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| Gospel | John 8:1-11 |
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| 'Let the one among you who has not sinned be the first to throw a stone' |
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Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak he appeared in the Temple again; and as all the people came to him, he sat down and began to teach them.
The scribes and Pharisees brought a woman along who had been caught committing adultery; and making her stand there in full view of everybody, they said to Jesus, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery, and Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this to death by stoning. What have you to say?’ They asked him this as a test, looking for something to use against him. But Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. As they persisted with their question, he looked up and said, ‘If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Then he bent down and wrote on the ground again. When they heard this they went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, until Jesus was left alone with the woman, who remained standing there. He looked up and said, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir’ she replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus ‘go away and do not sin anymore.’
It was a cloudy day today, except the clouds covered the sun for all of ten minutes and before you knew it, it was business as usual. A disturbing occurrence today, perhaps we are getting tired of all the heat, the stink of the camels, the unrelenting sand and the prospect of walking on a large dry salt lake colors our collective attitudes. Two brothers were found to be fighting. One using racial slurs against the other and the other responding in kind. Eugene was a Caucasian man and Dennis was a black man. They had always gotten along well together so watching them tear each other apart was appalling. Uriah got between them and I pulled Dennis away and another brother pulled Eugene away. The Master had seen it all and His face showed a frown and His eyes, those beautiful piercing eyes, they held sorrow.
Since it is Sunday, we are camped for a day of rest. Because of the fight, there is a tension in camp. Even the camels can feel it and are restless. Lunch was served and we sat in the cool of the main tent and ate together at the Master's request. Normally, one took one's lunch wherever he felt at ease to do so. Today, the Master wanted us all together. I assumed he was going to lambast us for fighting but instead he spoke of heaven.
"Heaven is the natural place for man to be. We are on earth to learn how to love one another. Heaven is a gift from the Father, free for the taking because of the death of Jesus on the cross. He died, however, not for mankind, not for the Earth but for you personally. He died with your sins in mind. He died loving you until His last breath and He loves you still today in spite of your many sins and failures. Men, because of original sin, are imperfect. They engage in petty disputes, fights, insurrections, wars, and genocide and then they go home to dinner. Persons such as these have no place in the Father's kingdom. The Father loves ALL people. I say again, He loves every person He has created in His own image and likeness and that includes the people who have chosen to stay apart from Him forever. Yes, He even loves the souls in hell which is evident by the fact that He does not will them out of existence, but allows them to follow their free-will. But enough about hell, it is a dreadful place and does not deserve our attention on this Day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad! "
"When life leaves our body, our soul follows the inclination it has built up during its life. It will move towards one of three places, Heaven, Purgatory, or hell. God has never sent anyone to hell, it has been chosen by the soul based on the life that was lived. At death, everything is fixed. At death, we move in the direction of our choosing. I speak today of heaven only, purgatory will be for another day. Let us assume that a soul was good, no, good is not good enough, let us assume that a soul was perfectly turned towards God during life. This soul will enter heaven and join the saints in glory and his existence will be happy indeed. Upon entrance, he will be greeted by Jesus, Mary, and the Saints. He will see the Face of God and his soul will transfigure into an incandescent brightness and match all of the others in heaven. He will know the names and faces of everyone he meets and no matter what they will love each other as it was not possible to do on earth. The man who dies in the Grace of God with an IQ of 60 will be as wise as Einstein was on earth and wiser still because he will understand it all. The joy will be unending. All of us, every man, woman, and child on earth is welcome in the Father's house. But there is something that is not allowed in."
"Gene and Dennis, please rise."
The two that had fought earlier had patched things up and were the best of friends again but they knew the Master has to call them out on what they had done. They both stood and with shame written on their faces, they looked upon the face of the Master whose face was serene and peaceful.
"Will you two gentlemen tell the others what you called each other during the unpleasantness of this morning.?
Each related what they had called the other, magnificently hateful racial slurs were thrown as if they were hard punches.
"Heaven is for everyone. Black, white, yellow, brown, every race and color. Prejudice has no place in heaven and those that hate their fellow man based on the color of their skin will not be able to enter heaven. To hate a person for an accident of birth, for something that occurred because of evolution so that the species would survive is hateful to the Father. In heaven there is no division among the souls there, all, I repeat all, are beloved of the Father. There is no faster way to hell than to be prejudiced against someone else. Every class of people, every denomination, every creed, even those who are not believers are beloved and has dignity conferred upon them because they were created in the likeness of the Father. So be very careful, would it be funny if you got to heaven and were not able to enter because of prejudice because in heaven you cannot tell the color of the skin they had. On earth, go to any large cemetery, look at the graves. Can you tell the race of the person who lies beneath the grass? The law of God is very clear on how we are to treat one another, "Love one another as I have loved you." How did God love us? He sent His only Son to die for you. What more could He have done to prove that He loves everyone?"
