Simple stuff, you might say, but there is a newness, a freshness, about this true story. We are always caught off guard by something new. We like things to be predictable, normal, “following the proper channels.” We like to be in control of our life. There should be some order, some routine, some tradition. This is all well and good but we have to be on the watch that we don’t get too settled so that when the unexpected comes we don’t welcome it. It threatens us too much.
When the Jewish leaders bring a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus they hope to trap him into saying she must be stoned because that was what the law says. But Jesus hits them with something new. “Whoever among you has not sinned let them cast the first stone!” They are not expecting that response. It throws into confusion their whole adherence to a rigid observance of the rule of law as the foundation of their society and guarantee of their identity. They are stopped in their tracks. They have nothing to say and they leave one by one.
The gospel is just one big announcement of something new. And our world often seems to react by saying “we’re not interested.” Isaiah (Ch. 43) says, “No need to recall the past. See, I am doing a new deed; can you not see it?” Often people say “no, we can’t see it.” Whatever is new, comes from our own efforts, our science, our technology.” We don’t need to bring God into it. But Paul says there is this divine perspective in everything.
There is a “deep down freshness” in everything, as the poet says. We cannot just look at the surface, the way things ordinarily are. “I am no longer trying for the perfection that comes from my own efforts. All I want to know is Christ and the power of his resurrection” (Phil 3). Paul is convinced the presence of God in the world has changed and renewed everything.
Newness, creativity, exploration – are all signs of God “at work” (John 5:17). I think we should spend our life in expectancy, always looking out for what is new and beautiful. God is opening the door to us all the time but do we notice?
Post published in: Faith