AVOIDING* THE HALL OF MIRRORS
OR ESCAPING
CHAPTER 11
Filter It Out + Mercy: In Short Supply? (1|2)
Pages 133-139 (end reading at: …He will deal with us severely.)
Matthew 18:21-35 (ESV), in which Jesus explains forgiveness to Peter, is read on pages 135-136.
John 8:6-11 (NIV) The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 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. 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.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 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. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
(page 133) Stef uses the analogy of being less like a tennis match and more like a water filter. Have you heard the water filter analogy before? What are your thoughts? How do we begin to do this?
In Jesus’ interaction with the woman caught in adultery and the men wanting to stone her, Stef says, “When we highlight the sins of others, we tend to do so in a way that gives the impression that we ourselves are somehow different; we are throwing stones as if we are innocent.” Is it that we consider ourselves innocent, or are we welcoming the spotlight being on someone else, anyone else, other than ourselves? Or is it both?
“Mercy, which is by nature undeserved, comes to those who receive it as a gift. It’s also potentially transformative in nature. We have received undeserved mercy. The assumption that we will, in light of what, show mercy to the undeserving, is a reasonable one.” What is your response to this statement?
“We have been let off the most extraordinary debt by the King of heaven. It’s so huge, and this mercy so wide, that God expects it to sink in and impact us; he expects us to be reformed and reshaped by the sublime nature of this lavish act.” Have you been “reformed and reshaped” by this biblical account? What does/might that look like?
“Jesus ends with the chilling application point that if any of His disciples do not forgive from the heart, then the Father will do the same to them.” Take a minute to reflect on this statement. Is there anyone you are holding debt or unforgiveness towards? Is there anyone holding you to a debt or unforgiveness?