2008 Issue 5-6 - Streams of Kindness - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 2008 Issue 5-6 - Streams of Kindness - Counsel of Chalcedon

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Streams of

Kindness

Rev. Chris Strevel

ovenant

Presbyterian hurch

Buford Ga.

Kindnesses

cascade

through

my mind

like

a mountain stream.

rememher my sweet,

first-grade teacher giving me a

hug

for reading a

story

welL Mrs.

Cornelius,

myoid

and stooped

fifth grade

teacher,

stood

up

to

me, kept

me in

from

recess, and told me in her raspy voice

that

if I

would not

talk

so

much, I

might learn more.

There

was

an old blind woman in a nursing

home

we

occasionally

visited, Mrs.

Daniels,

who

always

welcomed

us

into

her

room with

a

smile,

a song,

and

a

story.

I

can hear

the ball

swoosh through

the net

on the basketball

court

my father built for

me

one summer. y high

school Bible

teacher often

met

me

for

breakfast

before 8choo1

and

used the time to encourage

me to rise above mediocrity and live for Jesus

Christ. For

many years,

the

mailman

would

stop

his vehicle and talk with me about

life.

\Vhen

I

graduated from high school, my pastor

gave

me

a

life-altering book with an inspiring

inscription.

Streams of

ldndness continue

to flow. A

student takcs the time

to

write

a

brief note

of

appreciation

for

the

year's

instruction.

A

church member sends me an

encouraging

note

of appreciation for a sermon or visit. One of

my

children

gives me a hug at just

the

right

moment -

not knowing that

I

desperately needed

it.

For years,

an

older Christian couple

sent

my family a monthly gift; it

often

arrived in the

nick of

time.

A

church member

stops me

on the

way out thc door to ask, How

are you

doing?

My

beloved

wife

serves with cheerfulness.

The

ounsel

of

halceci



I am soaked with kindness.

realize

that my life has been

a continual outpouring of my

heavenly Father's goodness

and love. He

uses

a variety of

persons and events. \Vhen my

heart

is

rightly

humbled,

these

memories inflame

my

heart to

love

and

serve him more. They

wipe away depression as the sun

shines through the clouds. The

goodness

of God flows down

from the

sacrifice

and

merits

of

the crucified one. This is my

chief ancllife-defining kindness;

the Son of God died for

me,

for

my lovelessness,

that

in

place

of

my selfishness

he

might

erect

a kingdom of selfless love.

I reflect upon

those

things that

seem to

matter

the

most

to

men

today: comfortable surroundings,

economic

security,

personal

beauty, sexual satisfaction, fame.

What

have these things to

do

with love? Will

they last?

In old

age, will their memory sustain

and comfor-t? Today, will

these

things

change

me

for

the better,

or will they cause

me

to descend

deeper

into

the

inescapable

labyrinth

of self-seeking pride,

the

harbinger of

further

discontent. I

want something solid, enduring,

memories to cheer the heart and

give

hope

when

the

dark

days

come, something to

demonstrate

heyond any doubt

that

I truly

know God and am an heir of his

eternal

kingdom. In the process,

I would like to make the world a

better

place

somehow, some way.

I

am

wearied with superficiality,

to-do

lists,

the meaningless

offerings of a burned-out

culture

looking

for meaning

in

a world

raped of

purpose

beyond the

immediate, the next big

thing,

and the next opporttmity

to forget its emptiness.

place? It is

too

big,

too

distracted.

I see

men

fOCUSing upon

political

change.

f

we could only get the

right men elected to

high

offtce,

better

laws passed, less (or more)

government interference, more

(or less)

market

autonomy.

Ah,

that

would

be lasting change. So

goes

popular wisdom. Even the

church

has become

just another

political

player, albeit with an

ostenSibly better platform

and

moral authority

from God. Yet I

see the

lives of many Christian

leaders. Integrity is often lacking.

Those who shout God's law the

loudest are sometimes the first

to

practice

pragmatism, to seek

their

own

interests, not those of

Jesus Christ.

Do we really have

moral authority?

Our

divorces,

immoralities, and

everyday

meanness

belie

our

profession

to

be on God's team, to be servants

of the crucified One. We

are

self-seekers.

