John 7:53 - 8:11
A few months ago ... Tucson ... party ... “The guy with the eyes is here!” I knew immediately of whom he spoke ... my friend Tim - well known in Tucson for his large round, wily-looking eyes. He was the star at the Gaslight Theater – southern Arizona’s home for melodrama. He was the villan and we always hissed him when he appeared. His eyes made it so easy. It made a good night out in the “Old Pueblo” – old time piano playing, the obvious story line, the clear distinction between good and evil, the cheers and jeers – how fun.
I loved Melodrama at the Gaslight! However the constantly escalating melodrama in our culture is another thing. We have become a culture of melodrama – politics is melodrama, religion is melodrama, broadcast news is often melodrama. America has made melodrama into an art form (calling it daytime drama and “reality” TV – opportunities for unbalanced people to fight on TV and have everyone cheer.). At times our culture seems almost histrionic.
We deal with melodrama continually in our work at Cornerstone. If life is melodrama then addiction is melodrama on steroids!! The men we welcome to Cornerstone have most often lived their lives as one big drama. In fact, they get addicted to the drama and lifestyle of drama as much as the substance – and that does not disappear when they get clean and sober. Now almost everything can be drama to them. So what can we do at Cornerstone and in our culture of melodrama?
We learn how in a story of Jesus … John 7:53 – 8:11 [cf. last page] … vicious, yet in the end, beautiful story
JOHN 7:53 – 8:11
Then each of them went home, while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” [Law said both man &woman were to be stoned] They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. [Double bind – damned if do, damned if don’t – yes, where’s all this mercy and grace you talk about not mention the Romans (Right of the Sword) – no, no abide by the law of Moses]
Picture this scene … so what does Jesus do?
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.” [they treated her as an object to accomplish their little plot – Jesus treated her as a person … they talked about her, Jesus talked to her and let her speak … they condemned her –Jesus loved her and showed her mercy and grace]
[condemn = to say the last word about you … Jesus is saying, no one has the right to sum up your life!]
There is much we could talk about in this story – gender equality, judgment/ grace/ mercy, who are the real sinners – all kinds of things. But what I want to work with from this passage is how we can confront the melodrama in our world without being melodramatic. What does the culture of melodrama need from us – from the community of faith? What do our families need from us? … our missions? …. = people who will be like Jesus in our story …. People who will become a …
“NON-ANXIOUS PRESENCE” in the middle of a melodramatic, judgmental world.
What in the heck is that? … A term used by Rabbi/psychiatrist Edwin Friedman in his book Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue ... He says that in every dysfunctional family system – church, synagogue, group, etc. – there needs to be at least one person who is a non-anxious presence … one who will always be there to deflect attention from the “scapegoat” and back to the whole group … one who does not get caught up in the drama.
Friedman defines anxiety as a chronic, contagious condition. When anxiety increases in a system, we easily get caught in its momentum. Effective leaders regulate their own anxiety and engage with the system in a measured way, rooted in a defined sense of their own self.
This appears to be what Jesus was – does it not? That was what his writing on the ground did (Helmut Thielicke, The Silence of God = royal or regal silence … ?Ben Hur) – stops everything and shifts focus from this woman to himself and then with his question the focus is put where it should be – on the guys who started this whole thing – but in a non-violent way, a question and then more silence. And then there is his gentle, gracious, non-condemning response to the marginalized one in this scene – the woman. And just the fact that he stayed – presence (usually if someone is going to be stoned one moves out of the way).
Non-anxious presence – we need more of this in the world – don’t you think?
This is a big part of our mission at Cornerstone – to be a non-anxious presence in the melodramatic world of addiction and recovery. … παρακαλεω
The big question for us who don’t happen to be Jesus = HOW? ... I must admit that this does not come naturally to me. To some it seems so natural – almost they have a no-anxious personality – they irk me. ... TJTA in seminary (hostile/tolerant) I grew up in a home and fundamentalist religion and theology filled with melodrama and hardly any non-anxious presence
How can I, how can we, become a non-anxious presence in our world/ churches/ families/ faith communities/ missions/ neighborhoods? ...
Hint at the beginning of our story … Then each of them went home, while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. … this was Jesus’ special place: It’s where Jesus stood when he wept over Jerusalem ... It’s where he often taught his disciples … It was where he returned after each day to rest and pray and be alone and quiet. … It was where he went on the last day of his life – Garden of Gethsemane – where he prayed that anguished prayer, “take this cup from me, but not my will but yours be done.” … the mount of Olives was the place/space where Jesus could become a non-anxious presence so he could be the non-anxious presence in situations like our story.
