Pastor Jim Lloyd
Date: March 22, 2015
Title: Drop The Rock (Start Here Series)
Text: John 8:3-11
This morning I'll begin by taking you to the comics section of the paper - Peanuts - a strip that featured Lucy & Linus.
Lucy, as you probably know, is the one who dispenses psychiatric advice for 5 cents. Linus is the one with the security
blanket. Linus says to Lucy, "Why are you always so anxious to criticize me?" Lucy says, "I just think I have a knack for
seeing other people's faults." Linus says, "What about your own faults?" Lucy shrugs and says, "I have a knack for
overlooking them." 
Today we'll look at a story where a few religious people took that same knack to an extreme. We're in the final week
of a series called Start Here - a series about finding a new beginning in life, taking advantage of the second chance that
God offers His people. We all need a second chance sometimes, don't we? And many people need a second secondchance after that. We serve the God of the second chance - that's what this series is all about. God's grace is available
to you - as much as you need it, as often as you need it, as long as you need it. You can never exhaust God's grace.
In the course of this series, several times I have used the analogy of hitting the reset button on your life and starting
again. The book of Lamentations puts it in perspective - "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never
come to an end; they are new every morning…" (3:22-23). I'm just old-fashioned enough to believe that the Bible is true
- and this verse has two words you can build your life on: NEVER, as in "his mercies never come to an end; and EVERY, as
in his mercies "are new every morning". It is my hope and prayer that everyone here is able to enjoy - to bask in - the
experience of God's grace and mercy in a new way every single day.
Some people have a hard time with the idea of the second chance - usually not as it applies to themselves, but as it
applies to others. A second chance means, in their eyes, that someone is getting away with something that they
shouldn't be getting away with. And some people see it as their job to make sure that doesn't happen. These people
have an authority complex. They have set themselves up as judge and jury over the rest of the world. The problem is
that while they are casting judgment on everyone else, they neglect to take a close look at themselves.
Today we'll look at a story in which some very self-righteous, by-the-book religious people were forced to do just
that. Let's review the story: A woman who had been caught in adultery was brought to Jesus. According to the Law of
Moses, she could be put to death. To be exact, the law in Leviticus and Deuteronomy states that both the woman and
the man should be put to death. Where was the man in this story? We don't know. But these religious people were
ready to see this sinful woman pay the price. They asked Jesus what He thought should be done. It was a setup. The
religious leaders were often trying to bait and trap Jesus. On this day they were attempting to back Him into a corner, in
which He had to either contradict the Law of Moses, or comply with the execution of a sinful woman. Whichever option
He chose, they could use it against Him. They demanded a response from Jesus. What did He say to them? Nothing, at
first. Instead, He bent over and wrote in the sand. What did He write? We don't know. John, the author of the gospel,
doesn't tell us. He just says that Jesus wrote with His finger on the ground.
They continued to ask Him: What do you say, Jesus? What should we do? You know the law. Should we obey the
law? He stayed silent for a few moments, and then finally offered the accusers a simple statement. He said, in effect,
"Go ahead and stone the woman. Put her to death as you think the law allows you to do." And then He gave them one
stipulation: "Let the one without sin throw the first stone." And then He wrote some more in the sand. One by one,
beginning with the oldest, the accusing men put down their stones and walked away. I assume there are many theories
about the unspoken parts of this story. Here's my theory: The oldest of the group would have been in the front. As
accusers, they would have been leading the charge. Being in the front of the group, they would have been first to see
what Jesus was writing in the sand. And since He had just said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone," maybe His
writing was a pre-emptive strike against anyone of them who might actually claim to be without sin. Maybe He wrote,
"One of you is an EMBEZZLER…one of you is having an AFFAIR…one of you committed MURDER…one of you is plotting to
ROB YOUR NEIGHBOR…" and so on. Perhaps He had written the first name of the accuser's mistress. The older men, the
ones standing closest to Jesus, looked down and saw what He had written, and said, "Yikes. He knows something about
me. I'll just DROP THIS ROCK here and be on my way." And as the older men left, the younger men stepped forward
and made the same discovery - Jesus had written specific things in the sand that each man could NOT ignore. So one by
one they laid down their stones and walked away. That's just my theory. That's reading between the lines. But
whatever He wrote, it was impactful.
