A Band of Gentle Giants

Have you known a gentle giant? We tend to think of those people who are large enough to be intimidating and yet when we get to know them, gentle enough to be approachable and caring. I suppose when you think of it, this is how we experience life.

To infants, everyone is a giant. Some are gentle and some clearly are not. As adults we encounter gentle giants not only among those who are physically large but also among those who are socially or politically or financially large. What a delight to find someone in a position of power who is a gentle giant.

In our journey into this new era for the Christian Church, there is great benefit when we recognize the parallels between our challenges and those of the early followers of Jesus who ventured out from Jerusalem. There is great opportunity for solid hope and celebration of life and purpose in our learning again to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in our generation. This month we join with the theme of the PCC’s 2014 calendar in its focus on “gentleness.”

Isaiah inspires a yearning for such leadership. “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.”

Here is one who is gentle among the wounded, powerful enough to bring justice to all the nations and yet sensitive enough to find value in a half – broken reed or a malfunctioning lamp.

We are meant to celebrate this characteristic in Jesus: “Though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”

We are called to nurture this characteristic in ourselves and one another. The word, which is used here for “gentleness” or “meekness,” refers to those who were not landowners in the ancient world and therefore lived a life of service to others.

To me, the apostle Peter was nurturing gentleness or meekness among the Christians of Asia Minor when he wrote, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

The power of gentleness is gloriously displayed when the giants bend down to sincerely become friends with someone more vulnerable than they are. It is shared when the resources and influence available to one person become focused on the need of another.

Being gentle does not mean being passive. We know that Jesus took a whip to those who turned the temple into a common market. Being gentle means having the power but using loving discretion in how we use it. Being gentle means you don’t have to win because God has already won. Sometimes it is the soft word and the gentle gesture that actually disarms the enemy.

As Christians, we are called to be a band of gentle giants. This is part of the bond that enables us to work together. In Christ we have been made princes and princesses and yet we are never to lord that over another. Instead, being confident of our status and identity in Christ, we can with him take on the posture of a servant.