DAY 80 - Uncommon Courtesy

Galatians 6:1, 9 (NIV) ¹Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. ⁹Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Titus 3:1-6 (RSV) ¹Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for any honest work, ² to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all men. ³ For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by men and hating one another; ⁴ but when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, ⁶ which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior

Some people respond to our society’s vulgarities with righteous indignation, while 0thers respond with resignation. I believe we can change this growing callousness, but first we must not become a part of it by either indignation or resignation. In Titus, Paul writes to tell how to live as healthy people in a sick society. Don’t speak evil, covering everything from “bad mouthing people” and putting them down, to cursing them and spreading unnecessary news about them. Do not quarrel. Don’t join rank and file in this behavior. Instead, join your behavior to Christ, dealing with difficult people and tough situations with the soft touch. Be “gentle,” which many commentaries translate as “perfect courtesy.” Courtesy implies sensitivity to feelings of all people.

Paul says not to join yourself to the sick behavior you see around you, but join yourself to the healthy behavior you see in Jesus Christ. He reminds us of our own pasts and failures so that we might practice our Christian life with a sense of sympathy to those who are still bogged down in their present crudeness and vulgarities. He implies that as we practice Christian courtesy we conquer a little bit of our self-centeredness and ingratitude, and practice good confession. The mainspring of our courtesy is God’s behavior toward us. We have experienced the love of God who cared for us when we cared nothing for Him, who did not harden Himself against our hardened hearts but reached down and touched us with His mercy.

We hear a lot today about the need to work through our feelings. But I have found that it is probably more accurate to say that we need to let the Holy Spirit work in us to allow us to experience God’s renewing power. How do we live as healthy people in a society ever hardened, brutal, and less sensitive? We resist the rudeness around us. We give in to the rule within us.

Preached May 28, 1989

© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles