LAST SUNDAY AFTER CREATION DAY
20 October 2013
Readings:
Key Verses (using the World English Bible):
2 Cor. 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.”
John 8:7: Jesus said, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone.”
Reflection
And so we come to the final week after Creation Day. The themes I’ve hoped to touch upon during this Season of Creation deal not only with respect and concern for nature and the earth, but also for one another as human beings, created in the image of God. As we look to Scripture and reflect on what we can do to create a better world, we begin to realize that God is already working in us to create a better “us”. Paul describes perfectly in today’s reading the promise we have in our faith:
“If anyone is in Christ, he [or she] is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.”
The foundation of this “new creation”, Paul continues, is the “ministry of reconciliation; namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses.” This is perhaps nowhere else better exemplified than in what’s known as the story of the Woman Caught in Adultery.
It’s become one of the most familiar passages of the New Testament. And yet even if it never happened, as some biblical scholars admit, it still captures perfectly what we know of Jesus’ character. The Pharisees and teachers of the Torah ask Jesus what should be done to a woman caught in the very act of adultery. The Torah prescribes the execution of adulterers (and yes, not just of the woman, cf. Deut. 22:22), but the Roman government forbids Jews from carrying out executions (John 18:31). Jesus is caught in a trap, a crossroads that tests his loyalty.
And yet Jesus famously says to the crowd: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” To the woman, who very likely feels a mixture of repentance, fear, and gratitude, he says: “I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.” Jesus has chosen the third path, the path of compassion, of reconciliation. The former is obvious, but the reconciliation is more subtle. Jesus never denies that the adulteress has sinned, but his point here is to stress the fact that everyone has sinned, especially those with stones in their hands now, bent on killing another human being. I believe his hope is that, once we realize we’re all imperfect; that we share the same flaws, the same trials and prejudices; that we’re all guilty of something at one time or another, then compassion and understanding will begin to reconcile between fellow human beings to each other.
Did this woman continue to sin after her encounter with Jesus? We never hear from her again in Scripture, but my guess is that, of course, she did. As long as we’re human, we are imperfect—that’s our curse and our blessing. But I bet she never forgot about the stranger who, despite not knowing her, didn’t let her faults keep him from showing her a compassion that literally saved her life—and made her into a new person. For God will never let his love be trapped by human division and arrogance. God will always choose to love more, to give more, to reconcile us to God, and to create us anew.
Prayer of the Day
Merciful God,
in Christ you make all things new.
Transform the poverty of our nature
by the riches of your grace,
and in the renewal of our lives,
make known your heavenly glory;
through Jesus Christ our Redeemer,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
—Collect of the Third Sunday in Lent (Year A) from the Book of Common Worship of the Presbyterian Church, USA.
Hymn: “People of God, born again to a new life”
(Words: “Guds igenfødte, ny-levende sjæle”, in The Danish Hymnal, Hans Adolph Brorson, 1735; C.J. Brandt 1885; Thomas Laub, 1896; English adaptive translation by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013
Tune: ‘Guds igenfødte’, melody by Ansbach, 1664; harmony by Freylinghausen, 1704)
People of God, born again to a new life,
Worship in spirit, in truth, and in song!
Gather together in Jesus, our true Life,
Freedom and peace to you ever belong.
Let us see who, with the loveliest phrases,
Can offer God more melodious praises!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Dead as the stone were our wanting hearts hardened,
Blind to the grace flowing freely from you.
But by your strength, all our weakness is pardoned,
And by your love, all our lives are made new.
May we discern Jesus' voice by the Spirit;
Open our hearts to the word as we hear it.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Who will condemn now our Savior, Christ Jesus,
Through whom forever God heals and restores,
Through whom in mercy God comes down and frees us,
Raising us up to heav’n's wide, open doors?
Faith always breaks through disconsolate feeling,
For, from the foot of the cross, comes our healing.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Never were songs from the angels so flawless,
Perfect the tune and the time that they keep,
As when they heard, to their jubilant solace:
“Jesus returns with the one missing sheep!” —
Organ and harp, with their melodies blended,
Sound out the news that the searching has ended!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Up then, you faithful, your anthems addressing,
You who rejoice in God’s infinite grace!
As we together delight in God’s blessing,
All of the world is in God’s warm embrace.
May we be thankful in our adoration:
All are God’s children and precious creation.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
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