WEBVTT 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.280 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:08.400 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:10.560 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:18.239 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:20.879 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:26.879 All right, MetaCurch, how you guys doing this morning? 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:29.679 Awesome, man. 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:32.159 We are so glad that you guys could join us for today's service. 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:36.799 If you're new to MetaCurch, as Clayton mentioned, my name is Noel, and I'm one of the pastors here at Meta. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:46.320 Specifically, I'm your worship pastor, but I always uh really am honored and just eat up the chance to share and serve with you guys in a different capacity. 00:00:46.479 --> 00:00:50.960 Uh, we want to welcome all of you that joined us in Hello Dis and at 151 and watching online. 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:57.280 And as Clayton said, we really want you to understand that this is a place where you can belong before you ever believe. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:04.000 And you know, sometimes as we're kind of creating strategy amongst the staff, like Clayton will say, I really want to use this language. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:11.200 Well, a couple of months ago, man, it must have been even close to a year ago, Clayton said, belong before you believe, and nobody talked about it. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:16.480 We just all adopted it immediately because we all feel that way about this place. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:26.400 We want you to know that this is a place where you can struggle with your skepticism, that you can have questions and still be a part of what's happening here at MetaCurch. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:30.560 Now, if you're with us last week, you heard Pastor Clayton say we started a brand new series. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:32.319 It's called I Am Seven. 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:36.319 We were very uh lucky to have Pastor Lee join us and get things kicked off. 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:47.040 If you ever miss any of our services, you can always go to YouTube, find MetaCurch uh in the search uh bar, and then you can find all of our services that we've done in the past. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:50.319 Today, we're gonna continue on with I Am Seven in week two. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:51.680 Would you guys pray with me? 00:01:52.560 --> 00:02:00.640 Heavenly Father, uh, I'm just so grateful again, God, that you uh have given me the opportunity to share what I believe you've placed on my heart. 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:07.920 Father, I pray that um we would just all have hearts to understand what you're trying to uh reveal to us today. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:13.439 Holy Spirit, continue moving strongly, please, in this room, help us to learn something new today. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:15.280 We need your help and we love you, Jesus. 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:16.719 And we pray it in your name. 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:18.080 And everyone said together. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:19.039 Amen. 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:24.000 Now, some of you may already know this about me, but I'm willing to bet that most of you don't. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:27.120 But I really, really love riding bikes. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:28.560 Like, I can't get enough of it. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:31.520 It's a really strange thing to me because I'm 38 years old. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:41.599 I never thought that I would enjoy riding bikes, which I haven't done since I was like 14 as much as I do, but here I am confessing it to a room full of people that I love riding bikes. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:43.120 And let me just be very clear. 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:45.840 Like when I say riding bikes, I don't mean cycling, right? 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:50.400 Y'all seen the cyclists, they have the pointy helmets and they wear the spandex shorts and the spandex shirt. 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:53.039 I don't do that as a courtesy to everyone that's riding with me. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:54.800 They don't have to look at that the whole time. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:59.439 I don't have like the shoes that clip into the pedals, but I love riding bikes. 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:05.599 Usually it's just me and a couple of friends out on the trails in San Antonio, uh, just having a great time. 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:13.840 And if you don't know this about San Antonio, we actually have like miles and miles of trails that the city has made, and it's all throughout the city. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:16.719 And uh, you should definitely go out there and check this out. 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:18.479 They have everything you could possibly need. 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:22.719 In fact, sometimes when I'm on these trails, I feel like I'm in a completely different place. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:30.319 Like you'll go through densely wooded areas, I feel like I'm like in a forest, or maybe sometimes I'll be along rolling hills and I feel like I'm in the countryside. 00:03:30.400 --> 00:03:33.759 Maybe I have an overactive imagination, but it still is really cool. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:37.759 And they have places where you can get on and off of these trails. 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:42.960 And at these points, they have like water fountains and they have restrooms where you can use the restroom if you need to. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:48.240 They even have stations for your bike if you need to make adjustments or pump up your bike tire. 