Celebrity-ism

is

as rampant inside as outside

the

church.

Again, artificiality,

salesmanship,

and marketing.

Will these things produce

lasting

change? I

sense

that the

tides

of

political change

are

fickle. Good

and bad, conservative and liberal,

isolationism

and

globalism -

the voice of the

sirens

is

heard

through

both - calling

me

away

from what lasts, the real source

of lasting change, in my

own

life,

in the church, and in the world.

The hubris of professing

cross-bearers is suffocating. We

will change the world. 'Ve will

transform

culture.

We will build

the kingdom

of

Jesus Christ.

Where? \'Then? Life

in

the church

has become like a new

restaurant.

t opens to rave reviews. It claims

to offer haute

cuisine,

to

have

discovered

the

ultimate reCipe for

success, for things that will work,

satisfy, change, last. Do our lives

\\There should I

search? Wbat

back up thesc

claims,

or, as I fcar,

can I

do

to make

the

world a better is

the

name of God

blasphemed

j vJahin,g

the lVations

Chri.st s

isciples

among the Gentiles because of

us,

because

we

say

one thing and

live another, because

even

the

ostensible good we undertake in

the

name

of God is

often

done

with meanness and arrogance?

Have we

changed anything,

recently, for

the

better? Or are

we

simply another postmodern

player seeking to grab power,

whatever

power we

can,

in order

to impose

our

image

upon

the

unwashed masses,

which we

consider ignorant hoi pollOi,

unworthy of our time

and energy

unless

they

can somehow serve

our interests or make us feel

better

ahout

ourselves, that we are

accomplishing something. Are

we simply

religious

consumers,

using up men,

b o o J ~ : s

and

experiences to promote ourselves,

our

own

agendas, 'even though

we convince

ourselves

that our

agenda

is written

on the

reverse

side

of

the

Ten

Commandments?

Good

restaurants

often fall into

mediocrity,

or they are franchised

into sterility and sameness. Is

this our faith? Have we let the

truths that once excited us to

action

and

ardor become

another

been

there, done

that phase,

leading us to search for the

next big

thing

in the hopes that

it will really be the answer.

rVe

sense that

we

must

do

something. The

evening

news and

the

evening

blog give

little reason

for optimism. Whatever is left

of the \Vest, of liberty, saCrifice,

and

courage,

whatever we once

really

had

of faith

and

family, of

kinship

and

worldview solidarity,

is rapidly deteriorating. Yet,

do

not we have a great commission?

Do

we

not have the

promise

of the

Son of God's presence

and

power?

Yes, we

say

to ourselves. There

is power

in

the cross. There is

another King, one

Jesus.

I have

heard of his transforming

power

in past ages, likely

worse times



Streams

ofJ indness

than

those

in which

I live. So,

we

think, let us duplicate the

past,

recover its magic, speak

in

its idioms,

dress in

its costumes.

Again,

frustra tion ensues. The

glories of

the past are not

connecting

with

the

realities

of

the present. No one is listening

to

me,

except the

few who

share

my

concerns and

have

already

adopted

my

outlook.

Should

we do as some have suggested,

prepare

for a new darh: ages

and

form enclaves of

intellectual and

spiritual monasticism, hoping

to survive

the

approaching

storm, the

surge of

secularism.

Wherever one looks,

this

surge is sweeping

the lands that

once

claimed to

be

bastions of

truth,

knowledge,

and

freedom.

For several

generations, our

economy has

been controlled and

manipulated

by an

unholy

trinity

of statists,

corporate

interests,

and

speculators.

\Vorthless,

unbacked

currency, escalating debt,

and

frantic

consumerism are the

results.

Our

government schools

are

indoctrination centers

where

youthful

guinea

pigs

are

fed

the

poison

of behavior-controlling

drugs,

revisionist history,

and

sexual license. It is little wonder

that

boys are rebelling,

sometimes

taking

up guns,

and

girls

are

running

to the temple of sex to

find

warmth. There

is

no certainty

to be found, for objective

truth

has

been

exiled; its

claims are

too

uncomfortable, demanding,

and

embarrassing.

