Kindred redefined

Oh, how wonderful, how pleasing it is
    when God’s people all come together as one!
It is like the sweet-smelling oil that is poured over the high priest’s head,
    that runs down his beard flowing over his robes.
It is like a gentle rain from Mount Hermon falling on Mount Zion.
    It is there that the LORD has promised his blessing of eternal life.
                   - Psalm 133, Easy-to-Read Version

This passage was in the lectionary reading for April 15, the second Sunday of Easter. It really stuck out to me that day because, when Jeremy Elliott did the reading, the first verse from the version he used went like this:   "How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!"  I hadn't heard the word "kindred" used in a long while, and it touched me deeply.

Then, as God often does, I was surrounded by this passage from a variety of sources.  It was in my daily readings twice.  I also listened to a sermon delivered that same day by one of our Minter Lane expatriates, Naomi Walters. [You can listen to her wonderful message online here.]  Her primary texts were from John 20 and from Acts 4.  As she worked her way through from Jesus' appearance to the frightened disciples in the locked room, all the way to the post-Pentecost Christians having everything in common, with God's grace upon them all, she made a wonderful observation.  In the first passage, we see the church at its very worst - terrified, paralyzed, seemingly unable to believe all that Jesus had told them, and unable to tell the good news to anyone else, even after eyewitnesses saw Jesus alive.  In the second passage, we see the church at its very best - energized, Spirit-filled, meeting the needs of each believer.  Then she finished with Psalm 133, a beautiful description of what would become reality when Christ-followers worked together.

This week I've been blessed by Christians who have come alongside me in unexpected ways to help bear heartache when I was overflowing with tears. And today I was privileged to see Christ's body demonstrated in some amazing ways.  This morning, Lloyd Boyll, a 92-year old member at Minter Lane, preached the sermon for us from the seat of his walker.  His eyes lit up as he described how God chose us in Christ and gave us power to be more than we are now.  His seat-mate, 99-year old Roland Johnson, was there cheering him on.  At Minter's annual spring picnic, we shared burgers, hot dogs, double-dutch jump rope, Banagrams, Uno, stories, and smiles.  And tonight I got to hold the youngest member of our community, George Forrester Perrey, and to watch his mama and daddy as they begin this wonderful journey of parenthood.  And all these saints are my kindred!  Praise God!

I'll close tonight with another verse from "For the Beauty of the Earth":

For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child -
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise
This our hymn of grateful praise.

P.S.  If you'd like to see our Minter Lane kindred at today's picnic, enjoy this album.

Minter 4-2012 Picnic 4.29.12