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Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 27th August 2006TRY A LITTLE KINDNESS Pastor Colin MeadowsBible Readings: Exodus 34:4-7, 2 Samuel 9:1-13, Romans 2:1-4, Eph 4:32, Col 3:12 · Let us keep growing Christ wants to take us on a journey of growth, spiritual growth. He wants us to be different today from how we were last week. We need, in other words, to be daily producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Gal 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Remember that we are to produce ‘fruit’ not ‘fruits’. Each of these aspects of the fruit of the Holy Spirit blends into and overlaps with one another. One cannot separate out and isolate love from joy and so forth. They are different expressions of a many faceted diamond. So far we have considered the fruit of love, joy, peace and patience. Today we move on to the fruit of kindness. Glen Campbell had a song in the 60’s called ‘Try a Little Kindness” Part of the song goes like this: If you see your brother standing by the road With a heavy load, from the seeds he’s sowed And if you see your sister falling by the way Just stop and say, you’re going the wrong way
Don’t walk around the down and out Lend a helping hand, instead of doubt And the kindness that you show every day Will help someone, along their way
You got to try a little kindness, yes show a little kindness Just shine your light for everyone to see And if you try a little kindness, then you’ll overlook the blindness Of narrow-minded people, on the narrow-minded street. Yes, let us show kindness to others. Being kind has an incredible impact on the lives of others. Time magazine reported on a management book written concerning Herman Miller Inc, a US company that produces office furniture. In the cutthroat business industry, this company has flourished by adopting the philosophy of being kind! Their chairman says that modern corporations should be communities, not battlefields. Thus they encourage staff to serve each other and their customers in an atmosphere of grace. In a 1989 survey, Fortune magazine had the firm listed in the top ten most-admired US corporations. Being kind to others. · What is kindness! Someone wrote long ago in an autograph book that I had: ‘Life is mostly froth and bubble. Two things stand like stone – Kindness in another’s trouble, Courage in your own’ - Adam Lindsay Gordon A kind person exhibits that which is good, gracious and pleasant. One key word used in the Bible for kindness means ‘to bow the head, and to treat courteously and appropriately.’ Kindness feels for the other person, hurts with their hurts and takes some of their burden. A kind hearted person is thus sympathetic and generous in all that they say and do. Kindness is full of mercy; it is the oil that takes the friction out of life. When it comes to kindness, we need to look to God himself as the supreme example of kindness. · God is kind Yes, God is kind, in a very deep way. In fact, there is a special word used in the OT to describe God’s kindness towards his people. In essence it could be translated as ‘loving kindness’ or ‘mercy’. Ex 34:6-7 “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love (kindness) and faithfulness, maintaining love (kindness) to thousands…” This special word used here, ‘chesed’ in Hebrew, is difficult to adequately translate. It speaks of God’s unfailing love and devotion to his people, of his loyalty to the promises he has made. Down through the ages, God has demonstrated his kindness to his people time and time again. God’s kindness has elements of mercy – of withholding punishment that is due, and of grace – giving that which is in not deserved. Kindness of this type is rich and deep! And God is abounding in this kindness!!! Amazing. It is because of his kindness that we are here today. Romans 2:4 “God’s kindness leads you toward repentance.” We respond to God’s kindness by bowing before him in repentance and faith. He then calls us to show his kindness to others, to pass on out of the overflow in our hearts. Let us look at an illustration of this as lived out in the life of David. He sought to pass on God’s kindness out of the overflow in his own heart. · God calls us to exhibit kindness Our reading from 2 Samuel 9 gives a wonderful example of kindness in action. David reflects on all the wonderful things that God has done for him. He had been rescued from death at the hand of Saul, promoted to being king over all Israel and then enabled to defeat his enemies, the Philistines. God had been incredibly kind to him. What was David’s response? 