The kiss you may have ignored, the kiss to put on the top of your list
By Dean Collins
It’s a little awkward for you and me to discuss kissing. We’ve probably never had this conversation, and neither of us anticipated it. We were probably both teenagers when we were the most fascinated with kissing. Sure, we still kiss as we get older. But I doubt either of us has an obsession about it as we might have had in the flurry of adolescence. I won’t confess to or brag about middle school and high school encounters here. And I won’t ask you to share, either.
Those kisses were curious on one end of the spectrum, and I’ll just let you pick the word to describe the other end of the continuum. Google isn’t an expert on everything, and the search engine can come up with lots of misinformation, but one reference in an LA Times article said that in a 10-second kiss, 80 million bacteria are exchanged. Either I should have died by age 17 or I am invincible!
I also read something about the amount of time we spend kissing over our lifetimes. It’s really not that long, which suggests that the number of kisses we see on TV and in the movies is highly disproportionate to reality.
Righteousness and peace
Did you ever read about a kiss in the Psalms? A passage there is what got me thinking about this.
The psalmist described a coming season where the final and wonderful restoration of all things takes place. Many scholars believe Psalm 85 described a time after the Babylonian exile. God had kept his promises, and his people were able to return to their homeland. Forgiveness and renewal had begun. Yet even as the exiles returned to their homeland to begin again life again, everyone knew the world and everyday life would still experience brokenness.
We can feel the longing for more. Verse 8 picks up with anticipation of God speaking more to his people. Will God speak and bring shalom? Full reconciliation is desired. The prayer of the psalm is that it be soon, even today. Then the glory of God would be known far and wide and forever.
The next phrases might surprise us. They appear to describe a romance. There is a meeting, but this is not a speed date or simple meet and greet. There is nothing casual in this encounter. This is intimacy. And it is followed by a kiss. Not a peck on the cheek. It is an embrace. And with this intimate embrace, there is the anticipation of nourishment and satisfaction. An underground spring has erupted to quench the thirst of another. Showers pour out blessings of wholeness from above.
“Steadfast love and faithfulness meet.”
“Righteousness and peace kiss each other.”
“Faithfulness springs up from the ground.”
“Righteousness looks down from the sky.”
The psalmist affirms that the Lord will give what is good. Does he ever give bad gifts? His blessings and fullness will meet all human needs and will also renew the land. The earth itself will experience goodness. The way forward will be seen because of the footprints of the Almighty who walks before us.
The rest of the story
So many passages align with this psalm of hope. And we know the rest of the story that those who first heard this psalm did not. The Lion of Judah, Jesus himself, would make the way forward by way of the cross. His footsteps took him straight to the cross for the redemption of you and me and for all people for all time. His resurrection was the proof of what God had planned to bring about, this grand renewal of all things where love would be not just imagined or talked about, but truly known.
As the beloved of God we know are invited to follow the footsteps of Jesus, leaving our own footprints in the sand and demonstrating to all that God’s faithfulness is reliable. His love is steadfast. Righteousness and peace flow from God and through us to the world.
Who knows? Maybe Paul had Psalm 85 in mind when he told us to greet each other with a holy kiss. I probably won’t kiss you next time I see you, but I hope you will sense the love of our Father every time we greet each other.
Your time with God’s Word
Psalm 85:8-13; Hosea 2:18-19; Revelation 21:1-5; John 14:1-3; 2 Corinthians 13:12 ESV
Photo by Tati y Adri on Unsplash
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