Thursday Sermon

"The scribes and pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery, and making her stand forward they said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now Moses has commanded us in the Law to stone such creatures; but what do you say?" ~ The Gospel according to St. John, Chapter 8: verses 3-5

So begins one of the most familiar stories in the New Testament. And we know exactly what Jesus thinks, "Let the innocent among you, through the first stone at her." Now it should be said that Biblical scholars recognize that the portion of the Gospel of St. John that encompasses the first 11 verses of chapter 8 are an addition to the original text from an unknown source and post-date the majority of the rest of gospel by a significant number of years. In other words, the story is like a post-a-note on the original manuscript. And how depressing is that? One of the greatest stories in all of the Gospels came from some else and was added later.

And yet how deliciously ironic! A sort of, "let whatever story that demonstrates the heart of Christ more redact out these 11 verses first!" eh?

There is no clearer illustration of the essential prominence of humility in Christ's teaching; a refutation of all of the judgmental things that one finds in the Old Testament and the Letters of Saul of Tarsus in the New Testament. After all, who get's the last word in all of this? Moses? Paul? or Jesus?

To this allow me the audacity to place same-sex marriage. Show me the evidence that demonstrates that opposite sex weddings are without their difficulties? So how is it that anyone can uphold such a flawed and challenging concept as marriage as being uniquely suited to only one type of pairing? It would seem to me that every union that attempts to achieve stability and bliss in this way ought to cause every other union of similar confession and intent to rejoice.