This morning I was in worship and directed to read John 8:3
"The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?"
My eyes fell to that first part…"the Pharisees led in a woman." But not as a teacher did they lead. Not as shepherd. But as judge.
I considered my self righteous assessment of what I see going on around me and cringe at the similarities of my life and theirs. Perhaps that is why the sermon yesterday impacted me so much.
Ty Saltzgiver shared on Jesus in the temple and spoke to His fiery desire to remove any hinderance for those coming to encounter God and how He did everything he could to clear away the hurdles. I even thought of the finishing touch — tearing the curtain top to bottom at the point of Jesus sacrifice in the cross. No barriers. No hurdles. Nothing to keep people from encountering Jesus.
So when I see someone that may not fit my idea of tribe…political, sexual preference, age, career, and then decide they are excluded from the Kingdom of Papa I am just as proficient at segregation as those men so long ago. May it not be. May it never be.
Another point. I realized my Pharisaical actions are rooted in my own desire and pride, the point that I can do it myself thank you. I can't do anything myself.
I see someone else and their sin (or liberty) and decide they need to "get it right" before they come before the king. Not so His way. He wants us to come as we are and I place hurdles in the most ridiculous of places. The dinner table (you guys should stop eating pretzel bites because I have only had one) and other completely ridiculous statements. I prayed asking God to help me not hold others to the unattainable law that I have for them.
Oh to grace how great a debtor.