The Rev. Peter M. Carey
12 August 2012 Sermon
St. Paul’s Memorial Episcopal Church
Practice acts of kindness
Acts of kindness are those things that are the bedrock of a
society, a family, a workplace, and even, the church. In daily interaction, these acts of kindness
may be the things that our grandmothers taught us. Looking people in the eye, shaking hands
firmly, saying please and thank you, waiting your turn, sharing your toys,
writing thank you cards, and seeking the best in one another.
I recently presided at the memorial service for my grandmom,
Ann Titsworth Carey, and I was reminded of many of the “little things” that Grandmom
did herself, and also demanded of her kids and grandkids. She was the ultimate churchlady. She took seriously God’s command to love one
another. She brought flowers to shut-ins
for 18 years, and stuck around to chat and visit every Sunday afternoon. She wrote all 5 kids and 11 grandkids
frequent cards. She wrote thank you
notes. She took in people in need. She picked up hitchhikers and people who were
not even seeking a ride. She really did
so many acts of kindness, and I was reminded of the fullness of her gifts for
others, which went far beyond our own family.
The ancient command of God to show hospitality for the stranger was not
an academic construct, but an actual part of her daily “to do list”. For her, the walls were permeable, she did
not see what divides us, but rather what connects us. She was not an Episcopalian, but she did, I
think, embody the maxim, “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You.”
Spending time with my family and remembering Grandmom, I
realized just how important these acts of kindness are, and just how much I can
do more. I can forget that God really
wants us to sweat the small stuff! Even
the most basic habits such as saying please and thank you, looking people in
the eye, saying hello, writing thank you cards, visiting those in need – these
most basic habits are not to be trifled at by each of us. Of course, we dream huge dreams of what God
may be calling us to do! We seek a
vision and goal, which excite and animate us, however, without the bedrock of
these little acts of kindness, we may not have the foundation to build our
dream.
To use other examples, at every level of music and sports,
the fundamentals are essential. In
music, doing proper warm-ups, and practicing scales and patterns is required of
all musicians. Of course, music is more
than mere warm ups and scales, but without these “basics” nothing else can be
accomplished. In sport, I have seen that
no matter the level, the basics have to be taught and retaught and retaught
again. The basics have to be practiced
and re-practiced and re-practiced again.
Go out and watch Coach London’s football squad and you will see many of
the same sorts of drills that I was doing 30 years ago in my aborted attempt to
be a football star. Go out and watch our
field hockey and soccer teams and you will see those women running
sprints. Running. Just running up and down the field. Wouldn’t you think that they could move to a
higher level of drill? Well, even they
have to hammer home the basics. If you
think you’re going to play Bach’s Cello Suites or win a gold medal, you better
keep concentrating on the fundamentals.
In our lives should seek to reach audacious goals,
however, I would also hope that we keep concentrating on the little things. “We cannot all do great things, but we can do
small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa.
In this loving church family, I thin of the ways that we “build one
another up” and that we “bear each others burdens” (Galatians), and I celebrate
all the ways that this loving community reaches out one to another. I reflect on what Nik preached about last
week about the ways that we all are “empowering the saints for ministry,” and
those saints are you and me – think of the ways that we each are helping one
another to consider the “better angels of our natures” as we seek and serve
Christ in all persons. God wants us to
keep practicing acts of kindness.
I think of the little things that my Grandmom did in her
church, such as invite strangers to church (how audacious!), greet newcomers,
visit the shut-ins, reach out to those in need, volunteer for Hospice, teach
Sunday School and work for Meals on Wheels.
There are saints among us who are doing all these things and much more. How much more can we do? Can we say hello to
someone who looks new, or is perhaps someone who is returning to church? Can we
be curious about one another, and build up those connections between us – making
contact and building relationships? I
have experienced the deep and abiding love of God made real in this parish
already, and I am so grateful, and I know that it is this love and community
that brings us here, and keeps us coming back.
Many of these acts of kindness are written about in the
letter to the Ephesians, “be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another” … “be
imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and
gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrament to God.” Lord knows that we can truly be bold in our
love and compassion for one another, and that as we love and build up one
another, we also naturally find ways to reach out to the world in need. As we find ways to be bold here in this
place, building up the body of Christ, and empowering the Saints for ministry,
we also will naturally be bold outside our walls. However, our boldness is always grounded in
the little things, our dreams and goals find their foundation in the acts of
kindness that we do as a Christian community.
Just as the letter to the Ephesians says, “speak the truth” and “be
members of one another.” When we are
truly kind, loving, tenderhearted, and forgiving, our boldness will be grounded
in wisdom and humility, and God will empower us to help transform the world –
starting first with the doing all these little acts of kindness with great love.
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