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"Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?' This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.' And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.'"

Every time I read this story I get chills. I would have loved to seen the look on the faces of the Scribes and Pharisees when Jesus began to write in the sand. I'm sure they were looking over their shoulder making sure their partners in crime could not see what Jesus was writing about them.

But really what catches my attention is how Jesus treats the woman compared to the "religious" people. My fear is that most church people today see the woman the same way the Pharisees did. For example:

How would you/we/me view a prostitute? A drug dealer? A pedophile? A murderer? And etc.

I feel fairly confident that most of these people would not be allowed to enter or be a member at most churches. See, I believe that the church has become more and more like a Country Club. What I mean by that is, we have certain requirements that you must have before you can enter. The church is not a fortress that protects us from the world. The church is a community of people who open their arms to ALL people in the loving name of Christ, wherever they are on their faith journey. But we expect people to be "Christian" before they ever meet or know who Jesus is.

Jesus saw the women first for who she was, a beautiful creation of God, not a woman who was "caught" in the act. Now, I know Jesus called her out on on her sin, but before He did that, He loved her. So often we first call people out on their sin, expect them to change, then we can love them.

The wonderful part of this story is that Jesus welcomed this woman, affirmed her, and protected her. How do we act with those that have been "caught" in the act?

My challenge to you is this: Look at the person first, not the sin.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.