02-01-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
February 1, 2025
In the Fruit of the Spirit, we find listed: Kindness. In ancient Greek, it is: χρηστότης (chréstotés). The word probably has some root in the Hebrew, chesed, which is usually translated as lovingkindness or steadfast love. As one person wrote, it is that place where love becomes visible and tangible. For someone to be described as kind usually means something. If we are trying to be polite and dance around the honest answer, we usually use the word ‘nice.’ But kindness, at least as I think about it, is something you can point to and speak of from personal experience. 

Tomorrow in worship, we will be talking about kindness, and specifically looking at some Biblical examples of what kindness is and what kindness is not. The question that continues to arise for me, though I’m not going to have time to deal with in tomorrow’s sermon—is kindness something that can be turned on and turned off? Is it simply something that is done or is it something much more integrated into our identity? I’m not suggesting that a kind person will never do anything bad or hurtful, but I am beginning to think that kindness is something that is woven into a person in such a way that it cannot be turned on and turned off like a spigot of water. If kindness dwells within you, then I’ve got to believe that the spigot of kindness is always going to be on, even if it only drips.

Continue to grow within me, O Giver of Life, a kindness that blesses others like a good piece of fruit blesses and sustains life. Amen.