Doodling in the Dust

Last Friday evening, the full moon was beautiful. I stared at it the entire way to church for Bible study. Some notes on what we read that night, John 8:1-11:

This passage is known for being one of those stories with a disclaimer slipped in before it- in the "earliest and most reliable" manuscripts, it is not included. Why? Well, maybe it was made up and slipped in later. Or maybe it was part of the original but taken out early, and put back in after. Or maybe the "most reliable" manuscripts aren't that reliable! Whatever the case, it's certain that the story puts a somewhat different spin on the Jesus we know.

This is the story of the adulterous woman who was caught red-handed in the act of adultery (how embarrassing) during or right after the important Jewish holiday, the Feast of Tabernacles. The Pharisees, all in a rage (and simultaneously plotting against Jesus), drag her to the temple courts where Jesus is calmly teaching a crowd and ask him, point-blank, "Well, what do you think, Jesus? The law says that we should stone her. What's your opinion?"

Think about it for a second. Here's Jesus, not the most popular guy with the head honchos but doing nothing to rile them up for once, sitting peaceably in his Father's house, where people come to learn and to worship. To be holy. And then here come the Pharisees, in all their anger and ultra-righteousness, utterly desecrating the sanctity of the place because they have no intent to worship, only to trap Jesus with an admittedly sticky situation. If he orders them not to stone the woman, he is defying the law (in God's temple!), but if he goes with the law, he will shatter his image as a compassionate teacher.

So what is his answer? "But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger." Uh... what? Did he even hear them? Come on, Jesus, pull out some witty response or a shocking, I-didn't-think-of-that truth. You're God. You're smart! What are you doodling in the dust for?

Nobody knows what Jesus was writing. Scholars speculate that he may have been 1) buying time to think about what to do and/or pray, 2) just passing time to annoy the Pharisees, or 3) actually writing down the names of every sinner present in the audience, including the accusers. The last one is a particularly juicy hypothesis, the favorite of many. And to think, as the Pharisees continue to pester him, he then gets up and looks them straight in the eye, saying, "If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." ZING!

Jesus could have written down their names and then humiliated them all by exposing them for their hypocrisy. But a sadistic Jesus does not seem as likely to me as a patient, matter-of-fact, and maybe quirky Jesus. I like to think that he was just doodling, or taking the time to pray to ask God what he should do. And that serves as an example to us all: when confronted with difficult situations with only difficult decisions to make, the first thing we should do is pray. Jesus and the apostles prayed in every circumstance, and Paul encouraged us to never cease to pray.

And in the resolution of the story, we see the accusers silently leaving the scene (the eldest first, who are probably the wisest), convicted because they realize none of them has the authority of condemn anyone else, least of all in the presence of Jesus. Eventually, Jesus is alone with the adulterous woman, who is probably bewildered and thanking her lucky stars. Jesus is the only one who hasn't left, because he is the only one without sin. In fact, Jesus could have picked up a pebble and tossed it in her direction at that moment. But he doesn't. He pulls the guilt card, but his preferred method of chastisement is full of grace. "Oh, they all decided to bounce? That's cool; I drop all charges, too. Go now and leave your life of sin," he tells her.

Only Jesus can judge the sinners, but when he does the sentence always has a caveat: If you repent and believe in me, you will be free- forever. At least, this is how it will work until the end of days, after everyone has had a chance at grace. But a more present-oriented point is that we, as Christians, cannot possibly have the gall to lord our righteousness over anyone else and think we're doing them good. All of us are sinners, and thank God all of us can be forgiven of it.

- - -

Hey all,

A prayer request! I'm leaving for Taiwan tomorrow (early Thursday morning). I will be there for six weeks, the first four to take Chinese classes, and the last two for a missions-oriented English camp at a Taiwanese university. Rebekah and I both did this camp last year. If you'd like me to send you a prayer letter, let me know! Or maybe I'll send one to all of you regardless. But please pray for me for these six weeks. I have had... some tough times so far this summer spiritually, and I don't want any of it to carry over to Taiwan. Or, if it does, then may it be that God shows me something great as a result of the struggle. The shadow proves the sunshine, after all.

Thanks!
Peace,
Andrew

Prayer Requests

Hi people!

I hope everyone is doing well! I miss your bright and beautiful faces :-) I've been meaning to tell everyone that I had such an amazing time at Chapter Camp with you guys and I'm super glad that I went even though I really didn't think I was going to. God knows what he's doing!

So, I have two things that I would be super grateful if you guys prayed about. 1) I am working at an outreach camp this summer and the kids come tomorrow! I am super excited and happy, but also a bit anxious! I'm not feeling too good, plus our training period has been exhausting and emotional, so I'm just hoping I can still give it my all! Please just keep the kids coming in prayer if you could!

2) At chapter camp God really started some serious uprooting of emotions in me. It's been both necessary and difficult for the past couple weeks. Although I know it's ultimately making me stronger and edifying me, it's just a bit heavy right now, especially with all the work stuff I have to deal with simultaneously. So, if you could keep me in prayer as well, that would be AWESOME :-)

Thank you guys and I'm praying for all of y'all as well :-)

best,

Celestina

P.S. Psalm 126 has been a big blessing to me this week. Check it out, perhaps it will be for you too! It's pretty amazing how even when everything seems crazy and you have NO idea what you're doing anymore, you can still find faith and strength in scripture. *happy sigh*

Fun Quality Family Time? Hmmm... not exactly

Hey there,

I just have a short prayer request. Basically, the atmosphere in my household is incredibly tense especially between the four eldest members (parents, my brother, and I). The stress stems from finances, busyness (lack of substantial family time), and lack of sabbath. A lot of the responsibility for the monetary worries comes from my expensive college choice. We're going to be having a "family meeting" soon to discuss the changes that need to happen including other college options (which would suck, *crossing all of my fingers and toes*). Recently these discussions have been heated and emotional which isn't really helpful to communication. If you guys could just keep us in your prayers this week that would be greatly appreciated.

I miss you all! I love you :)

Hana

Welcome back from Chapter Camp!

Hello! Swarthmore Christian Fellowship has just returned from InterVarsity Chapter Camp 2010, and we're itching for some kingdom work to do. This blog will serve as communication for ideas and inspiration and follow-up in the three months we have before school starts again this fall. Post about new ideas you have, great things you've read, anything God has told you, even your frustrations and doubts as you experience "post-mountain syndrome." We're building community here even though we're scattered over the summer.

- Andrew

P.S. Tagging (labels) makes it easy to locate posts of various themes or topics. Some suggestions for tags are: "prayer request", "NSO", "answered prayer", "random", "Bible verse", "picture", "video", "large group", "small group", etc.!