Brethren, greet one another.

Ah, blessed greeting of brethren in the Lord. It takes but a moment, but a word, but a gesture. And yet in that little moment, the whole miraculous unity of the body of Christ comes to expression. For the brethren are members of the same body who draw the same life from the same Head. Their foundation is the same truth of the holy gospel. Their sins are washed away by the same baptism of the blood of Christ. Their mouths form the same confession. They are neighbors in heaven, where their incorruptible inheritance is reserved for them. The unity of the Spirit is theirs in one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God.

But in their stations and callings in this life, as appointed them by God, they have been apart. They have had their work to do, and they have had their homes to go to, and they have had their callings to attend to. Sometimes far away. Sometimes for a long while. And often in the midst of an unfriendly and hostile world, where greetings are merely formal, and among those with whom there is no real and heavenly and eternal unity.

But then for the brethren comes a moment of meeting. In the house of the Lord, perhaps. Or by the way, perhaps. Suddenly they lay eyes on one another, recognize one another, and rejoice. With hearty affection and without dissimulation, they hail one another in a friendly greeting. In that moment of their greeting and their rejoicing in one another is seen a flash of their rejoicing in their one Head in whom they are united.

Brethren, greet one another.

And when you greet one another, let the gesture used in your greeting be holy. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

The apostle refers to the simple custom in his day of a chaste peck on the brow or cheek or lips. The apostle apparently is not commanding a kiss as the only appropriate greeting for Christians. The scriptures refer to other gestures as well: a simple word (Matt. 28:9), a handshake (Gal. 2:9), an embrace (Acts 20:1).

Rather, the apostle is commanding that whatever gesture one uses in greeting, it must be holy. A greeting that expresses lust is perverse. A greeting that is meant to dominate is monstrous. Be holy in your greeting. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

Brethren, take it to heart in this evil day in which the church is called to live. Take it to heart when men greet women and women greet men and adults greet children. Let your gesture have nothing of lasciviousness or enticement or invitation in it, but let your kiss be holy. Let your gesture never impose yourself upon others so as to violate, dominate, entrap, or shame them, but let your kiss be holy.

Blessed and holy greeting of brethren in the Lord!

Greet one another with a holy kiss.