What does all this have to do with starting over? In order to live in the newness of God's grace and mercy every day
of your life, you have to let go of the all-too-human tendency to judge others. You have to, as business consultant Jeff
Gitomers says, "Resign your position as general manager of the universe," and let someone else be in charge, while you
work on improving YOU!
It's as simple as this: You can't be successful in your new life if you're casting judgment on others. If you want to
experience a new beginning in any area of your life - your family, your marriage, your relationship with God, your
friendships, or anything else - you have to let go of your holier-than-thou tendencies, and treat others with the same
grace you've received in your life.
Two weeks ago I told you about Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Here's another quote from his classic work, The Cost of
Discipleship. "By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to
as we are." You can't judge others and walk in the newness of life. The spirit of condemnation will eat at your soul like a
cancer until it destroys every good thing that you have tried to create for yourself.
Today I want to talk to you about what it really means to be a second-chancer in life - and how we can avoid the "atleast-I'm-not-as-bad-as-those-other-people syndrome" that plagues so many people who call themselves Christians. Do
you want to experience God's never-ending grace new every morning? Do you want to live in the land of the second
chance? Then I'm going to challenge you to closely observe three "nevers" that all second-chancers should live by.
1. Second-chancers should NEVER forget that they received a second chance. Jesus told a story about a man who
owed the king thousands of dollars - a debt that he had no way of paying. The king ordered the man sent to
prison, but the man begged for mercy and said, "Please, have patience with me, I will pay you eventually." The
king released the man and forgave his debt. He owed the king thousands. The king said, "Let it go, you owe me
nothing now. Your debt is forgiven." Later that same man came across a fellow servant who owed him just a
few dollars. The Bible says that he began to choke the servant, demanding that he be paid. The fellow servant
begged for mercy, saying, "Please be patient and I will pay you when I can." But…the man refused. He put his
fellow servant in debtor's prison. Eventually, word got back to the king about what had happened. This man
whose giant debt had been forgiven him had shown no mercy to a fellow-servant who owed him such a small
amount. The king was furious. He said, "You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded
with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?" (Matthew 18:3233). In his anger, the king had the man sent to prison, where he was sentenced to stay until his debt had been
paid. Jesus told us that story to remind us to remember: Never forget that you have been forgiven a
tremendous debt. Others deserve the same mercy that God has shown you. The sinful woman's accusers that
day didn't understand that their relationship with God is based on grace, not merit. They had forgotten about
their own debt. Anytime you're tempted to judge someone else, flip through your own back pages and remind
yourself of the grace that God has already extended to you.
2. Second-chancers should NEVER build themselves up by putting others down. Jesus told another story about
two men who went to the temple to pray. One was a religious Pharisee. The other a sinful tax collector. The
Pharisee stood alone and prayed: "God, I thank You that I am not like other men who cheat and commit
adultery. And I thank You that I'm not like that tax collector over there. I fast and I pay my tithe." The tax
collector stood at the back of the temple, not daring to stand up front with the religious elite. He wouldn't lift
his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his chest and said, "God, have mercy on me. I'm a sinner." Jesus said, "I
tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God" (Luke 18:14). This story reminds
me of something Thomas Carlyle said. "Confess your own sins, not your neighbors' sins. The greatest fault is to
be conscious of none but the faults of others." Fair warning: If your spiritual defense is "At least I'm not as bad
as some people…" you're probably not going to have a great deal of success in your Christian walk. That's a
shaky foundation for the Christian life - "God, I thank You that I'm better than the worst people I know" - and yet
this is where many people base their entire spiritual experience. Their hope of salvation is in the fact that
they're better than others. Now, the fact is that you are better than others, at least some of them. There are
some pretty bad people out there, and I trust that you're not among the worst of them. I can also assure you
that this distinction will not help you at all in your relationship to God. As I've heard it said, "God doesn't grade
by the curve, He grades by the cross" (Adrian Rogers). You received your salvation the same way everyone else
must receive theirs - by the free gift of God's grace through His Son Jesus Christ, who gave His life as a ransom
for our sins. The wise second-chancers don't trust in their own righteousness, and they never try to inflate their
own righteousness by comparing themselves to others. The wise second-chancers put their hope in the cross,
not in their own feeble attempts at goodness.
