Encounter with a Moral Failure

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Good morning Chapel family! Good to be with you all today. We’re taking this fall to talk about how human beings can deeply change and become the kind of people that we really want to be, and that we’re meant to be. If we listen to the secular voices around us, we’ll hear things like, “You need to get the right education—because ignorance is the problem.” Or, “You need to find the right therapist, so you can really know yourself.” Or, “You need to get aligned with the right social justice causes.” And there’s value in all those things, but if that’s all you have, you’re missing the main piece. If you listen to the religious voices around you, you’ll hear things like, “You need to find the right church,” or “You need to pray the right prayers” or “You need to learn the right meditation techniques.” And there’s value in all of that, but if that’s all you have, you’re still missing the main thing.

Because all of those are things we do. Actions that we take. But to really become the people we’re meant to be, we need to be acted upon by God. We need to realize that we are being dealt with by a Being who is outside of ourselves—that God is addressing us personally. And you can’t manufacture that—you can’t make that happen. But when it does happen, you can be receptive. You can choose to receive what He’s doing in your life. And that’s when true change begins to happen.

So in this series, we’re looking at six moments, from the Gospel of John, where people had that personal encounter with God in the person of Jesus Christ. And for each of those people, that encounter became the turning point of their lives. So every week, I’m encouraging you to ask yourselves two questions: First, Is Jesus speaking to me through this encounter? And then secondly, Does Jesus want to speak to someone else through me through this encounter? So whether it’s for ourselves or someone we love, encountering Jesus is the only thing that truly, deeply changes us.

So today we’re going to look at an Encounter with a Moral Failure. If you have ever felt guilty, ashamed, embarrassed, exposed, judged, condemned, dismissed—any of those things—you are really going to relate to this story. So let’s look at the Scripture together: John chapter 8, beginning in verse 2. I invite you now to hear the Word of God…

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 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.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 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. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” This is the Word of the Lord.

So let’s talk about three things today—actually just three words: Failure, Hypocrisy, and Love. Failure, hypocrisy , and love.

First let’s talk about Failure. Make no mistake about it: the woman in this story had committed a moral failure. There’s really no question about that. She had apparently been caught in the act of adultery: either she was married and she was cheating on her husband, or she was in bed with a married man. And I don’t know how the religious leaders caught her—maybe they were tipped off by someone and they sent spies to her house; maybe they just happened to see her in the act. Whatever the details were, she did something clearly wrong, she was caught, and even Jesus doesn’t challenge the accusation that’s being made against her. Now—there was obviously another party involved in this sin, right? And the religious leaders don’t say anything about the man—but that’s a different matter, and we’ll talk about that in a minute. But it’s clear: a moral failure has occurred.

And the religious leaders realize that this is a perfect opportunity not only to condemn the woman, but also to trap Jesus. It’s kind of a 2-for-1 deal. So as Jesus is teaching in the courts of the Jewish temple, they push their way to the front of the crowd, dragging this woman with them. Can you imagine the terror she must have been feeling? The shame? And they set the trap: “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” It was a clever trap. Because the law of Moses did say the penalty for adultery is capital punishment. So if Jesus refused to confirm that, they could accuse him of contradicting the Scriptures. And that would discredit his reputation as a rabbi. So the trap was set.

Let’s stop for a minute and think. How do we respond when somebody’s moral failure comes to light? Because it happens all the time, doesn’t it? This past week, there was a very popular NFL coach, John Gruden, who was forced to resign after emails surfaced where he had said inappropriate things about black people and gay people and women. He was exposed in a very public way, and some of you are sports fans and you know all about that story. What went on in your heart when you heard about it?

About a year ago, the pastor of Hillsong Church in New York City was exposed for having an affair—it was all over the news. He was immediately fired from his position. When you heard that story, how did you respond?

And you can think of all kinds of other examples, right? Moral failures come to light, sometimes by public figures and sometimes in our personal circles. How do we react when those things happen?

The reaction of these religious leaders was obvious: they were determined to bring shame on the woman. They could have brought her case to Jesus privately, right? But they chose to humiliate her in front of this crowd. What is it in humans that takes pleasure in publicly shaming others?

When my daughter was starting college four years ago, all the incoming freshmen were required to read a book by Jon Ronson, called So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed. It’s worth reading. It talks about how in our culture, when someone fails or sins, people love to pile on publicly disgrace them. Usually on the internet and social media. And sometimes the shaming is so successful that the person’s reputation is damaged permanently.