It was a cloudy day today, except the clouds covered the sun for all of ten minutes and before you knew it, it was business as usual. A disturbing occurrence today, perhaps we are getting tired of all the heat, the stink of the camels, the unrelenting sand and the prospect of walking on a large dry salt lake colors our collective attitudes. Two brothers were found to be fighting. One using racial slurs against the other and the other responding in kind. Eugene was a Caucasian man and Dennis was a black man. They had always gotten along well together so watching them tear each other apart was appalling. Uriah got between them and I pulled Dennis away and another brother pulled Eugene away. The Master had seen it all and His face showed a frown and His eyes, those beautiful piercing eyes, they held sorrow.
Since it is Sunday, we are camped for a day of rest. Because of the fight, there is a tension in camp. Even the camels can feel it and are restless. Lunch was served and we sat in the cool of the main tent and ate together at the Master's request. Normally, one took one's lunch wherever he felt at ease to do so. Today, the Master wanted us all together. I assumed he was going to lambast us for fighting but instead he spoke of heaven.
"Heaven is the natural place for man to be. We are on earth to learn how to love one another. Heaven is a gift from the Father, free for the taking because of the death of Jesus on the cross. He died, however, not for mankind, not for the Earth but for you personally. He died with your sins in mind. He died loving you until His last breath and He loves you still today in spite of your many sins and failures. Men, because of original sin, are imperfect. They engage in petty disputes, fights, insurrections, wars, and genocide and then they go home to dinner. Persons such as these have no place in the Father's kingdom. The Father loves ALL people. I say again, He loves every person He has created in His own image and likeness and that includes the people who have chosen to stay apart from Him forever. Yes, He even loves the souls in hell which is evident by the fact that He does not will them out of existence, but allows them to follow their free-will. But enough about hell, it is a dreadful place and does not deserve our attention on this Day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad! "
"When life leaves our body, our soul follows the inclination it has built up during its life. It will move towards one of three places, Heaven, Purgatory, or hell. God has never sent anyone to hell, it has been chosen by the soul based on the life that was lived. At death, everything is fixed. At death, we move in the direction of our choosing. I speak today of heaven only, purgatory will be for another day. Let us assume that a soul was good, no, good is not good enough, let us assume that a soul was perfectly turned towards God during life. This soul will enter heaven and join the saints in glory and his existence will be happy indeed. Upon entrance, he will be greeted by Jesus, Mary, and the Saints. He will see the Face of God and his soul will transfigure into an incandescent brightness and match all of the others in heaven. He will know the names and faces of everyone he meets and no matter what they will love each other as it was not possible to do on earth. The man who dies in the Grace of God with an IQ of 60 will be as wise as Einstein was on earth and wiser still because he will understand it all. The joy will be unending. All of us, every man, woman, and child on earth is welcome in the Father's house. But there is something that is not allowed in."
"Gene and Dennis, please rise."
The two that had fought earlier had patched things up and were the best of friends again but they knew the Master has to call them out on what they had done. They both stood and with shame written on their faces, they looked upon the face of the Master whose face was serene and peaceful.
"Will you two gentlemen tell the others what you called each other during the unpleasantness of this morning.?
Each related what they had called the other, magnificently hateful racial slurs were thrown as if they were hard punches.
"Heaven is for everyone. Black, white, yellow, brown, every race and color. Prejudice has no place in heaven and those that hate their fellow man based on the color of their skin will not be able to enter heaven. To hate a person for an accident of birth, for something that occurred because of evolution so that the species would survive is hateful to the Father. In heaven there is no division among the souls there, all, I repeat all, are beloved of the Father. There is no faster way to hell than to be prejudiced against someone else. Every class of people, every denomination, every creed, even those who are not believers are beloved and has dignity conferred upon them because they were created in the likeness of the Father. So be very careful, would it be funny if you got to heaven and were not able to enter because of prejudice because in heaven you cannot tell the color of the skin they had. On earth, go to any large cemetery, look at the graves. Can you tell the race of the person who lies beneath the grass? The law of God is very clear on how we are to treat one another, "Love one another as I have loved you." How did God love us? He sent His only Son to die for you. What more could He have done to prove that He loves everyone?"
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