John 8:1-11, Genesis 2:4-7

Nick Welford reflects on how Jesus gets in the dirt with us and asks us to do the same for others.

Nick Welford

Silence.

Not the type that is easily imagined, unless we manage to shut off all of our senses.

Then out of the nothing a world is formed: seas, land, vegetation and creatures. Then out of the aether the creator steps into the dust of creation and forms the first human out of the dirt.

It is most definitely an understatement to say that my life has changed since we adopted our little boy. And although it is something I wouldn't change for the world, it has not been without challenges.

One thing I have learned, is that it is easier to communicate with him when I remain calm, drop to my knees and speak to him on his level, in a language he understands. Sure sometimes I have to be firmer than others, but the fact that I am not speaking from a position of condescension or patronising him makes all the difference.

I was thinking about this one day while singing "Holy, Holy, Holy" when it dawned on me that we often sing about Jesus being high and lifted up, but rarely about him being down and in the dirt.

This is unusual, because for a God of holiness, God does seem determined to get his hands dirty. Ironically when Jesus was high and lifted up on the cross, He was simultaneously down and in the dirt and His most glorious.

Silence.

The type that is easily imagined, when a scandal is unfolding before your eyes. The temple preacher has been stopped mid flow. The religious leaders have dragged a woman in and she doesn't appear to be wearing many clothes.

"Teacher", they say to Jesus, with a scowl on their face and a smirk in their eyes: "This woman has been caught in adultery!" They spit: "The law lets us stone her, what do you say?"

Jesus won't be drawn and turns His back on the lynching mob, His knees in the dust and His fingers tracing lines in the dirt.

Commentators have speculated about what He was drawing, but we have no way of knowing. Did Jesus simply draw the outline of a person in the dirt? A call back to that creation story, with God on His knees in dirt, like a child in a sand box, creating. Did this simple act sting with significance for the Pharisees? We can only guess. The important thing, I think, is the message Jesus sent that unnamed women. The one who was scared, angry and alone; conveniently with no male accomplice to face the firing squad with. By getting on his knees Jesus says: "I am here with you, down in the dirt. Not to patronise, condescend, or condemn, but just to sit with you for a while."

Jesus meets us on our level, in a language we know; sometimes to comfort, sometimes to gently correct; sometimes to talk, but always to love.

And He asks us to do the same for others.