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:53.439 They have just about everything you could possibly need for an enjoyable experience. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:04:04.560 But one thing is missing, and I discovered this my first time on the trail, and I thought it was quite odd that they would have all these trails throughout San Antonio, but they have no lights. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:08.080 There's no lights on these paths, and there's a reason it was very intentional. 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:15.439 It's because you're not supposed to go right on these things or run on these things or walk on these things after dark because there's no way for someone to help you. 00:04:15.520 --> 00:04:16.800 You could uh get hurt. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:19.759 So any number of things can happen. 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:30.480 If you find yourself coming to the end of whatever you're doing on these bike trails at the same time that the daylight is coming to a close, you might find yourself in a dark situation. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:33.120 I found this out firsthand about a year ago. 00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:38.319 Me and my friend Marco went on one of our favorite trails to ride on, and we actually brought another friend of ours. 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:40.720 It took us a while to get him to go with us. 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:44.079 Uh he didn't feel like he had a bike that was good enough to like keep up with us. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:47.439 Luckily, I had just bought another bike, and so I was like, You can borrow one of my bikes. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:56.000 He's like, I don't get out of work till seven, and then the like everything, the stars were lined, and he got out of work early one day, and we're like, let's go hit the trails. 00:04:56.160 --> 00:05:00.639 And so we all met up and we had just a very enjoyable bike ride. 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:06.399 We rode about eight miles before we stopped, and uh when we stopped, we had um just a really great conversation. 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:07.439 We were laughing. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:13.279 I was showing the guys like my sick bunny hop skills on my bike and my wheelie skills, and they were laughing even more. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:15.839 Maybe they were laughing at me and not with me. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:19.040 I don't know which one it was, but we were having just a great time. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:23.920 It's one of the things I love about riding is the community that we create with each other. 00:05:24.160 --> 00:05:35.439 But pretty soon we looked up and we noticed that the sun had begun to set, and we needed to get back eight miles, and so we started riding back the exact same way we had come, but with one difference. 00:05:35.839 --> 00:05:37.519 It was a lot harder for me. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:48.560 Like I had two bikes, and I happened to be riding the newer of my two bikes, and so the pedaling, I just wasn't quite used to it yet, and I found myself falling further and further behind. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:54.959 It was kind of uh strange because my friend, who had never been on this path before, took off. 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:57.040 I mean, he just took off ahead of all of us. 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:02.160 He didn't even know the way back, and so my friend Marco was trying to keep up with them so this guy didn't get lost. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:12.000 And as they got further and further away from me, the light got darker and darker until I was finally alone and couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of me. 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:19.199 And it was surprising to me how worried I got, how quickly worried I got, just not being able to see the path. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:24.639 Like I knew at any given point, if I went too far to the right or too far to the left, that I could fall off this path. 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:32.639 And let me just confirm for those adults who are thinking, or maybe you already do ride bikes, falling off a bike as an adult hurts a lot more than it did when you were a kid. 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:35.600 Like, it hurts worse and it hit hurts for longer. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:37.360 And I didn't want that to happen. 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:43.920 And then I even began to wonder if maybe I had made a wrong turn somewhere, like maybe I had actually gotten off the path. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:47.040 The worst part about it all was I didn't even have my phone with me. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:48.160 I'd left it in my truck. 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:54.240 And so, like, if I fell or if I had gotten lost, there was no way for me to contact anybody. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:59.519 Just when it seemed like all hope was lost, I saw a light come towards me in the distance. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:08.000 It was the first person I had seen in quite a while, and so the light was getting closer and closer and brighter and brighter until it finally reached me, and it was my friend Marco. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:15.199 He had come back for me, let me know that our friend had made it back to the car safe, and he came back to ensure that I made it back safe, and I was so grateful. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:25.439 I was uh just so relieved to have someone with me, not just someone with me, but someone who had a light that allowed me to see the path that I was going on. 00:07:26.240 --> 00:07:29.600 I got home and I was thinking through this experience, right? 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:33.439 It was still kind of strange to me how worried I got. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:37.279 I thought, why did I get that worried in this situation? 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:40.319 And then I started thinking about life in general, right? 