The

foundations

of

nobility, honor,

and courage have

been

systematically

eroded

from

the broader culture

by the forces

of agnosticism,

materialism,

and

entertainment.

Relationships,

even the most intimate, are

used and

tossed away like

an

old

shirt. The men

who hold

the reins of power would not

have been

allowed to serve

as

janitors in past

ages. The

fearful specter of professional

politicians, government

by

unelected bureaucracy,

and

special

interest,

against which

we were

constantly warned by

our

Founders,

has

left us with

few options;

most

withdraw

from

the

process

in

recognition

that the

system is

terminally

diseased.

Yet we

think

our

way

of life to be

the

best

and

go to

war

to

make others participate

in

our mediocrity, support

our

appetites,

and

enjoy

our

definition of liberty:

uncensored

access to pornography, radical

egalitarianism, and

expensive

consumeris m. Comparisons to

the ancient

Roman Empire

are

made.

Julius

Caesar, however,

when

conquering Gaul, freely

admitted that

Rome was

not

bringing

a

better

way of life to

the barbarians,

and

that

if

he

were

in

their place,

he

would

fight for liberty with

the

same

tenacity, refusing to

yield

to

those

bent

on

subjugation.

At

least he

was honest.

I remember ldndness.

have seen beauty, sacrifice,

and

nobility.

The

streams

of

kindness wash

over me. Love

has changed me

for

the

better, I

hope. God's love certainly has,

for

he has redeemed the

world

through the

sacrifice of

his

Son.

Here

is

something

upon which I

can build my

life, a

power that

needs no

great organization

or

slick advertisement. Kindness.

Love.

Putting the other person

first. Refusing to

think only

of

my

own needs, duties,

and desires

but

recognizing

that

others are

image-bearers.

Ultimately, life is

about

the

meaningful interaction

we have with

others, whether

believers

or

unbelievers.

Other

men

are not

a

supporting cast in

the

movie of life

that

is all

about

me. This is

the

way most of

us

live; we

think

of

others only when

the tangent of their lives intersects

with ours. 'Ve

then

hasten

back

to our private script,

glad

to

be

frec of

the inconvenience

of

human

contact. Back to the

computer,

television,

or

whatever

electronic gadget givcs

us

a sense

of

order and

control. 'Ve

slink

into

the

cave of self.

This

has

made us

ugly,

self-centered, and

useless. Even

in the church, what

is the purpose of

our

theology,

our

piety,

and our programs

if

not

to glorify God

and

to serve

one

another?

Neither of

these

is

primarily directed

to

the

self,

though

the self flowers only if

in

forgetfulness of self, God,

and

my brothers are

made

the

object of

my

desires,

service,

and

sacrifice.

Then,

I

remember

what Jesus

said. By this , all

men shall know that

you

are my

disciples, if you love one another.

The

Power of Love

Jesus' words

echo through

the

universe. ·When

he spoke

them,

the world was dog eating

dog.

The

Roman

philosophy

was

might makes

right. Pilate's

agnosticism

sums up

the Roman

outlook \¥hat

is truth'?

In such

a climate, love was a hindrance

to conquest, to control.

The

Jewish outlook

is

infamously

exemplified by the

Parable

of the

Good Samaritan.

None

but

one's

own speci.fic group is

worthy

of

attention

or affection;

the entire

Gentile

world was

unclean,

sub-human.

Jesus, however,

touched

lepers. Unthinkable.

Among his circle of associates

were

many

godly women;

in the

Talmud, to

speak

to a

woman

is

to

take

a step toward hell. He

counted the

dregs of

society as

his field of labor, moving among

them, encouraging them, healing

them,

preaching to

them

the good

news of

the kingdom

of God. He

was moved with compassion

toward

them,

for

they

were

as

sheep

having

no shepherd. '¥hen

the

fickle, unbelieving

masses

The

ounsel

of

haleed



eventually turned upon him,

tens of

thousands

of

healed and

restored men stood as witnesses

against themselves, against

their

own experience of

the

transforming

power

of the

love

of

God

in

Jesus Christ.

t

is

no

wonder

that the

kingdom

of

God

was taken away from

them.