I saw an example of this last year. It was in the first couple of days of the pandemic, back in March of 2020, so they had just canceled the NBA basketball season. And there’s a player for the Utah Jazz named Rudy Gobert, who was at a post-game interview, and he decided to mock the Coronavirus warnings by intentionally touching all the microphones. Really childish move. And then two days later, he was diagnosed with the virus. Shortly after that, he publicly apologized on Instagram, and talked about how embarrassed he was for acting that way, and he hoped that others would learn from his

mistake. And it was amazing to see how people responded to his Instagram post. I’m sure there were thousands, but I just scanned the first few, and here’s what people said: Shame on you, idiot. Here’s another one: You are a piece of (expletive). Here’s another one: I hope Coronavirus kills you. Now, it’s one thing if a person does something wrong, and they remain defiant and unrepentant. But this was a case where he clearly owned his mistake. And people were ruthless. That’s what I mean by public shaming. When someone messes up, even after they’ve taken responsibility, and sometimes even when they’ve paid a costly price for their actions, people seem to take pleasure in continuing to publicly beat someone up. It’s a mob mentality.

Do you ever find yourself thinking like that? Or acting like that? In a sick way, there’s something enjoyable about feeling like you’re on the side of an issue, and you can sit behind the safety of your computer keyboard, or your phone, righteously punishing the wrongdoer. That’s what was happening that day in Jerusalem. The woman had failed morally, and the religious mob was thirsty for blood.

Or, have you ever found yourself in the woman’s position? You’ve done something wrong, and you’ve been caught. And it seems like all the people around you want to do is shame you and humiliate you. That’s a lonely place to be, isn’t it?

So there she was, being dragged in front of Jesus. And I don’t know how much she knew about Jesus, but he was a renowned teacher; they called him “Rabbi,”; so she must have assumed he would uphold the letter of the law. What she didn’t know is that Jesus was different from every other rabbi, and that he, too, knew how to set a trap.

Point number 2: Hypocrisy. So the question of the religious leaders hung in the air, as they waited for Jesus to respond. But instead of saying anything. Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. What do you think he was writing? There are multiple theories out there, but based on what happens next, I think the most likely answer is that he was writing a list of the sins of the religious leaders standing in front of him. Jesus seemed to know those things about people.

While he did that, it says they kept on questioning him. So he finally he stood up, and he said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And then he bent down and continued writing on the ground, because he realized they were going to need some time to think about that.

So what did Jesus want them to think about? When we find ourselves responding to somebody else’s moral failure, what does Jesus want us to think about? It’s pretty clear, isn’t it? Before we so confidently condemn and shame someone else, we better take a long, hard look at ourselves.

And it seems like those Pharisees and teachers of the Law did some honest self-reflection. Maybe they started thinking about their own sexual sins, that no one knew about. Or maybe about the recent night they drank too much wine, and yelled at their wife. Or the dishonest financial deal they just made. Or the double standard of dragging the adulterous woman in front of the mob, but letting the adulterous man go free. I don’t know what went through their minds, but it seems like all of that in some way, they were guilty of this thing called “hypocrisy”: condemning someone for their sin while being blind to their own sin.

Jesus talked about that all the time, didn’t he? The most well-known is probably Matthew 7:3-4… 3 “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? 4 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? Anyone who says Jesus doesn’t have a sense of humor hasn’t read this. Imagine someone with this 6-foot 2X4 jammed into their eye, and they come up to

you and they say, “Hey, I couldn’t help but notice that little piece of sawdust in your eye. Hold still while I get it out for you.” And meanwhile their board is swinging back and forth and they can’t see a thing.

Focusing on the faults of others blinds us to our own faults. Why is that? Researchers have actually studied this, and they call it having “bias blind spots.” Bias blind spots. And here’s the explanation: the way we evaluate other people and the way we evaluate ourselves is totally different. For example: if I drive crazy through traffic, it’s because…I’m late for an important meeting—so there’s a good reason I’m driving that way. And by the way, I hardly ever do it—it’s not the normal way I drive. That’s how I assess myself. If I see someone else driving crazy through traffic, there’s only one explanation. That guy’s an idiot. Right? So when it comes to my faults, I have an elaborate way of explaining them away. When it comes to your faults, you’re just guilty.

Researchers call it a bias blind spot; the Bible calls it hypocrisy. And hypocrisy is really bad for our spiritual health. It’s really bad for the health of whatever community we’re in—our family, our church. When there’s an attitude of being the moral police, and scrutinizing the behavior of others, the atmosphere will be toxic. Now, I’m not compromising the seriousness of this woman’s sin. And we’re going to see in a minute, neither was Jesus. But he knew these religious leaders were blind to their own stuff, and he was trying to help them see.

The apostle Paul would later write this in Galatians 6:1… Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Man, that would have been a better way to do this, right? Rather than shame and punish this woman, this was an opportunity to restore her—help her to get back into fellowship with God, and get her life on the right track. Restoration is so much better than condemnation. And Paul says as you’re doing this kind of restorative work, do it gently, not harshly. Remember Jesus said, “I am gentle and humble in heart”—so when you do this, be like Jesus. And watch yourself—because you know you’re no perfect saint, and you could easily fall into sin yourself. If the religious leaders had approached her sin that way, this whole situation could have been so different.

