“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.””

–John 8:2-11

I know it has been a while since I have posted but something has been weighing on my mind recently that I have to get out. If you are a sports fan, specifically a football fan, then I am sure by now you have heard the story about what happened with Ray and Janay Rice. It has been all over the sports news because of the video that just came out on Monday. If not let me give you a very brief rundown of what happened. In February Ray Rice, a running back in the NFL, and his then Fiancé Janay were involved in an altercation that left Janay unconscious and having to be dragged out of an elevator. Charges were then brought against Ray for aggravated assault, he pleaded guilty and was accepted into a diversionary program for first time offenders. The people in charge of disciplinary actions in the NFL met and decide to suspend Rice for 2 games. Then on Monday (Sept. 8) a video comes out and everyone in the world saw what happened inside the elevator. Rice is let go by his organization, suspended indefinitely by the NFL, and there is an uproar about people not being honest about information that has been seen, as well as people calling for others to be fired. That is the situation at hand in a nutshell. There is way more to it that I know nothing about nor claim to know nothing about.

            I don’t know Ray or Janay Rice, but I believe that there is something that we are all forgetting when it comes to this situation: They are humans. They are now married and have a child. Their lives are no different than yours or mine except for the fact that theirs is so much more public because he is a professional athlete. Therefore every action and reaction that he or they make is worthy of being a story for everyone to hear. Now let me take a second and flip the deck. Pretend that you were a public figure, which many of us aspired to be at some point in our lives. What things in your life would come to the surface? Would it be a party that got busted while you were in high school? A ticket you got while driving? Some “scandal” that you were involved in? When I think about my life and its potential of being open to view for the public, I can only imagine how stressful that would be.

Now, what if I told you that your life is up for review? That your mistakes and shortcomings, whatever they may be, were going to be the deciding factor of your eternal salvation. It’s true, before Christ came into the world that was the reality that people had to live with. Everything that they did appeared to affect how they were going to spend their eternity. And if it weren’t for Jesus that is the reality that we would be living with today as well. When it came to judgment day our good would be weighed against our bad and that bad would win out. BUT (and this is a very important but) God loves us and created us to be in relationship with Him. And because He loves us that much He sent Christ into the world to do what no one else could do. To live a perfect life and to pay for all of eternity’s “bad” so that we could live with Him forever.

In chapter 8 of John we have another perfect example of love. The Pharisees came to Jesus and were telling Him that they had caught a woman in the act of adultery and that the law says she should be stoned to death. Jesus acknowledges them and says “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” No body throws a stone, and then Jesus turns to the woman and says “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?… Then neither do I condemn you…Go now and leave your life of sin.” That folks is forgiveness. Forgiveness that comes from God in the midst of our mess and something that we forget to extend to others. I think it is something that Ray Rice and everyone involved in this situation needs to hear. Now let me be clear:

 I DO NOT think what he did is acceptable, but I do think that it is forgivable.

God uses our disappointments, our hurts, and our mistakes to show us what true love and forgiveness are and I hope that the Rice family can see that amidst the mess.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, there are so many terrible things that happen in our society today that are bad. So many things that leave us scarred and hurt. Today especially we remember all of those victims and perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks so many years ago, and we also remember the Rice family and everyone else involved in the situation. Please remind them that You are love and that Your forgiveness is ultimately what matters. You are the only one who can make beauty from this pain and we ask that you give your hand of comfort to any and all who need it today and every day. Amen.

Question for Reflection:

            Does God’s forgiveness change how we look at mistakes or shortcomings people make?

“Disappointment, defeat, and despair are the tools God uses to show us the way.” ― Paulo Coelho