Let He Who Is Without Sin

This was going to be the most difficult day of my working life, I was about to preach a sermon that would either bring my flock onside or alienate them forever.

I, Matthew Ridgway, have been the Minister of a church in a small country town for some three years. The time has been something like the Curate's egg; good in parts. I have been accepted into this town and have made many friends and enjoyed my work in the community, that has been the good part. The bad part was the loss of my wife of six years, Nicolle, in a motor vehicle accident. As a Christian I was bound by my spiritual beliefs to forgive the drunken driver of the other vehicle, but believe me this has been very hard, I am after all, human.

I have been surrounded by friends throughout my ordeal and this has been a great support to me, although some of them espoused retribution and I have had to beg them to forgive. Difficult as this has been it is not the reason for today's sermon, that has been brought about by gossip within the church community regarding my relationship with a young woman.

It started while I was still feeling very saddened by the loss of my soul mate, the woman with whom I had hoped to spend the rest of my life. Jennifer had been one of Nicolle's closest friends and would often have dinner at our house. This was fine, the old dears saw nothing wrong with this while Nic was still alive. The two of them played tennis together, were involved in charity work together and were looked upon as sisters by everyone including myself. It seemed only natural that Jen should offer her shoulder to me in my time of sadness.

The moment that has led to the rumours happened about three months ago. Jen had been tidying up around my house, as she had been doing since Nic died, and had prepared my evening meal, again as usual. We had been having meals together for some time and I appreciated the company, especially during those dark times when I was asking God why he was punishing me.

After saying Grace I looked over at Jen and said' "I really don't know how to thank you for all that you've done for me over the last three months."

"Don't thank me, it was the least I could do. I'm sure that if the shoe was on the other foot you would help me. In fact you have helped me."

"I don't know how."

"Let's look at it this way; we have both lost a very close friend and we have both mourned that loss. We have both supported each other over the time taken to recover from that loss, so you see we have helped each other."

"I still don't know how to thank you."

Jen stood up and walked around to my side of the table, bending down she kissed me on the lips. It was definitely not a platonic kiss. "That will do for starters." She said as she sat down again.

The kiss was unexpected but, to be honest, it was something that I had been hoping for for some time but, not wishing to hope, I had repressed it. "Do you think we should be contemplating this?"

"Stop being a minister, stop worrying about what your congregation will think, there is nothing wrong in us moving our relationship up to the next level. I want to, and I believe you want to as well, so stop thinking with your head and think with your heart, do you want to kiss me, and do you want to make love to me?"

"Yes of course I do but the Bible..."

"What does the Bible say? That we shouldn't make love before we marry? Doesn't it also forbid you to marry me because I'm not a virgin? What a lot of archaic rot! The only reason those Laws are in the Bible is to protect the proprietal rights of the husband. Marriages were an arranged contract between the families of the bride and groom, and proof of virginity was there to ensure that the contract had not been broken. In this day and age very few brides walk down the aisle intact. You as the minister don't refuse to perform wedding ceremonies where the bride is not a virgin so you obviously don't have a strong belief in that Law."

"But that is different, I as the minister have to be setting an example for others to follow and if I make love to you then I am encouraging my flock to do likewise."

"No you're not! As you said if you 'make love' and that is the point, there is a difference between having sex and making love. Having sex is a purely physical act, but making love is part of the bonding process between two people, a part of the spiritual joining together of two people who love each other and whether this happens before or after the marriage ceremony is irrelevant. There is a difference between what I'm proposing and you going to a brothel and paying for some woman to allow you to use her body."

I had to admit that she had a point and for me to take the moral high ground was hypocritical. To deny that I was attracted to her would be to deny my feelings and, whether I liked it or not, my feelings for Jen could not be denied.

"Look," Jen said, "I have been in love with you for a long time, even before Nic was killed, and I've had to suppress that emotion for all of that time, but now I don't want to do that any more. I love you and I don't care if people know that, and I fully intend to marry you sooner or later, I just hope it's sooner."

I had to admit that I have had similar feelings and they have had me tossing and turning over many nights. I've hoped that Jen felt the same way and now that she has expressed her feelings, I can't see what is wrong with moving to the next step in our relationship. I stood up and took her in my arms, she raised her face to me and my kiss left her in no doubt that my intentions at this point were carnal, in a bonding sense.

