4th Sunday after the Epiphany
February 2, 2020
Micah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12
I saw this yellow bumper sticker on a car a few weeks ago, and
then saw it again when I went to Books with a Past, the secondhand bookstore in
Glenwood. Has anyone else seen it before? What struck me about it was that it
seemed like a secular paraphrase of Micah 6:8, that wonderful verse that says,
“What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, to love kindness, and to
walk humbly with your God.” “Do what is just” is “do justice.” “Do what is
kind” is “love kindness.” “Do good," well, that’s the only one that’s not
an exact match. Micah 6:8 is the theme verse for the mission agency I served
with in Nicaragua. It was on the t-shirt I got at orientation and it’s engraved
above their parking lot at their U.S. office in Phoenix. Do justice. Love
kindness. Walk humbly with your God. It sums up what God expects of you. It
answers the question in any given situation of “what should I do?” You should
do the right thing to do, that’s justice. You should do what is kind. You
should not be arrogant or presumptuous about it. There’s another bumper sticker
I’ve seen around that reminds us that this is a choice: #choose2Bkind. Choose
kindness over cruelty. Choose justice over injustice. Choose humility over
egotism. Choose to be kind.
Why? Because there’s an awful lot of unkindness out
there. There is more malice and spite and meanness and harshness and
heartlessness and there doesn’t have to be. There’s a lot of unnecessary
cruelty when it would have cost you nothing to be kind instead. Let’s talk
politics. Yes, I am going there. A study came out last week by the Pew Center
showing how our partisan divide has
gotten deeper over the past five
years.[1]
Only the last five years. You wouldn’t think that much had changed since 2014.
It doesn’t seem that long ago. And our country was divided then, too. Well, we
have grown more divided. Here’s your
homework for this week: have a conversation with someone with whom you disagree
politically and do it with kindness. That means no yelling, no put-downs, no
shaming. It means listening, really listening to what the other person has to
say. It also means being present in the moment and not thinking about your
to-do list or how you want to respond, or how you wish you could respond if
your pastor hadn’t insisted you be kind. Listen to the other person. Repeat
back what you hear them say. We all want to feel heard. You can repeat back, “I
heard you say... X” without agreeing with X. You can love kindness and practice
kindness and choose to be kind without being likeminded. If your like-mindedness and source of
commonality is kindness, then you can talk about any topic under the sun! Make
kindness and love your starting point.
Hillsong Church is a Pentecostal megachurch in Sydney,
Australia. Part of their ministry is a huge music ministry, including writing
and recording many of their own songs, which have become well-known around the
world. One of my favorites is “Mighty to Save,” which came out in 2006. It
begins by saying, “Everyone needs compassion, a love that’s never failing, let
mercy fall on me. Everyone needs forgiveness, the kindness of a Savior, the
hope of nations.” Everyone needs compassion. Everyone needs love. Everyone
needs mercy. Everyone needs kindness. And not wishy-washy niceness but true,
authentic kindness. Love kindness.
Micah was writing in the 8th century BC, most
likely during the reign of King Hezekiah. Israel had prospered economically
under the previous kings but, with increased prosperity also came, as we know,
increased egotistic materialism and mistreatment of the poor by the ruling
elite. Israel hadn’t forsaken God or gone back into idol practices; Israel was
still talking the talk and worshiping God, at least with the words they used.
However, they were no longer walking the walk. They were no longer doing what
God had commanded them to do from the beginning: to take care of the poor and
the marginalized, the orphan, the widow, the immigrant and the refugee, those
who need help. Their mouths were still worshiping God but they were not
practicing justice and kindness and humility. Their lives had become very
unethical according to how God wanted them to live and treat others. That’s why
God got upset with them and sent Micah to scorn them. God brought you out of
Egypt, redeemed you from slavery, and sent leaders to guide you. Remember your
journey. Is the Lord going to be pleased with burnt offerings and sacrifices
when you’re also trampling on the poor? No! “He has shown you, O mortal, what
is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.” That’s what God wants from you.
