Changed Life = Loneliness?

Once upon there was a beautiful baby butterfly. She was so excited about her new wings that she organized a party to celebrate. She invited her caterpillar friends as well as her new butterfly friends.

On the day of the party, her fellow butterflies hovered over the leaves where the caterpillars sat, refusing to muddy their feet by landing on the same leaf as a caterpillar. The baby butterfly tried to make everyone happy by fluttering between the two groups. The caterpillars ask the butterflies to join them for a crunchy leaf meal, only to be told that butterflies only eat pollen and don’t munch on leaves. The butterflies talked amongst themselves saying how maybe the baby wasn’t a butterfly after all since she still associated with the caterpillars, and she was sitting on the leaf, the speculated that maybe she actually did still eat plants rather than pollen.

Baby Butterfly’s happiness turned into confusion as she discovered she loved her caterpillar friends but she no longer desired to eat leaves as they did. She knew she should fly with the other butterflies because she looked liked them and ate the same food as they did, but they didn’t accept her, and she didn’t really like the way they had treated her caterpillar friends.

So, she fluttered from flower to flower alone, a beautiful new butterfly, lonely and afraid.

John 8: 3 - 11

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

Who do you believe this woman’s friends were after her life-saving moment with Christ?

If she went and sinned no more, would she be accepted by her old crowd?

Would the religious group whom she stood before, condemned, now accept her as one of their own?

Was she destined to loneliness because of Christ’s touch? Should it ever be?

How would we treat her if she walked amongst us now?

She does.