Nov 24th: Extraordinary Gratitude, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski.
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Rev. Dr. Steven Koski
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Astonishing the World with Radical Kindness
St. Thomas Aquinas once wrote, “Fear is such a powerful emotion that when we allow it to take over, it drives compassion right out of our hearts, and we forget who we are.”
This is one of the great challenges of our time: to not let fear make us forget who we are. In a world filled with anger and division, we need to ensure the worst around us doesn’t change the best within us. Maya Angelou put it beautifully when she said, “My wish for you is that you continue, continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean and angry world with your acts of kindness.”
We need a theology right now that calls forth the best in us—a theology that reminds us who we are by pointing us back to who God is.
An Unexpected Encounter at an Intersection
Not long ago, I was driving past the corner of Highway 20 and 27th Street. On one side of the street stood a man holding a sign that read, “Are you saved? Repent now.” His stern expression reminded me of the look my mother used to give me when I was in trouble—guilt-inducing before I even knew what I’d done wrong.
Across the street, though, were two teenage girls, overflowing with the exuberance that comes from one too many white mochas at Dutch Bros. They were dancing to Taylor Swift, holding up a sign that said, “Free car wash!”
Now, my car wasn’t dirty, but something about their uncontainable joy steered me into their makeshift carwash. When I asked why they were doing this, their answer was simple: “There’s just so much anger in the world. We wanted to give people a reason to smile and remember there’s still good in the world.”
Their unassuming kindness reminded me of one of Jesus’ parables—the story of a sower who scattered seeds across a field, generously and without hesitation, regardless of the soil.
A God of Extravagant Generosity
Jesus often used parables to challenge what people thought they knew, inviting them to see familiar things through a new lens. In the story of the sower from the Gospel of Matthew, we typically focus on the soil. We analyze ourselves, wondering if we are good enough, worthy enough, or prepared enough to receive God’s love.
But what if the story isn’t about us? What if it’s about the sower?
When we shift our focus, we see a sower who scatters seeds extravagantly, wastefully even—allowing them to fall on good soil, rocky soil, and even the thorns. By human standards, this isn’t how you farm. You don’t waste good seed on bad soil. Yet this sower doesn’t worry about success or failure. Instead, they sow with wild abandon because that’s who they are.
This is a portrait of God: radically generous, loving without condition, and trusting that seeds can take root in even the most unlikely places.
Fear vs. Radical Generosity
We live in a world that constantly evaluates worthiness. People are judged by the color of their skin, their economic status, their gender or orientation, and so much more. We are told to withhold our time, energy, and love from those deemed “undeserving.” But that’s not the God we see in this parable.
God doesn’t evaluate the soil before scattering seeds. God’s love flows freely, trusting that even in rocky or thorny places, something good can grow.
Anne Lamott once said, “When fear takes over my life, it’s a sign I need to start giving—and giving more than I’m comfortable giving.” Practicing radical generosity, she said, is one of the best ways to remember who God is and the best version of ourselves.
Astonishing the World
To us, the sower’s actions may seem inefficient, even reckless. But that’s the beauty of the story. The sower believes that goodness can grow anywhere. The sower reflects the heart of God—a God who doesn’t withhold love, but pours it out extravagantly.
Imagine if we lived this way. What if we sowed seeds of kindness and generosity with the same reckless abandon? What if we gave love without expecting anything in return?
We are living in a challenging, often painful time. Fear is pervasive, and it’s tempting to retreat into our trenches, guarding what little we have left. But this is exactly when we need to scatter seeds of radical love and kindness.
I think of those two teenage girls, joyfully offering a free car wash to a weary world. In their exuberant dance, I caught a glimpse of the heart of God.
Remembering Who We Are
The next time someone asks, “Are you saved?” consider answering this way:
“I’ll leave that in the hands of a God of extravagant love. Right now, I’m too busy trying to astonish a mean and angry world with acts of kindness—because that’s who I am, and that’s what I do.”
May it be so.
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