Last Sunday I had the privilege of speaking and singing in Styal prison. Last time I went in, I was nervous. I did not know what to expect and some of the girls gave me a bit of a hard time.
There was something very different about this encounter though.

We were not allowed in for some time. The officers at the gate didn’t seem to have our security clearance forms in order – although we had sent everything they required way in advance. We looked at one another and smiled. We knew it was going to be a powerful time.

I was speaking on the passage in John about the woman caught in adultery and asking the question, “What did Jesus say to her?”
I used part of a powerful monologue written by Pastor Bob Hamp. (Something I referred to last week.) They listened without so much as a cough.

I then shared part of my own story, a hard thing to talk about and to hear. Something I had never said out loud to anyone before. It was about the time that I felt most ashamed.
Again there was total silence, except for a few women weeping silently.

Shame is a powerful emotion that fills us with feelings of guilt, embarrassment and sometimes, even fear. But shame is ultimately a liar. It does not speak the truth about who we are and who we belong to.
Shame makes some of us feel angry and lash out; it makes others defensively fearful and clam up.
Shame says that we are trapped. It says that we are dirty and it says that we have no hope. This is a lie. And the lie originates in the very pit of hades! If we are ashamed we won’t step out in faith. We won’t expect God to use us and we won’t volunteer to put ourselves in a place of service.
We will hide in the dark and hope no-one notices us.

The woman caught in adultery WAS caught. Therefore in the sight of the law at least, she was guilty. And yet she is not punished.

As her accusers back off and walk away, unable to throw a stone at her, (unless they first threw one at themselves) notice what Jesus says.

“Where are your accusers? Where are those who want to kill you? Where are the stone-throwers now? Where are those who condemned you? Those who set you up? Those who forced you into this lifestyle? Where are they now?”

She couldn’t see them for dust. The dust that covered her semi-clad body, the dust that had made her feel as unclean as she felt inside.

Jesus then spoke again.
“Neither do I condemn you.”

If anyone has the right to condemn us it is HIM. He is the one who is perfect. He is the one who is without sin and yet He chose to say, “I DO NOT CONDEMN YOU.”

I find it so comforting that this is Jesus’ response to me. Even when I am guilty of something, His desire is that I am convinced of my wrong-doing and longing to turn away from it. His desire is not for me to lie in the dirt and allow myself to get trodden into the mud.

The last thing Jesus says is incredibly important, “Go and sin no more.”

Many of us need to “Go.” We need to leave the situation that is causing us to fall into temptation or sin. If we have a problem with spending too much money we need to cut up the credit card and feed it to the nearest bin. If we have a problem with chocolate we need to stop hiding it in the cupboard. If we have a problem with our self image we must not allow ourselves to repeat words we know are not in line with how God sees us.

“Sinning no more?” Well, we know that is impossible. None of us can truly attain that. So what does Jesus mean? Perhaps it comes back to the lie of shame again. For me, it comes down to who we agree with. Do you agree with the stone-throwers or the stone-maker? Do you agree with the haters or The Healer? Do you agree with those who hold you back and say “You can’t do that?!” or those who say, “Go and sin no more!”

Perhaps today you need to walk past the stones at your feet and chose to move on.