KINGDOM KINDNESS
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“A little lame boy was once hurrying to catch a train. In the press of the crowd he experienced real difficulty in manipulating his crutches, especially as he was carrying a basket full of fruit and candy. As the passengers rushed along, one hit the basket by mistake, knocking oranges, apples, and candy bars in all directions. The man who caused the accident paused only long enough to scold the cripple for getting in his way. Another gentleman, seeing the boy’’ distress, went to his aid. Quickly he picked up the fruit and added a silver dollar to the collection, saying, ‘I’m sorry, Sonny! I hope this makes up a little!’” With a smile he was on his way. The young boy who had seldom been the recipient of such kindness called after the ‘good Samaritan’ in gratitude and awe, ‘Mister—please sir, are you Jesus?’ “No,’ replied his new-found friend, ‘I’m only one of His followers.’ So too the people whose lives we touch need to see the Lord in our acts of compassion and Christian kindness
This morning I want to take a passage of scripture from Paul’s letter to the church at Colosse, ( COL 3:12-17) and look at the characteristics of KINDNESS that should be found in God’s people. Remember, the week before last we talked about the fact that if we have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, then we are members of God’s household (EPH 2:19) . I spoke of how as members of God’s household we have chores to do, just as any household requires everyone to pitch in. But as members of God’s household we have characteristics that others should see as well, and one of those is KINDNESS. Read along with me this morning and see how we can improve our reputation as a church and as members of God’s household.
Col 3:12-17 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
PRAYER
In this scripture passage are six different things that God’s people should be aware of, perhaps these six things can make us KINDER people and even a KINDER more GENTLE church as a whole. Six very important things found in one small passage of scripture and I would hope those of you that take notes, might slip them into your Bible and look them over from time to time and ask yourself, “Am I doing this?”
I. IMITATE CHRIST’S COMPASSIONATE, FORGIVING ATTITUDE
You can see Paul tell the church at Colosse this right off the bat, Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. We, who have accepted Christ in the water’s of baptism are clothed in Christ, that is one of those VISIBLE changes we spoke about last week. As such, there should be a huge change in our attitude, actually our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, ( PHP 2:5) An attitude that displays compassion, KINDNESS, humility, gentleness and patience. BUT, perhaps the greatest thing that should show from the inward and outward change in our lives is FORGIVENESS.
Sometimes forgiveness is not the easiest thing to do, BUT for a moment think about how difficult it would be if you were in God’s shoes and saw the SIN OF THE WORLD. I think that if that were possible it would be a little easier for us to forgive each other, don’t you?
A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE." They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE." The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?" The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."
LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.
They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them, but then an entire life to forgive them. Kingdom Kindness requires the attitude of Jesus and . . .
II. LET LOVE GUIDE YOUR LIFE
Paul tells us in verse 14 of our scripture this morning: 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Love is the greatest virtue, it will allow us to display kingdom kindness through perfect unity. If we display the love of God for one another, it stands to reason that Kingdom Kindness will shine through. It is easy to love those that love you back, letting LOVE guide your life means that we must love ALL people, even those we consider as our enemies. Luke 6:32-35 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
So many times we are ready to write off those we consider our enemies and this is not KINGDOM KINDNESS, this is not what God wants from our church. This is not about showing people kindness by giving them things, or helping pay their bills or even giving them money. It is about giving of ourselves.
A man told a story about the time his son’s sixth birthday was approaching. He had mentioned he wouldn’t mind a party, and as his son usually was very specific about the kind of presents he liked the dad asked him what he could get him. Bill expected a well-planned reply, such as "I’d like a baseball glove; you can find it at Toys ‘R ‘Us, aisle 6, below the batting helmets, or a Parcheesi board; the games are in alphabetical order in aisle 1; it’s between the Pac Man and Pay Day." But his son’s request was a bit different. He said, "Dad, I’d like a ball to play with for my birthday." Bill said "Great, what kind of ball?" "Oh, I want don’t know, either a football or a soccer ball." "Well, which would you want more?" He said, "Well . .," and thought about it. Then he said. "If you have some time to play ball with me this year, I’d really like a football so we could throw it back and forth in the back yard. But if you’re gonna be real busy this year, maybe you just better get me a soccer ball, because I can play soccer with the rest of the kids in the neighborhood." The dad thought about this and said, "Let me surprise you. How does that sound?" And the little boy smiled and said, "Oh that would be great Dad. I really love you." Then Bill went in and shared this little encounter with his wife and together they agreed, their son was not so much interested in the gift. He was interested in the giver. People today “Don’t care about how much you know until they know about how much you care.” Have you invited someone to church lately? I don’t mean sent them a card, or gave them a call, I mean went to their home and told them how much you care about them and invited them to share in worship with you!
