5th Sunday of Lent
Cycle C
That was some mob that day. They had her dead to
rights and the bloodlust was rising. I imagine there were three types of people
in that mob that day. There were the self-righteous Pharisees all puffed up
with moral indignation, trying to trap Jesus. There were the law-and-order
types who felt it was their duty to uphold the law, especially when the case
was cut-and-dried. And there were the majority who heard the commotion and got
caught up in the moment. They joined the mob for the same reasons people join
in looting and rioting everywhere. Because in a mob you can get away with
anything, even murder.
It’s easy to hide in a mob. You can be anonymous in a
crowd. It’s exciting to feel the rush of emotion in the shouting and shoving.
It’s exciting to feel you’re part of something important, something big. Mobs
and riots make for great stories afterwards, don’t they?
In any case, nobody in the mob really cared about the
woman. She was just the catalyst, the tool, the excuse. It could have been
anyone, any reason, any excuse. She was just the one who got caught. She didn’t
matter to anyone…except Jesus.
Sadly, we have been experiencing mobs a lot lately,
haven’t we? Just this week there has been a lot of pushing and shoving at
campaign events. Racial protest groups interrupt gatherings and hold
demonstrations in the streets. Student groups protest all sorts of things on
college campuses these days. We haven’t seen protests like this since the
1960’s.
We are dragging people out into the public square for
judgment a lot these days. But the mobs are not just in the streets, are they?
And the violence is not all physical, is it? Today, if we disagree with
someone’s politics or religion or even their Pinterest choices, we can easily
let them, and the world, know about it. We have become social detractors. We no
longer simply disagree with a person’s positions, we have to attack them
personally. We have to drag them out into the open, throw them down into the
dirt, and pick up our stones.
We detract from people
all the time, don’t we? The mob today is often not in the streets but on social
media. We can hide in the mob online. We can post whatever we want; we can
comment on things we know little about, going along with the crowd. We hold up
the person caught up in a moral failing, no matter how small, to derision and
mockery. But just as often the person holding to a moral principle is also
dragged out into the public square and mocked for being so out of touch. Things
have been turned upside down. The person espousing high moral values is often
shouted down, called a bigot and a fool, while the person living an openly
scandalous life is held in esteem, someone to be admired and emulated.
Detraction, like its counterpart gossip, is actually a
sin. And the Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses it.
“Every good Christian
ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another’s
statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other
understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct
him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable
ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.”
That last phrase is the key.
“So that he may be saved”. The job of the Christian is not to detract or to
condemn. The mission of the Church is to save souls, and we approach each and
every person from the standpoint that they have inherent dignity and worth. We
are not to automatically think the worst of people but the best. We are to give
each person the benefit of the doubt and not jump to conclusions or question
their motives. Because we love them. We are called to strive to understand
their intentions. Because we love them. We are called to gently correct them
when we see that their beliefs and actions may jeopardize their salvation.
Because we love them.
That’s what we do with
our children, isn’t it? If we see that their behavior will cause them harm, we
correct them. Not because we have the power to do so but because we want what’s
best for them. Jesus treated the woman with mercy. His condemnation would have
cost her her life. All the mob was waiting for was a signal from him. He had
power over her very life, and he showed her mercy.
His simple statement, “he
who has no sin throw the first stone”, showed mercy not only towards the woman
but to the mob as well. He taught them a very important lesson when he shifted
the focus back on them. They were shamed by his comment, and because of that
were saved from committing an even bigger sin.
Mercy is holding power
over someone and not exercising it. Mercy is not punishing someone even when it
would seem like justice to do so. Mercy is compassion. Mercy is treating
someone with dignity just because they are another human being. We often think
of mercy in terms of crime and punishment. Spare someone their life when they
are helpless. Not treating them as they deserve to be treated.
But most times it’s the
small mercies that make the most difference.
Mercy is when you keep
your sarcastic comments to yourself, even though you think they’re really
clever. Mercy is letting it slide when someone says something that offends you,
because your relationship with them is more important than having the last
word. Mercy is giving them a hug and forgiving them when they apologize. Mercy
is not posting that comment on Facebook or Twitter, just to make yourself feel
superior. Oftentimes mercy is not what you do but what you don’t do. Sometimes
it’s showing restraint.
Mercy is letting go of
your stone.
Mercy is a gift we give to one another. Mercy doesn’t
always require the sinner to make the first step, but there must always be
repentance. The woman never asked for forgiveness. She never asked for mercy.
She seemed resigned to her fate. Jesus never addressed her particular sin. He
wasn’t concerned with her past, only her future. He was concerned with her salvation,
and that required her to change her behavior.
Many people have used this passage to say, “See, Jesus
didn’t condemn her adultery. Jesus isn’t about sin, he’s all about love,” and
they use it to rationalize all sorts of bad behavior. Because to them, love
means accepting people, no matter what they do. But Jesus did acknowledge that
what she had done was sinful. He said, “Go and sin no more”. But he wasn’t
talking just about her adultery. He didn’t say, “Don’t do it again”, but a more
general “Do not sin anymore.” He was requiring a lot more than the avoidance of
this particular vice. He didn’t want her to sin in any way anymore. He was
calling her to repentance and conversion. He wanted her to change her life. He
was accepting of her as a person, but he wasn’t accepting of her life choices. Jesus
is all about love, and love is oftentimes telling people that what they are
doing is jeopardizing their chance for salvation.
We can show mercy to
ourselves as well. And we should. Mercy is moving on and not dwelling on the
past. As we heard in our first reading today, “Remember not the things of the
past. See, I am doing something new!”
And from St. Paul,
“forgetting what lies
behind
but straining forward to what lies ahead,
I continue my pursuit toward the goal,
the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.”
but straining forward to what lies ahead,
I continue my pursuit toward the goal,
the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.”
Showing mercy to yourself means you don’t hang onto
your mistakes. Just as we shouldn’t hold grudges against others, we shouldn’t
cling to our guilt. We must forgive ourselves and always look forward.
Experiencing Jesus Christ in our lives, especially
when we feel the lowest and most worthless, is an uplifting thing. He never
condemns us, but he knows how we feel when we sin. He knows our shame. He more
than anyone else knows the reality of sin and how deadly it can be. He gently
corrects us and sees beyond our behavior, because that’s what you do when you
love somebody.
He takes our face in his hands and lifts it up to his.
He looks into our eyes and shows us the depths of his love. Think of how that
woman must have felt that day. Think of how Jesus’ mercy must have not only
have saved her life but transformed it. Think about that the next time you are
given the opportunity to show mercy to someone. Will you be Jesus to them?
Think about that the next time you require mercy. Will
you be willing to change?
