During major election years, Resurrection Church does a campaign that works “to close the kindness gap in Kansas City.” This is the church where Rev. Adam Hamilton serves as Senior Pastor, and this year they are running a Campaign for Kindness: lobbying for kindness, for humility and respect. They have television ads and billboards with these messages of “Do Unto Others” or Love Your Neighbor. They send out postcards like political candidates do, and members will put campaign signs in their yards with these messages on them. Resurrection Church is made up of multiple large churches in the Kansas City Area. Each of the churches hold multiple services, so many members have never met each other between all of the church campuses and different worship service times.
In an interview with Marcia McFee, Rev. Hamilton told a story about two men who lived next-door to each other: let’s call them Bob and Ted. Bob and Ted had been in conflict for years. See Ted had let his dog go to the bathroom in Bob’s front yard. Bob had gotten really angry about this, and they couldn’t even talk to each other at this point. Well, Bob was taking his Kindness Campaign sign to put it in his yard, when he noticed that Ted had put up the same sign in his yard. Bob realized that they went to the same church. See, with so many church campuses and worship service options, it would have been easy to attend the same church and never know it. Anyway, Bob thought to himself “Oh my gosh! I’ve been treating this guy as my enemy all this time, and he’s actually my brother in Christ.” After putting the sign up, Bob noticed Ted getting on his lawn mower and decided to go and speak with him. Of course, all Ted could think was “Oh no. Why’s he comin over here?” So Bob said, “‘Hey, I see your sign out here, and I just put mine out. You go to Resurrection don’t you.’ And he said ‘Yeah.’ [And Bob] said, ‘I’m so sorry for being a jerk all of this time. I am really sorry for the way that I acted.’ [Rev. Hamilton says] it was this transformational moment for both of them in their relationship just for virtue of discovering they were brothers in Christ and they both agreed they should [be kind]. And they had not been kind[- they hadn’t] lived that way to [their] next door neighbor.”
I think there’s a reason both Paul and Jesus point to loving as the fulfillment of the law. Interpretation of the law has always been difficult for humanity. We have never been of one mind. So both Jesus and Paul put love out there as the first impulse for interpretation.
As Bob and Ted show, that doesn’t make loving each other easy. This election is a particularly difficult one. It’s so easy to believe what our side says about the other side, with half-truths everywhere. You might be getting tired of me saying this, but each side wants us to believe that the world will end if their candidate loses. That the other side is the very embodiment of the end of the world as we know it. But as Christians, we know better. We need to go out and vote- early voting at the Courthouse begins October 23. And Election Day, of course, is Tuesday November 5. So please vote. But also know: “No matter what happens in the coming election, we can recognize as Christians that those results matter far less than whether or not we are living into the greatest commandments from Jesus.” Love God with your entire being. Love your neighbor as yourself.
This doesn’t mean feeling warm and fuzzy about them. As Rev. Hamilton said in his sermon “The Power of Kindness”, “[Love] is not just a feeling, and often it is not a feeling at all. It is an orientation towards others, a dogged determination to help, care for and bless them. This is how we’re meant to live our lives towards all others, not only spouses. It is how God cares for you, and how you are called to care for one another. It is how we are to live towards our fellow human beings.”
So as everything ramps up heading into Election Day, remember that our DNA is 99% the same. Let’s listen and share, do unto others, and show kindness to those we come across, no matter who they are. Let’s lean into compassion, remembering that “When we start sharing things with one another, even small things like coffee or lunch, we make room for compassion between us.” Have a scary conversation, and listen to someone who isn’t like you. Learn about who they are as a person, and share some of your story as well. When common ground seems impossible, consider how different the other person’s perspective is, and how God created us with so many different gifts and perspectives. We can disagree and still act in love and grace. And indeed, our world depends on all of us working for a better world filled with more kindness, compassion, humility, respect, and love.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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