The young woman was married and had two beautiful children, but one day as she was standing over the sink, washing dishes, she thought, ’There must be more to life than this.’ When her husband came home, he found a note she’d written and began to weep. She would call him about once every week to check on the children, and he would always tell her of his great love for her and beg her to come home. She would always say no and hang up. Finally, he hired a private investigator to find her and he went to the apartment where she was staying, nervously holding a spray of flowers in his hand as he stood at the door. He had rehearsed over and over what he would say and he finally got up the nerve to knock on the door. She opened the door and he started to speak, but she suddenly began to weep and fell into his arms. "Let’s go home." She managed through her tears. Months after, when things were starting to heal, he finally asked her something that had been bothering him. "All those times I talked to you on the phone; I asked you to come back and you refused. Why did you come back now?" "Before," she started, tears in her eyes, "you were just telling me that you loved me. When you came, you showed me." The Bible tells us of God’s love, but Jesus came and showed God’s love.
III. LET THE PEACE OF CHRIST RULE IN YOUR HEART
While each of these six things is very important, perhaps having peace in the face of adversity is one of the hardest to have. Yet Paul speaks of this as well.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. The peace of Christ is different from the world’s view of peace it is very special. Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
It is a peace that transcends all understanding, it is a peace that most of the world does not know. It is a peace that comes from God and allows us to be KIND even in the face of adversity.
REAL PEACE My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of chips and a chocolate cake. I feel better already. This is not REAL PEACE!
But REAL PEACE truly comes from God, it is the ability to stand before the challenges of life and know that God is in control.
The young husband was a henpecked and he was going to a psychiatrist about
the problem. The doctor told him, "You don’t have to let your wife bully you! Go home and show her you’re the boss! The young man got home, slammed the door, shook his fist in his wife’s face, and growled, "From now on, you’re taking orders from ME! When I get home from work, I want my supper ON the table. I want my clothes laid out. I’m will be going out with the boys. You will be staying home. And another thing. Do you know who’s going to tie my tie Yes she said: The undertaker. Plan your strategy: don’t rely on the advice of the world to Bring peace into your home. Bring the peace of God to the arguments of life and you will be able to display Kingdom Kindness.
IV. ALWAYS BE THANKFUL
This is a command we see so many times in scripture, the ability to count the positives rather then to dwell on the negatives. So many people look for the things they might be able to complain about, rather then the many things they should give thanks for. But the scripture passage says: And be thankful. (Vs.15) And Paul tells us in 1 Thess. 5:18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. It is God’s Will for us to give thanks in ALL circumstances.
In his new book 'Jesus, Lord of Your Personality,' pastor Bob Russell points out that having a lot doesn’t tend to produce a grateful spirit.
"Have you had a taste of the best this world has to offer? You went to Hawaii once on vacation, so now it’s harder for you to enjoy the state park. You’ve eaten a steak at some fancy steak house, so it’s harder to be thankful for a meal at Ponderosa. You’ve driven a Jaguar, so now you can’t be as content with your used Chevrolet. You’ve cheered for a national champion, so now it’s difficult to be grateful when your team has a good season but doesn’t take home the title..."
"Generally speaking, the more we have, the less grateful we are. It should be the opposite; the more we have, the more thankful we should be. But it usually doesn’t work that way, does it?"
"A wise man prayed, ’Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ’Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God’" (Proverbs 30:8-9). "It is a rare person who, when his cup frequently runs over, can give thanks to God instead of complaining about the limited size of his mug!"
I am Thankful for......... ....the taxes I pay ....because it means I’m employed.
....the clothes that fit a little too snug ....because it means I have enough to eat.
....my shadow who watches me work ....because it means I am out in the sunshine.
....a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and ....gutters that need fixing ....because it means I have a home.
....the spot I find at the far end of the parking lot ....because it means I am capable of walking.
....my huge heating bill ....because it means I am warm.
....all the complaining I hear about our government ....because it means we have freedom of speech.
....the lady behind me in church who sings off key. ....because it means that I can hear.
....the piles of laundry and ironing ....because it means my loved ones are nearby.
....the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours ....because it means that I’m alive.
....weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day ....because it means I have been productive.
The art of thanksgiving. It is gratitude in action.
It is thanking God for the gift of life by living it triumphantly.
It is thanking God for your talents and abilities by accepting them as obligations to be invested for the common good.
It is thanking God for all that men and women have done for you by doing things for others.
It is thanking God for happiness by striving to make others happy.
It is thanking God for beauty by helping to make the world more beautiful.
It is thanking God for inspiration by trying to be an inspiration to others.
V. KEEP GOD’S WORD IN YOU AT ALL TIMES
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
So many times we KNOW the Word of God, we have heard it, we have read it, but we don’t put it into action, or we forget as soon as we hear it because it challenges us to change.