They

rejected love. To

his

disciples,

Jesus

manifested the same

love.

The night of

his

betrayal stands

out and

is

the context

of

his

call

to

love. The disciples were

shocked

to find Jesus, their Lord,

kneeling

to wash their filthy feet. It

is

not,

however,

the

filth

that makes his

love

so dramatic. It

is,

rather, that

the Son

of God would so humble

himself,

so

love

his

disciples

that

he would take the lowest place.

His was

no

false

humility, no

artificiality,

no pretense, but pure,

personal, sacrifiCing love.

Peter

was so

abashed that he initially

repulsed

Jesus display of love.

It

is my guess

that the strength

of

his resistance

was

prompted

by the

depth

of his pride. f

he

allowed Jesus to

wash

his feet,

Peter

felt

that

his understanding of

leadership,

of diSCipleship, of

the

kingdom of God

must

be radically

altered.

It

was

not

a

matter

of

who would sit

at

Jesus

right

hand but who would kneel

and

scrve with

him.

Jesus pointedly

demonstrated true greatness:

to

assume

the position of the lowest.

The power of love

triumphed

over

human

arrogance. It crushed it.

Peter

and the other apostles, the

church, and eventually the

world

would

never be

the

same

again.

Another

event, however, occurred

first

that

sealed

the

power of love

and

gave

universal significance

to his go

and

do likewise.

Having loved his own, he loved

them

to the end. This is

not

dramatic

flourish

on John s part.

t is a declaration

that our

Savior's

life of suffering

and

service,

his

Making

the

Nations Christ s Disciples

final

hours

of agony,

and

his

atoning death were all

prompted

by

his

love for

his

people -

eternal,

unfail ing, sacrif icing love. Yes,

he

was absolutely

committed

to doing the will of his Father,

but

even

here

we

must

fall

back

upon

love.

Jesus

loved

the Father

perfectly; this is the

reason he

obeyed the

}lather perfectly. Jesus

loved

those

given

to him by

the

Father; this

is

the reason he

was

willing to endure the cross

and

despise its shame. At

the

cross we

are confronted by

divine

justice

satisfied; we are also confronted

by

absolute love

manifested.

God

so loved

the

world that he gave his

only begotten Son. It was love

that

prompted such

an

incomparable

gift.

t

was love

that

motivated

Jesus

to offer

himself

for

our

sins. It was love that led to a

new idea

and

power

in the

world:

agape. Love is sacrifice. Love is

active. Love is service. Love is

selfless. Love lays down

its

life

for its friends.

\\ hether

we

think

of Jesus

interaction with

the

struggling men

and

women

of

his

day, his

example

to the disciples

or

supremely

of

his sacrifice on the

cross,

love defines

and dominates

the

horizon

of thought.

It

seizes

the heart and will

not let

it go. t

is no wonder that Paul prays that

we

might know the height, width,

depth,

and

breadth of

the

love of

Christ.

t is no

wonder

that

the

knowledge of

this

love is

said

to

fill us

with

all the fullness of God.

God

is love. His love

redeemed

the world,

changed the

world,

and

introduced

a new paradigm of

power. ·What neither politics, nor

education,

nor

all

the treasuries

in the

world

can

do,

God did by

love. He

reached

down to us

from infinite glory

to provide

an

indescribable gift that we

might

know, have,

and practice

love.

Stream >

ofKindness

Love Transforms

And so God's love

changed

the

world. His love was

not

mere sentiment, a blank check

of forgiveness,

or

any other

of

the

love

potions ordered by men

today. His love is sacrifi ce, the

active purpose, compassion,

and

power to do good, to benefit

the undeserving, to save his

people from their sins. His love

is

not

lawless, for

the

first step

in

restoring

the rule

of love was

to satisfy

the demands

of his

justice. In

his Wisdom, mercy

and

truth, love

and

justice,

met

and

kisse d. Love proVided

the

sacrifice;

justice

was satisfied

through substitutionary

love.