So Jesus says, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And he gives them some time to think about it. And then something amazing happens. Did you see it? Verse 9: 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. You can be cynical, and say, “Well, they realized they were in a no-win situation, and they couldn’t get out of the trap Jesus had set.” That could be. Or maybe they actually took his words to heart. Isn’t it interesting that the older ones walked away first? Sometimes age brings a level of humility and wisdom and self-knowledge that younger people just haven’t developed yet.

Earlier in the message, I asked you this question: how do you respond when someone else’s moral failure is exposed? Whether it’s the NFL coach, or the pastor of that church in New York, or the basketball player touching the microphones…anyone. How do you respond when their sin comes to light? Here’s a good rule of thumb: let your heart be ruled by humility. I really believe that humility is the opposite of hypocrisy. Humility says, “I’m going to walk through life very conscious of my own sin and my own constant need for forgiveness. And I’m sure I have sins and faults I don’t every realize I have. And therefore, I’m going to be very slow to point the finger at others. I’m going to try to put myself in their shoes, and not rush to judgment, and give them the benefit of the doubt. And if I do need to confront someone—because sometimes confrontation is necessary—I’m going to do it as gently as possible.” Amen?

So Jesus had responded to the accusers by exposing their hypocrisy; now it’s just him and the woman, by themselves. How would he respond to her? Final point: let’s talk about Love. Verse 10: 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

This is a breathtaking picture of love. This should take our breath away! And it’s such a perfect picture of Jesus. John 1 says Jesus came from the Father, full of grace and truth. And you can see both of those things pouring out toward this woman, can’t you?

First, Jesus shows her grace—something the Pharisees knew so little about. He says, “I don’t condemn you.” Some people struggle with how Jesus doesn’t seem to obey the Hebrew law. The law says adulterers should be stoned; the woman is an adulterer, and Jesus lets her go. How can he do that? And the reason is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament law. He said in Matthew 5, “I didn’t come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.” In other words, he perfectly obeyed the law by living a sinless life, and then he went to the cross to pay the penalty for all the ways we break God’s laws—for adulterers and hypocrites and sinners like us. So grace isn’t cheap—Jesus paid for it with his own blood! But he freely offers it to us. So only Jesus has the authority to say, “You’re not condemned! You’re forgiven!”

Some of you find yourself strongly relating to this woman. Because you have felt deep shame and regret, because of some sexual sin—you’ve been cheapening yourself through lust or porn or adultery or casual sex. Or you’ve been hiding some other kind of sin, and you feel ashamed and condemned. Or maybe you’ve been exposed, and it’s horrible. And you need to hear the voice of Jesus speaking directly to you, saying, “I don’t condemn you. I gave my life for you on the cross, so you could be forgiven and washed clean.” Allow yourself to hear his voice of grace.

But Jesus wasn’t done speaking yet. He came from the Father, full of grace and…what? Truth. Notice, Jesus didn’t say, “Go now, and just keep doing what you were doing—you’re fine.” “Go now—after all, God doesn’t care what you do in the privacy of your own bedroom.” He says, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” So yes, he showed her grace. But at the same time, he loved her too much to just leave her as she was. So he spoke truth to her: “You need to leave this kind of life.” The Pharisees viewed her as someone to condemn and toss aside—they didn’t care about her life. Jesus looked at her with value and potential and dignity. “Leave your life of sin. You’re so much better than this.”

So if you can relate to this woman, you need to hear Jesus’ voice of truth. Don’t treat his grace as cheap, and just go back to your same old ways. He’s calling you to something better. Turn away from your sin, and turn toward him. Make him your first love. Make him the center of your life. And as you do that, he’ll give you the power you need to continue walking in the light. Hear the voice of Jesus saying, “Go and leave your life of sin. Follow me; walk in my kingdom; I have something so much better for you.”

When the religious leaders dragged this woman in front of Jesus, they thought they were getting an incredible 2-for-1 deal: they would expose the woman and trap Jesus. But the whole thing backfired. They were exposed by Jesus, and little did they know, they were introducing the woman to the kind of love that can utterly transform a life.

On that same NFL team where the coach just resigned for those nasty emails—the Las Vegas Raiders—the quarterback of the team is a guy named Derek Carr. I’ve always admired him because he’s very humbly outspoken about his faith in Christ. And right after this all happened last week, there was a press conference where they asked him how he feels about it. And I want to read you part of his answer:

It was a lot to handle, I'll say it that way. You all know me, man. I don't condone that kind of talk. I don't talk that way. My kids sure as heck will never talk that way and it's hard because I love the man so much. Like I have family members that have done things, I've done things that I'm glad that I'm still loved. I think more than anything coach needs people to help him, to love him in whatever areas that we can.

You know what I hear in those words? I hear humility; I hear a mix of grace & truth; and most of all, I hear love. What a mature, beautiful response.

Is Jesus speaking you through all this?

The next time you see somebody’s moral failure being exposed, and you feel that urge to judge, remember the woman caught in adultery. Remember Jesus. And put down your rock.