Page 5028 - Week 16 - Wednesday, 27 November 1991
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her day took the matter of individual immorality or corporate immorality, whether through adultery individually or prostitution in general. Jesus was asked his view of it:
"Teacher", they said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. In our Law Moses commanded that such a woman should be stoned to death. Now, what do you say?".
Of course, they did that to trap him. What did he do? He made the famous statement:
Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her.
That is the attitude we must start out with here. We must not act self-righteously, because we have sins in ourselves that deserve stones. To anyone in the prostitution industry - whether a pimp, a procurer, a madam or an individual prostitute - we must say, from this particular faith point of view, "We are not in the stoning business. We are not in the business of incarcerating you and damaging you personally through the application of some kind of punitive law". Let us reject that. The terms "decriminalisation" and "legalisation" are very difficult.
I wish there were some beautiful word for when we say: "Look, we know that you have done these things, and you are not to be condemned for them". That is what Jesus said. Let me read the lead-up to the six absolutely crucial words he used:
Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing there. He straightened himself up and said to her, "Where are they? -
that is, "Where are the people who condemn you?" -
Is there no one left to condemn you?"
"No one, sir," she answered.
"Well, then," Jesus said, "I do not condemn you either".
Then came the six crucial words:
"Go, but do not sin again".
Someone in a Catholic tradition, an Anglican tradition or a general Christian tradition - I have a number of letters in relation to that - and certainly someone in the Society of Friends has to take those six words as the guide to action. That is, we cannot condone; we do not condemn. We can condemn ourselves for our sins; we do not condemn the sins of others. Judge not lest ye be judged.
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