Let it go
Allan Gerh
I often wish we could live in a world where the law was enforced
perfectly. Don’t you wish we could enforce the law as stringently in Kenya?
Don’t you long for the day when over-lappers would be hauled off to court to
pay fines instantly and people who use cell phones while driving would be fined
on the spot?
The problem with that is that if the law were enforced perfectly, most of us
would have been arrested very many times. I find myself applying one set of
standards to other people and another to myself. We get so angry when matatus
stop on the road suddenly to let people off and we are driving behind them. But
don’t we ask matatu drivers to drop us off at convenient places or even stop on
the curb to drop off people in our car. “Well but I put on our hazards” you
say. “I am not like other people.” Don’t we get so irritated when we see people
make a careless turn because they are talking on the phone as they drive. But
would we admit that on occasion we have picked up the phone while driving? “My
case is different. You see I receive important calls from important people. I
am never sure whether that one call is the big break I have been waiting for.”
you say.
We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions. When should
we apply the letter of law and when should we apply the spirit of the
law? Jesus once found himself in just such a situation. A case was presented
to him, lets see what kind of call he made.
Read John 8:2-11
While Jesus was teaching at the temple courts a dramatic thing happened. Some
teachers and Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They put her
right in front of everyone and put Jesus on the spot by asking him what should
be done to her. Their intention was for him water down the Law of Moses by
letting her go or uphold it and prove that he was no different from them.
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 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 standing
there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one
condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus
declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
Why does Jesus ask the Pharisees to let the woman go when she is so clearly in
the wrong? Didn’t it matter to Jesus that this woman’s action had violated
another woman’s marriage? Or even that the legitimate children of the
adulterous man were going to suffer financially and emotionally? Many families
have been torn apart by exactly such scenes as the one we see in this passage.
Frankly I feel the Pharisees. It is all very well for Jesus to forgive the
woman but what about the other woman whose marriage covenant has been violated
and what about the children?
Most of us have a problem with Jesus letting the woman caught in adultery go.
But we also have a problem with a world where the laws are enforced perfectly
because if the law is applied without mercy, it must be applied to everyone
including ourselves.
Jesus forgives this woman not so that the victims can suffer while she is let
off the hook, but so He could let everyone including the Pharisees off the
hook. In other words in a church like Mavuno, any church for that matter,
Jesus extends grace to both the family that has been torn apart by extra
marital affairs but also to the baby mama.
Why do we have a problem with grace and forgiveness? We have a problem with
grace because it seems to minimize the depth of our pain. It seems to reduce
the fact that when trust is betrayed it is like someone’s whole house of cards
was blown over by the wind. Many of us are in the position of the Pharisees. We
have moral grounds to stone those who have caused us pain and expose them to
public shame. And we ask ourselves, how is grace justice?
Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees was “Let it go”, because if there is no antidote
for the anger and bitterness; ultimately revenge only leads to self
destruction. If the stones had begun to fly, they would have eventually
destroyed everyone including the accusers.
What if my husband has cheated on me? Let it go. What if it has caused all sorts
of emotional havoc in our family? Let it go. What if it has disorganized the
family financially? Let it go.
This is not about diminishing the complication of sin or that lives have been
affected. But the vicious cycle of the consequences of sin will continue
unabated unless there is grace to forgive and a commitment to heal. And if you
cannot run, walk. If you cannot walk, crawl, but by all means keep moving.
Where in your life has an injustice of this kind been done? Where have you been
aggrieved and by all accounts have every right to pay back? Because it is
precisely in that place that you have the opportunity to extend mercy. Where do
you have the moral grounds to shame someone who has done you wrong?
The one person who has the right to ask something so big of us is Jesus. Grace
does not negate justice, because on the cross, Jesus satisfied the justice of
God. He paid the price for our sin, but he also absorbs the cost of our pain
and with his stripes we are healed. Watching the movie “The Passion of Christ”
puts the penalty Jesus had to pay in perspective.
Annette Angose
From: Allan Gerh <gerh...@yahoo.com>
To: Mumbig...@gmail.com; NDUKU MAKAU <nduku...@gmail.com>; NHTHAMBI MAKAU <nnth...@gmail.com>; Nyareruj <nyar...@yahoo.com>; stella...@yahoo.com; STEVE WASONGA <steve....@gmail.com>; burning-...@googlegroups.com; lucy biketi <LBI...@YAHOO.COM>
Sent: Mon, April 11, 2011 1:16:44 PM
Subject: Let it go
Benjamin M. Justus
| Greatly encouraged i miss you guys. Through with exams now coming back as from today God bless you amen --- On Tue, 4/12/11, MIRRIAM NZYUKO <mirriam...@gmail.com> wrote: |