"Come." I led her into my bedroom and we sat on the bed. I kissed her and my hands began to explore her body. She was more bountifully endowed than Nic had been and my hands moved over those endowments, the nipples of which hardened under my touch. Jen's hand found my zipper and was soon inside my trousers caressing my hardened cock.

I undid her blouse and bra and her breasts stood out proudly from her chest. I kissed them in turn, paying particular attention to her nipples. A moan escaped her lips and she snuggled closer to me, still playing with me. I slid a hand between her legs and she spread them apart to allow easier access to her vaginal delights, my finger slipping under the elastic of her panties and into her moist slit and massaging her.

I stood up lifting her up with me. I undressed her and stood back a little to admire the vision that stood before me. "You are the most beautiful woman that I have seen in such a long time."

She slipped my trousers down and I stepped out of them, "You not so shabby yourself. I have never seen anything like that." She said pushing him down and watching him spring up. "He looks ready for action."

Action he got in spades. Jen jumped onto the bed and lay back with her legs wide apart so I had an unrestricted view of the pleasures that awaited me, her pussy glistening with moist anticipation. Not wanting to disappoint her I knelt between her legs and pushed my cock between her pussy lips. "Oh that is so good." She moaned as he slipped in and out of her. Her hips rose to meet each thrust and her arms were around my waist pulling me into her. It wasn't long before her movements became more powerful until with a soft scream she exploded in orgasmic delight. "Don't stop, please don't stop, I want you to fill me with your cum, I want you to, oh my God, here I go again."

I was reaching my own climax and with one last powerful lunge I emptied myself inside her. "I didn't realise until now what I have been missing out on all these months. I wish we had done this months ago. I realise now that I have been in love with you for some time and I want to marry you."

"You have no idea how long I have waited to hear you say those words, I have wanted to marry you for so long and was beginning to despair of you ever getting around to asking me. How soon can we do this?"

"We'll discuss this later, right now we have some carnal catching up to do."

"Ooh goody." She turned around and wrapped her lips around my cock and began sucking it. I place my head between her legs and was soon licking our juices from her. She obviously liked this because in a matter of minutes a shudder went through her body as she came, flooding my mouth with her juices.

Several more times her body shuddered before I came in her mouth. She released my cock and with a smile like the cat that got the cream she kissed me, her tongue transferring some of my sperm into my mouth. "I bet that there is something in the Bible that says we shouldn't have done that, but do you know what? I don't care what the Bible says, we are two consenting adults who are in love with each other and as long as this gives us pleasure and does no harm, how wrong could it be?"

We held each other close for some time luxuriating in the bond that was growing ever stronger between us before he stood up ready for more action. "Is there no stopping this thing? I don't know if I can keep this up, but I'll try. This time I want you to do me from behind, I know you like it this way." She knelt on the bed with her butt raised in the air. I knelt behind her and pushed him in. I have to admit that the sensation was heightened for me and it wasn't all that long before I pushed it into her hard as I filled her once more with my sperm. "That was amazing! What other ways can we try?"

"Don't you think it's time for a break, we've been at it now for," I looked at the clock radio, "two hours, wow it only seems like half that long. How did you know about me liking it doggy fashion?"

"Nic told me, she told me a lot about what turns you on and what doesn't, although there wasn't much that doesn't. We had no secrets when it came to you." I put my arms around her and we lay together, in each other's arms, drifting off into a deep and contented sleep.

The sun was streaming through the bedroom window when I woke. Jen was still asleep, or at least I thought she was, but when I reached out and put my arms around her she snuggled back into me and said contentedly, "This is how I want to be woken every morning." She turned around and wrapping her arms around my neck she purred, "Good morning my love, I have never been this happy, ever." She kissed me, and releasing my neck with one hand she found and engulfed my cock. "My, he's awake early isn't he?" She rolled onto her back and spread her legs. What could I do, I mounted her, pushing him into her waiting pussy.

An hour and a combined total of five orgasms later, two for me, three for her, we got out of bed, showered and made breakfast.

It was around nine when I said good-bye to Jen at my front door, as she walked down the path one of the more senior church ladies walked by, I could tell by the look on her face that word would soon get around town that Jen had been seen coming from my house in the early morning, "Ooh guess what? I saw Jen Thompson leaving the Reverend's house early this morning, I'll leave the rest to your imagination." The inference being that we had been doing something wrong.

