Fruit That Remains
Missional Gentleness…
John 8:1-11
1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts,
where all the people gathered around him, and he
sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law
and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in
adultery. They made her stand before the
group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman
was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law
Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now
what do you say?” 6 They were using this question
as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write
on the ground with his finger. 7 When they
kept on questioning him, he straightened
up and said to them, “Let any one of you
who is without sin be the first to throw a
stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down
and wrote on the ground.
9 At this, those who heard began to go away
one at a time, the older ones first, until only
Jesus was left, with the woman still standing
there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her,
“Woman, where are they? Has no one
condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I
condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and
leave your life of sin.”
Missional gentleness is all about
posture, patience and presence…
Posture: We put ourselves on the level of those who need gentle grace.
“…But Jesus knelt down and started writing in the dirt with His finger.” Vs. 6
Patience:
What we speak matters. Jesus’ words were gentle to both the accused and the accusers.
Presence:
Where the presence of Jesus resides, shame is diminished.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Vs. 11
Our job as Missional Christians is to walk in gentleness towards a world that has been peeped on, judged, humiliated, shamed and condemned.
We (Church) bring the presence of Jesus into situations where stone clenched fists are raised, and shame is propagated!
“The art of gentleness toward ourselves leads to being gentle with others – and is a natural prerequisite for our presence to God in prayer.”
-Brennan Manning
“Gentleness is measured by the grace we give and not the stones we throw.”
The short definition of the word devil is “slanderer.”
Literally, the word refers to “one who puts himself or
some thing between two in order to divide them.”
Wherever God calls us to oneness with others or
Himself, Satan’s seeks to divide. He sows discord
between spouses and division between children and
parents. He manipulates unresolved issues to divide
races and peripheral doctrines to divide Christians.
The means to overcome is to make sure our hearts
are free of bitterness and our words are full of love;
love covers a multitude of sins. — Francis Frangipane
TAKE AWAYS:
~Step into everyday postured with patience to be
God’s presence to others.
~Inventory your stone collection and begin to lay
your stones in God’s grace.
~The amount of gentleness displayed in our lives, is
in direct proportion to the degree of surrender we’ve
given Christ.