The Kindness of an Umbrella

Stephen Cleveland might not be a name you immediately recognize.  It is more likely you know him by his “public name” – Grover Cleveland.  He was our 22nd and 24th President of the United States – the only one to serve two non-consecutive terms as the nation’s highest elected official.  Now, in examining the totality of his presidency, historians rate him, for a number of reasons, as an average president.  However, I recently read an account of something he did during his successor, Benjamin Harrison’s, swearing in ceremony.  That day was not a good weather day – our local weatherman would rate it at a factor of three – nasty!  It was a downpour, a deluge of rain.  Harrison would have been drenched as he took the oath of office.  Instead, he had some help.  No, it wasn’t a staffer, or one of his aides.  It wasn’t the vice-president.  It wasn’t Mrs. Harrison.  It was none other than the outgoing President, Grover Cleveland.  The man whom Harrison defeated in the polls to win the election held an umbrella over the incoming President, keeping him dry as he repeated the oath.  Kindness. On. Display.

This simple act should teach us the value of just being kind.  I am sure Cleveland was none too happy to be leaving the White House.  He surely did not want to lose his reelection bid.  In fact, I know this, for when the Clevelands were leaving, Frances, the First Lady, told the staff to take care of the furnishings because they would be back in four years.  She was true to her word.  In four years the Clevelands were back in the White House.

Kindness…it is a trait that is in short supply in the world of American politics.  It seems one party cannot work with the other.  Sadly, kindness is seen way too infrequently in our society as well.  One only has to watch the daily news or read comments in the online news feed or on social media.  Whatever happened to treating someone with kindness and decency?  It would seem it is a lost art.  What can be done to turn this tragedy around?  What is the cure for the circumstances we are in?  It is not difficult.  In fact, it is easy.  What is it?  I am glad you asked…

Travel back a couple thousand years and allow me to set the scene.  Jesus is turning communities upside down everywhere he travels.  We would definitely call his approach “outside the box”.  He’s doing and saying things that others are not comprehending.  Today, we have phrases like “give the shirt off your back” and “go the extra mile”.  We might think we’re pretty clever for coming up with sayings like these, but the truth is, Jesus taught his followers these principles at the beginning of his ministry.  It was Jesus who said that if someone sued you for your shirt, give them your coat too (shirt off your back); and if someone compels you to go a mile with them, don’t just go with them the one mile, go with them a second (go the extra mile).

So we fast forward a couple of years, nearing the end of his earthly ministry.  Jesus has just entered Jerusalem, preparing for his impending crucifixion.  And then it happens…this guy approaches Jesus.  He is, of all people, a lawyer.  The expert in all things law.  Now, I don’t know about you, but if a lawyer walked up to me unprovoked, the internal sirens are going to go off – “What does this person want with me?”  “Did I do something wrong?”  “Is someone suing me?”  But not Jesus.  He doesn’t think like this.  He patiently waits for the man to ask his question.  It’s really unfair though, because Jesus probably already knew the where the lawyer’s heart was.  Remember earlier that Matthew wrote that Jesus knew the thoughts of the crowd that was challenging him. (Matthew 12:25)  So I imagine Jesus knew this man was trying to test him.  It didn’t matter.  Jesus was prepared.  The lawyer asks his question, “Which is the great commandment in the Law?”

Note that he didn’t simply ask, “Which is the great commandment?”  No, he added “in the Law.”  In other words, what is the great commandment that I am bound to uphold because of the Law.  Now, anyone who has read the book of Leviticus knows that there are hundreds of laws and variations of those laws.  Any Jewish person would be bound to adhere to EVERY one of those laws.  At the top of the list would be to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment ”  That probably did not surprise the lawyer.  But what Jesus said next might have.  He once again turns the community upside down…the lawyer thinks Jesus is done.

“And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Now, most people don’t go around ridiculing themselves, calling themselves names, hitting and abusing themselves.  Jesus, in this moment, is basically saying, because you don’t do those things to yourself, don’t do them to others.  And then he closes the conversation with this, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and prophets.”  In other words, EVERYTHING else hangs on these two statements.  All fails when these two commandments are not followed.  If you don’t love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, you are not going to love your neighbor.  If you don’t love your neighbor, you are not going to love God.  They are like bookends to life, holding everything else in its place.  You cannot have one without the other, and you cannot have anything if you don’t have these two.

Over in the book of Luke, Jesus tells the story of a good Samaritan who comes to the rescue of an injured traveler (who by the way came from a culture despising Samaritans).  Nevertheless, the Samaritan is the one who helps this stranger, when the stranger’s own people passed him by.  The Samaritan is the neighbor. The Samaritan, in one of the most beautiful pictures in scripture, was kind to this man; and the Samaritan’s kindness saved this desperate stranger.  We might do well to wonder what our kindness would do for another…

One more footnote on the life of Cleveland.  During the Presidential race of 1892, Cleveland was attempting to recapture the office from the man who defeated him four years earlier.  During the final months of the campaign, Harrison’s wife died.  This prompted President Harrison to stop actively campaigning for the office.  This shouldn’t surprise anyone.  However, Cleveland, in a show of kindness and respect, stopped campaigning as well.  Kindness. On. Display.