Unusual Kindness

 

Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us because it was raining and cold.

—Acts 28:1-2

A person doesn’t forget an unusual kindness done for him or her. The missionary Paul, on his way to prison in Rome, spent three months of his journey on the island of Malta because the ship that took him shipwrecked there. Paul either journaled about, or merely remembered, the extraordinary way the strangers on that island greeted this dirty, water-logged group of men. Oh, the kindness!

When Corrie ten Boom recalled the days after her release from the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp¹ at the end of World War II, she specifically remembered the nurse who led her down gleaming corridors into a room with a steaming bathtub. She stated that nothing ever felt as good as that bath. She also commented on the bed with sheets and how she could not get enough of running her hands over them, as they soothed her swollen feet. Oh, the kindness!

A missionary, Gracia Burnham, had much the same reaction after spending a year running, hiding, sleeping on the ground, and watching her husband die in the wet jungles of the Philippines.² In her vivid remembrance, she too recalled the spotless sheets and the comfortable mattress. She compared them to the terrifying nights she had spent in the open. Oh, the kindness!

When we imagine this kind of treatment by strangers, especially for those who have lived through horrific circumstances, we realize that the Gift of Kindness comes as a remnant of the image of God in human form. Jesus, too—God incarnate—shows us kindness. His kindness is always beyond our need. His kindness is always beyond our deserving. His kindness always changes us.

Romans 2:4 asks:

Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Imagine the Apostle Paul, or Corrie ten Boom, or Gracia Burnham turning down the kindness shown to them! God’s purposes through His kindness lead us to repentance for our “old rags.” His kindness offers us fresh, new garments in which He invites us to live. Isaiah 61:3 expresses His kindness this way:

…to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

Yes! It is so very true that, in His loving kindness, God has a “garment of praise” for us in exchange for the garment of a faint spirit—that is, a spirit of despair. Oh, the kindness!

First of all then, let us praise God for His kindnesses to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. These gifts of kindnesses to us should be remembered and told, when we share our stories with others. Secondly, we need to recall the kindnesses that others have shown us—the kindnesses that have led to effect good outcomes in our lives. Thirdly, as carriers of His image, let us show the same kind of transforming kindnesses to others around us.

Let us continually ask ourselves: “This day, to whom is God asking us to bless with unusual kindness?”

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1 Ten Boom, Corrie with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. The Hiding Place. Old Tappan NJ: Revell Company, 1971. p. 228.

2 Burnham, Gracia with Dean Merrill. In the Presence of My Enemies. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Book Publishers, Inc., 2010. Amazon Kindle location: 4309.