Origin: Black Stump Festival, 7.30pm start and open ended. Saturday 5 October, 2002. Repeated with variations at Cityside Quiet Service 15 November 2002.
Theme:
Woman Caught in Adultery. Jesus offers us forgiveness regardless of who we are and what we have done. Having received forgiveness we should therefore offer the same to other people. The key theme is accusation. Jesus doesn’t accuse the woman.
Mood:
Reflective. Positive, hopeful.
Setup:
Main screen carries images of art relating to theme. Large scale. Perhaps second slide projector carries scripture text, low lighting, candles (enough light to read sheet by), sign at door ‘Please choose a stone and a booklet to take in with you.’ Nine Stations set up around room on floor, on tables etc.
Gear:
Ordinary stones/pebbles ie not nice white ones (3 per person plus some), miscellaneous candles, individual votive candles of some sort, water drum, or bin lined with black polythene (deep so it looks bottomless), bread plate, bread, wine goblet, wine, serviettes, rice crackers (wheat allergy people!), cross — medium to large, cushions x 6, pencils/pens x 20 –30, feltpens, (kids sort) x 20,
TRACKS: ‘Grace’, ex U2: All That You Can’t Leave Behind, Jonathan Elias, Prayer Cycle.
VIDS: Yellow wash, piano drowning loop from The Piano (dir. Jane Campion)
SLIDES: Welcome to Worship at Sacred Space tonight. Feel free to sit, lie, stand, move around as you wish to.
John 8/2-11 Text and extracts to highlight,
Other forgiveness texts?
Rembrandt Image (the ‘Woman Caught in Adultery’) x 3 copies.
STATIONS: equipment needed.
Stones pile at door.
1: sand on sheet/poly
2: stones, black barrel with water
3: clothesline, pegs?, paper, pencils/pens
4: bread, wine, cushions x 5
5: stones at door
7: candle trays, votive candles
8: cross, stones
Running order:
1. Prelude:
Handout: booklet of art listings and all Stations, stone.
TRACK: Prayer Cycle, Jonathan Elias play on repeat.
SCREENS: Welcome…
Vid/TVs: Yellow wash
- Intro/Welcome:
Stations… open ended…
- Read Text: John 8/2-11. (relax, close eyes. Listen)
- SCREEN Image: Rembrandt:
Rant 1: Rembrandt was a great Dutch painter, probably the greatest. He was born on July 15 1606 to a local miller and his wife a baker’s daughter. He left his strict Calvinist schooling at 14 to become apprenticed to a local artist. In 1625 he began his career as an independent artist. More than a third of his artistic output was on biblical themes, some 400 pieces.
At 28 he married and his wife Saskia died 9 years later, almost to the day. He was constantly dogged by financial problems and suffered a series of personal tragedies. His two daughters died at ages two and at 3 weeks, respectively. Rembrandt himself died on October 4, 1669 a year after his beloved only son Titus.
He painted this work in 1644, two years after his wife’s death. It is oil on oak, approximately 84cm x 66cm (ie 3 x 2 A4 pages) and hangs today in the National Gallery in London.
