|
|
|
Kill’em with KindnessSeptember 24, 2008Luke 6:37-38 37"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." In today’s scripture Jesus is frank with his disciples and the crowds gathered around him. He warns them not to judge, nor condemn others. Instead, he instructs them to forgive and generously give to all they encounter. In so doing, they will receive God’s full generosity and mercy. Failure to put these things in to practice will result in limitations to God’s forgiveness and mercy upon them. God will judge them just as they have judged and condemned others. The bottom line? Love much and forgive often. It sounds good doesn’t? Wouldn’t it be great if forgiveness came that easily to all of us? Just say the words, "I forgive you," and let all the bitterness cease. To keep no records of wrongs is surely a novel idea, but if we are honest with ourselves, it is extremely difficult to do. We might tell someone, "I forgive you," but the next time they do something that hurts us, all that pain that we thought was discarded in the past comes rushing back like a flood. It’s hard to be generous toward someone who has caused us so much pain. At times it seems almost impossible to let go and truly forgive. Retaliation is a form of justice in our world. If someone breaks the law, then there are consequences for their actions. They must be punished. They must be brought to justice. Although many of us don’t want to admit it, we still live with the mentality: an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. On the surface that sounds like a fair and just resolve. Jesus agrees that when someone hurts us we should retaliate, but his idea of retaliation differs greatly from society’s standards. Jesus does not call us to be passive doormats, allowing others to trample over us with no response on our part; instead, Jesus calls us to practice aggressive loving. When we want to retaliate in anger, he calls us to kill’em with kindness. When we want to shout, say a prayer. When we want to get back what has been taken from us, think of it as generosity. Jesus reminds us that anger only breeds more anger. Force escalates force. When we find ourselves in a fiery situation, Jesus cautions that fire only fuels fire. He doesn’t say that we need to allow ourselves to stand their and be consumed by it, but that we can fight the fire with kindness, forgiveness and generosity. These things do not breed retaliation, but rather restoration. I know this sounds idealistic and it is, but this is the ideal that Jesus has given us. Jesus is not asking us to do something that he has never done before. It is because Jesus has been generous to us and has forgiven us that we should also go and do likewise. None of us are perfect. We’ve all offended God and others through our actions. We’ve hurt others and fallen short of the glory of God and we will continue to do so as long as we live. Don’t we want to be forgiven? Then we must also forgive. Prayer: Jesus, Thank you for not just seeing me as I am, but for seeing me in my full potential. Teach me to have a generous heart so that I may love others as you love me. Amen. For more informationRev. Leigh Martin |
 |
|