It has been almost a year since that fateful day when my world was shattered, it has taken a long time and a great deal of soul searching for me to arrive at this point in my life and I am finally about to put some sort of closure on this event.

The hour leading up to this moment has been spent in the vestry praying for the spiritual guidance and support I needed at this time. My moment has arrived; the congregation has begun singing the first hymn of the service so I can put it off no longer.

"We have two Bible readings this morning, the first is from the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 12 verses thirty and thirty one, These are the 'two Commandments of Jesus and these are; that you should 'love God with all your heart, soul and spirit and love you neighbour as yourselves'. This is about love, unconditional love, and if you love unconditionally you will not consider yourself better than anyone else, for to consider yourself better than someone is not showing love. Part of unconditional love is forgiveness, forgiveness of sins both real and conceived."

"You all know that I lost my wife in a tragic accident a year ago, and for a long time I couldn't bring myself to forgive the man responsible, until one day I realised that here was a man who up until that time had lived a pretty normal life, he had kept out of trouble and was a loving husband to his wife and father to his children. But he made one mistake, and let's face it we all make mistakes. I prayed to God for the power to forgive this man and it was while I was talking to God that I had revealed to me that the power given to the disciples by Jesus after his resurrection was, according to the Gospel of John, the power to forgive. He asked them to forgive those who took his life, and it was revealed to me that I should forgive the man that took the life of my wife. I went to the prison that he is in and spoke to him. I prayed with him and told him that I knew that he was repentant, and because of this God would forgive him, that I would forgive him and hold no malice toward him. He was grateful for that and I have seen him several times since, we are now friends. He lives in unforgiveness, he is not forgiving himself, and I am helping him, and his family, through that."

"I am not perfect; we are not perfect, God didn't make us that way. Because none of us are perfect we should all be tolerant of each other, forgive our sins and indiscretions just as you would want others to forgive you."

"This leads me to the second reading and that is from the Gospel of John Chapter 8 verse seven which says 'If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.' I have heard that rumours were being put about that I am somehow involved in sin with a woman. I, we have done nothing to be ashamed of, it is not a sin to love someone and to have that love returned, it is not a sin to express that love in a tangible manner and to have that expression of love returned in like manner."

"If I was not comfortable with what I have done, if I believed that God was not comfortable with what I have done then I would resign as your minister, but that is not the case. Jen, would you come up here please?" Jen came up and stood beside me at the pulpit. "We were planning to wait a while before we announced this but, because of the rumour and innuendo going around, we've decided to bring forward our news. Ladies and gentlemen, I have asked her, and Jen has consented, to be my wife, and we are officially engaged to be married. If any of you have a problem with that, or our relationship, say your piece now." I hugged Jen to me and kissed her. It was all out in the open now, we would sink or swim by the decision we have made but our relationship would not sink, it would not have to be subject to the opinions of the masses, it was strong, it was pure, it was real.

There was a movement as a man stood up from a rear pew and walked forward. He stood beside us and faced the congregation. "I believe that I speak for you all when I say, it's about time. Reverend Matthew, it's about time that you realised what we have all known for ages, that the two of you should be together, that the two of you are meant to be together. By the way, the rumours were all along those lines, there was nothing malicious about them, we are all happy for you. Congratulations to both of you and next Friday night there will be a dinner party at the hotel to celebrate your engagement. Now, everyone let us show this wonderful couple just how pleased we are for them."

The whole congregation, including the little old ladies, stood as one and surged forward. So much for the rest of my sermon.

The service finished and Jen and I stood at the front door to speak to the people as they left, anxious to judge their responses. It was all good. If we were to believe the congregations not one of them was involved in spreading the rumours.

Jen and I went to my place for lunch. It was a simple meal finished with a cup of coffee. We ended up in my bed, making our love free from recrimination, free from judgement, slow, gentle, sensual, and an all consuming passion. We were two people very much in love and expressing that love without inhibition and without guilt.

In spite of what some fundamentalist Christians would have us believe, we are at one with each other and at peace with our decision to express our spiritual feelings in a physical, tangible way. If anyone has a problem with that, then it's their problem, not ours.

Like I said 'Let he who is without sin chuck the first rock.'