At the end of his second letter to the Corinthians, as he said farewell to them, Paul left his readers with a list of things to do in order to live in peace with one another. The last recommendation on his list was to “Greet one another with a holy kiss.”
“Greet one another with a holy kiss” seems like impossible advice to those of us who still aren’t able to gather in person to worship. And then there’s that six foot physical distance, and even if we come closer, we’ll have on masks.
Holy kisses just aren’t possible right now.
Or are they?
Today’s reading from Genesis describes the first holy kiss, God’s holy kiss to creation and to us.
God created the heavens and the earth. God created order out of the nebulous chaos of the formless void and the darkness that covered the face of the deep. “Let there be light!” “Let there be sky! Let there be Earth and Seas!” “Let the earth put forth vegetation!” “Let there be lights in the sky—the moon and the stars!” “Let there be seasons and a way to mark time!” “Let there be living creatures swimming through the water, flying through the skies, and creatures running, walking and creeping across the earth!” “Let there be people made in my image.” And God looked at all that God had made, and God saw that all that God had made was very good.
We are made in God’s image. God made each one of us to be in relationship with all of creation and with one another. God made us to be creative in the best of ways. Just think, we too get to create and to see that what we have done is very good.
The ways that we creatively bless one another, the ways that we creatively bless the earth and all living things by caring for them, the ways that we creatively bring order out of the chaos of our own lives, or work to bring order and new life out of the chaos of our life together as a society, all of these creative ways are like greeting one another and the earth with a holy kiss.
Today’s Psalm reminds us of our first and most important holy kiss that we are to give—the honor that we pay to God when we remember our place in creation. God has adorned us, the caretakers of the earth, with glory and honor, and has given us much responsibility, but in order to fulfill God’s dreams for us, we must remember that we are NOT God, and not even angels. We are a little lower than the angels. And God is our Governor, the One whose name we exalt. How easy it is for us to put ourselves in God’s place and to forget about God.
So the most important holy kiss we can give is to God in our praise of God, our exaltation of God, and our humility before God. When we greet God with a holy kiss, all the other holy kisses that we hope to give in our lives become possible.
And now we come to the gospel and to Jesus, the greatest lover that the world has ever known.
All the gospels tell the story of how Jesus loved us, bringing God’s love to life in the flesh. We all know that verse from John, that says that “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.”
So Jesus is God’s holy kiss to us, and Jesus shows us how to greet one another with holy kisses in the example of his own life and death.
Here at the end of the gospel according to Matthew, Jesus has met the disciples after his resurrection, as he promised he would, in Galilee, on the mountain. He met them on the mountain where they had heard him describe what the world would be like if everyone kissed one another with holy kisses—blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
And the holy kisses that we receive from God as we mourn, as we have mercy, as we hunger and thirst after righteousness, as we create peace—the holy kisses that we give to God and to one another come when we do these things together and for one another.
The mountain where the disciples meet Jesus after the resurrection also brings to mind the transfiguration, a moment when the disciples experienced up close God giving Jesus a holy kiss as Jesus was transfigured and they heard God’s booming command, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.” “Listen to Jesus” God says, “because all he has to say to you is a holy kiss from me to you.”
So back to this closing scene at the end of Matthew, keeping these other two scenes on the mountain filled with holy kisses in mind—Matthew tells us that some worship Jesus—they are giving Jesus their holy kiss. Others doubt. They aren’t quite sure. They hold back from the kiss.
One of the beauties of this scene is that Jesus doesn’t discriminate between those who kiss him and those who hesitate. He gives his holy kiss to everyone who has shown up there on the mountain—the holy kiss of mission—“You all, go out and give my holy kiss to the world by teaching people about my love, so that they can love one another.” And as you go and do that, my holy kiss for you is that I will never leave you, ever.
“And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus puts into words what has been true all along. God never ever leaves us. God loves us. God wakes us with a holy kiss every morning, God kisses us and gives us the desire to bless everything around us throughout the day, God kisses us goodnight when the day is done, like parents kiss their children—and for those who doubt, the way a parent goes into the darkened room of a grumpy child who has finally gone to sleep and gently kisses that child goodnight. A holy kiss, freely given.
Because this is Trinity Sunday, I will add that the Trinity itself is a holy kiss—the love that flows forever in that everlasting circle of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the circle in which God made us to dwell, the circle that Jesus raises us up and draws us into, the circle in which we too become holy through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amazing Grace, God’s freely given gift to us.
So beloved, greet one another with a holy kiss.
And the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of us.
Amen.