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1. Conspire to give away kindness purposefully
A boy came home one day to find his mother sitting at the table with a homeless man. Apparently she had gone shopping, met the tramp along the way, and invited him home for a warm meal. During the conversation the man said, "I wish there were more people like you in the world." Whereupon his mother replied, "Oh, there are. But you must look for them." The old man simply shook his head, saying. "But, lady, I didn’t need to look for you… you looked for me."
I think sometimes we equate kindness with being “reactive”.
So often kindness is about going through life and not hurting or harming someone or something.
So often kindness is about letting others come to you and responding.
So often kindness is about waiting and then “not” responding in a certain way.
Christ experienced kindness is different.
Christ filled kindness is about being proactive, it’s the kind of stuff that pursues people!
Christ filled kindness is not just about your friends, is even more so about your non-friends & enemies, too!
the people who hate you
the people who curse you
the people who talk about you behind your back and discredit you
the people who don’t apologize for the wrong they’ve done in you life
the people who mistreat you
Whenever you see the word “but” or “therefore” in the scriptures look at the previous section.
He has just spent a long night in prayer; He has just selected the disciples; He seeks out to talk to the new 12 and a huge crowd appears from nowhere.He has just healed, and cured, and cast out spirits that the word says so much energy was surging from Him. He’s pouring out all of himself - He’s emptying Himself.
Then He speaks of “blessings”:
20-23"You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all ... You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry ... You’re blessed when the tears flow freely ... Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—skip like a lamb, if you like!—for even though they don’t like it, I do . . . and all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company; my preachers and witnesses have always been treated like this.
And then, in pretty much all our translations I believe they cut the section at the wrong place starting with verse 27 and label it “Loving you enemies”. Instead it makes much better to place the divide at the 24th verse, and I love the heading that the Message translation provides: “Giving Away Your Life”.
Yes, Jesus talks about more than just how to love your neighbor - he talks of giving away your life. And that’s so much of what kindness entails.
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2. Conspire to be “un-satisfied”
There’s trouble ahead when you stop emptying; when you get full
There’s a great spiritual deepness in the movie “Finding Nemo”. Do you recall the fish in the fish tank located in the dental office? The tank remains clean because the shrimp, Jaques, and the filter are working to continually empty the tank of all the excess while aiding in the generation of clean water for the tank. But when the tank is not emptied “stuff” begins to build up to the point that it’s cloudy and polluted. And then not only can you not see inside from the out, but you can’t see out from the inside.
24But it’s trouble ahead if you think you have it made. What you have is all you’ll ever get.
25And it’s trouble ahead if you’re satisfied with yourself. Your self will not satisfy you for long. And it’s trouble ahead if you think life’s all fun and games. There’s suffering to be met, and you’re going to meet it.
26"There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.
There’s trouble ahead when we are satisfied that we’ve done “enough” kind acts
There’s trouble ahead when we feel like we’ve “arrived” because we were good, God blessed us, and we’re living the anointed life.
There’s trouble ahead when we become desensitized to injustice, poverty, and misfortune.
There’s trouble ahead when we count every homeless person as just another person “faking i” who really makes 6 figures every year begging.
When we stop emptying our spiritual tanks, when we stop actively, proactively emptying ourselves our spiritual tanks we get filled with so much of self and become clouded; polluted even - just like that fish tank. We are no longer a witness, a beacon to the world. No one from the outside can see in - and what they see is pollution, corruption, and filth.
And we can’t see the outside world because we are so focused on “getting ourselves together” before we can do anything for anyone else. Now I do believe in taking care of ourselves, but when it becomes our ONLY task and to the point where we no longer effect the outside world, there is a problem.
We are supposed to be a beacon, the light of the world - but if the inside of the lighthouse glass is completely covered, no light can be seen from the outside.- it’s just a building on a cliff.
We are supposed to be the salt of the world - but if we are only locked up in a container then we are just a table decoration.
I believe that’s a sad reality about Christians and even churches -
we don’t empty ourselves to one another
we don’t empty ourselves to the community and world around us
we don’t empty ourselves even to God.
So we stay clouded and polluted and the world around us isn’t changed.
James Hudson Taylor said “If your father and mother, your sister and brother, if the very cat and dog in the house, are not happier for your being Christian, it is a question whether you really are”
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3. Conspire to practice “servant life”
A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead. She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama. Then, she asked the class: "If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?"
A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, “I think I’d throw up.”
CAN YOU DIG IT? Can we really walk in this challenge, because Jesus is giving us some stuff that will really NOT sit well in our stomachs.
27-30"To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously. (Empty yourself)
Let your enemies bring out the best!
When someone slaps you in the face don’t respond with force.
Take your pick of any old medieval movie and recall what would happen when one man would take his glove and slap the cheek of another. It was a declaration of a duel. Well in the days of Israel it was the same. People understood that to slap someone’s cheek was the gravest of insults.
Smiting on the cheek was accounted a grievous injury and insult (EBD)
Job 16:10 Men open their mouths to jeer at me; they strike my cheek in scorn and unite together against me.
Micah 5:1 Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a siege is laid against us. They will strike Israel’s ruler on the cheek with a rod.
Lamentations 3:30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.
I think we’ve too often seen this scripture TOO literally. I think the message does a very good job of pointing out the intent of this scripture. Does all this mean we walk around with targets on our chest - no it means we walk around with Christ in our hearts. What ever happened to WWJD?
Simply ask the question, “what is the purpose of all these things?” The answer is the last verse:
If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.
if “the servant life” = the “Jesus” life
if “living generaously = ”living kindly”
then living the Jesus life is about living kindly.
In the Greek, The word Christ is “ChrIstos” And the word for Kindness is “ChrEstos”
There’s just one letter different.
“in the first century, the believers were so KIND that many people did not know whether their title was ‘follower of Christ,’ or ‘follower of kindness.’”
Being religious will not make us kind people
But when we walk in His Spirit… when we try to treat others the way Jesus treated us… then people will know who we belong to.1
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4. Conspire to Live it out
Where does the Golden Rule of Kindness come from?
Is this the first time something that sounds like a rule of kindness has existed? No.
Confucius said “DO NOT unto others”
Tobit said “DO NOT DO to anyone what you’d hate”
And Jewish Rabbis said “WHAT IS HATEFUL TO YOU…” don’t do that
The Buddhists said: “Kill NOT”
If these rules have been here for so long then, why are we still talking about it?
31-34"Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.
35-36"I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.
Shortly after the Korean War ended, a night watchman noticed a hungry boy seeking shelter on the streets. He said “Child go to that house and say to the one who answers, ‘John 3:16’” Even though the boy did not know what John 3:16 meant, he did as the watchman instructed.
He went to the house, and knocked on the door. He did not understand the strange words that fell from his lips “John 3:16,” but the lady smiled and invited him to come in out of the cold. The boy thought,
“I do not know what this John 3:16 is, but it sure makes a cold boy warm.”
Seeing that boy was gaunt with hunger, the kind lady brought him a bowl of hot soup. And as he ate, the boy thought again,
“I do not know what this John 3:16 is, but it sure makes a hungry boy full.”
After a nice bath and donning clean pajamas, he lay in a comfortable bed with tears flowing down his cheeks.
I do not know what this John 3:16 is,” he thought, “but it sure makes a strange lady love a lonely boy.”
