE NEEDED TO LOOK AWAY, BECAUSE SIN IS SO TERRIBLE IN THE EYES OF GOD. AND JESUS MUST HAVE NEEDED TO LOOK AWAY, AS HE THOUGHT ABOUT HOW HE WOULD SOON BE UNDERGOING AN AGONIZING DEATH BECAUSE OF SIN, AND WHAT HE WAS SEEING RIGHT THAT MOMENT WAS ONLY A TINY FRACTION OF THE OCEAN OF SIN FOR WHICH HE WOULD DIE.
JESUS TOLD THE MOB THAT THE ONE WHO WAS WITHOUT SIN SHOULD CAST THE FIRST STONE, AND TO THEIR CREDIT, NONE OF THEM COULD STAND THERE AND TAKE UP THAT CHALLENGE. THEY SUDDENLY BECAME CONSCIOUS OF THEIR OWN SINFUL STATE.
WE HUMAN BEINGS MAKE SEVERAL MISTAKES ABOUT SIN. THE FIRST IS THAT WHEN WE THINK ABOUT SIN AT ALL, WE ARE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO CONDEMN PEOPLE FOR SEXUAL SINS THAN FOR MANY OTHER KINDS OF SIN. USUALLY WHEN WE FIND OUT THAT SOMEONE HAS COMMITTED A MURDER, WE ARE FINDING OUT THAT THEY'VE BEEN ARRESTED AND ARE IN THE HANDS OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM; THEY ARE ALREADY PAYING. BUT SEXUAL SINS REPEL US BECAUSE THE GUILTY PARTY DOESN'T SEEM TO PAY, AT LEAST PAY ENOUGH. AND IF YOU ARE A CROOKED BUSINESSMAN OR A CORRUPT POLITICIAN, WELL, THAT DOESN'T SEEM NEARLY AS BAD AS A SEXUAL SIN.
THE SECOND IS THAT WE TEND TO SEE SINS OF COMMISSION AS MUCH MORE SERIOUS THAN SINS OF OMISSION. IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD HAVE DONE, WE DON'T FEEL NEARLY AS GUILTY AS WHEN WE DO SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD NOT HAVE DONE. AND OUR SINS OF OMISSION ARE FAR MORE COMMON THAN SINS OF COMMISSION. EVERYONE IN THIS CHURCH CAN THINK OF SOMETHING THAT HE OR SHE SHOULD HAVE DONE OR COULD HAVE DONE WITHIN THE LAST WEEK, BUT DID NOT DO; AND IT HARDLY TROUBLES OUR CONSCIENCE AT ALL. YET JESUS CONDEMNED THOSE WHO ASKED, “LORD, WHEN DID WE SEE YOU HUNGRY AND NOT FEED YOU?” SOMETIMES OUR SINS OF OMISSION RESULT IN PEOPLE WHO DIE OF HUNGER, PEOPLE WHO NEVER ACHIEVE THEIR HUMAN POTENTIAL BECAUSE OF THEIR POVERTY, PEOPLE WHO ARE CONDEMNED TO THE MARGINS OF SOCIETY – ALL BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T BEEN GENEROUS, BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T SHARED OUR TALENTS, OR TREASURE, OUR TIME.
THE THIRD MISTAKE IS THAT WE THINK THE LONGER IT'S BEEN SINCE WE COMMITTED A SIN, THE LESS SERIOUS IT IS. IF YOU GO TO CONFESSION FREQUENTLY, YOU PROBABLY COME UP WITH A REASONABLE LIST OF SINS TO CONFESS. IF YOU JUST GO ONCE A YEAR OR LESS OFTEN, YOU PROBABLY HAVE A REALLY HARD TIME THINKING OF ANYTHING TO CONFESS. I KNOW THAT'S TRUE, BECAUSE I'VE BEEN THERE, BOTH WAYS. AND WE TEND TO LOOK BACK ON SINS COMMITTED WHILE WE WERE YOUNG AND FOOLISH WITH A SENSE OF BENIGN TOLERANCE. AND WE TEND TO DISMISS SINS COMMITTED LONG AGO AS WATER OVER THE BRIDGE.