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:41.439 So that happens sometimes. 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:43.120 It seems like we're on a good path. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:53.519 It seems like everything's going our way, maybe your job or your relationships or whatever it is, and then all of a sudden you find yourself in the dark and you don't really know how to move forward. 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:55.759 It's easy to feel like that. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:08:00.480 Because, to my knowledge, no one has written like this specific guide for your life. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:02.399 We all have different origin stories, right? 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:07.600 Like we all grew up in different types of families, we all have different levels of education and life experience. 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:15.279 We can make a list that would go on and on about how different we are, but what makes us the same is that we all have a situation that's unique to us. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:22.560 And frankly, if we could understand this about each other, it'd be a lot easier to give grace and receive grace for one another. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:26.560 Most of the time, we're just trying to figure out life as we go. 00:08:26.720 --> 00:08:31.360 We're trying to figure out how to swing at the pitches that are thrown to us as they're thrown. 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:36.000 And it's during this period that I believe we create something that I call guiding lights. 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:41.440 These guiding lights are the things that we use to help us move forward in any given situation. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:44.799 They're enough to see the path ahead of us. 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:48.480 And we have these guiding lives in multiple areas of our life. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:50.240 Like, take work, for example. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:55.279 Like, you create a guiding light that ensures that the job you have today, you'll still have tomorrow. 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:00.240 Maybe it looks like showing up to work on time or actually doing the job that you were hired to do, right? 00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:03.440 I don't feel like I should have to say that, but that's a good way to keep your job. 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:04.480 It's a guiding light. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:06.879 Maybe keeping your job isn't enough. 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:14.480 Maybe you want to get a promotion or you want to get a raise, and so you show initiative and you take on projects that aren't even a part of your job description. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:20.399 Whatever it is, you're creating this guiding light that helps you move forward in your job. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:27.919 We have guiding lights in our families, and it looks different for sure for every family, but maybe that looks like having dinner as a family at the end of the day. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:35.840 Like you've been separated all day, you've lived your life separately, and now you're coming together to share a meal and share your life. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:41.840 Or you have little kids, like I have a six-year-old, and the routine is incredibly important. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:42.960 Parents know this, right? 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:46.480 You're gonna have dinner at this time and your bath at this time, and you're gonna go to bed at this time. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:54.720 And it's partly for them, but if we're being honest with ourselves, parents, it's for us also, because we want a little bit of time to ourselves before we have to go to bed. 00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:56.320 It's a guiding light. 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:01.679 And these guiding lights that we've created usually exist independently from each other. 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:04.080 Like you don't take your work guiding light, right? 00:10:04.159 --> 00:10:07.279 The way you operate at work and apply it to your family, or vice versa. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:10.639 You don't take your family guiding light and apply it to your work. 00:10:11.360 --> 00:10:14.639 There's a problem with these guiding lights that we create. 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:16.879 And that problem is that we create them. 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:25.679 We've said this at MetaCurch a lot, uh, that when you put the weight of your hope or the weight of your expectation in anything that's man-made, it has the potential to fail you. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:37.679 It doesn't mean it will fail you, it just means it has the potential to fail you because there is only one thing in the history of the world that was designed to hold the weight of your hope and expectation, and it's not these guiding lights. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:43.840 So they that have the potential to go out, and you find yourself in the dark again. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:49.600 Like, maybe you dreamed of having a family of your own all your life. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:57.600 You wanted lots of kids, and now you're an adult and you're in the position to have children, and you realize that you're unable to have children. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:07.200 Maybe it's not that you're unable to have children, maybe it's that you're just not having children and nobody really knows why, or maybe you get pregnant, but you have a miscarriage. 00:11:07.600 --> 00:11:16.399 This guiding light that you lived your life by that brought you to the point you are today, has gone out, and now you're in the dark and you're not sure how to move forward. 00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:20.639 What about that husband or wife that stood in front of family and friends? 