Continuing in Kindness

Two people I met last night got me thinking about how great it is to be a Christian. One is struggling a bit waiting for things to ‘get better’ and one is at the end of their rope. The one at the end of their rope was an encouragement to me because it reminded me of what Jesus came to do in the first place. I am certainly not happy that this person is in such misery, but because of the misery I was able to share some things about Christ that we can often and easily forget.

First is God’s love for the unlovely. When we see ourselves as unlovely and unlovable we can become deeply discouraged in faith and life. It seems as if no one cares what happens to us and no one will be able to love us because there is nothing about us to love. It is at that very moment that God’s love through Christ is most present if we will receive it. How are we to know that He loves us when we are unlovely? Because He has shown His love in sending His son to die for us while we were at our ugliest. He didn’t send Christ to die for the pretty people, the ones who ostensibly 'have it all together'. Nope, he sent him to die for the ugly ducklings. And the best part is that He doesn’t demand that we become swans before He will love us. He loves us precisely because of our ugliness.

How about weakness? The world despises it. There is nothing this world dislikes more than the weak. They are an embarrassment. And yet God’s strength is not perfected in the strong. God’s strength is for the weak, the weary, the ones that life and others have chewed up and spit out. Those who are standing strong on their own will never know what it means to be strengthened by Christ. Those who are self-sufficient will never know Christ’s complete sufficiency.

The list goes on and on. Poverty, mourning, meekness, hunger, thirst. The reviled, the lowly, the down-trodden, the losers of this world have much to rejoice about, because to them and them alone is Christ riches, comfort, boldness, nourishment and living water. When we are losing, he is our victory. When we are lonely, he is our companion. When we are sick, he is our physician. When we are dying, he is our life.

Often people think that we need to get to the place where we feel like we’ve been hit by a logging truck and then backed over before we can let Christ be all of this to us. That is because so much of the time we don’t ‘have ears to hear’ the gospel as an expression of God’s kindness. We are proud people, and what God offers as a free gift through the gospel seems almost beneath our dignity, so we decline it. I’ve got this, I can handle it. The weak and lowly are getting in line ahead of the strong in the kingdom precisely because they acknowledge they haven’t got it and can’t handle it. They are not beneath God’s kindness to them. “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.” (Romans 11:22 ESV) It is not the pursuit of spiritual strength that we are to continue in, but God’s kindness toward us as losers, weaklings and sinners.

So my friend who is waiting for things to get better is declining the one thing that the one who is desperate has – the free benefits of faith in Christ. I understand that. We all look for things to get better. The problem with better, as has been said before, is that it is the enemy of the best. These are precious words – “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32 ESV) The little flock is little for a reason. They are not the wealthy, the strong or the powerful. They are the lowly, the weak and the despised and they admit it; so they are the outcasts of the world. But they have something the achievers of this world will never have – the good shepherd. And that is the gospel truth.

God Bless