The way to test diamonds, I understand, is to try to drag across them a sharp object. If they are not genuine there will be a scratch mark on them.

In the same way you can tell the difference between real and fake religion.

Fake religion is shown up when you put it to the test. People can give the impression of being religious but it may be just on the surface and not genuine.

Lent is a good time for a bit of spiritual stock-taking. I wonderHow are we doing ? Is our faith on the right way ? Where do we need to rethink and in penitence make a new start ?

Lent is a good time in our busy lives, when we have so little time or energy, to stop and think. Lent is a good time just to get to know ourselves a bit better and to appreciate our need for Gods forgiveness and renewal.

In the reading from Johns gospelMaybe the woman had been reflecting on her life and had been feeling guilty and ashamed at the way she lived. We dont know.

Most scholars think that this passage is not part of the original Gospel but was added in the second century as the church was taking shape;

and that it was added to reassure Christians of the surprising truth that Jesus loved sinners, wants to forgive them and to enable them to live lives of holiness.

At the same time the Gospel bids us reach out as Jesus did to those who fall short and who are constantly disappointed with themselves;

want to change and to be different, but are just so conscious of failure that they feel worthless.

However this story found its way into the Gospel thank goodness it did.

It reminds us that God is the God of surprises and that Jesus came not condemn sinners but, if we will let him, to forgive us and draw us closer to himself, and to become the people he knows we could be.

Its been suggested that the woman had not been caught in the very act of adultery but had come forward herself to confess it.

Had she been caught in the act her offended male relatives would have had no hesitation in stoning her.

(And they would have felt full of righteous indignation. However, the Greek could mean that the woman had come forward of her own accord; a guilty conscience. )

Whatever the circumstances Jesus didnt rush to condemn her but calmed the situation by doodling in the sand. I wonderWas he buying time ? Thinking how to avoid giving the impression he didnt care about the law of Moses ?

Or how to avoid appearing to contradict his own teaching ?

Did he just want to defuse the situation ?

Or to give his outraged audience something else to wonder about ?

Maybe what he was doing was making a list. Is it possible he made a list of the habitual sins that men commit ? And then, after I imagine a lengthy pause, and without looking up agreeing.

Let the one without sin start (the process of) stoning her. Another lengthy pause.... More writing in the sand.... One by one they slunk away...... Silence......

Then................Jesus looked up. The woman was still there.

Had she really been an immoral person surprised in the act of adultery, she would have taken the opportunity and made her escape. But she was still there. (Sprawled on the ground where she had been flung. )

(Jesus too, I imagine, was crouched on the ground nearby. ) There was no stone in the hand of the one who was without sin. Just a question on his lips. Have they all gone ? Has no-one stayed to condemn you ? No-one, Sir. Neither do I. Go on your way and from now on do not sin again

Forgiveness was the message of Jesus. And sins once forgiven are forgotten.

(Have you really forgiven my sins, asked the anxious penitent. What sins ? Ive forgotten them. Words of such comfort. )

(Dont cripple yourself with guilt but rather pray for Grace for the future. They are words too of challenge. We find it hard to forgive and to forget. Theres no point in burying the hatchet, the saying goes, if youre going to remember where youve buried it. )

If there is one recurring message in the New Testament it is that God keeps on offering us the chance to start again. Human beings are fallible. We make stupid mistakes; are easily led; go off the rails; do selfish and ill-thought out things.

It is very hard to value being forgiven so much that we want to make a new start and also to be forgiving ourselves.

We tend to despise the apparent weakness of the one who forgives.

But the church is called to be the community of the forgiven and forgiving.

The Lords Prayer is full of what we want God to do. But it also has just one sentence that we say we must do.

We are to forgive those who sin against us. (we are to know the freedom of being forgiving).

Go on your way from this scene, said Jesus to the woman. Go on your way.

To do what ? She was safe. But for what ?

Get away from this destructive way of thinking, is the tenor of what Jesus is saying.

And the unspoken implication is: Live as Isaiah had pleaded with the people around him to live. You can sense the outrage and frustration that Isaiah felt.

He put into Gods mouth words of bitter irony:

You lot give the impression of seeking me and wanting to be faithful, but you are just looking after number one. You should be hanging your heads in shame; your sackcloth and ash-sprinkled garments should be a genuine reflection of your feelings about yourselves and your desire to reform. But you are just putting on a good show and kidding no-one.

Isaiah warms to his theme. Let there be an end to injustice and oppression. Share your bread with the hungry; house the homeless; clothe the naked. Do that, and Your light shall break forth like the dawn.

You will suddenly not be able to believe it. You will be living on a more God-like level and conscious of divine guidance.

And that will give you joy and strength and a sense of purpose.

You will feel fulfilled. You shall be like a watered garden, whose waters never fail. Imagine that in a land of relentless heat from the sun.

(You are to be a blessing to all. )

As we begin another Lent we rejoice that God loves all that he has made and never gives up on us; that he forgives all who are penitent;

that he will create in us new and contrite hearts.

Let us spend time this Lent being still; taking time out for a spiritual audit;

listening to the words of release and of challenge that there are in todays readings.

May we then be lifted up above and beyond the wretchedness that can so oppress us.

May we be conscious of mercy and the call to be the community of the merciful, where we all affirm, support and pray for each other that daily we may grow into being those able to see people as people, as sinners called to become saints.

And together may we reach Easter - refreshed, renewed and rejoicing. Amen

The Reverend Greg Roberts, Ash Wednesday, 2011