Live Free with Josh Howerton - Compassion vs. Condemnation | Ep. 200 | Friday, November 10, 2023

Episode Date: November 10, 2023

While we pick up stones to condemn, Jesus stoops down to offer compassion. None of us are sinless, and we are all in need of grace. Jesus wants us to understand how much He loves us so that we choose Him over our sin. In Him, we can walk in the newness of life. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's Word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.combe. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, thanks for joining us today on the Daily Drive. We just spent a few minutes each weekday unpacking some truth from God's Word, and we do it in about five or six minute episodes because most of us have short attention spans.

And I run out of things to say. Now, next week we're going to have a special guest, so you need to make sure that you tune in every day. And just keep this rhythm you got going. And then I'm planning on spending some time the following week, getting all of our hearts ready for Thanksgiving. Well, this last episode, we read a piece of an encounter that Jesus had with this one, woman who was set up, used, accused, caught in the act of adultery, and thrown down into the dirt by the pious religious leaders. They had no regard for her whatsoever. She was simply a means to their end game. They were trying to trap Jesus into saying something or doing something

that they could use against him, something that could cool down his rising popularity and turn the people against him. Well, it doesn't work. We read these significant words from John chapter 8 verse 6 yesterday while this woman is thrown down into the dirt street right in front of Jesus while people are picking up rocks to hurl with her to stone her for her immorality it says this but Jesus stooped down we talked yesterday how those four words revolutionized the way i began to see god i mean i was living in fear shame insecurity trying to hide from a god i knew was really mad at me but to know that he stooped down with unfailing love i began to see you and him not as my judge, but as my forgiver, my father, and the lifter of my head. And while those four words

helped me see God in a different light, there are some other words in this story from the lips of Jesus that began to change my perspective on other people. Now let me go back to verse six, and we'll get to those words in a second. It says, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. Now, what was he writing in the sand in the dirt there? You know, some have conjectured that he was writing down different sins for the crowd to see so that they would be convicted of their own sin in this moment. Or some believe that since God wrote the Ten Commandments with his finger that maybe Jesus writes, the first line in the Tenth Commandment, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and that text would declare them all guilty of adultery. I don't know what he wrote. It's one of those

questions I want to ask Jesus when I get to heaven, and I got a pretty long list, don't you? But I think it might have been hard for the crowd to even see what he was writing. I think that maybe as he knelt there in front of this downcast woman who was avoiding eye contact with anybody, she's just staring down at the dirt, he begins to write right in front of her, where only she could see. And I don't know, but maybe he was writing down the Aramaic word for all the emotions he was feeling. Ashamed, he was sweep it away. Worthless, sweep it away. Unloved, sweep it away. Dirty, sweep it away. Filthy, sweep it away. Then he writes, God loves. You. Verse 7 says they, the religious leaders, kept demanding an answer. So he stood up again. And here's

those perspective changing words I was talking about earlier. He says this, all right. But let the one who was never sent throw the first stone. And then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. I love that. He stooped down again, right back to her level. And maybe this time he wrote in the dirt, forgiven. I keep this rock on my desk that says, says first stone, John 8.7, to remind me that I have no right to throw stones and to help me remember what rock I crawled out from under when Jesus found me. See, we have a tendency to stand over fallen people, don't we? We can stand there with rock in hand and we can throw out self-righteous judgment and disgust. We say, can you believe what a jerk that guy is? I knew she

had a reputation, but I didn't think she would do that. Well, you know what? They're going to get what they deserve. And while we pick up stones, Jesus stoops down. He gets eyeball to eyeball with fallen people, and his eyes are full of grace and truth. Verse 9. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Now, I always thought this would be like a really cool scene in a movie. I got a little bit of director stuff wired up in me. And I'm thinking you've got this wide camera shot of the crowd of people. It shows this angry mob silently walking away and rocks are hitting the ground and dust is flying up in slow motion. And as the crowd begins to dissipate, the camera gradually zooms in, the acoustic soundtrack

kicks in, and there they are. Just Jesus and this woman, both on their knees in the middle of the street and just be an awesome scene. Now, can you imagine the emotions going to went through her mind at this time. I mean, put yourself in her shoes for a moment. What are you feeling? Confused? Ashamed, embarrassed, dirty, grateful? I imagine she cannot shut off the flow. Her tears are hitting the ground, making little dark circles in the dust right next to where Jesus has been writing. Verse 10 says, then Jesus stood up again. And I think that when he stands up, he helps her up, because that's just his nature. He wasn't going to leave this fallen woman down on the dirt. He just never towers over fallen people. He stoopes down.

helps her up, and I think maybe even embraces her, dries her tears, and then with his hands on her shoulder, he says to the woman, look around. Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you? She says, no, Lord. And Jesus says, neither do I. Go and sin no more. Jesus, the one who came full of truth and grace,

does not affirm her sin, but he affirms her, and he tells her you're not guilty anymore. You've been forgiven. Now go and live gratefully for you. this second chance. Change your lifestyle. Because here's the truth. It doesn't have to be like this. You don't have to go searching for love in all the wrong

places. You are standing right now in front of unfailing love. You are accepted. You are significant. You are priceless. You are so worth it that the God of the universe stooped down in the dirt to be with you. Go and sin no more.

What do you think was going through her mind as she walked away? You see, Jesus came to give us life. He came to stoop down in the dirt of our anger, our envy, our lust, our greed, our addictions, our regrets, our self-centeredness, to lift us up, embrace us, forgive us, set us free, and change us. There is grace for everyone. Your past can be a thing of the past. Hope you have a great weekend. See you back.

Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the word out?

For more information about all digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.com.