Propitiation was

provided through

sacrifice. By thiS,

by taking us

into

the depths of Trinitarian

love,

he demonstrated

that

the

world

is

fundamentally

changed

not through

politics, education,

or philosophy,

but through

love -

his love first, the love of his

Son

in

history,

then the

love of

the

Spirit

in our

hearts responding to

and pulsating

with

his

love. The

earliest

believers were

known

for

their

agape feasts,

the

meals

they

shared together at the conclusion

of their worship gatherings,

during

which they observed the

Lord's Supper. Even

the

pagans,

who despised

this

new

sect,

first

as nocturnal perversion

then

as

an

enemy of

the state,

were

compelled to note the reality

of

their

love for one another,

even

for

the

lost.

Here

was

no

private

sect,

enfolded into itself,

viewing outsiders with suspicion,

concerned with nothing

but

its

own piety,

making

political

change

its

primarily goa1

According

to

the

followers of Jesus, the old

prejudices

of

race, economics, and

class,

the

fodder of power politics,

conspiracies,

and

imperialism,

were abolished. All were

sinners;

Continued on

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36

Stremns

of Kindness

Continued rom page

all might enjoy the

reality

of God's

love. But

the

love of

Jesus

was

the

strongest

love of all. Men,

women,

even

children

would die for

the

love of

the

crucified One. And

they would die singing praises,

practicing kindness

to

their

tormentors,

calling

upon them

to

repent

and

know

this

love.

The

last surviving apostle, John, when

he was

no

longer able

to make it

to service under his

own power,

was carried in a litter. His last

known

public words were: Littl e

children,

let us

love

one

another.

f we do this,

it

is enough. t

was.

The

masses of

Roman people

began to notic e. By

the

end of

the

second century, m any

of

the pagan

templcs,

according

to

Pliny, were

hardly attended. Love

began

to

triumph.

Sacrifice was

noticed.

Pagans became non-pagans.

Persecution only intensified

the

torch

of love, for

it caused the

masses

to

feel pity for

those

being

tormented

for

such

a simple,

wholesome,

and

kindly faith.

Dangerous Delusion

Then, a

great

tragedy

occurred.

Constantine the Great

adopted

Christianity

as

the

official religion

of

the

Roman Empire. This in

itself might have been a good

thing. Love

and sacrifice might

have continued to flourish. Being

freed from

the constant specter

of

persecution,

love

might have

found broader and more efficient

outlets and

opportunities. Yet

when

Constantine attended

the

Council of Nicea

in 325

A.D., he

saw

elders

and

bishops

entering

without limbs,

with

gouged out

eyes, wearing

the garments

of

their poverty

-

the

effects of

the

last great

Roman

persecution only

two

decades

earlier. He thought

to himself,

The

leaders of

the

church

should have

the

same

dignity, prestige,

and earthly pomp

as their former persecutors.

lIe

erected grand

worship facilities,

clothed the church's

leaders

in

the vestments

of worldly dignity.

Love was undermined. Ambition,

greed,

and splendor obscured the

brilliance

of love

and the beauty

of

sacrifice.

The

cross lost

its

thorns.

Constantine's actions, whatever

his

intentions,

laid the foundations

for

the

medieval papacy,

with

its external religion, political

intrigues,

and

non-crossing

bearing

ethic.

Constantine sought

to enrich the church;

he

actually

impoverished

it

by removing

the cross from its shoulders

and

clothing love

with

worldly robes.

Yet, love was

too

powerful

to

die.

It

was

kept

alive

in

the

hearts of many of

the church's

leaders, like Augustine, Anselm,

Bernard

of Clairvaux,

and the

V{aldenses. As long as

the

gospel

of

grace

was kept

more or

less

pure, even if many non-authorized

traditions crept in

under

the cloak

of expediency,

external

unity,

and tradition, love survived.

t

flamed

forth

again

when the

word

of

God

began to strum the

chords

of

the

human

heart. Romanism

was dying.

t

denied the crucified

One, reduced

him to

a cooperating

grace,

denied the

all-sufficicncy

of

his once-for-aU sacrifice,

and

sought true

religion in

the

traditions

and

rituals of power

hungry bishops

and

popes. God's

word

became

available again

in

the

common tongues of

men,

who, finding

this

long-forgotten

treasure and

selling

everything

for

the

pearl of great price, began

dying again

for

truth,

for

the

lovc

of God in

Christ,

for

onc

another

as fellow-servants of

the

Lord of

love. A

great Reformation bcgan.

