He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must
be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the
hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the
truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the
devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. 2 Timothy 2:24-25
We’ve been talking about the power
of kindness. Bishop Desmond Tutu said,
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put
together that overwhelm the world.” Mark Twain said “Kindness is a language
which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
Steve Sjourn built a 3,000 plus member church through what he called a
“conspiracy of kindness.” They would simply organize mass kindness events such
as handing out bottles of water and people would be drawn to why people would
even do such a thing. Sjourn wrote a
book about it that started a worldwide movement.
Why would simple acts of kindness
be so attractive and create such a movement?
Unfortunately, I believe it’s because unprovoked kindness is unexpected. In fact, when confronted by such kindness,
people will often ask incredulously, “why are you doing this?” It’s a good question. For followers of Jesus, Jesus gives us our basis in Luke 6:27-36:
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies,
do good to those who hate you, bless
those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to
them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt
from them. Give to everyone who asks
you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to
you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners
love those who love them. And if you do
good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do
that. And if you lend to those from whom
you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners,
expecting to be repaid in full. But love
your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get
anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the
Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
We are kind to others because we are paying forward the
kindness of God. And that changes the
world. Let the kindness movement
continue.
Prayer: God, help us
see how kind you have been to us so that it is completely natural for us to
commit random acts of kindness that change the world around us. Use our efforts to do what we could never do
alone. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for people who starting new jobs this week or getting back to work after a
furlough.
Song: One Day – Matisyahu
