April 6, 2025: Throwing Stones
throwing stones
Ok, take your rock and hold it in your hand. Have you ever been so angry that you wanted to throw a stone at something? There are plenty of things to be angry about: hunger, corruption, sexual abuse, racism, discrimination, the death penalty, rape, environmental destruction, children being molested, cheating on a spouse, human trafficking, abortion, barriers to accessible healthcare for all, denial of basic human rights,
Some we should be angry about. That is, when it’s necessary for survival . . . “If your heart beats in love for something, someone, anything . . . you’ll be angry when it’s harmed or threatened.” Of course, there are the little things: being cut off in the turn lane, having a wait time that exceeds four minutes, the self-checkout machine telling you to "unexpected item in the bagging area," the toilet paper roll running out at the most inconvenient time. But today some people are angry about everything (which isn’t helpful).
No doubt the crowd in the gospel story were angry. This woman broke a commandment. She’s violated what was held true and dear about their culture, their religion, their society. (Isn’t it interesting that there is no mention of the man who also committed this sin?) And the Jewish law clearly states that the crowd is entitled to be angry and that she deserves to die. But it must not have been a common practice, otherwise, the scribes and Pharisees would have had no wiggle room to bring the question before Jesus. They are doing it to bring up some charge against him. They probably assumed that Jesus would go against the law of Moses, because of all the “kindness and forgiveness and love things he’s been preaching about.”
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord,
And where there's doubt, true faith in you.
And so, let’s go back to your anger. Look at your stone. Take a moment and think of what you are currently angry about. [Long pause] Maybe your anger is:
because of what that certain person said about you (or wrote about you),
because a sacred trust was broken,
Maybe you are angry at yourself.
because someone you know (or heard about) has done no harm and is being harmed,
because those who have too little now have even less,
and those who already have much too much now have even more,
because big wrongs are being perpetrated,
and the perps don’t even admit that the wrongs they’re perpetrating are wrong.
What do we do? In the gospel, Jesus calmly reminds the entire crowd that they are ALL in need of mercy and forgiveness. And so are we.
Notice that once the crowd leaves, Jesus doesn’t state that the woman’s sins are forgiven. Instead, he says that she will not be condemned. He doesn’t condone her actions; he just commands her to sin no more. And in this command, the woman receives the call to transform her life. This is the moment for her to cast off her past sins and consider being different and follow Christ.
You have the same invitation. God knows all that you’ve done. Are you ready to be different? Do you want to stay angry at that person, or persons, or that group, that system or organization?
Aren’t you tired of being so angry all the time?
Verse 2:
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness only light,
And where there's sadness ever joy.
Fr. Richard Rohr says, “We must be sustained by a sense of what we are for and not just what we are against.” We cannot build on anger; we can only build on life.
So, what are you going to do with your stone? If you’re tired of being angry, if you are ready to be different, to move on, to admit your own limitations . . . you are invited to drop off your stone in the basket. “We must be sustained by a sense of what we are for and not just what we are against.”
