Day 29 - WILL YOU SEE ME? 

JOHN 8:2-11

 PAUSE -
Take a deep breath, offer this time and your focus to the Lord with the Psalmist

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.    

Psalm 19:14

REJOICE -
In His mercy and grace that is available for you today.

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 

Lamentations 3:22-23

Pastor Shawn Morrison along with photographer Shawn Nielsen set off on a journey to capture images and stories of the homeless on the streets of Minneapolis.  Their profound experiences were shared in their book titled Will You See Me?  Consider these words from the forward of their book written by Pastor Chris Bellanger Sr.: 

“Will You See Me?” is not just a question, it’s a plea. A call to move beyond quick judgments, beyond surface impressions, and beyond the learned indifference that numbs us to the pain and resilience of our unhoused neighbors.

The individuals in these pages live without what many of us take for granted: safety, stability and a place to call home.  But what they do not lack is humanity…

Take a moment to reflect on these phrases which reveal our common human responses toward certain individuals, cultures, and classes: 

• Quick Judgments

• Surface Impressions

• Learned Indifference

I can identify these reactions in how I respond to people at times. Can you?

With this awareness, let’s consider a familiar story in the Gospel of John.

Read and REFLECT – John 8:2-11

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 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, “If any one of you is without sin, let him 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.” 

Whatever the reasons the accusers all walked away and what Jesus wrote in the dirt, we can only guess.  We can speculate all we want about what changed their minds, but what really matters are these words of Jesus, “…neither do I condemn you.”. 

Jesus, of all those present, clearly had the authority to condemn. But he chose to extend grace. 

• There was never any doubt who this woman was, nor any question of her guilt. 

• Everyone saw her as one “caught in the act” - worthy of judgment.

• But Jesus saw her through the eyes of grace. He saw her humanity. 

Consider those three phrases again. What evidence was there of these responses?

• Quick to Judge

• Surface Impressions

• Learned Indifference 

 For many years, I passed by those who panhandled to survive. I never really saw them. I never made real eye contact with them…

To be honest, we wrestled with the title ‘Will You See Me.’ Our first working title was ‘Can You See Me’. Those four words didn’t seem quite right, though.  It left room for the viewer to look past the person.  We eventually settled on ‘Will You See Me,” a title asking the viewer to engage, to really take action and really see our fellow humans.  Shawn Nielsen, photographer. 

            (Will You See Me, by Shawn Morrison and Shawn Nielsen, p. 7)

Reread and REFLECT on this passage. 
Read it aloud. Imagine the sights and sounds of the people bustling about the Temple courts. Imagine the whispers. What might the woman have been feeling? Thinking? Fearing?  How might she have felt when Jesus did not condemn her? 

 John 8:2-11

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 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, “If any one of you is without sin, let him 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.” 

The crowds saw an adulterous woman.  They looked past her humanity. Jesus saw a woman in need of mercy.

ASK –
Who needs mercy today? How do we move from judgment to mercy? Lord, give us your eyes to see those who need mercy. Help us to look past our surface impressions to see the humanity in others. Be near those who want to change but need someone who believes in them.

YIELD –
Lord, I lay down my stones. Soften my heart to those who anger me, offend me, and who I count as the opposition.  Do you love them too? Can you soften my heart to hear their stories and extend your grace?  Fill me with your Holy Spirit Lord!

Lord, help us as we join in your mission to proclaim and provide…

• Freedom – of those held captive, imprisoned

• Recovery – of sight for the blind (restoration of what once was)

• Release – of those held in bondage, trapped, with no rights or resources

• Favor – Jubilee, the year/season of forgiveness of debts and new beginnings

 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.