Let one who is
without sin cast the first stone.
This line from John
8:7 is a favourite with so many people I've known. I remember seeing
it acted out in chapel when I was training. My classmate Tau (whom I
saw in Rarotonga last year – he was visiting his home area, we were
on holiday) had the role of the woman “taken in adultery” who was
about to be stoned. Jesus came back with these words and they stopped
the accusers in their tracks.
When they heard
it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders...
This I realised is
one reason I really enjoy being in churches with older people in
them. Youth is great for new ideas and a fresh approach – and we
have that. But real progress comes when this sits alongside age, when
age has developed wisdom. The judgemental mind-set has been rubbed
hard at the edges and what is right and good is no less important,
but it's not important before all else.
It was the older
ones in the encounter with Jesus who led the way to what seemed a new
approach, although it had been around since the dawn of memory. That
is, acting with mercy and with grace.
The judgemental
mind-set does harm to those who pass judgement as well as those they
accuse. Life/the Spirit of life teaches us to temper our principles
and certainty to embrace, to awhi, those who need love more than
anything else. The event back during our training caused outrage
among some – that a man would play this woman, and a man who would
be a minister. We were all relatively young and enthusiasts, so I do
hope age has brought change!
We have the younger
ones among us to pull us into the future with their boldly argued
schemes and their strong convictions. The older ones among us keep
us on track with being human in the best possible sense of the word –
knowing our humanity and ready to forgive others (including
ourselves).
Rangimarie
Peace Shalom, Robyn
