Kindness | October 15th, 2023
Call To Worship: From Psalm 145
I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. 2 I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. 3 Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness. 8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. 9 The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation. 17 The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. 21 I will praise the Lord, and may everyone on earth bless his holy name forever and ever . ____________________________
Holy Harvest: Fruits of the Spirit
Kindness
1 Thessalonians 5.14-18
CPCC 10.15.23
Big Idea: Kindness reflects Jesus’ love
INTRO: Joke: A pastor in Southern California is driving across town. He is late for a meeting. Traffic is bad and he is yelling at the other drivers and honking his horn at them. A police officer pulls up behind the pastor and flashes his lights and pulls him over. The officer walks up to pastor’s window and asks to see his license and registration. The pastor asks the officer why he was pulled over. The officer smiles and says, “When I pulled up behind you, I saw your ‘Jesus Loves You,’ bumper sticker…but when I saw you yelling and honking at the other drivers, if figured you must have stolen this car.
This is a joke. I have never been pulled over for not being kind… I always make sure no police are around when I honk!
Today, we are looking at Kindness, a Fruit of the Spirit that seems to be in short supply.
Any sports fans here?
ILLUS: Fan fights are a problem at many sports stadiums. It has gotten so bad, that the NFL has enacted a zero tolerance policy including banning for life any fan engaging in a fight on stadium property. At the home opener of the San Francisco 49ers, a brawl broke out among opposing fans including a now internet famous wig ripped off one woman’s head. Several of the fans were banned for life. Same thing at the Raiders v. Rams game in Las Vegas. Two women started fighting and their section started slugging it out. But the worst was a fight during the New England Patriots v. Miami Dolphins game at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts. 53-year-old Dale Mooney was punched in the head and died following night. What was the cause of all these brawls? Whose team is better. Is that really worth fighting over?
What happened to civility and kindness?
Christians need to be careful not to get caught in this foolish behavior.
We need to take the Bible seriously when it says in
Col 3.12: Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
or
Ephesians 4.31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
or
Micah 6.8: O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
We show kindness because God is kind. God calls us to show His kindness to others, and by doing so, reflect God’s Character in our character. One of Jesus’ most striking qualities was His compassion and kindness, especially for those society rejected. If we are going to take our walk with Jesus seriously, then we must learn to embrace and demonstrate the same kindness as Jesus gave to others.
Kindness in action needs to be part of who we are.
READ: 1 Thessalonians 5.14-18
14 Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. 15 See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. 16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
While as a culture we may excuse a lack of kindness in our political and social debates, as Christians, there is no excuse to not show kindness to others. Kindness is a powerful force in our Christian witness.
Even God describes Himself this way.
Exodus 34.6
The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with kindness and faithfulness. I lavish kindness to a thousand generations.I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
If it is part of the nature of God, shouldn’t it be part of our nature was well?
Something you have probably noticed so far: You don’t have to be a Christian to experience or show Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, or today’s fruit: Kindness.
I have received great kindness from people who were strangers including one man who helped me with my stalled car whose language indicated he was more comfortable outside of church than in. Yet he showed me incredible kindness.
What Paul is teaching in Galatians 5 is that those who give their lives to Jesus no longer live by their sinful nature, rather they live by the power of the Holy Spirit, which produces noticeable results, or fruits as he calls them. These fruits have a deeper Spiritual aspect to them. So, while anyone can choose to be kind, kindness in a follower of Jesus Christ will also reflect Jesus’ kindness.
Jesus Kindness was selfless, compassionate, and full of His Grace and Mercy.
Here’s an example of what Jesus’ kindness looks like from Luke 6.35.
“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked.
This description of Jesus also contains the root word for next week’s Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness. The way Luke 6.35 describes Jesus’ kindness goes beyond the typical kindness of strangers. Nice people help those in need, but it takes a special person to help those who are unthankful, wicked, or enemies.
The Greek word Paul uses is here for kindness is chréstotés χρηστότης. SHOW SLIDE It is closely related to goodness. Godly kindness has demonstrates a moral excellence. Jesus showed kindness because of His love for all people regardless of their background or wether they would return His kindness. It is kindness done to demonstrate God’s Grace to others.
