This is Father Jared Cramer from St. John’s Episcopal Church in Grand Haven, Michigan, here with today’s edition of Christian Mythbusters, a regular segment I offer to counter some common misconceptions about the Christian faith. 

One of the best things about being a priest is that people invite you into these fascinating questions about God, the Bible, spirituality, and their lives. I had a conversation like that earlier this week. Someone had reached out who is searching and exploring, and she wanted to talk through things. We chatted for around a half hour, and it was delightful.

As we were discussing questions of God and life, she brought up the story of the woman caught in adultery. The story is found in the seventh chapter of John, when a group of scribes and pharisees interrupt Jesus’ teaching, bringing him a woman who they claim has been caught in the very act of adultery. The religious leaders tell Jesus that the punishment for this act is stoning and ask Jesus what to do. 

Jesus doesn’t answer them. He bends down and writes with his finger on the ground. They persist, asking him and asking him what they should do. He responds, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Then Jesus bends down again and writes on the ground some more. 

The religious leaders then went away, one by one, beginning with those who were the oldest, shamed by Jesus’ question until no one was left but the woman and Jesus. And he straightens up and asks her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She responds, “No one, sir.” Jesus then tells her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”

We were both struck by that last line, often translated as, “Go and sin more.” And so, this week, I’d like to break the myth of what it really means, sometimes, to turn from sin. 

Because I think that when we can find ourselves in places of stillness and quiet, places where we can practice the presence of Christ, we hear two messages over and over again. The first message is, “I love you, beloved child of God.” And the second message is, “Now go and sin no more.” 

It’s unfortunate that so often we do not hear the first message, the message of God’s love for us, a love that is entire and complete. As Brennan Manning used to say, there’s nothing you can do to make God love you less… but there is also nothing you can do to make God love you more.

But I think it’s that second message, “Go and sin no more,” can be even more difficult to interpret and practice. If there is one thing I’ve learned as a priest hearing confession is that sometimes people don’t really know what sin really is. I’ve had people come to me in confession and my response, at times, has been to tell them that the burden they are carrying isn’t a sin. It’s not even a burden they need to be carrying. 

In the end, when Jesus tells you, “Go and sin no more,” the concrete meaning of that call will be different depending on your own place in life.

• For someone like me, with no shortage of opinions about things, Jesus’ invitation to “Go and sin no more,” might be a call to me to hold my own opinions a bit more lightly, to listen to those with whom I disagree with more curiosity and empathy, to ask if I’m interested in proving I am write or if I am interested in learning more about God’s call in this world. 

• If you’re in the midst of a failing marriage, “go and sin no more” might mean to turn from a focus yourself, instead to give yourself to counseling, to the work needed to heal the marriage… or “go and sin no more” might mean it is time for you to go of that relationship, to exit a marriage that has become damaging and destructive, not to let the damage of the marriage continue. To sin no more might mean to let the marriage go so that God can bring new life to both you and your spouse.

• If you’re struggling with questions of gender or sexual identity, the call to “Go and sin no more,” might be a call from Jesus for you to exit the closet of self-hatred and shame, to go out of that closet and be who God created you to be as an LGBTQIA person. The call to sin no more might mean to let go of messages of self-hatred and to know that God loves you just as you are, and God wants you to have the same opportunities for holy relationships that straight people have. 

All of this reminds me of a new poem I came across a few weeks ago, by the poet Jay Hulme, it’s called “Jesus at the Gay Bar" –

He’s here in the midst of it-

right at the centre of the dance floor,

robes hitched up to His knees

to make it easy to spin.

At some point in the evening

a boy will touch the hem of His robe

and beg to be healed, beg to be

anything other than this;

and He will reach his arm out,

sweat-damp, and weary from dance.

He’ll cup this boy’s face in His hand

and say,

my beautiful child

there is nothing in this heart of yours

that ever needs to be healed.

Yeah, go and sin no more. Go and sin no more, beloved child of God. I don’t know what that means for you today. But I know this, if you listen with your heart to God’s love for you, you will know that the call to “go and sin no more” is always an invitation to freedom.

Thanks for being with me. To find out more about my parish, you can go to sjegh.com. Until next time, remember, protest like Jesus, love recklessly, and live your faith out in a community that accepts you but also challenges you to be better tomorrow than you are today.