The Power of Kindness

For our Back to School Blessing last month, we shared a backpack tag that said “Be Kind.” Kindness is a powerful force in the universe and a much needed commodity in our current political and social climate. As we continue into the fall and the 2024 presidential election heats up even more, we wanted to offer an excerpt from a sermon by Rev. Adam Hamilton, the Senior Pastor, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection near Kansas City, as a witness to kindness in politics. 

What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

Someone asked, “If we believe the other party is wrong about some really critical issues, are we simply to be nice and not address these serious differences?” No—we should stand up for what we believe in. But too often we do that with rancor, in a way that merely pushes people away from what we believe. That only further polarizes us. Micah 6:8 offers us a better way.

Today we’ll focus on kindness, and how it might just be the key to saving American democracy. We find one model for this in the relationship between Senator Orin Hatch, conservative Republican from Utah, and Senator Ted Kennedy, liberal Democrat from Massachusetts. These two were often adversaries in the Senate but cared for one another as friends. Shortly after Kennedy’s death in 2009, Hatch noted, “I have to say that we became very dear friends. That doesn’t mean we didn’t fight each other. We fought each other like tooth and tongue but afterwards, we’d put our arms around each other and laugh about it… and we passed a lot of very important legislation together, and I will greatly miss him.”

Kennedy and Hatch both fought for justice as they understood it. Their understandings of what justice looked like, and the proper role of government in how to achieve it were at odds with one another, at times. Yet even in fighting for justice, their fight was tempered by kindness.

The Hebrew word for justice was mishpat. But with it, we also need to learn the Hebrew word for kindness, hesed. The word hesed appears 250 times in the Hebrew Bible, pointing to its critical importance for the Bible and the Jewish faith. Like the New Testament Greek word AGAPE, it is so important in the Bible, and with such varied nuances, that it is impossible to capture the full depth of its meaning with a single word.

Hesed includes a concern for another person, and in this sense it is sometimes translated as COMPASSION. It is a commitment to provide care or help for another person, and in this sense it is sometimes translated as KINDNESS. It is at times providing aid to someone who has no right to expect this kindness from you, and in that sense it is MERCY.

And there are times it expresses a deep commitment to and relationship with another person, and in this sense it is often translated as STEADFAST LOVE or LOYALTY. In this last sense, a husband and wife can show hesed to each other. Friends are meant to show hesed – steadfast love – to each other. Steadfast love is a primary attribute of God’s character and relationship to humanity. It is with reference to God’s care for humankind that we find the word most often appear in Scripture. In the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, 174 of the 250 times hesed is used are translated as steadfast love.

What God demonstrates towards us–compassion, kindness, help, mercy, loyalty and steadfast love—is what we’re meant do for others. This was why Micah said that the LORD requires mishpat and hesed of us.

At a wedding I tell couples, “This is what you are signing on for–compassion, kindness, mercy, and steadfast love.” It 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. This is what Orin Hatch and Ted Kennedy shared in their relationship.

Hesed—kindness, compassion, and mercy—might just be the critical answer to our polarization and divisions. It won’t instantly solve our differences. At times, our differences are our strength—they are meant to make us better, stronger, smarter and coming up with better solutions. We should have vigorous debate about our challenges and problems, with two or more sides working to come up with our best assessment of the challenges and problems we face, and the best solutions to address these. The debate in politics is intended to be constructive, but that often requires compromise, and always must have the best interests of our country at heart and not just of “our” side.

What does the LORD require of you? To do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Want to learn more about how you can engage in a campaign for kindness? Visit campaignforkindness.com