This spiritual aspect of Grace ties it to its Hebrew counterpart, Hesed, SHOW SLIDE which conveys the spiritual nature of kindness.
Hessed Kindness is God’s Steadfast love, mercy, kindness, and grace — God’s love for us. Hessed also can mean unearned forgiveness of sin and describes kindness given to help someone else, especially when that person doesn’t deserve it, like Jesus telling us to love our enemies. Hessed kindness is God’s love put into action.
Hessed is one of those words that when translating it into English needs several of our words to convey it’s meaning. So our English Bibles use compound words like loving-kindness or merciful-kindness or godly-kindness to express that God’s kindness is so much more than God being nice to people.
God’s kindness is life-giving, gracious, merciful, forgiving, loving and faithful all rolled into one kind action towards us… and God calls us to extend this kindness to each other as well.
ILLUS: Here’s another example from the Bible of Godly Kindness. It’s the well known story of one of the friendship between David and Jonathan.
After David kills Goliath, he meets King Saul’s son Jonathan, and they become best friends.
Jonathan was the next in line to be King after his father Saul
Saul had disobeyed God several times, and God promised to remove Saul and his descendants from the throne forever.
David was chosen by God to be the next King
Saul goes berserk and tries to kill David at least 6 times in the Bible
If Saul is able to kill David, then Jonathan would become King.
In a nutshell, God removes His favor from Saul because of Saul’s disobedience to God. Saul goes to war and he and Jonathan die on the battlefield.
David becomes King.
Often when a new King came to power, he banished or killed the surviving royal family so there would be no heirs to the throne, or attempts to restore the former Kingship.
But King David doesn’t do that.
In 2 Samuel David shows incredible kindness to Jonathan’s only surviving son, Mephiboshet, who has a rightful claim to the throne after the death of his Grandfather King Saul.
Instead of banishment, David shows incredible kindness to Jonathan’s only surviving son.
2 Samuel 9.1-4
One day David asked, “Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive—anyone to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” He summoned a man named Ziba, who had been one of Saul’s servants. “Are you Ziba?” the king asked. “Yes sir, I am,” Ziba replied. The king then asked him, “Is anyone still alive from Saul’s family? If so, I want to show God’s kindness to them.” Ziba replied, “Yes, one of Jonathan’s sons is still alive. He is crippled in both feet.” “Where is he?” the king asked. “In Lo-debar,” Ziba told him, “at the home of Makir son of Ammiel.”
So here is the part of the story where most other Kings would have sent soldiers to Lo Debar to wipe out Mephibosheth, his wife, his children, his cousins, his servants and his animals. A king cannot afford to have rivals.
Listen to what David does instead: 2 Samuel 9.5-10
So David sent for him and brought him from Makir’s home. His name was Mephibosheth; he was Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson. When he came to David, he bowed low to the ground in deep respect. David said, “Greetings, Mephibosheth.” Mephibosheth replied, “I am your servant.” “Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!” Mephibosheth bowed respectfully and exclaimed, “Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?” Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba and said, “I have given your master’s grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and servants are to farm the land for him to produce food for your master’s household. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, will eat here at my table.” … So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table like one of the king’s sons.
That’s is Chréstotés and Hessed kindness in action.
David didn’t have to seek out Mephibosheth. He could have felt justified leaving him alone instead of killing him, but David, with all his fault’s, showed loving-kindness, godly kindness instead.
Let’s take this Godly kindness a little deeper.
What would happen in your most important relationships if you could learn to show God’s loving-kindness to others?
ILLUS: John Gottman is a leading researcher on marriage and relationships. After decades of research and studying over 10,000 marriages, one of the key factors he has found in wether a marriage will last or fail is by looking for the presence of either contempt or kindness in the marriage.
Here’s what Gottman’s research has found:
Contempt is the number one factor that tears couples apart. People who focus on criticizing their spouse miss the positive things their partners are doing. They see negativity even when it’s not there. People who give their spouse the cold shoulder—deliberately ignoring or responding minimally—damage the relationship by making their spouse feel worthless and invisible, as if they’re not there, not valued.
People who treat their partners with contempt and criticize them not only kill the love in the relationship, they also damage their spouses physically. Gottman discovered an increase in disease in couples who lived in contempt rather than kindness. Their actions weakened their spouse’s ability to fight off viruses and cancers. Overall, Gottman’s research proved Contempt and Criticizing is the death knell of relationships.