The

cobwebs of a

millennium

of love-choking false doctrine

and life-destroying ritual were

swept

away.

The magnificence

of God's love began

to pecp

through human ambition and

pomp. Sacrifice surged. Simple

religion, biblical religion freed

from

human

wisdom

and

tradition

gained ascendance. Nations were

reformed. God's law

and

love

for

Christ formed

new

nations.

Truth

begat

love; love

begat

sacrifice;

sacrifice begat

liberty.

Then, religion

turned

inward.

Great awakenings of religi US

feelings

often

gave way to

emotionalism, pietism,

and then

transcendentalism. Prosperity

hrought

forgetfulness of God. Men

began resting in the trappings of

liberty

while ignoring its

roots

in

the truth

of God's love.

The

city

of

man desired the fruits

of

love

through

the

centralization

of governments,

planned

economies,

and

commercialism.

Theological liberalism joined

the

fracas by

turning

God's

love

into mere sentiment, or

a

paradigm of thc God-within,

or

social humanitarianism of

general religious feelings

without

the

ties of divine

truth that bind

the heart

of

man

to

the

saving

love of

God in Christ and

give

legitimate direction to love. And

now?

\Ve

seem to have

imbibed

Constantine's

vision of an

outwardly splendid church: grand

buildings) political involvement,

diminished

cross-bearing.

The

church in the

West

has

lost its

edge because it no longer wields

the

two-edged sword of

Christ

upon

itself,

then upon the broader

culture. Vve seek

detente with

the

world

through

conservative

alliances. \ /. Te market religion)

as

if

gospe11ove

and doctrinal

orthodoxy can

be

sold

in

a catalog.

\\ e

worship gurus. We look for

light,

but hehold darkness. Truth

is trampled

in the

streets,

the

money-changers have

returned

to the

temple, and love

perishes

in the

wake of

our

hubris.

vVe

are

too busy to wash

the saints'

feet, too

impatient to

engage

in

The

Counsel

qf

Chalcedo



man-to-man discipleship, too

leveraged to live

the sacrifice

of our Savior. Our religion is

another commodity,

a

personal

hobby, something to make us feel

good after dinner, intellectually

superior,

and

morally satisfied. We

have

put

our trust in governments,

top-down political

movements,

and dominion slogans. And

thus, our circumstances become

more

perilous, our liherties

more precarious, and our lives

more puerile. 'Ve have almost

placed ourselvcs

in the

position

of needing a miracle to survive.

Progressive Change

The miracle

is

in our midst?

t

is love. There is nothing like i t

in

the

entire

world. Love changed

the world. Through the sacrifice,

resurrection,

and

enthronement

of Jesus Christ, the lover of our

souls, the world is no\v filled

with

men,

women,

and young

people who profess to know

his

love in

their

hearts. They may

be black or white, rich or poor,

scientists or

plumbers.

Each has

one testimony. I

was

saved

by

the love of God

through

the Lamb

of God. He first loved me.

Herein is love,

not

that we loved

God, but

that he

loved us, and gave

his Son to be the propitiation for

our sins. ·Where this

confession

is legitimate,

it

will manifest

itself in labor produced by love.

Such labors are

very simple

but

indescribably profound:

meals

taken to the sick

and

elderly,

compassion

to

the

homeless,

service to

an

unbelieving

neighbor, teaching

toddlers

in

Sunday

school, thinking of

others as being more important

than oncself, praying for others

without ceasing, refUSing to

pass on gOSSip endeavoring to

believe the absolute best about

others, patiently

bearing

with one

another's faults, longsuffering,

VlaJdng

the Nations Christ s Disciples

rejoicing in the success of others,

even

if I am

no

t particularly

successful,

giving any anonymous

gift of money to a poor

brother

in

Christ, lOVing the outcast,

showing

hospitality to the stranger. Even

giving a

cup

of

cold

water,

Jesus

says,

i f

it is done in his name, will

be rewarded. The works of love

arc cndless, each carrying

within

itself the power of the Savior, the

presence of the Spirit,

and the

imprimatur of the God of love.