It is not what the world wants from you. Our society says
self-promotion and self-aggrandizement are the way to go. It doesn’t matter who
you trample on to get to the top. The ends justify the means. And if you
trample on people who are undeserving or poor or otherwise disadvantaged, well,
too bad for them. You’re gonna get yours. You deserve yours. Watch and see how
many Super Bowl commercials tonight tell that message. Or it’s like Sally in
the Charlie Brown Peanuts Christmas special, “All I want is what I have coming
to me. All I want is my fair share.” That’s not how God works. God knows what
you need, and provides it. God does abundance, not fair shares. And, God
doesn’t follow the wisdom of the world. Instead, “God chose the foolish things
of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame
the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised
things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no
one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus.” “The
message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing;” it doesn’t
make sense. It’s not how the world works. The cross says, “Humble yourself in
the sight of the Lord.” The cross says, “Love your neighbor as yourself. And
oh, by the way, everyone is your neighbor.” The cross says, “You can learn from
anyone, even those you would deem un-smart or foolish.” That’s one way you
“entertain angels unawares.” The cross says it’s not about upward social
mobility but downward social mobility. Downsize your house and your cars. Don’t
buy more than you need. Share freely with what you have. Have a conversation
and learn from someone who you wouldn’t normally expect to learn from. Those
whom you would dismiss and disregard can teach you so much. Spend more time
with the poor and those in desperate need of help. Engage in random acts of
kindness.
And
do it, anyway. Choose love, anyway, regardless of the reaction. Not everyone’s
going to approve of your actions. Some folks are going to call you foolish.
When I gave up my teaching job in North Carolina, sold my car, and became
financially dependent on donations in order to answer God’s call to serve in
Nicaragua, most people were supportive, including all church people. But one
fellow teacher asked me what was I doing that for, if I’d really wanted to
teach in Latin America I should have just asked her and she’d have hooked me up
at her mom’s school in Argentina. She thought I was crazy. She didn’t
understand.
Where
we lived in White Marsh, I used to see a guy walking around the community,
sometimes carrying bags of groceries. One time when it was raining, I stopped
and offered him a ride. I knew it was risky, but I’d seen him around and it was
pouring rain. He didn’t accept. He put his hand up and kept on walking. Not
everyone is going to accept your kindness, and that’s okay. Offer it, anyway.
Sometimes
people are going to take advantage of your kindness. Years ago, I participated
in Christmas in July in Philadelphia and we helped repair someone’s home in
West Philly. One year, the couple was very appreciative and grateful. The
husband actually worked with us and the wife was in the other room saying
prayers. The other year, the house was filthy. We had to clean before we could
start work. When we came back the second day, the homeowner had undone some of
our work, ripped the doorframe out of the wall. I actually had nightmares about
that house, it was so intense. And all the homeowner did the whole time we were
there was watch TV. That was actually the first year I participated. Then I
went back the second year for a completely different experience with that other
couple. We help, anyway. We love kindness, anyway, even when others aren’t kind
toward us. But you know what they say next door at Lisbon Elementary School?
Kindness is contagious. When you are kind, when you #choose2Bkind, it inspires
others to be kind, too.
My
cousin tends to post quotes about kindness on her Facebook page. She calls it
her protest against hate. This past week she shared two. The first one said, “Today
you could be standing next to someone who is trying their best not to fall
apart. So whatever you do today, do it with kindness in your heart.” You never
know what someone else is going through, or what life is like in their shoes,
the choices they’ve had to make, the tragedies they’ve dealt with. In line next
to someone at the store, or behind another driver on the road, or anywhere else
you are, they might be trying their best not to fall apart. So be kind. The
second quote from a couple days ago said, “Are you still alive? Are you still
breathing? There’s still time left today to do something compassionate and kind
and loving. Don’t waste it.” It’s never too late to be kind. It’s never too
late to #choose2Bkind. Do justice. Love kindness. Walk humbly with your God.
Actively, intentionally choose to do those things this week. Have that
conversation. And let me know how it goes. Let’s see if we can work to bridge
that divide, or fill some dirt into that chasm. I don’t think any of us want to
see our divisions get worse over the next
five years. It would practically be a civil war. So, be counter-cultural, which
we are, anyway, by following Jesus. Practice justice and kindness and humility
instead.
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