Express Kindness

June 5th 2016

Seaford Christian Church (Homecoming)

Express Kindness

Luke 8: 40 – 56

I heard about a woman who had just cashed her income tax return check, and as she was standing at a bus stop a man went over to a poorly dressed man, whispered something in his ear, and handed him some money. The woman was so taken back and moved by this act of kindness, that she too went over reached into her purse, pulled out a ten-dollar bill, and whispered in the man’s ear, “Never despair…never despair.”

The next day at the same bus stop the same man came over and handed her $110. The lady, shocked and confused, said, “What’s this?” The man replied, “Your horse won lady, Never Despair paid 10 to 1.”

Not every act of kindness pays 10 to 1; it doesn’t always turn out to be profitable. In fact, often times kindness costs us something. But it is fulfilling, it is commanded, and it’s an important attribute of love.

Do you remember some years back when George Bush Sr. was president? Do you remember how he promised a kinder, gentler nation? It hasn’t happened has it? For the past two decades violence has been on the rise. As a matter of fact, in America the leading cause of death among males ages 18 – 25 is homicide.

What does it mean to be kind? Kindness is love in action. The Phillips translation of 1 Corinthians 13:4 reads like this, “Love looks for a way to be constructive to improve someone else’s life.” Kindness is an attribute that doesn’t always come naturally. It takes practice and it takes occasional reminders. And I can’t think of a better reminder than Jesus. You see, Jesus is the King of kindness.

Luke 8 deals with two different people who came into contact with the kindness of Christ. They were very different; one was a man the other a woman. One of them was poor, destitute, a bag lady. And he was wealthy, influential, a man of means. She was a nobody, just a face in the crowd…he was a ruler in the synagogue.

Let’s begin this morning by refreshing our memories of the story. Jesus is by the Sea of Galilee; tons of people have come to see and to hear Him. No sooner does He arrive on the scene when a synagogue ruler by the name of Jairus comes running up with an urgent plea.

His voice drips and shakes with panic. His face is wrought with emotion and fear. And his request is a very simple one. He says, “Please…Jesus, please…just touch my daughter. Just save her life and heal her just by merely touching her.” Christ responded by heading straight for the house with this huge throng of people right on his heels. As they hurry to the home of Jairus the other character in the story comes onto the scene. She’s a woman we would’ve never remembered had she not crossed the path of one in which we could never forget. In fact, we don’t even know her name. She remains one of the vast company of mortals who for a moment found her immortality enlightened in the company of Jesus Christ.

Who she was was not nearly as important as why she had come. She had suffered from and incurable disease for 12 years. I’m almost certain she had heard about this man from Galilee, this man whom they said could heal with just a word from His lips or a touch of His hands. And Jesus became her only hope.

Now, Jesus is on His way to heal Jairus’ sick and dying 12-year-old, and while these masses of people are following perhaps this woman thought, “Oh, He doesn’t have time for me.” But just as she starts to leave, perhaps she caught just a glimpse of His robe flowing in the breeze. And just maybe she thought, “Hey, there’s power in that man…maybe if even flows through His robe.” So she gets so close that she can reach out and touch Jesus. She knifes her shoulder between two burly fishermen and she reaches out and stretches as far as she can and she just touches the hem of His garment.

The Gospel of Mark says that immediately she knew. Gone was that perpetual sense of pain, replaced with an inward sense of healing. She had touched the Great Physician and she would never be the same again.

But as soon as this happened, Jesus stopped dead in His tracks and the huge crowds of people were forced to stop as well. Jesus looked around and asked, “Who touched me?” Now, that’s a strange question, don’t you think? Luke’s account says, “that the crowd nearly crushed Him…” I can imagine the disciples chuckling a little bit as Jesus asked this question. “Who touched you? Jesus there are hundreds of people all around you and you ask us who touched you? Who hasn’t touched you Lord?” But you see Jesus could always distinguish between the casual jostling of the crowd and the purposeful touch of someone in need.