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Wednesday 20th
Week OT
The Institute
August 12, 2014
THE SCARLET LETTER +++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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In our high school years most have probably read
the classic American novel The Scarlet
Letter by Hawthorne
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In it his protagonist, Hester Prynne (PRINE), must
wear a big red “A” on her clothing to label her as an adulteress
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Most young readers find this Puritan version of
“outing” to be cruel and vindictive
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In fact, Hester is usually viewed more favorably
than the hypocrites responsible for her shaming
OUR SCARLET LETTERS +++++++++++++++++++++++++
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What if we adopted this “wear-your-sin-letter” as
a practice?
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Most preachers would be looking out at an
assembly resembling alphabet soup
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There’d be G’s for greed, S’s for selfishness,
L’s for lying, and so on
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One suspects that attendance would dwindle
rapidly,
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But does that mean we should pretend that there
are no sinners among us, preachers included?
A BETTER METHOD ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Jesus offers a step-by-step process that, at
least initially, does not involve public shaming
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A charitable, one-on-one intervention is the
ideal
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If that doesn’t work, one or two others should
try to reconcile the wayward soul…
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This is to show that it’s not simply a personal
grudge held by one member of the community
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Only as a last resort should removal from the
community be considered
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And even in such circumstances, remember that
Jesus spent most of his ministry among the banished, not with those within the
Jewish community
CONCLUSION
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This step-wise approach, if undertaken in the
right spirit, is caring, constructive, community-based, and in the early
stages, confidential
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That sounds better than our wearing half the
alphabet on one’s garment!
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It’s more loving and transformational
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