In college a student was asked to prepare a lesson to teach his speech class. He was to be graded on creativity and ability to drive home a point in a memorable way. The title of his talk was, “The Law of the Pendulum.” He spent twenty minutes carefully teaching the physical principle that governs a swinging pendulum. The law of the pendulum is: A pendulum can never return to a point higher than the point from which it was released. Because of friction and gravity, when the pendulum returns, it will fall short of its original release point. Each time it swings it makes less and less of an arc, until finally it is at rest. This point of rest is called the state of equilibrium, where all forces acting on the pendulum are equal.
The student attached a three-foot string to a child’s toy top and secured it to the top the blackboard with a thumbtack. He pulled the top to one side and made a mark on the blackboard where he let it go. Each time it swung back he made a new mark. It took less than a minute for the top to complete its swinging and come to rest. When he finished the demonstration, the markings on the blackboard proved the law of the pendulum.
The student then asked how many people in the room believed the law of the pendulum was true. All of his classmates raised their hands and so did the teacher. The teacher started to walk to the front of the room thinking the class was over. In reality it had only begun. Hanging from the steal beams in the middle of the room was a large, crude but functional pendulum made from 250 pounds of metal weights tied to four strands of 500 pound test parachute cord. The student invited the instructor to climb up on a table and sit in a chair with back of his head against a cement wall. Then the student brought the 250 pounds of metal up to the teachers’ nose. Holding the huge pendulum just a fraction of an inch from the teacher’s face, the student once again explained the law of the pendulum he had applauded only moments before, “If the law of the pendulum is true, then when I release this mass of metal, it will swing across the room and return short of the release point. Your nose will be in no danger.”
After that final restatement of this law, the student looked his teacher in the eye and asked, “Sir, do you believe this law is true?” There was a long pause. Huge beads of sweat formed on his upper lip and then weakly he nodded and whispered, “Yes.”
The student released the pendulum. It made a swishing sound as it arced across the room. At the far end of its swing, it paused momentarily and started back. The student later testified that he had never seen a man move so fast in his entire life as the teacher literally dove from the table (Ken Davis, How To Speak To Youth, pp104-106). It was easy for this teacher to believe in the law of the pendulum when it was all theoretical. But when his life literally depended on the law of the pendulum he showed that his belief was only theoretical. How easy it is for us to believe in God’s sufficiency in church on Sunday morning or in a Bible study. But in the real world where our lives are on the line too many of us demonstrate that our belief was only theoretical.
The scripture should be close to our heart not just in KNOWING but in ACTION.
Finally,
VI. LIVE AS A WITNESS FOR CHRIST
I have spoke many times of how the world is watching what we do, the passage today tells us: 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Paul also tells us in 1 COR 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Whatever we do should be done to glorify our God. It is not always easy to be an effective witness for God, we try to be a Christian who will share their faith with others, but there is not some magical formula we can use and we blunder our way through it.
A Christian man owned a barber shop. One night, at a revival meeting, the barber felt greatly burdened to do more with his testimony for Christ. The next evening, the barber began attending a "soul winners class" at his church. He attended faithfully every night for two weeks. He rehearsed all the material, took extensive notes, and memorized the assigned Bible verses. At the end of the two weeks he received a plaque acknowledging his completion of the course.
The next morning, in the barber shop, he hung the plaque and bowed his head. "Dear Lord," he prayed, "help me to witness to the first man to come through that door this morning." At that moment in walked the biggest, meanest, foulest man the barber had ever seen. It seems this man had recently lost a bet with some "biker" buddies and now he had to get his head shaved. Needless to say, the barber did not feel very comfortable quoting the "Roman Road" to a man with a tattoo on his neck.
The rest of the day did not go any better for the barber. At 5:00 p.m., the barber was sobbing with shame. He had not witnessed to a single person. He bowed his head again. This time he prayed, "Lord, if you will allow one more opportunity, I promise I will do my part." At that, the door opened and in walked a pleasant looking gentleman. The man smiled at the barber, apologized for coming in so late and took a seat in the chair.
As the barber draped the man in his protective sheet, he began to try to remember what he was supposed to say. He began to get very confused. As the barber put shaving cream on the man’s face, he tried to remember the answers he had learned to the possible objections. As the barber began to strop his razor, he realized that he simply could not remember a thing he had learned. This made the barber very nervous and soon sweat began to break out on his forehead.
Finally, in desperation, he shook the razor at the man and screamed, "ARE YOU PREPARED TO DIE??!!!"
BE a WITNESS for CHRIST in all you say and do, and perhaps the greatest way to show the world the KINDNESS OF CHRIST is to show them that you are prepared. This morning I invite you to come and accept Jesus as Lord and be prepared. If you do not know Jesus as Lord of your life, won’t you come forward this morning and accept Him in the waters of baptism?
INVITATION
