ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
November 12, 2022
I was chatting the other day with a woman outside the church. She didn’t know who I was, though in the conversation she asked, “Why is there so little kindness? I think everyone is in favor, at least when they are sitting around with their friends talking about the need for kindness.” Of course, we did not come to any great conclusions on the matter. It was only a few hours later that I overheard a conversation with folks outside the library with their political signs. One guy said to the other, “I’m willing to be nice if the other person is willing to be nice.” Now let’s be clear, no one should ever stay in an unkind, cruel or even dangerous situation. But I wonder if leading with the pessimism of saying, “I’ll be kind if…” is part of the problem. One of the great challenges in choosing to follow Jesus is recognize how he started with kindness, mercy and love. These were not things dependent upon or waiting to be given permission to come alive. This was who he was, and as those who claim to be Christian (to have taken the name of Christ), then I feel pretty strongly that we cannot be holding back our kindness to see whether or not someone else is going to be kind. In the Prophet Zechariah, we read:
“The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.”
I think about the widow, the orphan, the alien and the poor, and in light of their own suffering and pain, they might not even have the energy to be kind. But is God’s call to us to show kindness dependent upon some standard of worthiness or capacity to reciprocate with kindness? Or does the Lord of Hosts simply tell us to show kindness and mercy?
Let me take some risks and put forth the kindness you embodied in Jesus, God. May any hesitation based on judgment of worthiness or my own insecurities fall away so that the kindness birthed out of your love might emerge. Amen.