This was where he practiced what Paul wrote: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God, and the peace of God which is beyond all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds.” Or what Peter wrote: “Cast your anxiety on the Lord for he cares for you.”
The Mount of Olives is where he could go to silence the noise and craziness from his world and in his head.
Blaise Pascal: "Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for our miseries, and yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries." He also famously remarked that all of people’s problems come from their inability to sit quietly in a room alone.
ILL. 1 Kings 19 … “still small voice” ... NRSV, “sound of sheer silence” .... literally: “voice of thin stillness” ...
Herman Melville: "All profound things and emotions of things are preceded and attended by Silence. Silence is the general consecration of the universe. Silence is the invisible laying on of the Divine Pontiff's hands upon the world. Silence is the only Voice of our God."
Nouwen: “Oh how important is discipline, community, prayer, silence, caring presence, simple listening, adoration, and deep, lasting faithful friendship. We all want it so much, and still the powers suggesting that all of that is fantasy are enormous. But we have to replace the battle for power with the battle to create space for the spirit.”
And it is a battle – a battle that I am struggling with more than I can ever remember. But I want to be committed to entering the battle to create that space because the world needs me to be a non-anxious presence.
Someone needs to be the one who will stay, even with threats of rocks ... the one who will bring calm into the storm ... the one who will deflect the violence from the scapegoat to oneself and then reflect it back to those who cause it.
The world needs us to be to be a non-anxious presence. I hope you will join me in your own unique way in the battle to create space for the spirit. I hope you will find your Mount of Olives and go there frequently, so that we can be that presence.
[Gerald’s song – the Tom & Gerry show]
Henri Nouwen on Silence
What most strikes me, being back in the United States, is the full force of the restlessness, the loneliness, and the tension that holds so many people. The conversations I had today were about spiritual survival. So many of my friends feel overwhelmed by the many demands made on them, few feel the inner peace and joy they so much desire.
To celebrate life together, to be together in community, to simply enjoy the beauty of creation, the love of people and the goodness of God — those seem faraway ideals. There seems to be a mountain of obstacles preventing people from being where their hearts want to be. It is so painful to watch and experience. The astonishing thing is that the battle for survival has become so “normal” that few people really believe that it can be different. ... I want so much to bring them to new places, show them new perspectives, and point out to them new ways. But in this hectic, pressured, competitive, exhausting context, who can really hear me? I even wonder how long I myself can stay in touch with the voice of the spirit when the demons of this world make so much noise.
Oh how important is discipline, community, prayer, silence, caring presence, simple listening, adoration, and deep, lasting faithful friendship. We all want it so much, and still the powers suggesting that all of that is fantasy are enormous. But we have to replace the battle for power with the battle to create space for the spirit.
One of our main problems is that in this chatty society, silence has become a very fearful thing. For most people, silence creates itchiness and nervousness. Many experience silence not as full and rich, but as empty and hollow. For them silence is like a gaping abyss which can swallow them up. As soon as a minister says during a worship service “Let us be silent for a few moments, “ people tend to become restless and preoccupied with only one thought: “When will this be over?” Imposed silence often creates hostility and resentment. Many ministers who have experimented with silence in their services have soon found out that silence can be more demonic than divine and have quickly picked up signals that were saying “Please keep talking.” It is quite understandable that most forms of ministry avoid silence precisely so as to ward off the anxiety it provokes.
Out of the eternal silence God spoke the Word, and through this Word created and recreated the world. In the beginning God spoke the land, the sea, and the sky. God spoke the sun, the moon, and the stars. God spoke plants, birds, fish, animals wild and tame. Finally, God spoke man and woman. Then, in the fullness of time, God’s Word, through whom all had been created, became flesh and gave power to all who believe to become the children of God. In all this, the Word of God does not break the silence of God, but rather unfolds the immeasurable richness of that silence. ... A word with power is a word that comes out of silence. A word that bears fruit is a word that emerges from the silence and returns to it.
... Being useless and silent in the presence of our God belongs to the core of all prayer. In the beginning we often hear our own unruly inner voices more loudly than God’s voice. This is at times very hard to tolerate. But slowly, very slowly, we discover that the silent time makes us quiet and deepens our awareness of ourselves and God. Then, very soon, we start missing these moments when we are deprived of them, and before we are fully aware of it an inner momentum has developed that draws us more and more into silence and closer to that still point where God speaks to us.