‘Remember
that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Turn away from sin and be
faithful to Christ.’ These are the words that accompany the Imposition of
Ashes. They are beautiful words, full of grace and truth.
‘Remember
that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.’ Words that remind us of our
frailty, and of our deep connection with all creation; words that point to a
day when all broken and divided things will be reconciled within the love of
God that is revealed in Jesus.
‘Turn
away from sin and be faithful to Christ.’ Words that remind us that even though
we wander far from God, far from our neighbour, even try to turn our back and
walk away from ourselves, that the bridge between us does not get burned; that
we might yet turn and find ourselves brought to life once more by the presence
of God-with-us.
In
our reading from the Gospel of John, we see an example of what this looks like.
First,
let us consider the backdrop to our Gospel passage. Jesus has been in Jerusalem
attending the Festival of Booths. This was the third of the three annual
pilgrimages, and it had a dual-focus. It was a harvest festival, reminding the
people of their connection to the land. And it was also a time to remember the
time when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, when they had no land to
farm, when they were totally dependent on God. The backdrop to our Gospel
reading is a week-long reminder that we are intimately connected to the earth,
and dependent on God for our very life. In the words of our funeral services, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to
dust: in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our
Lord Jesus Christ…
During
the Festival of Booths, everyone slept in temporary shelters, recalling both
the shelters used at harvest-time, and the tents the Israelites lived in, in
the wilderness. Along with other pilgrims, Jesus has been camping in a
makeshift shelter on the Mount of Olives, across the valley from the temple.
But the festival had come to its end. Early the next morning, the pilgrims get
up and set off for home. But Jesus does not go home. Jesus returns to the
temple. There, he sits down to teach, and those who also found themselves in
the temple on that early morning gather to hear him. This is not a great crowd
of pilgrims; they have gone home. This is something smaller, more intimate.
Now,
the form of teaching Jesus and his listeners were familiar with was much more
interactive than our sermons. People would ask questions, and the teacher would
respond. Interruptions weren’t seen as rude, but as part of the learning
process. Even respectful debate could get quite heated. Into this moment step a
group of scribes and Pharisees; and we need to understand who they are. The
Pharisees were a group within the Jewish faith of the time who held to
interpreting the Written law of Moses through the on-going tradition of the
Oral law. In contrast, another group, the Sadduccess, who controlled the temple
community, recognised only the Written law. This difference of approach meant
that in many respects the Pharisees were more liberal – or, lateral – in their
interpretation of the law, while the Sadducees were more literal. Moreover, the
two sects did not get on, despite needing to co-exist.
With
some of their number (voiced by Nicodemus in the preceding passage) seeking to
discover truth, but the majority seeking to uncover an offence – to expose
Jesus – the Pharisees bring before him a woman who had been caught in adultery.
Here
I must make a confession: I have always assumed that this woman had been
entrapped, that she had been dragged from bed and hauled in front of Jesus,
trying to cover her nakedness with the bedsheet, frightened for her very life.
But the text doesn’t say that. We are told that she had been caught in the very
act of adultery, but we aren’t told when.
We assume that it has only just happened, because we assume that those who were
so caught were put to death in punishment, as the law of Moses commanded. (Note
that the Written law does not specify stoning as the means, but does specify
that the man and the woman both be killed, Leviticus
20:10.) But this law was not applied literally in Jesus’ day, and certainly the
Pharisees did not call for it to be so taken. Rare anyway, it had become
impossible under Roman rule. They have no intention of stoning this woman, but
of finding grounds on which to discredit Jesus, and perhaps even have him
arrested for inciting a riot.
Therefore,
it is not only possible but indeed more likely that this is a woman who has
been judged and mistrusted and shunned by her neighbours for some considerable
time, who has lived a living death, cut off from full participation within the
community. The woman means no more to the Pharisees than the occasion for a
hypothetical debate; whereas for her, life is attenuated. If she had attended
the Festival at all, it would have been in secret (as, indeed, Jesus initially
attended it in secret).
If
Jesus condemns the woman, he defies the Roman governor. If he acquits the
woman, he insults the temple authorities. Pressed to pass judgement, Jesus
begins to stir the dust with his finger. Unlike stone, dust is malleable; and
Jesus is writing it a new script. ‘Remember that you are dust, and to dust you
shall return. Turn away from sin and be faithful to Christ.’
Eventually,
Jesus reads out his decision - “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the
first to throw a stone at her.” – before returning to his writing.
Remember.
Return. Turn away. Be faithful.
Remember,
scribes and Pharisees, that you are one with this woman; that in condemning
her, you condemn yourselves. Return, for this is a moment for neither
condemnation nor self-condemnation, but a moment in which reconciliation might
be possible – or, at least, begun. Turn away, for before we can step towards
the other in love, we must first step back from hatred. Be faithful, living out
the law that supports and enables life to flourish, (particular, actual) lives to flourish.
Remember,
O woman caught in adultery, that this dry dust can be brought to life. Return,
take your place in community once more, for this is as true of corporate dust
as it is of personal dust. Turn away, from all that separates, because in the
grace of God you can. Be faithful,
because God has kept faith with you.
And
what of you? What of me? Come, Pharisee; come, adulteress. Come, in our
compromised and divided state, in hope of healing. Come and receive the mercy
and grace of God.
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