Key Scripture Passage
Reflection
God's mercy can be dangerous!
Now how in the world could something so amazing as God's mercy ever be dangerous?
The danger lies in our choosing to act in whatever way we wish and to think that we are innocent of any wrongdoing just because God shows us mercy. Soon we allow our culture to shape what we consider right and wrong rather than God's Word. We dismiss greed, lust, and more as perfectly normal because it's the way we see others, even those in the church, living.
And we love this passage from John 8. Certainly if Jesus could show mercy to a woman caught in adultery, we must be innocent of any wrong doing.
Or are we? A closer look at this John 8 passage shows that Jesus offered the woman a pardon, not an acquittal. He called her behavior "sin"; He didn't declare her innocent. There's nothing close to a "You're OK, I'm OK." perspective from Jesus here. To the contrary - Jesus tells her to change her lifestyle. The one person who was without sin has the moral authority to encourage her to leave her life of sin.
And Jesus would say the same words to us today. If we're really going to go and extend the kingdom, we have to be ones who respond to God's dangerous mercy not with presumptuous lives, but humble, obedient lives that appreciate offering up ourselves as living sacrifices is a very reasonable act of worship to this Mercy Giver.
Questions to Consider
Have you handled God's grace dangerously? Given your behavior, do you consider yourself innocent of any wrongdoing, or guilty and in need of a pardon?
Action Step for the Week
Identify those sins you have been dismissing as small and inconsequential since everyone else does them. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the strength to leave such a life of sin.
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