25 Days of Mercy

     I am always looking for a means of breaking away from the frenetic, consumer-oriented pace of the Christmas holidays!  If it is possible to love and hate a holiday, that describes my annual angst with Christmas.  So I was readily captivated this week when one of my friends casually mentioned doing 25 days of kindness.  It was no more than a passing comment, but it made a quick inroad into my heart.  The idea took shape the next day as I talked about it with some of the kids in the car.  "Let's think of some people we could encourage with kindness this Christmas.  We can plan some acts of kindness, but let's pray that God would show us a spontaneous act of kindness that we can do each day."  We had a "soft start" on Thursday when we went to bake cookies and play checkers with one set of grandparents.  Friday we  had some friends over.  But sad to say, the kindness train derailed today on the FIRST DAY OF DECEMBER!!  What do you do when your act of kindness (towards unnamed children) is rejected and their response is complaint?  This is "advanced kindness" and I don't have the syllabus! 
       Or do I?  Paul writes, ". . . that God's kindness leads you to repentance." (Romans 2:4)  I've read enough of the Bible to know that God's kindness has not always been well-received.  When God rescued the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, the Jews returned God's lavish provisions with complaint and unbelief.  To read Exodus, it is almost embarassing how much God's people whine and complain.  It's the same words, different verse throughout the entire Old Testament.  It seems that human beings are bound by a common desire for "more" and inclination to complain and rebel against God.  And how does God respond?  He disciplines His people in a variety of ways, ultimately letting them lose their country's independence, all in an effort to turn their hearts back to Him. 
      But God's consumate kindness takes the form of a baby.  He sends a personal representative, His only son, to come into a terminally broken world and show God's love to a chronically stubborn and rebellious people.  But we don't usually call this breathtaking act an "act of kindness".  We call it an act of mercy -- God not punishing mankind for their rebellion against Him. . . even though they deserve it.  Instead God gave a gift, which cost Him greatly.  He withheld punishment and provided a means of redemption. 
     This is advanced kindness -- withholding judgment when judgment is deserved.  Mercy is a challenge to my justice-minded nature.  I trip over the unfairness of life far too often.  It is much easier to be kind to people whom I deem deserving.  Mercy is showing kindness to those who don't deserve it, again and gain and again, leaving the response and the outcome to God.
    Today began 25 Days of Mercy -- I just didn't know it until my act of kindness was thwarted!