First Stone

 City folks do not really know the fun of a good old fashioned rock fight. Yep, you read that right. A rock fight. Or at least a dirt dob fight. The rules are simple. You divide up into teams. You find some cover to hide behind. You gather your ammunition. Then you start chunking. The object is to hit the opponent while not getting hit. Many an hour has been passed in the country with a rock fight. Losers may feel it on the noggin for a while. 

People love to throw rocks. Especially into a body of water. Who hasn't thrown rocks in the water to make the biggest splash or just to watch the ripples. A right of passage in the country is learning how to skip rocks on the surface of the water. On a calm day, when smooth glass like waters prevail and with smooth stones, some people could skip that stone a country mile across the water. To see who can get the most skips is a badge of honor. I bet some of you are recalling some fond memories right about now. 

There is another kind of throwing rocks. It is throwing them in judgment of others. Like the story we read in John 8 about a woman caught in sin. You know the story well. The law gave permission for such a promiscuous woman to be stoned to death. By the way, the law also said the same punishment should have penalized the man for this same sin, but he was nowhere to be found. 

Self-righteous religious people are quick to want to chunk rocks at sinners. They are way too quick to take aim and let the rocks fly. Only Jesus had something else in mind that day. He chided that the ones ready to throw rocks could do so with a condition attached. The one without sin could throw the first stone. Awkward silence followed. The woman hunched over wincing waiting for the painful pelting of the rocks. She waited until she finally peeked to see what was happening. One by one the rocks fell to the ground that day. The rock slayers slithered away one by one under conviction of their own sinful shame. 

In recent days, there has been a lot of stone throwing among the people of God. People love to pounce when someone sins. They love to look down their pious noses in condemnation. It should not happen. None of us is perfect. None without guilt of some sort or other.  I know my own guilt. I should have received the first stone thrown at me years ago. God forgave me. So did others. Therefore, I cannot be the one to throw the first stone. The grace of God tempers stone throwing. So I echo the words of Jesus today. He who is without sin can go ahead and throw the first stone. Wait. What was that? Surely you heard it too. The thud. The thud of rocks falling to the ground and people gripped by grace humbly walking away.