Each contributes to the bUilding

of Christ's kingdom, the overthrow

of Satan's

regime

of sin-blinded

selfishness

and self-absorption.

Each requires

no

great

organization or advertisement.

The

love of

the

crucified

One

cannot

be

augmented by our pomp

and circumstance.

t thrives

best

where

mcn

sec their citizenship

as being

in

heaven,

their

glory

the

cross,

their

banner

the love

of

God in

Christ. And even

with

respect

to

enemies

of the gospel,

they

arc not

the true enemy, for

we

battle not

against flesh and

blood. They can be

released,

as

we have been, from thc clutches

of

the

evil one

by

the

power

of

divine love. I

must show it

to

them. I must declare how

he

loved

me, the wretch in the famous

song,

the wretch whose only

testimony is that amazing grace

and love brought

me

out of the

kingdom of self and stuff. rfhere

is

no

room for rancor or ridicule,

for the servant of the Lord must

not quarrel but be gentle toward

all men. I

must

forgive, even

as Christ

forgave me. f

Christ

forgave

his

enemies,

can

I do

less?

Admittedly,

love docs

not

change the world ovelnight, and

our impatience has

made

us easy

prey for promises of quick change,

whether that

change

is

primarily

thought of in terms of politics,

economics,

or

educational.

The

real changes, the lasting changes,

Streams

of

Kindness

arc usually hard fought, the

result

of patient continuance in well

doing. At the top of the

list

of

well-doing is daily living the love

of God in Christ. Jesus said this

is the way all men will know we

arc

his

disciples. For

the

world to

know the transforming

power

of

love in

the

fullest

sense intended

by

Jesus, the world at some level

will have to be converted.

It

will come to believe in Jesus

Christ as the Son of God. It will

come to recognize

that there

are legitimate disciples of Jesus

Christ

out there -

not

religious

users,

political

manipulators,

arrogant strategists

with

whom

one

cannot

spend

more than five

minutes

without questioning

whether they really

IUlOW

the God

of love. The Bible never

says

that

all

men

will

know

we

arc

Christ's

disciples

because

we have resolved

the great

political

questions of

our

times,

or discovered the

educational paradigm of the ages,

or out-argued all faith's detractors.

t says this only of love,

the

love

of Christ's disciples .And for this

love to effect

transformation,

it must embrace all.

Calvin

once said that believers ought

to embrace the whole world in a

universal feeling of love. Vve

are

the

only

ones who

have

a reason

and

arc

able to

do

this, for we

are the only ones who see

past

the

divisions produced

by class,

race, and

greed.

'Ve arc the only

ones

who

have felt the intense

lovelessness

in

our

own

hearts

and

have

run

to the Savior of love to

change our hearts. And thus, we

arc

the only ones

who

can

truly

love others, sacrifice for others,

and

forgive even

our

enemies.

Vle were

once

God's enemies; he

loved us whcn we were unlovable.

Transformed by love, we desire

and have

the

power of God's Spirit

to love as

Christ

loved. His love

changed

the

world;

the

love of

his disciples will

do

the same.



38

Streams

ojKindness

I loathe

my

lovelessness,

my

selfishness. I keep running back

to the

fountain of God's love,

Jesus Christ.

I

desire

to

be healed

by

his touch.

I have

seen

other

heaIed men, other loving men,

and

women.

Jesus has touched

and

healed

me

by his

love through

their love. I would not be here

without

their

kindnesses.

I

shall

remember

their cups of

cold

water

given

to me in Jesus' name

for

Blessed

are the J \lerci/ul

Continuecljrmn

page 5

and

is

an

insult

to

the

real

gift

and

blessing

of

the salvation

of

the

King.

The

religious

leaders

of

Jesus' day

failed

to

honor

God

and live

truly

righteous lives.

They did

not

have as the

source

of their behavior -

the

Spirit of

God,

working in renewed hearts.