The opposite is true of Kindness. Kindness keeps couples together.
Several studies have shown that kindness is an important attribute that leads to satisfaction and stability in a marriage. Kindness makes each partner feel cared for, understood, validated, and loved.
Researches have found that when a person shows kindness to another person, that other person is more likely to show kindness in return.
Emily Esfahani Smith, "Masters of Love," The Atlantic (6-12-14)
Jesus said as much in Matthew 7.12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.
The question for you this morning is How will you show God’s kindness to others even if there is little chance they will respond in the same way to you?
ILLUS: In 1967 Doug Nichols was serving as a missionary in India. His unlikely journey to serve others was difficult. His step-father told him he was worthless. His three brothers died in prison, and his own life was headed that way too. In college, a Christian room mate showed him kindness when Doug stumbled into their dorm room drunk one night. The roommate sat him down, gave him coffee and began sharing the "Good News" about Jesus’ love and forgiveness. Doug prayed to receive Christ. Afterwards, Doug wanted to serve other people.
After college he joined his friend at Bible college with the intent of becoming a missionary. Doug struggled and had to have special tutoring. Some told him he was wasting their time and his money, but He determined to serve as a missionary. They said, “You'll never make it as a missionary!”
It took a lot of effort, but Doug managed to make it through his training and applied to 30 different missions. He was rejected by all of them. Finally “Operation Mobilization” accepted him. Doug says, “They would accept anyone!” He was hoping to go to France, but ended up in India, where he found out as a white American, he was despised.
It was now 1967. Doug was struggling to learn the language and serve the local population. To make matters worse he came down with tuberculosis and had to stay in a Indian sanitarium for several months. In the sanitarium, Doug was feeling lonely and confused. He couldn’t understand the language of the other patients, but he wanted to share the message of Jesus with them.
Doug had a few gospel tracts in their language, Parsi, and tried to pass them out, but people either tore them up or refused them. Nobody wanted a white man or his God taking up space at their Indian hospital.
One night, Doug woke up at 2:00 am, coughing so violently that he could not catch his breath. During this coughing fit, Doug saw an older emaciated man across the aisle trying to get out of bed. He was so weak he could not stand up. The man cried out for help, but no one would help him.
In the morning Doug realized that the man had been trying to get up to use the bathroom. The stench in the ward was terrible. The other patients were angry at the man for not being able to contain himself. The nurse cleaned up the mess and then slapped him.
The next night, again Doug saw the man trying to get out of bed again, but this time Doug got out of bed, picked up the man, and carried him to the toilet; which was just a hole in the floor, and then brought him back to his bed. The old man kissed Doug on the cheek and went to sleep.
Early the next morning, Doug woke up to a steaming cup of tea beside his bed. Another patient had kindly made it for him. The patient motioned that he wanted one of Doug’s gospel tracts. Over the next few days, one patient after another asked, “Could I have one of those tracts too?”
Today, Doug looks back on a long and successful career as a missionary. When he talks to people in the states he loves to share examples of how doing kind acts for others such as opening car doors, or helping folks on an airplane with their overhead luggage has opened the way for him to share the Gospel of Jesus by first showing the kindness of Jesus to them.
Friends, my charge to you is simple this week:
Think of one person in your life who could benefit from a simple act of kindness, and then show them that kindness.
Be intentional, and don’t expect anything in return.
Show them Jesus by showing them Jesus’ kindness in your actions.
Our culture is at a tipping point of uncivilly, unkindness, rudeness, cruelty, and unmerciful behavior. Politics, power, ideology, and even medical disagreements are driving people apart. Your calling as a follower of Jesus Christ is to be different by acting differently. Combat cruelty and hate with God’s love and kindness.
Let the Holy Spirit use the fruit of Kindness to help you reflect Jesus’ kindness to a world desperate for Godly kindness.
Pray
BENEDICTION: 1 Thessalonians 5.23-24
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.
Opening Hymns:
#106 All Hail the Power of Jesus Name v.1-3
#504 Just a Closer Walk with Thee v.1-3
Closing Hymn:
#451 Be Still, My Soul v.1-3