3. Second-chancers should NEVER pass up a chance to pass it on. One day Jesus and His disciples were passing
through Samaria. While His disciples went into town to buy supplies, Jesus waited at a well for them to return.
At mid-day a woman came along to draw water from the well. Jesus struck up a conversation with her. This was
unusual, that a Jewish man would make conversation with a Samaritan woman - and especially this woman,
because she had a sinful past. Still, in spite of her past, Jesus talked to her about her life, about what it really
means to worship God, and He told her about the living water that He could give her - that IT would take away
her thirst and satisfy her soul and lead her to eternal life. All the other women went to the well early in the
morning to draw water. This woman came at mid-day, probably to avoid them, because she considered herself
too sinful to take part in the social life of the community. But this all changed after her encounter with Christ.
The Bible says…"…Leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 'Come, see a
man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?' They came out of the town and made their
way toward him" (John 4:28-30). That's how it is with God's love, once you've experienced it, you want to sing,
it's fresh like Spring, you want to pass it on. That's what second chancers do. They pass on grace, not guilt.
They lead people to Jesus, not to judgment. Sometimes that's all that religious people are interested in doing just pointing out what's wrong in other people, instead of pointing the way to Jesus. This is how Billy Graham
summed up his ministry: "It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict, God's job to judge and my job to love." I want you
to imagine a different scenario that could have taken place in John 8. Imagine that a group of men brought a
woman to Jesus and said, "Jesus, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. We know this is a serious sin some of us know firsthand how destructive it can be. We also know that we serve a merciful God who does not
treat us as our sins deserve, but has compassion on His children. And so, Jesus, this is our question. How can
we restore this woman? How can we help her put her life back together and rebuild her marriage? How can we
help her experience the same kind of mercy we have experienced in our lives - the mercy which is never ending
and new every morning? Can you imagine such a conversation taking place? No Pharisee would ever say such a
thing, but second-chancers would. That's because they would understand what Paul was saying in the book of
Galatians. "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch
yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of
Christ" (Galatians 6:1-2). Do you see the difference in Paul's attitude and the attitude of the religious leaders
who confronted Jesus on that day? "I know what it's like to be forgiven. I know what it's like to have someone
come into my life and demonstrate God's mercy. I know what it's like to start over, to get a second chance.
That's why I want to share it with others." That's how it is with God's love, once you've experienced it. You'll
shout it from the mountain tops, because you want the world to know that the Lord of love has come to you You want to pass it on!
4. Conclusion. In wrapping up this series, let’s take a final look at the steps to new life we’ve discussed in the
previous weeks. Week One: We talked about casting your net. You go out into the deep and cast your net –
not just once, but again and again and again until God fills it to overflowing. Week Two: We talked about
closing the door on the past. Stop looking behind you and look only at what lies ahead. Week Three: We talked
about keeping first things first with God and with others. That means you strive to love first, serve second. Both
are essential, but love comes first. Week Four: We talked about winning the face-off with temptation. How do
you do it? You ask yourself three simple questions: What do I really need? What do I really want? What do I
really believe? Week Five: We talked about love defined by God. Week Six: We talked about living your best
possible life, here and now. The way to do that is not by clinging to life, but by letting go. Deny yourself, and
take up your cross daily, and follow Jesus. This means that you live your life according to “Not my will, Father,
but Your will be done.” And Today: We talked about three nevers that second-chancers need to observe.
Never forget you need a second chance. Never build yourself up by putting others down. And never pass up a
chance to pass it on. Like Lucy, you may have a knack for pointing out the faults of others and over-looking your
own faults – but this knack has the potential to destroy your spiritual life. When you’re tempted to throw the
rock of judgment on someone who has fallen, hit the pause button and take a moment to remember who you
are and remember how much you need God’s grace to be at work in your life. And…DROP THE ROCK! Instead
of casting the first stone, take the first step toward mercy and reconciliation into a broken person’s life. No
one’s asking you to become their enabler or endorse their wrongdoing or condone their sin. But Jesus is asking
you – challenging you – to knock out this knack you have of focusing on the faults of others, and put down the
rock of judgment, and reach out, instead, with the open arms of mercy and reconciliation.