For Online Sermon June 7, 2020

By Pat Russell

Considering the sermon by Pastor Bruce Spear on June 7, 2020

Scripture Reading John 8:2-11

Yesterday Pastor Bruce introduced “Ordinary Time” in the church calendar. It is true that we do not have any significant events for the Church to celebrate coming up, but these days do not appear to be “ordinary” with all that is going on with the virus and racial tensions. I believe that our hearts yearn for a time “when crops were planted, fields cultivated, livestock raised and provisions laid up for the next winter” and, I might add, “when we get back to church” without all this disturbance.

When I think about the woman brought before Jesus, I imagine that in her desperation she wished that she could simply be left alone to do what she needed to do, what she had been doing in her ordinary life. But that was not to be. As unjust as the situation was, Jesus had something more for her, something that would give her a chance to begin life again in freedom. Her ordinary life was interrupted; she was given a voice; she was presented with new hope.

Jesus encounters us in the interruptions of life. Times we would not choose for ourselves, times when someone or something jerks us out of our planned existence. He is there in his quiet and purposeful kneeling before us, with words that could change our lives.

I encourage you this week to think about:

1. How your ordinary life has been interrupted in these days.

2. How Jesus has been meeting you.

3. Listen for what He is telling you about yourself.

4. Consider what to do with His words.

“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.”

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