Micah 6:6-8
(What God Requires)
“With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
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?
The other day on facebook, I had something brought to my attention – seemingly randomly – for the third time in a little over a month. When something shows up in my life three times – out of nowhere – from three different sources – I figure it is something I should be paying attention to. This particular thing is a poem, titled "Before You Know What Kindness Really Is," by Naomi Shihab Nye. I’m pretty sure I shared a small piece of it when it first crossed my awareness, but today I want to share the entire poem. You can read the whole thing here: http://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?tid=735
Of the three things Micah lists as the things God really wants from us – to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God – only one has that big, important, churchy sound that we expect from a prophet’s pronouncements - DO JUSTICE. We even hear it in capital letters, don’t we?
Of the three things Micah lists as the things God really wants from us – to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God – only one has that big, important, churchy sound that we expect from a prophet’s pronouncements - DO JUSTICE. We even hear it in capital letters, don’t we?
Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5)
We just expect to hear that in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s big, booming voice. But the other two things required of us in this reading just don’t seem to come out that way. Kindness and Humility are not big, booming words - they are words to speak softly, perhaps even hesitantly – and so they can be, I think, easy to overlook. It’s tempting to think they may not be all that important.
Ask someone, especially a biblical scholar, what the main theme of the Old Testament is and they are likely to say something like “a cry for justice,” but instructions to be kind are also found all throughout the OT, such as:
Ask someone, especially a biblical scholar, what the main theme of the Old Testament is and they are likely to say something like “a cry for justice,” but instructions to be kind are also found all throughout the OT, such as:
Zechariah 7
The word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.
Proverbs 21:21
Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness
will find life and honor.
Many of the stories told about King David, the big hero of the OT, are actually stories about his great battles and bloody victories – as so much of written history is – but there is one story which celebrates his kindness to a vanquished enemy. David was chosen by God to replace Saul, who had failed as king of Israel. When Saul’s sons had, all but one, died in battle – including Jonathan whom David loved dearly -- and loss was inevitable, Saul finally fell on his own sword. David grieved long and deeply for both Saul and Jonathan. Soon after this he was officially anointed as king of Israel.
Now, in those bad old days, when you defeated and replaced a king, the standard policy was to wipe out any surviving family members so there would not be any legitimate living claimants to the throne. But David didn’t think that way. In fact, Saul’s remaining brother was murdered by someone who then came to David expecting a reward - and David had him executed instead. David learned that Jonathan had a living son and sent for him. The young man, Mephibosheth by name, came before David fully expecting to die, but David, instead, welcomed him and for the love he bore Jonathan, promised to care for Mephibosheth as if he were his own son. This was an extraordinary thing to do in those times. David could be bloody and hard when he had to be, but he could also be uncommonly kind.
While Jesus doesn’t use the word much himself in the New Testament, he clearly speaks of acts of kindness, and St. Paul didn’t hesitate to claim it as one of the requirements of a Christian:
Now, in those bad old days, when you defeated and replaced a king, the standard policy was to wipe out any surviving family members so there would not be any legitimate living claimants to the throne. But David didn’t think that way. In fact, Saul’s remaining brother was murdered by someone who then came to David expecting a reward - and David had him executed instead. David learned that Jonathan had a living son and sent for him. The young man, Mephibosheth by name, came before David fully expecting to die, but David, instead, welcomed him and for the love he bore Jonathan, promised to care for Mephibosheth as if he were his own son. This was an extraordinary thing to do in those times. David could be bloody and hard when he had to be, but he could also be uncommonly kind.
While Jesus doesn’t use the word much himself in the New Testament, he clearly speaks of acts of kindness, and St. Paul didn’t hesitate to claim it as one of the requirements of a Christian:
Colossians 3:12
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
Galatians 5
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
If we know anything about this messed up world we live in today, it is that this is a world in desperate need of kindness. You and I have no way to stop the bombs in the middle East -- we have no way to make the racism here in our own country go away overnight – we haven’t made much progress with doing away with poverty, either. It's easy to feel helpless, at times. We do have basically two things we can actually do -- and they are important things: we can pray and trust to God, and we can be a little kinder to each other.
Imagine the result if every person of good-will worked at being just that little bit more kind. It would be a force mightier than any war. Perhaps it always has been. One suspects God has known this all along – known that “love kindness” is not the retiring stepchild compared to “DO JUSTICE,” but that kindness is every bit as powerful and important – and one of the most potent forces in God’s heavenly tool box. I’ve seen how it can change lives -- not only the lives of the recipients of kindnesses, but of the givers, as well.
We are told to not only be kind but to love kindness – to love it. When we love something we seek it out, we dream about it, we look for the chance to work the beloved’s name into every conversation – we want it with us every waking moment.
The author Henry James once said, “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.” We have each of us, I’m sure, received an undeserved kindness at some time or another. It made you feel pretty darn good, too, didn’t it? Imagine being – as the poem I shared says – stripped of everything – imagine knowing loss and sorrow and then receiving kindness ... Imagine being the one who gives that kindness ...
If you can stand one more quote, I have one from Mother Teresa: “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.” Seek kindness, love kindness, be kindness ... It just might change the world.
Imagine the result if every person of good-will worked at being just that little bit more kind. It would be a force mightier than any war. Perhaps it always has been. One suspects God has known this all along – known that “love kindness” is not the retiring stepchild compared to “DO JUSTICE,” but that kindness is every bit as powerful and important – and one of the most potent forces in God’s heavenly tool box. I’ve seen how it can change lives -- not only the lives of the recipients of kindnesses, but of the givers, as well.
We are told to not only be kind but to love kindness – to love it. When we love something we seek it out, we dream about it, we look for the chance to work the beloved’s name into every conversation – we want it with us every waking moment.
The author Henry James once said, “Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.” We have each of us, I’m sure, received an undeserved kindness at some time or another. It made you feel pretty darn good, too, didn’t it? Imagine being – as the poem I shared says – stripped of everything – imagine knowing loss and sorrow and then receiving kindness ... Imagine being the one who gives that kindness ...
If you can stand one more quote, I have one from Mother Teresa: “Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.” Seek kindness, love kindness, be kindness ... It just might change the world.
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