The Raven

John 8:3-5 "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 a woman. Now what do you say?" NIV They were making so much noise, the three of them, as they perched on the corral fence by the water tank. They were big, fat, noisy and black. No, wait a minute, one of them was brown, and it must be a hawk, not a raven. I ran downstairs to have a better view, but much to my surprise, discovered the bird was indeed a raven. Wow, a brown raven. I quickly looked brown ravens up on my I Pad, but the only information I found was on black and albino ones. None the less, there was definitely a brown raven on my corral fence this morning along with two black ones. Our world is changing. Scientists are discovering mutations in various species. Technology is advancing as never before. Society is also changing in many ways, with one of the biggest changes occurring sexually. Men can now become women and women can become men and sometimes one person exhibits both sexual behaviours. It is also not uncommon for men to live with men and women to live with women, to create a family, and to raise children. Such changes are now the norm in our society.

As a Christian, who believes that the Bible is God's Word of truth, these sexual changes in our world have caused me to ponder, discuss with close friends and reflect upon Jesus and how He dealt with situations that caused problems for the people of his day; problems with those they felt were not living according to the Law of Moses, which was the Word of God at that time.

The conclusion, which I have arrived at, is that Jesus loved, respected and accepted all people, whether they lived according to the Law or not. Jesus treated all people with dignity, because all people are created in the image of God. In the story of the woman, caught in adultery, Jesus did not condemn her, as the teachers of the law and the Pharisees did and wanted Him to do as well. Jesus accepted her as she was. In fact, after His action of stooping down before the teachers and Pharisees, to write something on the ground with His finger, for them to see, which caused all of them to quietly depart; He straightened up and said to her: "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? And she answered: No one, sir. Then Jesus replied: Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin." John 8:10 NIV The raven I saw this morning was different, but it was still a raven and worthy to be respected as a creation of God. And so it is also with people, each of whom is created in God's image. It doesn't matter whether I agree with their life styles or gender choices or identities; this should never be my main focus, which then dictates my behaviour. What does matter is that I respect, love and treat them with dignity, just as our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ did and still does today.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." John 3:16-17 NIV The choice is ours, condemnation of those different from us? Or to be like Jesus?

Prayer: Father God, as You know, living in an ever-changing world is challenging. Help us to be like Jesus in our thoughts, words and actions that we might best know how to meet, embrace and use challenge effectively to bring others into the saving knowledge and unconditional love and acceptance of Your Son, Jesus Christ. In whose name we pray. Amen.

Lynne Phipps