The Law of Kindness

I love studying the Bible and learning what it has to teach. I especially love it when I see that the things it has to teach are so fitting for today.
Several years ago in a sermon, Jimmy Holbrook explained the verse in Matthew 28 when Jesus said, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." He explained that the young Hebrew men would "yoke" to a rabbi and learn what he knew. That's how the holy teachings were handed down. As with all situations, some rabbis were tougher teachers than others.
Jesus himself, who was called rabbi by Nichodemas, said my yoke is easy, so I'm thinking that his teachings are easy, not complicated. I find this to be true, sometimes. It's easy until it says, Love your enemy; Love others as yourself. Those are tough things for humans to do.
This week I was listening to Beth Moore on Wednesdays with Beth. These are 15 minute videos that she records every week on a popular Christian tv show. In the archives there are three videos about kindness. She explains that the text, My yoke is easy actually can be interpreted--my yoke is kind. Christ followers are supposed to be kind. Are we? I'm not sure non-believers can see any difference between us and others.
We now live in a culture of Christian with Attitudes. I see t-shirts and bumper stickers that embarrass me. "God Said It; I believe it; That settles it." What would be wrong with leaving off the last one. If I were a non-believer, that would not make me want to follow Jesus? It's not kind. Remember the WWJD bracelets. Maybe we should think What Would Jesus Think...about our t-shirt, about our attitude, about our bumper sticker, about our facebook post, about our tweet. Are these things KIND?
In the social and political arena we seldom see anyone who is kind to those that do not see things the same way. We demonize anyone who doesn't agree with our beliefs. If we are truly trying to win people to Christ, how can we do that when we treat them so horribly.
We live in such an unkind culture that we seem to have forgotten what it means to be kind--to everyone. It's easy to be kind to those who are kind to us. That's not enough.
I can think back over my life and remember acts of kindness that astonished me. They are easy to remember because they always kind of shock me.
After Allison was born, I had several particulary difficult days. Back then new moms had to remain in the hospital a full week after a c-section. I had struggled through the rough days and was gaining strength, but I still felt pretty rough. It was about day five when a nurse's aide came in to change my bed. She asked me how I was doing, if there was anything I needed. I said the only thing I really wanted she couldn't do. I wanted my hair washed. She asked if I was strong enough to stand for about five minutes. I said yes, and this precious girl washed my hair, combed it out, and dried it. Was that in her job description? Absolutely not. She did it as an act of kindness. Anyone who has been in bed for a week knows how yucky your hair gets. I felt like a new person. My mom was stunned to see my new attitude when she came to visit. She said that she had been worried about me, but she could now see that I was going to be ok. I wish I knew who that girl was. When my sister, Linda, was in the hospital before she died, a nurse noticed that her arms were dry. Linda was comatose; she had no idea that her arms needed lotion, but I walked in as that nurse was applying lotion to her chapped arms. What a precious act of kindness.
Several weeks after my dad passed away, my husband was headed in to town to mow. He had been mowing my dad's lawn for seven years. We had already sold dad's house, so I said, "You don't have to mow there any more." He said, "I've been mowing the neighbor's yard too, so I'm going to mow her yard." I was amazed. He never said a word about doing that.
My mother-in-law is in the nursing home. Some of the people that work there are so very kind to her. It blesses my heart when she tells me that one of them has gone out of their way to meet her needs.
The many acts of kindness shown to me after Jason's death were over-whelming. I appreciate every one of them, and I have tried to pay it forward when anyone is going through a loss, but I need to be mindful of the person (student, family member, colleague, stranger)who just needs a kind word or deed.
It's easy to be kind to someone who is going through a tragedy. When someone's house burns, the tornado blows through, or a death takes a loved one, we all look for things to do. These are important, but I think we should be looking for ways to show kindness all day, every day.