Preaching Connection: Kindness

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Reading for Preaching

Love Within Limits: A Realist’s View of 1 Corinthians 13

“It takes power to be kind because kindness is risky.  First, to move toward another person in kindness is to risk misunderstanding.  If you are kind to a person, your action may be seen as a veiled seduction.  If you are kind to a person of another race, you may be suspected of being patronizing...
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The Four Loves

Lewis speaks of the difference between “intimate and formal courtesy.  Precisely what suits the one may be a breach of the other.  To be free and easy when you are presented to some eminent stranger is bad manners; to practice formal and ceremonial courtesies at home (‘public faces in private places’) is—and is always intended...
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The Descent of the Dove: a Short History of the Holy Spirit in the Church

“The imaginations of the Alexandrian fathers were courteous; their visions were humane. Origen extended that vision so far as to teach the final restitution of all things, including the devils themselves. It is impossible that some such dream should not linger in any courteous mind, but to teach it as a doctrine almost always ends...
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“Self-care and Care for Others”

Don’t pry, meddle, or become impertinent. Some folks act as if they are responsible for looking after everybody. Pp. 400-401: “They must see everything that is out of order and make suggestions here, and give advice there, and make inquiry yonder. They run from one to another, with incessant clatter, offering advice which is cheap...
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Additional content related to Kindness

Psalm 145:8-14

The Lectionary carves out for us the middle third of this psalm and so although there are multiple (albeit overall related) themes in this poem, we will focus on verse 8 and how it sets the tone for the verses before us.  “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.” …

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Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7)

Recently I made a multi-course gourmet dinner for my parents on the occasion of their 64th wedding anniversary.  The first step was figuring out a menu and then making a plan to secure the ingredients.  I ordered some venison online and picked up other ingredients in at least three other stores for this and that. …

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Psalm 138

Psalm 138 has features shared by many psalms of praise.  There are vows to praise God.  There are references to the poet’s motivations for praising God.  There is the ardent hope that eventually all the earth and all the kings and peoples of the earth will learn to praise Israel’s God as well.  Like most…

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Luke 6:27-38

Last week, I began the argument that Jesus’ Sermon on the Plain (Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount), is an invitation to understanding one’s identity as a disciple based on connection with Jesus. In verses 17-26, Jesus talks about being blessed when we are transformed—and thereby have our life situations transformed—by this connection,…

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Psalm 138

Psalm 138 has features shared by many psalms of praise.  There are vows to praise God.  There are references to the poet’s motivations for praising God.  There is the ardent hope that eventually all the earth and all the kings and peoples of the earth will learn to praise Israel’s God as well.  Like most…

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John 20:1-18

A friend of mine who is a true believer in the Gospel once confessed to me that Easter services can be a little hard on him.  There’s just something about all that exuberance, all that blaring brass, all those bright lights and white lilies that combine to go sufficiently over the top in ways he…

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Luke 6:27-38

If you are a preacher who likes to highlight the fact that Jesus was always friendliest toward the very same “sinners” that were shunned by the religious authorities of his day, then it can be a little disconcerting to hear Jesus in this passage use the word “sinners” in what sounds like a pejorative way. …

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Luke 3:7-18

Well what did you expect John would say?  His preaching was getting through to the people.  Bigly.  His “in your face” approach to getting a message of repentance across was succeeding and before you knew it, John’s got people of all sorts asking “What should we do?”  And in response to this earnest query, what…

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Romans 11:1-2a, 25-32

If you have read my posts here on the Center for Excellence in Preaching website somewhat regularly over the years, then you know I am frequently a bit flummoxed at the text choices made by the folks who oversee the Revised Common Lectionary.  Sometimes, though, when they skip over a chunk of a passage, you…

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Ruth 2

There is a well-known plot device in modern romantic comedies called the meet-cute. In fact, one primetime show, The Mindy Project, had almost an entire season based on the protagonist’s attempts to interpret every one of her encounters with a new man as a meet-cute. Meet-cutes are those moments in the book or scenes in…

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Luke 3:7-18

Comments and Observations: Well what did you expect John would say?  His preaching was getting through to the people.  Big time.  His “in your face” approach to getting a message of repentance across was succeeding and before you knew it, John’s got people of all sorts asking “What should we do?”   And in response to…

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