Join the crowd around Jesus and the woman. Clasp the stone firmly in your hand…look at this painting by Rembrandt…the woman is clearly the central figure…light seems to emanate from her…she is radiantly white…the colour of purity…there is almost a translucent quality about her…those around her are brightly coloured. The people around the woman are dressed in the clothes of Rembrandt’s day…this is something that is happening now, not just a past event…What is going on in the background? People are kneeling and being judged by the High Priest…there is very little light there…only Jesus brings light and freedom…There is no question of the woman’s guilt…but Jesus is not concerned primarily with that…only with her as a person…There is also no mention in the story of the other party…Adultery takes two willing parties and hurts many more…our wrong doing, springing from the hard places in our hearts always affects more than just ourselves…perhaps some of these people are at the back of the crowd around Jesus, wondering what he will do…There are also elements of a setup here. A trap for Jesus? An injustice is being done. The law stated that for an accusation of adultery to be brought the couple had to be seen, by 2 witnesses at the same time, in the act of having sex. Not just in a compromising situation or even lying in bed together, but in action. And the man should have been accused too, and both put to death. Stoning was an added extra on the part of these Pharisees. It wasn’t part of the law for this offence unless the woman was a betrothed virgin ie engaged. (Leviticus 20/10, Deuteronomy 22/22) And there was no need for the woman to be paraded, the accusation could have come to Jesus without her present. So this looks like a lynching. A set up. A vendetta. And Jesus is caught in the cross fire. If he goes for ‘forget it’ he’s in trouble with the religious law, if he goes for ‘stone her’ he’s in trouble with the Roman law of the day. To say nothing of how the woman might feel. So he admits that she’s guilty… and says that the person who thinks he is guilt free can throw the first stone…the older and wiser men know that they have been beaten and they walk away first…then the young bucks…until no one remains except Jesus and the woman…and the only reason the woman hears Jesus declaration of freedom is that she stayed in his presence…she doesn’t ask for forgiveness, she doesn’t offer any repentance or contrition, and nor does Jesus offer her forgiveness. This is an encounter that is unresolved in many ways…
SILENCE
5. Reread Scripture Text: John 8/2-11
- Rant 2: Continue to hold your stone firmly in your hand. Carry it with you as you journey around the Stations. You may go to them in any order, go to all, or one, or none. (Point out where Stations are…) There is no formal conclusion to the service. You may leave any time you want to from now on…
(Break bread and pour wine as people start to move)
7. Stations…
TRACK/S: Prayer Cycle continues, sometime run Grace ex U2
SCREEN: Rembrandt image continues…
VID/TV’s: Piano Loop (30 min) then Yellow wash.
#1 Imagine that you are kneeling in front of Jesus as he writes in the sand. Write or draw in the sand what you think Jesus might say to you tonight about your life and how you are living it. Remember that he loves you and wants what is best for you. Talk with him about what he is writing about you. When you have finished smooth the sand out and move on…
#2 Write or draw on your stone something that symbolises an aspect of your life that you’d like God to forgive/soften/renew/change/understand. Drop/throw/hurl/place the stone in the water in a way that reflects how you feel about God and what you have asked God to do for you. Repeat the process with another stone if you want to.
‘If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves… On the other hand, if we admit our sins — make a clean breast of them — he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.‘ 1John1/9 The Message.
#3 Injustices abound today. Women, and men, continue to be treated unfairly and unjustly. The people around Jesus are dressed in the clothes of the day. If the painting was set today, who or what might be represented by the woman and who would be accusing her? Of what? What would Jesus say to her accusers? How does this affect the way you should respond in similar situations in the future? Write this on a piece of paper and peg it on the ‘clothesline of injustice’.
#4 Kneel at the feet of Jesus and receive the bread and wine of new life. Remember what Christ has done for you. He doesn’t accuse you. He rescued the woman from a stoning, only to go to his own death shortly after.
#5 Take a stone as you leave to remind you in the future of the ongoing forgiveness and acceptance that Christ offers you, and of what you are capable of doing to yourself and to others when you don’t receive or offer forgiveness.
#6 Put yourself in Rembrandt’s painting. Where would you be? Why? What character do you most identify with tonight? Draw yourself into the painting on the front cover of your service sheet.
#7 Sit where you are and continue to reflect on Rembrandt’s painting and the biblical story. Listen for the quiet voice of God to you.
#8 Have you been an accuser lately? Pointed the finger at someone? Would you be among the first or the last to leave?
Place a stone on the pile at the foot of the cross and walk away. Leave your accusations behind. Move on.
#9 Have you been accused lately? How did it feel? How did you respond? Would you respond differently if it happened again?
Light a candle as a symbol of your prayer for the good of the person who accused you.