Thought for Today
Proverbs 21:21 Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life and honor.
Micah 6:8 He has told you, O mortal, 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?
Mark 14:7 For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me.
Galatians 5:22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
When I commuted to work, I used to enjoy reading bumper stickers. Some were cryptic; some were overt and obvious; some were even profane. I don’t seem to see as many bumper stickers today as I used to see. I’m increasingly seeing more of the magnetic signs on bumpers, often circles like the one on one of our own cars signaling our status as grandparents of a student at one particular high school. Our newest car will not even accommodate that sort of ‘bumper sticker’ because almost the entire back of the car is made of plastic!
One bumper sticker I fondly remember read, “Practice Random Acts of Kindness.” I always loved seeing that sticker. Then and now, I am intrigued by the idea of what would happen if everyone did exactly that. Of course, if we all deliberately and purposefully did acts of kindness, it would reduce the randomness of them; but, imagine, in the words of the song, “What a wonderful world that would be.”
One of the first words I learned in my seminary course in Greek was δικαιοσύνη (d k ah soon a). My lexicon offers as translations into English, righteousness, uprightness, integrity, and mercy. It is often paired with ἐλεημοσύνη (l a ah soon a), translated kindness, charitableness, or compassion. The prophet Micah uses even another word, ἔλεος (a lay ose).
In Greek, as in English, there are multiple words we use to express one idea. You may have heard someone say, “I don’t know anything about art, but I know good art when I see it.” Is the same true of kindness? We don’t know how to define or express kindness, but we know kindness when we see it?
What would happen in our world if everyone committed to performing at least one kind act for someone else each day for no other reason than the kindness of it? In some cases, it is easy to imagine . . . were Vladimir Putin to perform an act of kindness for Volodymyr Zelenskyy many lives would be saved on both sides of an unnecessary war (is there any other kind?). Were Hamas to perform an act of kindness and release all of the hostages, maybe the horrendous carnage in Gaza would cease.
I was a Boy Scout many (more than 10) years ago. The Boy Scout Slogan is “Do a good turn daily.” Imagine a world where everyone of every age in every nation did do a good turn for someone else daily!
Christians know about the acts of kindness shown to Jesus, the anointing of his head with oil, the cup of water offered. We know his words as recorded in Mark’s gospel, especially the verse above. Consider for a moment whether or not Jesus is reminding us in that verse, that every time we “show kindness to them,” whomever “them” might be, we are showing kindness to Jesus by doing so. I believe that is exactly what Jesus is saying!
Acts of kindness need not be random, need not be laborious or grandiose. There are times and places where an act of kindness can be a simple smile. It would certainly be an act of kindness for wars to cease. It would certainly be an act of kindness for all violence against others to cease. Most of us are aware of the ‘big ticket’ acts of kindness, the programs like Doctors Without Borders, the many humanitarian, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working around the world to alleviate human misery and suffering. The recent pandemic has illuminated the numerous grassroots food kitchens and food pantries combating food insecurity. Our own congregation supports just such an organization.
But this morning, I am imagining a world where everyone practices random acts of kindness for others. Maybe if we practiced enough, we would become perfect in doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with our God. “What a wonderful world that would be.”
Stay safe, practice being kind, trust God,
Pastor Ray