______________________________________________
1. The Kindness Tab:
We share peace
We share hope and love
We share faith - in God and even in others
So we conspire to give away kindness purposefully, to seek for opportunities of kindness
So we conspire to be “un-satisfied” in our kindness - we are never done
So we conspire to to practice a servant life
So we conspire to live out a life of kindness
Planning for the overflow
The principles of measure
Receiving through giving
The Courage to let go (of our money)
40 Questions to Ask Yourself about finances
______________________________________________
2. We live kindness by not “picking” on folks
37-38 "Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment.
What is a “nit”? The egg of a louse or other parasitic insect. Louse nits can be seen on the head feathers of most martins and appear as tiny, white capsules. The lice that parasitize Purple Martins spend their entire life cycle on the birds and therefore, travel with them to Brazil and back each year, nestled among their feathers. Martins frequently engage in head scratching to relieve the irritation cause by the lice crawling there. Bird lice often concentrate on the head area of their hosts because both they and their nits are safe from visual "nit picking" there.
“Nit pickers” were people from days past whose responsibilities were to take very fine toothed combs and search strand by strand to find out where the nits were located within persons hair.
Matthew speak of the dangers of “nitpicking”
Matthew 7 1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3"Why do you (C)look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4"(D)Or how can you say to your brother, ’Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Of the many things Christians in our country are known for “judging” is probably best. In fact, most persons who may have never even visited a Christian church know about the “speck/log” verse. Are there times in which we have to judge - yes - but they are few in number and can only happen AFTER we’ve taken a look at SELF.
ILLUS: A grocery store check-out clerk once wrote to advice-columnist Ann Landers to complain that she had seen people buy "luxury" food items—like birthday cakes and bags of shrimp—with their food stamps. The writer went on to say that she thought all those people on welfare who treated themselves to such non-necessities were "lazy and wasteful."
A few weeks later Lander’s column was devoted entirely to people who had responded to the grocery clerk. One woman wrote:
I didn’t buy a cake, but I did buy a big bag of shrimp with food stamps. So what? My husband had been working at a plant for fifteen years when it shut down. The shrimp casserole I made was for our wedding anniversary dinner and lasted three days. Perhaps the grocery clerk who criticized that woman would have a different view of life after walking a mile in my shoes.
Another woman wrote:
I’m the woman who bought the $17 cake and paid for it with food stamps. I thought the check-out woman in the store would burn a hole through me with her eyes. What she didn’t know is the cake was for my little girl’s birthday. It will be her last. She has bone cancer and will probably be gone within six to eight months.
1. Christians are not to pass judgement on people for their moral failures. (Luke 6:37-38, Rom. 2:1-5)
2. Christians are not to judge other Christians regarding disputable matters. (Rom. 14:1-10)
3. Christians are not to judge people’s hidden motives. (1 Cor 4:5)
1Cor. 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
4. Christians are not to judge unbelievers. (1 Cor. 5:12-13, John 3:17)
1Cor. 5:12 ¶ What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 God will judge those outside.
John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
(Because of the depth of the topic, I’ll have to share the details it the next message.)
Romans 14:
1Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
9For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
______________________________________________
3. We live kindness by not condemning
Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier.
If Judging is pointing something out and immediately making a value decision on that person to determine if they are guilty, then Condemning is sentencing that person.
Christ gives an example of what condemnation is:
Matthew 21
18-20Early the next morning Jesus was returning to the city. He was hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree alongside the road, he approached it anticipating a breakfast of figs. When he got to the tree, there was nothing but fig leaves. He said, "No more figs from this tree—ever!" The fig tree withered on the spot, a dry stick. The disciples saw it happen. They rubbed their eyes, saying, "Did we really see this? A leafy tree one minute, a dry stick the next?"
18Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered.
At a word Jesus condemns the tree - curses the tree. It withers and dies. To condemn is to sentence to death.
Mark 14:
Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ,[f] the Son of the Blessed One?" 62"I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." 63 The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. 64 "You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?" They all condemned him as worthy of death.
How many people have we cursed someone, condemned, withered, put to death by our words and actions? ______________________________________________
4. We live kindness by ... not getting!
v38
Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. (Message)
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. (NIV)
There was a Christian man who recently sat in front of me at a meeting. He knew I was a long way from home, so he turned and said to me just before the service was over on the last night, " I know you have a great distance to drive. Here is $20.00 to help you with you gas money going back home." That man had learned the lesson that you get through giving.
I read that story from a sermon someone wrote on this topic and it makes me sad. Actually pretty sick because the context and the purpose has been missed. So many of us see this and immediately focus on the “Theology of Moneyology”. Yes, this is the purpose and the example of how if we give a little cash - particularly to the agents of the church - we will receive. But how can we read everything up until this one verse and immediately without reason go from how we give grace, and hope, and how we respond to those to do us harm, from not condemning to not criticizing - all of this in the chapter and immediately start speaking about how much my spiritual income tax return is worth?
We often then hear that God will give back if we give to him! Look at the scripture and ask the questions: Who are we giving to? Who gives the return?
(KJV) shall men give into your bosom
(NAS) They will pour into your lap
The scriptures have been making a comparison:
You judge others, they will judge back
You condemn others, they will condemn back
You give to others they will give back
Yes, it’s true that God can work through others, but the principle in this scripture is in terms of how we relate to one another - not what we can get back from God. Look at your subheading for the selection. Does it read something to the effect of “judging Others” or does it read about “gifts from God”.
Pressed Down
The figurative language is borrowed from the market where the salesman, grateful for past kindnesses, endeavors, by pressing, shaking, and piling up, to put more grain into the measure for us that it will contain.
Running Over:
Running over (uperekcunnomenon). Present middle participle of this double compound verb not found elsewhere save in A Q in Joel 2:24.
Joel 2:24 The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.
Bosom:
Isaiah 6:6 "See, it stands written before me: I will not keep silent but will pay back in full; I will pay it back into their laps-- 7 both your sins and the sins of your fathers," says the Lord. "Because they burned sacrifices on the mountains and defied me on the hills, I will measure into their laps the full payment for their former deeds."
Pockets were unknown to the ancients, and what they wished to take with them was carried in the fold in the bosom of the coat, the girdle below holding it up. It’s very similar to the “pouch” a geisha wears placed in the front. In Ruth 3:15 it’s called a “shaw or veil:
He also said, "Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out." When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and put it on her. Then he went back to town.
And when a great deal has been received what then happens? It’s given back!
He’s been talking about condemnation, being hard, speaking mean, etc. so what can we give:
We can give our ears:
James 1:9 My beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.
Mat. 11:15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. One of the greatest acts of love is listening. Listening is more an act of love than kissing! Give ear without interruptions, not daydreaming, not listening just to know how to attack.
We can give our time
Maybe it means sacrificing some work to play on the playground
maybe sacrificing a little sleep to read a book for a kid
maybe sacrificing a little money to go eat at a restaurant
maybe to watch a sports game when you’ve no desire to do so
We can give a laugh:
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart does good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.
We can give a genuine favor:
Doing something for someone without the desire to get something back
We can give space and distance:
Sometimes even Jesus had to be alone