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:27.039 And they said, for better or worse, but when worse came, whether you caused it or whether they caused it, they were out the door. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:28.720 It's not what you expected. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:32.799 You thought till death do us part actually meant till death do us part. 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:35.600 And now you're left alone in the dark. 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:37.759 That light has shut off. 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.080 Or about that job you've been working in for years. 00:11:40.240 --> 00:12:05.519 Maybe you've been working in this job for decades, and you find yourself being let go, and it's not because you did something wrong, and it's not because this employer wants you gone, maybe something crazy happened, like a global pandemic, and this company like found that their income was compromised and they had to make some really tough decisions, and you're left to wake up every morning, just like you have for years, but now you have nowhere to go. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:07.279 That light has shut off. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:09.679 We have guiding lights in so many areas. 00:12:09.840 --> 00:12:15.360 Some of them aren't even good guiding lights, like maybe, maybe you live for the weekend, right? 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:22.960 I work hard all week so I can get wasted on the weekend, and that's all fine and good until you end up with a D UI or a DWI. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:26.080 It's like that light gets shut off. 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:31.200 How do we move forward when we're stuck in those dark places? 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:36.799 The Jewish people, the nation of Israel, God's chosen people, found themselves in the dark. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:43.039 After being in captivity for 400 years by the Egyptians, they were finally delivered by God through Moses. 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:47.039 And not only were they delivered, but they actually had a promise given to them. 00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:49.440 And this promise was that they would have their own land. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:51.600 They spent 400 years in a foreign land. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:53.840 Now they're gonna have their very own place. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:55.440 But there was a problem. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:13:02.480 They didn't know where this land was exactly, they didn't know how they were gonna get there or how long it would take to get there. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:05.120 But God was with them every step of the way. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:10.720 He actually appeared to them as a column of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. 00:13:10.960 --> 00:13:15.039 He was a literal guiding light for the nation of Israel. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:19.919 It was through this wandering that a festival came to be celebrated each year. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:20.879 It's called Sukkot. 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:23.759 In the Bible, it calls it the Festival of Tabernacle. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:34.639 And it's uh still celebrated to this day by the Jewish people, and it's a time where they look back at their time in the wilderness and they give thanks to God for providing for them and for being that guiding light. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:39.919 And it's during this festival that we find the context for what we're gonna be reading today. 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:43.759 Jesus and his brothers are coming to this festival. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.799 Jesus goes ahead and sends his brothers ahead of him. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:52.639 He wants to kind of go into this festival, he wants to sneak in, he's going incognito because people already know who he is. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:14:00.960 He's already started getting attention from people, and he just kind of wanted to be anonymous for a bit, but just like Jesus so often did, he began teaching. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:05.600 And whenever Jesus started teaching, people started listening, and a commotion was stirred. 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:09.840 There was another group of people at this festival, they were called the Pharisees. 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:11.039 Maybe you've heard of them. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:15.519 They're kind of like the religious elite, they were the keepers of the law. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:17.120 And they didn't like Jesus. 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:18.879 They always like wanted to kill them. 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:24.159 In fact, when this was happening at this festival, they wanted to kill them, but kill Jesus, but they had no reason. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:25.679 They had nothing to accuse him of. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:29.600 And so Jesus gets to leave the festival. 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:34.320 But the next morning he shows up at the temple and he starts teaching again. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:39.679 And people, just like they did so often, started gathering around him as he was teaching. 00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:44.159 It's at this point that we're gonna pick it up in the text in John 8. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:51.840 It says, Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:55.759 Teacher, they said to him, This woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. 00:14:55.919 --> 00:15:00.399 And the law of Moses, Moses commanded us to stone such women. 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:01.919 So what do you say? 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:04.480 Now, this law of Moses, you've probably heard of it before. 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:07.200 It was another guiding light for the Israelite people. 