Wednesday, October 16, 2013

God’s kindness is catching – Rom 2:1-11

Wednesday of Week 28; Holy Cross Parish.

My first day of work as a hospital chaplain was full of people who caught me off guard.  One was Kay, who told me she knew why she was in the hospital.  Expecting a description of her presenting symptoms, instead I heard: “I’m here to be kind to everyone who comes into my room, so as you can all go heal people.”  Kay knew that kindness is catching.

God’s kindness, forbearance and patience are what captured Paul and what he writes about in today’s first reading.  He laments the existence of people who have a limp notion of God’s kindness; who acknowledge it in their heads, but fail to be moved by it in their hearts and to live it out in their lives.  There’s a sophomoric misunderstanding of God’s kindness that Paul had clearly encountered and that we still encounter today: it goes something like this, “God is so kind that whatever I do, He won’t care, so it doesn’t matter what I do.”  God always cares.

It’s a misunderstanding that arises from merely glancing to God while gazing enraptured at one’s own desires.  “I want to do what I want, and a quick glance at God confirms He’s kind, so I’ll do what I want.”  What if we accepted God’s invitation to gaze upon Him, to come to rest upon his gracious self-revelation in the person of Jesus Christ, to see a life lived full of kindness, forbearance and patience, a life that led to the cross?  If we gaze on that kindness, center our lives around that, we’ll start with the same premise, but the argument will run totally differently: “God is so kind… God is so kind that I can do nothing but adore that kindness, to abhor my sin, to glory in being a loved sinner, to repent on my knees and stand in praise!”


God is so kind.  Kindness is catching.  Paul speaks of the “selfish disobedience of the truth,” the refusal to dwell with God’s kindness but to, instead, dwell with our surface desires while merely glancing at God… Paul contrasts this with “seeking glory, honor and immortality through perseverance in good works.”  Seeking is the key word.  Because to think that we can obtain these things through our own merits is also to refuse to accept God’s kindness.  Seek first the kingdom of God, then you will encounter God’s kindness, and it will catch.

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