Sticks & Stones
There is a saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” But this is not true. Words can hurt us deeply. They can make or break a person. Sometimes truth hurt because we don’t want to hear the truth. Spoken untruths equally hurt. Someone said that the tongue is the most powerful muscle in the human body, "It only weighs a quarter pound but in a single moment, it can destroy a person's reputation or demolish their sense of self-worth."
Listen to what the Bible says, “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be” (Jam 3:5-10).
We should change this saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can sting like anything." We are very quick to judge others and throw stones at them. Our attitudes, words, and actions become sticks and stones that hurt and condemn them. This in spite of our Lord’s command, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye” (Mt 7:1-5).
1. Do Not Judge
Jesus was teaching early one morning in the synagogue — At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. (Jn 8:1-6a)
The Jewish leaders had no compassion for this woman and no concern for her soul. They were not trying to help her. However guilty she might be of sin, they were using her as a tool to attack and trap Jesus. According to the Law (Deut 19:15), they needed at least two or more witnesses in order to accuse her. How did they manage to catch her in the act with sufficient witnesses? And where is the man? According to the Law, both the man and the woman must die (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22). They disregarded and twisted the law. Their zeal for the law and righteousness is selective and hypocritical. Is this not what we also do many times? Many times we use the Bible selectively. Many times we condemn one person for sin while we overlook the same sin in the other person.
Note their words. “A woman such as this.” The label must have stung as she heard it. The Pharisees have already judged and condemned the woman. As they were laying the charges against her before Jesus, I can imagine the onlookers shouting their confirmation and calling her all kinds of names. There’s more than one way to stone someone. In fact, they didn’t even need to stone her. She was already dying a slow and painful death; there in the temple, in the church, in front of her community, and in the presence of Jesus.
It has been said that religious people are the only army who ever shoot their wounded, and that's what is happening here. Many hands have already gathered stones ready for the judgment. According to the rules, the woman deserved to die. She was, after all, caught in the very act! She is a sinner. “We are upholding God’s law. This is the right thing to do. This is righteousness.” Holding their stones ready they were looking forward to Jesus’ judgment with excitement.
Many eyes were on Jesus. Many eyes were staring at the woman, a woman such as this. Eyes filled with hatred and rejection. Eyes filled with scorn, mockery, and contempt. But one pair of eyes refused to stare. Jesus refused to condemn her, though he was the only one who was qualified to do so. He refused to add to her humiliation. Jesus looked down at the ground and began writing in the dirt.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. (Jn 8:6b-9)
2. No One is Okay
"Here's my judgment," Jesus announced to the self-righteous crowd. "Whoever has never sinned, you may cast the first stone." If you're perfect, let them fly! If your life is without sin, you can start the stoning. It's no accident that the older Pharisees were the first to leave. They have lived longer and have more sin in their lives. As we age, it seems we become more aware of our shortcomings, and we are more honest about our own failures. Soon, as their consciences convicted them, even the youngest, most zealous Pharisees dropped their stones at Jesus' feet and left the temple.
No one is okay. All of us are under the power of sin. All of us have sinned, and all of us still sin. “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Ro 3:10-12). We all deserve God’s judgment and wrath. We all need God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. No one is okay. We all need a Savior who can make us okay.
3. Are We Pharisees?
If this story were to be told today, I fear that we would be the Pharisees. With our pious speech and self-righteous attitudes, we insulate ourselves from the real sinners of this world. Our hands are filled with stones, ready to aim them at anyone who does not think, does not act, does not speak, or does not believe the way we do. We are harshly critical of people who make mistakes, break the rules and sin. We resent the actions of the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, but we have carried on their tradition of judgment, scorn, and punishment for those who get caught in the very act today. Loaded with stones, words, or attitudes of self-righteousness, we are proud to cast the first stone. We have met the Pharisees and they are us. Rigid. Religious. Unbending. Unloving. Without compassion and grace. Without forgiveness. And wrong.
We take pride in the fact that we are not like them, people such as these. We are not like those who steal, like those who are addicted. We are not like those whose marriages and families are broken. We are not like those whose partner or spouse is the same gender. We view ourselves as better than them. We don't do the things that people such as these do, so we have earned the right to cast stones at them. That is what the Pharisees thought ... and Jesus said they were wrong.
Tripp — “One of the most significant aspects of the deceitfulness of sin is our ability to swindle ourselves into thinking that we are seldom at fault.” We are good at convincing ourselves that we are not at fault. We have become skilled at feeling good about thoughts, desires, words, and actions that God says are not good. We convince ourselves that our sin is not so sinful after all. When we convince ourselves that our sin is not so sinful after all, we also convince ourselves that we don’t need God’s amazing grace. Anyone who argues against his own need for grace is in grave spiritual danger.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8–10). These are strong words, but we all need to hear and consider them.
One of the scariest, most destructive things of sin is its ability not only to blind us but to blind us to our blindness. We believe that no one knows us better than ourselves. This is perhaps the most dangerous aspect of sin’s deceitfulness. When we believe that no one knows us better than we know ourselves, we do not allow God and others to speak truth into our lives. We close ourselves off from the insight-giving, truth-teaching ministry of God’s Word. We resist the divine conviction by the Holy Spirit. We close ourselves off from the essential upbuilding, sanctifying ministry of the church.
Sin blinds us and we do not have an accurate view of ourselves. We think we are more righteous, mature, consistent, or godly than we actually are. But sin not only blinds us, it also blinds us to our blindness. We think we see clearly when we don’t. We think we know ourselves, when in fact, we don’t know ourselves as well as we think we do.
That’s why we need the ongoing teaching of the Word of God and submission to the Holy Spirit. That’s why we need each other to speak truth into our lives — “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,’ so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Heb 3:12-13).
4. Jesus Makes Us Okay
No one is okay but Jesus makes us okay. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (Jn 8:10-11) I do not condemn you. From now on sin no more.
The best way to deal with sin is to go to the cross and face the truth. Only at the cross, facing Jesus on the cross, can we find and experience grace and forgiveness. Grace and truth always go together. When we are always hiding, ignoring, justifying, and blaming away our guilt and sin, then we are saying, “I am OK.” Then there is nothing to be forgiven, and we cannot experience grace. But when we face the truth with Jesus at the cross, there is no more hiding, ignoring, escaping, justifying, blaming, no more lying, no more wearing masks. When we step into God’s light and truth, the truth sets us free from all of these.
None is okay but Jesus makes us okay. On the cross, He suffered the sticks and stones on our behalf so that we can be okay. When we experience grace in the light of truth, Jesus and his grace change us. We learn to trust God’s grace, his love, and what he says about our value and worth. We sin less because we learn to live by the power of the Holy Spirit, abide in Christ, and live in grace.
So, when we do sin, let us not look for someone to blame. No, we admit our blame and we run in humility and grief to our Savior. “Humble, honest, specific, heart-felt confession is the doorway to peace within yourself, peace with God, peace with your neighbor, and a life of ongoing growth and fruitfulness.” (Tripp)
Lent is all about pointing the finger in the right direction, at ourselves. It is about humble self-examination, honest confession, and grief over sin that causes us to seek and celebrate the grace Jesus was willing to suffer and die for. Yes, this is a season of mournful personal repentance. But it is also a season of spiritual renewal and rejoicing because our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, makes us, who are not okay, okay.
The stones you hold this morning — both real and imagined — have perhaps already been targeted for someone. Those who have never sinned may take them with you. Others are invited to lay them at the foot of the cross and be given a second chance. Repent and come to the cross where Jesus makes you okay.