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:09.279 It was given to them also in the wilderness. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.759 It's where we get the Ten Commandments from. 00:15:12.080 --> 00:15:13.759 And it served a specific purpose. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:20.000 It separated the Jewish people from all other people, and it made them known as belonging to God. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:26.320 And as long as they were keeping this law, God promised to bless them and their land. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:31.519 Breaking the rules of this law came with consequences, though. 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:36.000 And the consequence for committing adultery was being stoned to death. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:41.679 And so they present Jesus with this question: the law says she should be killed. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:42.879 What do you say? 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:48.879 The Bible doesn't tiptoe around what was actually happening in this moment, happening in this moment. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:55.200 It says in verse 6, they asked this to trap him in order that they might have evidence to accuse him. 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:58.320 And here we go with the Pharisees trying to trap Jesus. 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:02.080 I mean, if you read through the Gospels, you're gonna see this happen over and over. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:08.240 They're always trying to find some reason to arrest Jesus, to kill Jesus, because they needed to get rid of him. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:10.399 And this was a trap, this was a trick question. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:16.799 No matter how Jesus was to answer this question, he was gonna be wrong one way or another, at least in their opinion. 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:28.720 Like, for example, if he said that you should not stone this woman, then the Pharisees could take Jesus and say, look at this great teacher that you all love so much, he's going against the law of Moses that's been our guiding light. 00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:31.039 They would have a reason to accuse him. 00:16:33.200 --> 00:16:35.200 There was the other side of it. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:46.000 If Jesus said, you should stone this woman, he was introducing a whole new issue because while Israel had their land, Israel, it was governed by the Romans. 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:51.519 Like, can you imagine living in America and it's still called America, but we're actually governed by some other country? 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:55.600 Like, we wouldn't want a lot to do with that country, probably like, we're America, leave us alone. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:56.960 That's how these Israelites were. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:59.919 It's like, okay, these guys are here, there's nothing we can do about it. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:03.360 We just kind of want to keep them as far away from us as possible. 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:12.640 So if Jesus said that they should stone her, then they were bringing the Romans into the situation because Romans had to oversee every death penalty. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:17.759 So Jesus would learn, lose influence, and that was a real issue that the Pharisees had with Jesus. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:27.680 They always presented it as a religious issue, but really what was happening is that Jesus was gaining influence among the Jewish people faster than anyone could have possibly imagined. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:35.839 And if he was gaining influence, that means someone else was losing influence, and these Pharisees did not want to lose their influence. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:39.359 It was a trick question, but Jesus saw it all along. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:41.599 I mean, he's God in human form. 00:17:42.640 --> 00:17:46.960 In fact, they asked him a question and Jesus doesn't even respond at first. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:48.000 Look at what he does. 00:17:48.160 --> 00:17:49.519 We're gonna continue in verse six. 00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:53.519 It says, Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. 00:17:54.079 --> 00:18:01.200 When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and he said to them, The one without sin among you should be the first to throw a stone at her. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:05.039 Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:07.039 Like this is like a pretty hardcore move. 00:18:07.119 --> 00:18:11.039 Like, Jesus doesn't say anything, he just kneels down, he starts writing in the dust on the ground. 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:13.680 And I've heard this story, I can't even tell you how many times. 00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:16.400 I've heard pastors preach on it dozens of times. 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:21.279 And what I do know about this story is that no one actually knows what Jesus wrote. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:24.240 Like, there's a lot of really great theories on what he wrote. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:30.799 People will quote Old Testament or Jewish scripture and say he was fulfilling a prophecy, but that hasn't necessarily been substantiated. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:37.839 There's a lot of contextual answers that sound pretty good, but on this side of eternity, we'll never know exactly what he wrote. 00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:40.880 But we do know he wrote something, and we do know that he said something. 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:44.160 Let the one without sin among you cast the first stone. 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:48.319 And while we don't know what was written, we do see the reaction. 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:52.000 In verse 9, it says, when they heard this, when these men heard this, they left. 