TO GOD, OF COURSE, WHO LIVES OUTSIDE TIME, WHO SEES EVERYTHING FROM A GOD'S EYE PERSPECTIVE, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A LITTLE SIN. EVERY SIN PUTS A BARRIER BETWEEN GOD AND ME, EVERY SIN DISTURBS THE ORDER IN THE WORLD; EVERY SIN CONDEMNS JESUS TO DIE. EVERY SIN IS A HORROR TO OUR GUARDIAN ANGEL, EVEN WHEN WE DON'T GIVE IT A SECOND THOUGHT. AND I THINK THAT IS THE INSIGHT THAT THE MOB HAD WHO SURROUNDED THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY.
WE CATHOLICS EITHER DON'T WORRY MUCH ABOUT SIN, HAVING CONVINCED OURSELVES THAT GOD IS GOING TO FORGIVE US NO MATTER WHAT WE DO, OR IF WE DO THINK ABOUT SIN, WE TEND TO GRADE OUR SINS, AND MOST OF THE TIME, WE GIVE OURSELVES PRETTY GOOD GRADES. IN THE OLDEN DAYS, WE TALKED ABOUT VENIAL SINS AND MORTAL SINS, AND WE CATHOLIC SCHOOL KIDS COULD RATTLE OFF WHAT THERE HAD TO BE FOR A MORTAL SIN TO HAPPEN, AND WE WENT TO BED COMFORTED BY THE FACT THAT WE DID NOT DO ONE OF THOSE.
MARTIN LUTHER WAS NOT THEOLOGICALLY CORRECT WHEN HE SAID THAT EVERY SIN WAS A MORTAL SIN, BUT HE HAD THE RIGHT ATTITUDE. THE VERY FIRST THING WE HAVE TO DO IF WE WANT TO LIVE HOLY LIVES IS TO BE CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT WE ARE SINNERS, AND THAT SIN IS REALLY SERIOUS. AND EVEN THOUGH WE'VE BEEN FORGIVEN AND WILL BE FORGIVEN AGAIN AND AGAIN, THANKS TO THE PASSION AND DEATH OF JESUS, WE CAN'T BE COMPLACENT. JESUS TELLS THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY THAT HE DOES NOT CONDEMN HER, BUT HE ALSO TELLS HER THAT SHE MUST NOT SIN AGAIN. GOD WANTS TO FORGIVE US, NO QUESTION. BUT THE PRICE OF FORGIVENESS IS A DECISION TO SIN NO MORE. TO REALLY SIN NO MORE IS PROBABLY POSSIBLE ONLY FOR A FEW OF US, BUT AS WE STRUGGLE TO SIN NO MORE, WE GAIN IN GRACE AND BECOME MORE ABLE TO RESPOND TO GOD'S VOICE WITHIN US.
SIMPLY PUT, THE JOB OF THE CHRISTIAN IS NOT TO BE SINLESS, BUT TO STRUGGLE AGAINST SIN. AND IF WE LAUGH OFF OUR OWN SINS AND FAILINGS, IF WE FAIL TO RECOGNIZE THEM, IF WE DON'T TAKE INVENTORY ONCE IN A WHILE AND MAKE PLANS TO CHANGE, WELL, WE AREN'T HEARING THE GOSPEL AND WE ARE BLOWING OUR OPPORTUNITIES TO RECEIVE GOD'S GRACE.
SO DURING THIS LENT LET US REFLECT UPON OUR SINS, AND TRY TO DEVELOP THAT GODLY PERSPECTIVE, THAT EVERY SIN IS AN AFFRONT TO GOD, AND A REASON THAT JESUS DIED. BUT LET US NOT LOSE HEART; AS LONG AS WE ARE ALIVE, OUR LORD WILL SAY THOSE HEALING WORDS, “NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU” BUT HE WILL ALSO SAY, “SIN NO MORE.”