Show Unusual Kindness
admin Day 6 – Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Hospitality: Show Unusual Kindness
Acts 28:1-2, 7
After we had reached safety, we then learned that the island was called Malta. The natives showed us unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they kindled a fire and welcomed all of us round it… Now in the neighbourhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.
Love & Hesed
by Rev. Dr. Kathy Lopez
“They showed us unusual kindness.” This gem of a sentence from Acts 28:1 is this year’s theme for the World Council of Churches 2020 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. When Paul’s ship runs aground in a storm off the coast of Malta, the people who rescue Paul and his fellow passengers build a fire to welcome and warm them in the aftermath of the trauma of surviving a shipwreck. In so doing the people showed Paul “unusual kindness.”
In explaining their choice of this theme, the World Council of Churches wrote,
Today many people. . . are making equally dangerous journeys by land and sea to escape natural disasters, warfare and poverty. Their lives, too, are at the mercy of immense and coldly indifferent forces – not only natural, but political, economic and human. This human indifference takes various forms. . . . As Christians together facing these crises of migration, this story challenges us: do we collude with the cold forces of indifference, or do we show ‘unusual kindness’ and become witnesses of God’s loving providence to all people?
What does kindness have to do with unity? To me, kindness is the glue that creates unity. Once years ago, I came across the following statement:
Good manners are how a bunch of porcupines manage to live together without hurting each other with their quills.
Kindness, then, can be understood as the next step. The purposeful activity of showing kindness is how we manage to go from merely “not hurting” each other to active engagement in positive relationships with those around us. As Christians, however, we have an even higher calling: “unusual kindness.”
Where does this calling come from? Yes, it comes from Jesus, but long before Jesus’ birth, the God of the Bible was calling people to a lifestyle of kindness. One of the most theologically significant words of the Old Testament, hesed is most often translated into English as loving-kindness, but it also contains within it the ideas of mercy and faithfulness.
In Exodus, the people are brought out by the hand of God from their slavery in Egypt and led by Moses to Mt. Sinai where they make a covenant with God. Essentially, the Sinai covenant can be described as a contract in which the people agree to live as the chosen people of God. This covenant is the Old Testament’s central act of salvation, as I think we can all agree that it is a tremendous blessing to live in special relationship with the one true God. In this way the Bible understands that the first act of hesed is displayed by God toward us. Hesed is directly tied to covenant. Deuteronomy makes it very clear: God shows us hesed and as the people of God, we are to turn around and show hesed to the rest of the world. Acting with hesed towards others is the clear sign of our ongoing relationship with God.
Furthermore, in the Old Testament hesed is usually paired with the verb “to do.” What does it mean, therefore, to do hesed? There is a consistent pattern in the biblical use of the term that makes it easy to generalize the doing of hesed. In a relationship between two people, it is an action that is necessary for the well-being of the other person, and without the doing of hesed the situation in which the other person is found would become significantly worse. The person who is asked to do hesed is uniquely qualified to perform this act, but the person who is asked to do hesed is not at all obligated to intervene nor would there be any negative consequences if he or she did not. Doing hesed, therefore, is the free moral decision of one person to help another based not on obligation to that person, but rather on a freely chosen commitment to the other person in relationship.
The most common use of hesed in the Old Testament is in the context of God’s love for us. Moreover, it is the way God asks us to act towards others. Thus, it is not out of obligation that we do hesed, but it is out of our love for the God who first loved us that we freely choose to do so. Doing hesed is to participate in the love of God, and the natural outgrowth of doing hesed is unity. When my needs are no more important than yours, when your children are just as important as mine – this is hesed. This is unity with God and with our fellow human beings.
Let us not fall into the trap of colluding “with the cold forces of indifference,” but rather “ show ‘unusual kindness’ and become witnesses of God’s loving providence to all people.” Hesed is our calling, not just in thought but in action as we work alongside God to do what is necessary for our fellow humans in order to end suffering where we can and to reconcile this world to our loving God who first showed us hesed. Let us do hesed without obligation or need for reward, in the name of God’s son, Jesus
Christ.
He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
Micah 6:8
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to do hesed,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Reflection
After the traumas and conflicts of the storm at sea, the practical care offered by the islanders is experienced as an unusual kindness by those washed up on the shores. Such kindness demonstrates our common humanity. The Gospel teaches us that when we care for those in distress we are showing love to Christ himself (cf. Matthew 25:40). Furthermore, when we show loving kindness to the weak and dispossessed we are attuning our hearts to the heart of God in which the poor have a special place. Welcoming outsiders, whether they be people of other cultures or beliefs, immigrants or refugees, is both to love Christ himself, and to love as God loves. As Christians, we are called to step out in faith and reach out with God’s all-embracing love, even to those we find difficult to love.
Prayer
God of the orphan, the widow and the stranger,
Instil in our hearts a deep sense of hospitality.
Open our eyes and hearts
When you ask us to feed you, to clothe you and to visit you.
May our churches participate
In the ending of hunger, thirst and isolation
And in overcoming barriers that prevent the welcome of all people.
We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus,
Who is present in the least of our sisters and brothers. Amen.
Miss Sunday’s Message?
Read or listen to Pastor Jason’s message: Can We Talk? The Power of Words
This Week at Hood…
Tuesday, January 28 – 9:00am – 2:00 pm – Volunteering at DUMA Food Pantry (319 E. Broad St, Dunn)
Wednesday, January 29 – 1:30 pm – Prayer & Inspiration
Wednesday, January 29 – 6:30 pm – Choir Practice
Thursday, January 30 – 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Pastor Jason at Inspirational Grounds for Drop-In Coffee & Conversation
Thursday, January 30 – 2:30 pm – Ladles of Love Meal Preparation & Delivery
Saturday, February 1 – 8:00 am – Leadership Launch 2020 in Wilson, NC
Sunday, February 2 – 9:00 am – Men’s Breakfast at Cracker Barrel
Sunday, February 2 – 10:00 am – Sunday Morning Small Group
Sunday, February 2 – 11:00 am – Worship – Sermon: “Can We Talk? Communication or Conversation?”
Coming Events…
Saturday, February 1 – 9:00 am – 1:00 pm – Leadership Launch 2020, at the Regional Office (Fellowship Hall) in Wilson, NC
Tuesday, February 4 – 6:30 pm – DWM (Disciples Women) meeting in the Fellowship Hall
Friday, February 7 – 6:00 pm – Valentine’s Pizza Party @ Pizza Inn (VBS style)–invite a neighbor and join us for pizza, singing, dancing, and learning about God’s love