“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came to the temple courts again. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. The experts in the law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of them and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. In the law Moses commanded us to stone to death such women. What then do you say?” (Now they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against him.) Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger. When they persisted in asking him, he stood up straight and replied, “Whoever among you is guiltless may be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then he bent over again and wrote on the ground. Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones, until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up straight and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She replied, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”]] John 8:1-11

“The nonconformist Jesus who associated with the religious and social “Lowlife” of Palestine also serves as a corrective to a Christianity that is ever tempted to become respectable by this world’s standards …he frustrates all attempts to turn Christian faith into relevant ideology, right or left, and is a constant catalyst for renewing theological thought and church life.” (“The New Jerome Biblical Commentary”, scripture scholar John P. Meier)

If Jesus escapes all neat categories and is neither left nor right, then faithful disciples of Jesus can expect to be similar to the one they follow. But it is so hard to take in and love Gospel values and not want to lean to the left – or the right. That is because our understanding of the meaning of life and our reactions to events of the world often are rooted in the competing messages of society – rather than in the scriptures.

This past political season has challenged many and highlighted much conflict between the Gospel life we are called to live and our own deeply held convictions.

What steps should or could you take to move beyond turning toward the competing political or economic or cultural  convictions in determining human value — and instead turn toward Jesus’ ethic of treating all people as valuable deserving love, mercy and Grace?

Pastor Dave