Therefore, they had

forgotten

mercy. In fact, Jesus admonished

them to

go

and learn

mercy.

B

Mercy is a

perfection

of

God

The word merciful in v. 7 is

deornan. (2)

It

is those that

show

mercy

in all their being.

The

word

comes

from eleos

meaning

compassion, which

is

a sympathetic consciousness of

other's distress,

coupled with

a

desire to alleviate

the

distress.

It

is a

sympathetic

sorrow

for

the

one

suffering. t is also described

as pity. One of the primary words

of

the

Old

Testament, chesedh,

communicates the deep richness

of mercy,

especially as

it is

seen in

the

perfection of God. It relates

compassion, lovingkindness, the

pity

that God has,

not only on

redeemed man,

but

the entirety

of

ereatian.(3)

Ps. 145:9 Jehovah is

good

to all, and His

tender

mercies

are over all His works , v16

Thou

eternity. Until

then,

I know what

I must

do

to

contribute

to the

healing

of

the nations. 'Vhatever

my

particular caIling

and

gifts,

there is

only one

tree

whose

leaves

heal: the cross of Jesus Christ. t

was

a

thorny and bitter

tree

upon

whieh

the

Lord

of

glory hung

for

my

salvation; for me

it

is

the tree

of life. I

hear Jesus

forgiving

his

enemies while hanging

there.

I

hear his concern for his mother.

openest thine hand and

satisfiest

the desire of every living thing.

The word

in Hebrew

communicates

identifying with

an

individual and the

suffering

they are

experiencing.

Jesus,

for

example, in

Hebrews 2:17,18,

Therefore,

He had

to

be made

like His

brethren

in all things,

that

lIe

might

become

a

merciful

and faithful high priest

in

things

pertaining to

God, to make

propitiation for the

sins

of the

people.

And

also

in

Hebrews

4:15, For we do not have a

high

priest

who

cannot

sympathize

with our weaknesses, but one who

has been

tempted in

all things as

we

are, yet without

sin. He

has

literally experienced

what we have

experienced.

He

has

walked

in

our shoes.

Mercy is clearly

an important

aspect

of

the

Christian

faith; a

mark

of

the redeemed

(the

blessed

man).

To

better

understand

mercy, we

must understand

the

mercy of God,

who

is

the

fount of mercy. In Ex. 34:6,7,

as

God

displays His

goodness

before Moses,

He proclaims

His

perfections

saying,

The Lord,

the Lord

God,

compassionate

I am inundated with

the

love

displayed

through the cursed

tree.

And

I hear

my

Savior calling

me to take up the cross

daily,

in

self-denial,

in

sacrifice, in love. I

have

overcome

the

world,

he tells

me;

be

of good cheer. I

have laid

down

my life in love; you

do

the

same. f

you

would

be used by me

to

change the

world, love as I have

loved. I3y this, all men wi11 know.

and

gracious,

slow

to

anger,

and

abounding

in lovingkindnes8

and

truth; who keeps

lovingkindness

for

thousands,

who forgives

iniquity,

transgression and

sin;

yet

He will

by no

means leave

the

guilty

unpunished ..

'Ve see in God,

the perfect

balance, as expressed

in Ps. 85:10,

where lovingkindness and truth

have

met together, righteousness

and peace have

kissed

each

other.

The same God

,,,ho says He is

angry

with

the

wicked

every day

can at

thc

same

time,

without

contradiction, proclaim

Himself

to be full of compassion, loving

kindness, and

pity.

There can be

no mercy

if

there is no

justice.

Mercy presumes sin. God can

exact justice which vindicates

I Iis

honor

and gives the

unrighteous

the due

for

their iniquities as

lawbreakers. At

the

same time,

He displays His

mercy

in

forgiving

iniquity,

transgression, and sin.

The mercy

of

God

is

seen as that

perfection

which flows from His

goodness.

His

goodness generally

means

that

lIe

is in every way

as God should

be,

He is

absolute

perfection, He is

the

fount of

all

good

and the highest good.

The

Counsel

Qf

Chalced

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2008 Issue 5-6 - Streams of Kindness - Counsel of Chalcedon

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