2 Sam 9:1 “David asked, ‘Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?’” Kindness flows from a heart that is full of gratitude to God. David was so aware of God’s grace and mercy in his own life and he thus wished to pass on God’s kindness to others. We too have the opportunity to minister out of the overflow in our own hearts. That is true for all the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We do not try to conjure up kindness through our own efforts. We receive God’s kindness into our hearts through the Holy Spirit and pass on the excess to others! But we need to remember that it is God’s kindness that we are passing on, not our own. 2 Sam 9:3 “The king asked, ‘Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?’” That is what was happening here. David was overwhelmed by God’s kindness to him and he knew he had to pass on the excess. Where did he start? Kindness starts with those who are close. He checked first concerning the family of Jonathan, his closest friend. As you seek to pass on God’s kindness out of the overflow in your own heart, start right at home. It is nonsense to go off to some far location to show God’s kindness if we are not firstly showing his kindness to those close by. Kindness forgets the person’s past. In reaching out to show kindness, don’t be concerned about the person’s past. David chose to help the family whose ancestor, Saul, had tried to kill him. Forget and forgive the past. Help those whom God prompts you to help. Let God deal with the past. David could have chosen to leave Saul’s family to their own devices. He instead chose to deliberately forget and bury the past. We should do the same. Kindness helps those who can’t help themselves. The person whom David wished to help was Mephibosheth, a young man crippled in both legs. Even his name was not right – it literally meant ‘an utterance of Baal’. David overlooked Mephibosheth’s past and pressed on to show kindness. Reach out to the helpless, not expecting anything in return. It was going to be one-way traffic here with David showering the cripple with love and attention and expecting nothing in return. That is what kindness is. Kindness is incredibly generous. David showered Mephibosheth with blessings. 2 Sam 9:7 “I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” Mephebosheth was overwhelmed by the generous heart of David. Let us exhibit kindness to others that is generous and costly, a kindness that takes us out of our comfort zone. When we lived on a missionary allowance for around twenty years, we were constantly amazed by the generosity of others. At one time we had no funds to pay our Bible College fees and I went to the office to try to make some arrangements. I had my speech ready but the secretary there said “There is no need for your speech. Someone came in and paid all of your college fees.” Such generosity was repeated at numerous times over the years. The generosity of others has in turn challenged us to be generous towards others. Kindness is incredibly generous, passing on from the overflow of what God has given to us. Yes, David showed great generosity towards Mephibosheth. Many of you may have seen the musical ‘Les Miserables’. One of the most touching scenes is when Jean Valjean is released from prison after serving 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister’s starving children. He finds himself at the home of a kind bishop who gives him supper and a bed for the night. Seeing some of the Bishop’s silver plates, Jean steals these and runs off. He is soon caught by the law and brought before the bishop. The bishop, instead of condemning the thief replies “Why, I gave these plates to him. And Jean, you forgot to take the candlesticks’. Astounded by such an act of kindness, Jean Valjean’s life is totally transformed. Let us too be people who pass on the kindness of a kind God. God wants us to be his means of demonstrating kindness in a world of pain and hurt. Such acts could easily be the critical step that will draw people onto the life of faith. Let us thus move out in acts of kindness, prompted by God’s Holy Spirit. · Christ is kindness incarnate Jesus lived a life of kindness. In going to the cross he demonstrated how far he was prepared to go on our behalf show us his kindness. Eph 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Everything about Jesus’ life exhibited kindness. In fact in the early days of Christianity there was confusion amongst the pagans as to what this new religious group was called. The confusion came from this – the word for Christ in Greek is ‘Christos’ while the word for kind is ‘chrestos’. The two words were often used interchangeably when referring to the followers of Jesus. Many pagans were not sure whether Christians were people who followed Christ or whether they had a religion centred on kindness! Both statements should be true! November 13 each year is designated as World Kindness Day. Let us however show kindness towards others each day, remembering that Jesus is kindness incarnate. Allow the Holy Spirit to wash over your heart with God’s kindness. Pass on his kindness out of the overflow in your own life. Show kindness to those closest to home first. Forget and forgive the past. Help those who can’t help themselves. Be generous in your kindness! Let us thus try a little kindness, as the song suggests, and see God work in new and amazing ways. Stephen Grellet wrote “I shall pass through this world but once. Any good that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now and not defer it. For I shall not pass this way again.” Lord, compassion is part of your character, and kindness is one of the best ways for us to show the world what you are like. May your compassion fill our hearts and spill over into the lives of everyone we encounter. In Christ’s name, Amen
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