A Holy Kiss

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul deals with many of the same problems in the church that he addressed in his first letter to the Corinthians. But you donโ€™t sense that he is discouraged, as he ends by saying, โ€œ๐บ๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘’๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘œ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘Ž โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘˜๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ โ€ (13:12).

Who do you normally kiss? Your parents, your children or your spouseโ€”each kiss is different. You can kiss lightly or deeply, but the most intimate kiss is the kiss between lovers, because it is a mingling of two persons. This kiss is weighty and full of your person; it leads to bearing fruitโ€”a continuation of life. We can greet each other with a peck on the cheek, but this is not a true kiss. When you have a genuine relationship with someone, you kiss them wholly. They feel you. Itโ€™s about a person giving themselves to another person. ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐š ๐ก๐ฎ๐ฆ๐š๐ง ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐œ๐š๐ง ๐›๐ž ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฅ, ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐ข๐ฆ๐ฉ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ, ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐š๐ง ๐š ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ค๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ. The holy kiss is different than just any kiss. It is not physical; it is something very internal and mysterious. This kiss is the result of Godโ€™s heart’s desire. God wants to come into you and speak through you. He wants to love you and love through you, to impart Himself to you and to those around you. This is Godโ€™s kiss to us.

At times, the weight of that kiss can come through admonishing or rebuking. The rebuking is a holy kiss. It is on you. It is fully there. God loves us, so He disciplines us. Itโ€™s not daintyโ€”itโ€™s very substantial, like Paulโ€™s admonishment to the Corinthians. As an example of a true minister of God, Paulโ€™s love to the saints he served happens in such a specific way: โ€œ๐ผ๐‘› ๐‘š๐‘ข๐‘โ„Ž ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘๐‘’, ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘Ž๐‘“๐‘“๐‘™๐‘–๐‘๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ , ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ , ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘ , ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘๐‘’๐‘ , ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘š๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘š๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘ , ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘š๐‘ข๐‘™๐‘ก๐‘ , ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘ , ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘ , ๐‘–๐‘› ๐‘“๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘ …โ€ and it goes on and on from verse four to ten of chapter six. This is very weighty! In our serving the saints, do we have the weight to give this holy kiss or are we kissing each other with a very thin and light kiss? Are we utterly present when we serve or are we stingy in giving out our person? Do we know what to minister in that holy kiss toward the brother or sister beside us? Is it in endurance? Is it in afflictions? Is it in necessities? Distresses? Tumults? Labors? Watchings? Fastings? Pureness? Knowledge? Long suffering? All of that is in this holy kiss! When we interact with one another, the holy kiss carries the ministry in every circumstance so that nothing should be held back. The holy kiss is so full. It is so deep. It is so mature. Our kisses should be weighty and full because we have Christ inside of us.

Paul says, โ€œ๐‘‚๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ ๐‘š๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ฆ๐‘œ๐‘ข, ๐ถ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ ; ๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘”๐‘’๐‘‘.โ€ Are our mouths open to each other? This is a time to be encouraged and to be enlarged. Weโ€™ve received a holy kiss from the ones who are serving us today, and the result is that we are enlarged! Our mouths are open and our hearts are enlarged.We are joyful because we fulfilled that kiss among ourselves and we are mingled with God. We can kiss God and be one with Him. How much that pleases Him.

(Above are notes of fellowship taken from gatherings on 06/26/2020 not reviewed by the speaker)

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