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:54.000 One by one, starting with the older man. 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:57.279 The older man would be the wiser men, the more knowledgeable men. 00:18:57.759 --> 00:19:01.920 And only he, only Jesus was left with the woman and the sinner. 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:06.160 They stopped the qu their questioning and began leaving one by one. 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:08.559 Until it was this Jesus and this woman. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:10.400 And so let's go back for a second. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:12.079 We've gone through a couple verses. 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:18.640 Let's go back and really paint the picture because Jesus is in the temple, the literal dwelling place of God, and he begins teaching. 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:21.759 And as he begins teaching, people start gathering around him. 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:26.960 And as he's teaching, these Pharisees bring in a woman caught in the act of adultery. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:29.839 Now, I don't mean to sound brash or crude or anything like that. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:32.799 We don't know at what level this woman was even dressed. 00:19:32.880 --> 00:19:38.799 She was literally dragged out of the act of adultery and brought before Jesus and put in the center. 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:42.799 Jesus, the people listening to him, the Pharisees, and this woman in the center. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:46.160 What an awkward position to be in if you're that woman. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:48.400 You didn't necessarily ask for this to happen. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:52.640 You definitely weren't expecting it to happen, but here you are. 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:54.720 This wasn't an accusation. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:56.480 This wasn't hearsay. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:59.680 This was a caught-in-the-act kind of a situation. 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:02.319 It was serious and it was real. 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:09.119 I think about the day when I stand in front of Jesus because we all will one day. 00:20:09.759 --> 00:20:14.079 I think for the first time in my life, I'll really understand the weight of my sin. 00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:21.680 Like I will really understand standing in front of my perfect Savior all the times I chose my sin over him. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:26.000 Makes my heart sink when I think about it. 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:35.279 That's where this woman was in this moment of scripture, standing in the center, just her and Jesus, some people on the side waiting. 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:38.720 She's probably dying like a thousand deaths on the inside, right? 00:20:38.799 --> 00:20:41.039 She probably had so much guilt and shame. 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.640 And I want to take just a second to uh talk about guilt and shame. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:52.799 If you feel guilt and shame, and we all do at some point, but if you feel guilt and shame, let me assure you that that is not a feeling that God makes you feel. 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:54.160 It is not something he needs. 00:20:54.240 --> 00:21:03.599 Guilt and shame are almost always exclusively used to hold power over someone, to make someone uh feel or manipulate someone to get them to do what they wanted to do. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:07.279 Like these Pharisees, they would use guilt and shame to control people. 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:18.160 A lot of churches today use guilt and shame to uh manipulate and control people, but God, for a fact, will never use guilt and shame to make you do what he wants you to do. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:22.079 He doesn't need power over you, he doesn't need to manipulate you, he's God. 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:25.599 And so when you feel those feelings of guilt and shame, remember what I'm saying. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:26.960 That is not a God thing. 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:28.559 That's a you thing, maybe. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:33.599 That's an other people thing, that's a devil thing, but it's not a God thing. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:41.119 And I know this because of Jesus' response to this woman as she's standing there alone, probably embarrassed. 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:43.359 In verse 10, it says, Jesus stood up. 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:46.160 He said to the woman, Woman, where are they? 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:48.079 Has no one condemned you? 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:50.240 No one, Lord, she answered. 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:52.480 Neither do I condemn you, said Jesus. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:56.559 Go and from now on, do not sin anymore. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:58.720 Her accusers were gone. 00:21:59.119 --> 00:21:59.839 Whatever Jesus said. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.160 Had wrote, combined with what he said, had caused them to leave. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:12.799 And here's the crazy thing: they had a purpose in bringing this woman here, and it was to get something on Jesus, to accuse him of something, to catch him, to trap him. 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:16.400 And yet, Jesus gets away without even answering the question. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:18.480 He never answers the question. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:25.440 But this woman, who didn't ask to be there, got an answer to a question she didn't know she was asking. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:28.799 It was like in that moment, she was standing there. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:29.759 She knew what she had done. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:31.440 The people around her knew what she had done. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:33.200 She knew how she felt about herself. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:35.839 She probably knew how these people were feeling about her. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:40.960 But how did this God, this savior, this teacher, feel about her? 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:43.920 Jesus reveals that to us. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:46.079 He says, Neither do I condemn you. 00:22:46.160 --> 00:22:47.599 Where are these guys that condemn you? 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:49.359 They're not here, Lord. 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:51.359 Well, neither do I condemn you. 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:52.720 Go and sin no more. 00:22:52.799 --> 00:22:54.079 I heard a pastor say it this way. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:22:58.480 We he didn't condemn the woman, and he didn't condone what the woman had done. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:00.559 In other words, he was saying, I don't condemn you. 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:01.920 Go and make better choices. 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:03.920 You can do better than this. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.720 It wasn't what she was expecting. 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:10.480 It certainly wasn't what she deserved, according to the law of Moses. 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:13.119 But it's what she got from her Savior. 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:19.680 It's at this point that Jesus goes to these Pharisees and he makes a huge statement. 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:26.000 Verse 12, it says, Jesus spoke to them, and he said, I am the light of the world. 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:31.759 Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life. 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:33.519 And finally, we've gotten to it. 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:35.680 The second of our I am seven. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:38.960 I mean, think of all the context leading up to this moment. 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:42.559 The woman lost in the darkness of her sin and her action. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:46.480 These Pharisees lost in the darkness of their own deceit and manipulation. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:55.039 Most of Israel at that point lost to the fact that the Messiah they had been praying for for generations was standing right in front of them. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:58.640 Not only that, but we have the context of the festival. 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:02.799 This festival where they looked back and thanked God for being their guiding light. 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:10.799 In fact, on the last day of the festival, what they would do is they would light these torches, and these torches were so bright they would reflect off of every surface in the temple. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:14.480 It was said that there was no dark spot left in the temple. 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:20.640 It was meant to represent God, and it all led to this staggering statement that Jesus made. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:23.119 I am the light of the world. 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:25.039 But there's more. 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:28.559 There's one more piece of context that I haven't even shared yet. 00:24:28.799 --> 00:24:44.480 Before God rescued Egypt from Israel, before he led them to the promised land, before he was a pillar of fire that guided them, God spoke to Israel's leader, Moses, and he told Moses to let the Israelites know that he had a new name. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:46.880 And do you know what that name was? 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:52.720 He said, Go and tell the Israelites that I am has sent you. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:54.400 I remember reading this as a kid. 00:24:54.559 --> 00:24:57.680 I thought, that is the weirdest name for a God, like I am. 00:24:57.759 --> 00:24:58.559 What does that even mean? 00:24:58.640 --> 00:25:02.400 In fact, in scripture it says, tell them I am who I am has sent you. 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:05.680 And I thought, what a circular statement, I am who I am. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:09.279 I just couldn't understand what that meant. 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:18.640 But those Israelites, the Pharisees, everyone that was around in that moment when Jesus said, I am the light of the world, they knew exactly what he was saying. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:34.319 Jesus wasn't only claiming to be the ultimate guiding light, the light that never dims, the light that never fails, the light that never wanders away, the light that reveals all that's in the darkness, the light that leads us to the promise God has for us. 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:38.000 Jesus wasn't claiming to be just the guiding light. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:42.400 He was actually claiming to be God Himself, the great I am. 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:45.680 Jesus rose above the Pharisees' question. 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:49.359 He rose above the law by doing something new. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:53.839 Jesus was establishing himself as God, the ultimate guiding light. 00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:58.559 And it wasn't just for them, it was for all people, for all time. 00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:03.519 So have you found yourself in the darkness? 00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:06.319 Maybe you feel like that woman caught in adultery. 00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:07.440 Maybe it's something you've done. 00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:11.599 Maybe it's your sin, your own actions that have made you feel like you're in the dark. 