Kindness
It would seem that there are two different types of kindness in the world. There's the "he's so kind, he wouldn't even hurt a fly" type of kindness and then there's the "he's so kind, he would give you the shirt off his back" type. The first type is passive, in that the person who's kind is kind by not doing something mean. The second type is active, in that the kind person goes out of his or her way to be kind to others.
It is this latter type of kindness that I'm suggesting makes up the character of a Christian, and is indeed the kindness that Jesus presents in his parable the Good Samartian (Luke 10:25-37). If you are unfamiliar with the story, it begins with a man (nothing else is told about him) on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho (a particularly treacherous road) being robbed, stripped, and beaten half to death. At this point, as luck would have it, a priest comes along. Contrary to expectation though, the priest crosses to the other side of the road and continues on his way. Next a Levite comes by, and again the result is disappointing as he too crosses to the other side of the path and passes by the dying man. Now it's important to realize that both the priest and the Levite are the "good guys" of the culture and time. They would be like a police officer and a fire fighter in our contemporary context. They would be expected to help the man, but yet in Jesus' story they do not. Finally a Samaritan comes by (these people were seen as at best unfavorable at the time, comparable to a hitch hiker for a motorist). Contrary to expectation the Samaritan stops, bandages the man, takes him to safety and then pays for his room and board until he is able to be on his way again.
Jesus uses this story (which wildly flips the expected roles of the characters) to emphasize who a person's neighbor is and should be (the answer is everyone). For our purposes this story also does a great job of illustrating what Christian kindness should look like.
Now I realize that many of us have no problem being kind to those who are first kind to us, or at least those who aren't mean to us, but we struggle when it comes to being kind to our unkind (or even mean) "neighbors". I'd like to offer some help with this particular dilemma. I had an incident the other night where a person woke me up around 2:30-3:00ish. This person then proceeded to scream and yell at me, and even hit and kicked me! If this was not bad enough, the person also tried to bite me! Now I'm sure you're wondering how I reacted. How would you react to such rude, mean, and violent behavior? Well I continued to hug this person, I sang him a song or two, I even tried to get him to go to sleep in my own bed! Hopefully you're beginning to realize that this was my 8 month old son. Of course you think I'm cheating now. You're likely saying that that's different, that he's a baby. But is it?
The next time someone is being especially un-loveable around you, just imagine him or her as a cute little baby (possibly throwing a bit of a temper tantrum). Most people are able to easily love babies, and quickly will forgive and forget any wrongs that said baby may have done to them, but struggle to give an adult even the benefit of the doubt, let alone show them kindness. Try and remember that we were all cute, adorable, loveable babies at one time. Try to imagine that person once again as a baby, and remember that Jesus calls us to be kind and show our kindness in an active way that goes above and beyond the norm.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor John
Christian Homework #3: Go out to eat this week, someplace where you'll be waited on. Regardless of service (good, bad, indifferent) tip the waiter or waitress well. Remember that as Christians we are called to show our kindness in an active way that goes above and beyond the norm! If you find yourself struggling to be kind to this person, just imagine them as a cute little baby! ;)
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