The Unauthorized Homily

By Bill Dunn

A commentary on the Scripture readings from the Sunday Lectionary

(Scripture readings for Sunday, April 20th: Acts 6:1-7; 1 Peter 2:4-9; John 14:1-12)

Note: this is the conclusion of a talk I gave at my parish during Lent.

JESUS: THE MOST POLITICALLY INCORRECT PERSON IN HISTORY – PART 3

The two most prominent attributes of God are love and righteousness. God is all-loving, all-caring, all-compassionate. But at the same time He also is all-righteous, all-just, and all-holy. He has a very firm view of right and wrong, good and evil. And when people are evil, that is unacceptable to God. This may be considered politically incorrect and offensive, but at the same time, God still loves those sinful people.

It’s a difficult balancing act between, on the one hand, love and mercy, and on the other hand, righteousness and justice. We human beings don’t do it very well. We usually favor one or the other.

On one side of the spectrum, those who focus on love and compassion, but ignore righteousness and morality, end up like the PC church in Fairfield County. They accept everything and judge nothing. Because it’s a completely tolerant and judgment-free environment, everyone is allowed to do whatever they feel like doing. Everyone can embrace sinful behavior and actually be proud of it. This eventually produces chaos.

On the other side of the spectrum, those who focus on righteousness and justice, rules and regulations, but ignore love and mercy, end up like what my relatives tell me the situation was in parochial schools in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. I wasn’t there, but from what they tell me, it seems the main focus was on the wrath and judgment of the Lord, and very rarely if ever on God’s love and mercy. Now, of course, those poor nuns were in a very tough situation, trying to control a rambunctious class of 45 students—or more—and trying their best to keep those teenage hormones from raging out of control.

But to tell a 14-year-old boy that because he had a lustful thought—however fleeting—about the head cheerleader, means that Jesus hates him and he is definitely going to Hell, well, that’s not a good thing.

When you focus only on righteousness and justice and morality, but ignore love and mercy, it eventually produces a police state. This is the attitude that produced the Pharisees, and the Taliban, and the Inquisition.

Sixty years ago, we swung too far to the righteousness and justice, rules and regulations side. Today we’ve swung too far to the “If it feels good, do it,” no judgment, PC side.

We have to find that happy medium, a view that includes a full dose of God’s righteousness and justice, but at the same time includes a full dose of God’s love and mercy.

A very good example of this is the story right out of John’s gospel, chapter 8, of the woman caught in adultery. You all know the story, right? The religious leaders who hated Jesus brought to Him an adulterous woman. They claimed she was “caught in the very act.”

Now this brings up an interesting question: where was the adulterous man? The Law of Moses said both parties deserved to be punished. As far as I can tell, adultery is not the kind of thing you can commit by yourself. They probably just let the guy go, which proves they were not really trying to enforce the Law of Moses, they were trying to trap Jesus.

With that whole crowd of angry men standing there, each holding a stone, ready to kill the sinful woman, Jesus made that awesome statement: “Let the one among you without sin cast the first stone.”

Then the crowd dispersed in shame, and Jesus said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” And she replied, “No one, sir.”

So Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.”

Now, this particular event in the life of Jesus is often cited by the Politically Correct folks as proof that Jesus was all-loving and all-compassionate. He accepted this woman and did not judge her. He was not intolerant and mean-spirited toward her, like those ancient Pharisees—and, it’s often pointed out, like modern-day conservative religious fanatics.

This poor woman, they say, was probably involved in a loving and passionate relationship. She just didn’t bother with the archaic institution of marriage. She was following her heart. She was doing what felt right for her. So who were those mean Pharisees to judge her? Who are WE to judge her, and say that her lifestyle was wrong?

Jesus showed us the right way, they claim, because He did not judge her.

But that’s not true. They always forget the last line of the story. After saying, “Neither do I condemn you,” Jesus added, “Go, and sin no more.”

The fact is, Jesus did judge her. He judged her behavior as being sinful. That was the righteous and just aspect of His nature. Certain things are right, certain things are wrong. And when you do wrong, you get judged.

Look closely at the words. Jesus did not say, “Neither do I judge you.” He said, “Neither do I condemn you.” This means that He did judge her as being sinful, but the loving and merciful aspect of His nature said, in effect, “You deserve punishment, but I’m not going to punish you.”

So this is actually a very politically incorrect event in the Bible. Jesus held a firm belief in absolute truth: adultery is wrong (no matter what modern people think about various living arrangements). And Jesus judged her. But this event also shows the balancing act between righteousness and justice on the one hand, and love and mercy on the other hand.

He judged her as a sinner, but then His love and mercy made Him say, “I don’t condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

God hold us to a high standard. He lays out His rules for righteous living, and He expects us to do it. This is very politically incorrect on His part.

But at the same time, He is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger. When we fall short, when we screw up, He’s there to forgive us. All we have to do is repent and ask for forgiveness. Then he tells us, “Go, and sin no more.”

Are we going to be perfectly righteous and holy and sinless? Nah, not even close. But we cannot take the easy PC way out, and redefine reality to say there’s no such thing as sin. We’ve got to strive to be holy always, and then ask for forgiveness whenever we stumble.

I mentioned before that the story of the woman caught in adultery is a good example of that difficult balancing act between righteousness and justice, and love and mercy. Well, the most perfect example of that balancing act is found in a different event in Scripture.

You see, we have a problem here. Mankind is sinful, as St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And according to God’s high standard of righteousness, as Paul also wrote in that same letter, “The wages of sin is death.” We really deserve eternal punishment for our disobedience of God’s laws.

So here’s God’s dilemma: should He enforce His strict standard of righteousness and give us what we deserve, eternal condemnation? Or should He follow the love that is His very nature and give everybody a free pass, a pardon? But this would make a mockery of the concept of justice. This would be rewarding evil the same as goodness, and that would violate the other aspect of God’s very nature, righteousness.

So what’s God to do? The only solution to this dilemma, and the perfect balancing act between righteousness and justice, and love and mercy, took place on the cross.

Sin deserves punishment, and a price must be paid. That’s demanded by righteousness. But God could not bear to see us lost for all time, so He stepped forward and paid the price Himself. That’s love. The cross is the perfect expression of both righteousness and love, justice and mercy.

If Jesus truly were politically correct, like that church in Fairfield County apparently believes, if He focused only on love and compassion and ignored the difference between good and evil, and never judged anyone or anything, then He never would have gone to the cross. He never would have had to die. Only a politically incorrect Jesus, a Jesus who DOES care about right and wrong, would have done that.

So, when we contemplate that all-important question—Who do you say that Jesus is?—we must be just like St. Peter, and declare, “I say that you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.”

And then we have to add, “I also say you are the way and the truth and the life. You are the path to Heaven. You are the divine Lord who is all-holy and righteous, but at the same time is all-loving and merciful. You are the One who gave up your life to pay the price for my sins. You are the One who demands much from me, but who gives so much to me.”

If that’s how we answer that crucial question, then we’re probably in pretty good shape. That means we know the true, full identity of Jesus, not the one-sided, distorted, incomplete Politically Correct view of Him.

Jesus is the most politically incorrect person in history. And I say, “Thank God for that!” He is all-righteous and just, and He is all-loving and merciful. That is the Good News.

©2008