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:19.680 Maybe you're more like these Pharisees and you've been acting uh pretty uppity in your faith, and maybe you found yourself in the dark. 00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:20.640 What do you do? 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:22.480 How do you move forward? 00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:24.559 I think you gotta do something new. 00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:26.000 It's exactly what Jesus did. 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:27.759 He did something new. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:42.960 What you have to do is find a light, not one that you make, but one that already existed, a light that is designed to be turned on and never shut off, a light that was designed to bear the weight of every expectation and every hope you could possibly have. 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:53.279 It's a light that looks at your darkness and says, not only can I shine a light on the path so you can move forward, it's a light that says, I can shine into every dark space in your life and give it light. 00:26:53.599 --> 00:27:08.079 It can take all of your broken yesterdays, whether you broke them or whether somebody broke them for you, it can take your messed up today's and it can take your unknown tomorrows and illuminate them with a truth that we've only heard of once in history, and that's the truth of Jesus. 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:19.039 That God was willing to come down in human form to die for us, to pay the penalty of sin, so that we could have relationship and fellowship with Him. 00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:23.119 Maybe you've come here today and you feel like that woman caught in adultery. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:26.240 Like, maybe you've literally been caught in adultery. 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:27.599 It happens. 00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:30.480 Maybe it wasn't adultery, maybe it was something else. 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:33.440 Like, maybe you got totally like obliterated last night. 00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:35.200 You don't even remember what happened. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:41.920 In fact, you woke up just a few hours ago outside of this bar and you thought there was coffee in here, and then you were very disappointed because our coffee bar is closed. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:44.559 Maybe that's where you are right now. 00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:46.240 It could be any list of things. 00:27:46.319 --> 00:27:52.319 Maybe you're addicted to drugs, alcohol, pornography, maybe you have anger issues. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:27:56.640 Whatever it is, you found yourself in the dark. 00:27:56.880 --> 00:27:58.559 And I don't know what dark place you're in. 00:27:58.640 --> 00:28:03.839 And if I'm being transparent, and we always will be at MetaCurch, you don't know what dark place I'm in. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:05.119 We're not perfect. 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:09.599 We experience things, we fail, we get up and we try again. 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:13.279 I don't know what dark place you're in. 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:15.039 But I know the one who does. 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:20.240 I also know that he wants to be the light that helps you and me move forward. 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:24.079 We don't have to be in the dark any longer. 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:29.200 And if you've come here today and you've heard the word of God, then you have found the light. 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:33.680 You know who the light is according to the Bible. 00:28:33.920 --> 00:28:36.640 You know who the light is according to my testimony. 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:38.480 I know this to be true. 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:44.240 But there's some things that you need to do in order to have that light become a reality in your life. 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:46.079 You have to receive this light. 00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:54.880 Receiving light comes through having faith in Jesus, taking that step of faith and saying, Yes, Jesus, I believe that you are who you say you are and that you did what you say you did. 00:28:54.960 --> 00:29:00.160 And unfortunately, having that faith won't necessarily fix all the earthly decisions you made. 00:29:00.240 --> 00:29:05.039 Those are likely gonna have earthly consequences, but you can be assured that your sins are forgiven. 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:11.440 And I want to be super clear that when I say your sins are forgiven, I don't mean your sins from when you started sinning to this point. 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:14.480 I mean all your sins are forgiven. 00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:18.240 You're not forgiven at an age, you're forgiven as a person. 00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:26.000 Your soul is made right with God because of what Jesus did, and you can have the assurance of eternity with God forever. 00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:31.519 When I was falling behind on my bike, I was legitimately worried. 00:29:31.680 --> 00:29:36.640 I mean, we weren't meant to be in darkness, or my friend Marco came back for me. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:40.559 I didn't have a light, but someone that I was in community with did. 00:29:40.640 --> 00:29:44.000 And it was enough to help me back to where I needed to be. 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:49.599 And that's just a very simple example of what God did for you when he came to the earth. 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:55.359 He didn't come just to light up your bike path, he lights up your entire life. 00:29:55.839 --> 00:30:02.240 He's a way to eternity and to redemption, forgiveness, and he's the way to your purpose in this life. 00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:05.839 And here's the best news: Jesus literally did all the hard work for you. 00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:07.839 There are no hoops that you have to jump through. 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:10.400