We do not anything about the background of the woman caught in adultery:

• - might she have been a prostitute?
• - or a respectable townswoman having a one-time fling with a neighbour?

But imagine her horror and shame

• . she was caught in the act;
• . she was dragged through the streets to the temple courts;
• . she was shamed in front of a crowd including worthies of religious establishment, along with the dynamic new rabbi from Galilee;
• .she was apparently abandoned by her lover, who by rights should be accused alongside her;
• . now she is threatened with the death penalty: a horrible death by stoning, even though in recent years the Romans have forbidden the Jews from compliance with the old law.

With his (supernatural) wisdom, Jesus perceives the trap set for him by the scribes and Pharisees, and defuses the tension and the anger by saying: He then tells her that she is free to go. And although we sympathise with her greatly, something inside me, and perhaps inside many of you, is mildly annoyed, that she has got off so easily. She is not asked to show contrition, to perform a penance, to say the new believers prayer, or even to join the church.
This is free forgiveness. True grace. The same grace offered to each of us, sinners that we are. Grace that says to each of us also: “Go... and from now on do not sin again.” But actually, if the command of our saviour is taken seriously, it’s not such an easy get out.
He is telling her (and us) to change,
to be different from before: do not sin again.
To reconcile who we are with his standards, and to put right all our imperfect relationships.
Our passage from Isaiah focuses on relationships in society. It’s no good fasting and sacrificing, says God, if you ignore the needy and oppress the weak. Your fasting is no way to build up a relationship with your heavenly father, if your earthly relationships are all wrong. He wants them Some of you will know that we were challenged by a homeless gentleman here on Sunday, and we did for him what we could - a big thank you to those who on our behalf gave him their care and attention. Perhaps we could do more another time. I can hear all the arguments back and forth in my head about the best way to deal with situations like that. We all know that there are no easy answers.
Through Isaiah, God is addressing his people about long-term injustice, not only one-off cases of distress. He is calling for change in the way that they organise their society. And he promises a benefit for them in their relationship with him: that they will enjoy a closer walk with him, knowing the refreshing power of his spirit, and seeing him respond to their prayers. Our epistle reading from 2 Corinthians focussed on Paul’s readers’ relationship with God. He says . and explains that through the cross Jesus takes away our sin and disposes of it. He says Now is the day to make a change... The word Lent comes from an old English word for spring; and some see Lent as time for a spiritual spring clean. That’s great, and for some of us very necessary. But I want to ask whether we can do better than that. My house might need a spring clean; and I clean it; but by next year it will be dirty again and need the same spring clean. How much better if this year I could do something for my house which lasts through to next year? Something with a permanent effect, not just a temporary effect?
What might that mean in terms of our daily lives?

• . It might be a change in our engagement with society - perhaps switching to fair trade products, perhaps giving support to some campaigning organisation.
• . It might be at the level of a personal relationships: putting to rest something bad from the past, or starting something positive that will last into the future.
• . It might be about an individual’s relationship with God: prayer, Bible, worship or service: hearing a call that we have been trying to ignore.

Discipleship should not be about going round in circles, but making a journey in which we are transformed as we grow closer and closer to God. Jesus said: “