Leave Your Sins Behind in the Dust
Photo by Jim Gade
“If your right arm causes you to sin, cut it off” (Matt 5:30). – These words have never been consoling ones for me. Rather, they have always been a little difficult for me to interpret. I received them in a new way recently, however, in the light of Mercy.
These words reminded me of the woman caught in adultery. Scripture says that the Pharisees “made her stand in the middle” of the crowd (John 8:3). How many times have you, too, had a similar experience? Maybe you were not publicly shamed…or maybe you were. Maybe the biggest shaming you actually experience is within yourself. Is there an inner voice that points the finger in condemnation toward yourself? Or do your fears tell you that Jesus would condemn you if you were to stand before Him as all that you have done is rattled off?
The deeper question becomes, “What is the image you have of yourself and of how Jesus sees you?”
Having just received the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the words, “If your right arm causes you to sin, cut it off,” took on a new light. It was not, “This means I must be extremely on guard at all times and do this or else (fill in the blank)”…such thinking would be fear-inspired and self-reliant, not from Jesus Himself. Rather, it was Mercy that gave me the knowledge that I could leave my sins behind. My way of cutting off sin is by leaving it in the confessional, leaving it in Jesus’ merciful, Sacred Heart. No, I am not going to physically cut off my arm, but I can cut off sin from my life by trusting in Jesus’ mercy. How much easier it is to cut sin off when I can trust in His mercy. When I don’t trust, I tend more toward self-reliance, and the whole process of overcoming sin becomes infinitely harder.
And so these words rang out in my heart – “Leave your sins behind in the dust.”
As Jesus encountered the woman caught in adultery, He did not point His finger in condemnation. Rather, He pointed His finger to the ground to form words in the sand. Many say He was writing the sins of all those present, to make the point that all are sinners, not just this woman. What if we entertained another beautiful thought? What if we prayed with Him writing another truth in the sand, that is, the true goodness and beauty of this woman’s identity? She had heard all the lies of shame being thrown at her just like stones. So many of us carry in our hearts of flesh the bruises of the stones of shame that we sometimes even throw at ourselves. Jesus wants to encounter us there, as He did for this woman. What sort of beautiful things would He write in the sand about you?
As we begin Lent, we may find ourselves in a similar place as this woman. All of us find ourselves in the dust, face to face with the reality of our brokenness and our need for a Savior. This truly is a time of dust and yet it is here that we find so many promises. Out of deserts full of dust burst forth rivers of gladness (Isaiah 43), and we are reminded that God brings beauty from the ashes (Isaiah 61:3). If God made us from dust, how much more can He recreate from our rubble?
The challenge becomes this: to leave sin behind in the dust…and trust. Contemplating the woman caught in adultery, I can imagine how the devil would try to lure her back through discouragement. How easy it would be for the enemy, after she had risen from the dust of shame to the truth of her identity, to blow the dust of her past back in her face. I can feel the grit getting caught in her eyes and momentarily blinding her, catching on her lips so she can even taste it, and getting stuck on her face so she can even feel it as she tries to wipe it away.
The enemy will try to keep reminding us of the past and all the reasons why we cannot move forward, but it is in those moments that we can extend a hand to Jesus in trust that He will lift us out of the dust. Jesus has never left our sides and has been there from the moment He called our names. Do not fear when you rise and are met by the enemy again. Jesus Christ is our constant Victor and Friend and is willing to write our true names in the sand of shame over and over again.
May God bless you and free you more and more this Lent!
Scripture for Reflection:
The Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:1-11)
“If your right arm causes you to sin, cut it off” (Matthew 5:30)
What sort of beautiful things would Jesus write in the sand about you?
