MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED - 2018)
TEXT: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a
ILL. A movie shows 2 people in a canoe in the middle of a lake, with a beautiful moon shining above. The sky is filled with twinkling stars. In the background a thousand violins are playing softly as he sings to her. And the song writer says, "That's love." But most of us know that is not necessarily so.
True love is a beautiful thing. A composer wrote that "Love is a many-splendored thing." And a famous line in an old movie says, "Love is never having to say that you are sorry."
But those of us who have been married for a few years know that love contains a lot of apologies. We are often saying, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. I don't know what I was thinking. I'll never do it again."
The Apostle Paul comes close to being the composer of a great love song in the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians. In that chapter he pictures for us perfect love - ideal love. Like the song writer, he steps out of himself for a moment & describes how love ought to be.
And in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a he says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Paul knows what we're like - working men & women in a competitive world where love is not always evident - moms & dads, husbands & wives, sons & daughters trying to relate to one another.
He writes these words & says, "As idealistic & beautiful as this love may be, you & I can actually experience it. In a world that is complicated - in a world with pain & sorrow - this kind of love can & should exist."
Now that is how I began a sermon 3 1/2 years ago titled "Love Suffers Long" based on the first few words of Paul's description of love, that "love is patient." And this morning I want us to look at the next 3 words of Paul's description - "love is kind."
ILL. Some time ago I read a story about a preacher who saw a rather sad-looking man trying to hitchhike a ride on a wet & dismal day. Feeling a surge of pity, he stopped & picked up the hitchhiker.
But when the hitchhiker identified himself as a pickpocket who had just been released from the penitentiary, the preacher began to be a bit apprehensive.
In his uneasiness he became careless & ran a stop sign. A policeman saw him do it & immediately pulled him over, & ordered both men out of the car.
After questioning them, the policeman pulled out his ticket book, wrote out a ticket, & handed it to the preacher. Then he put the ticket book back in his pocket, got back into his patrol car & drove off.
Rather shaken by it all, the preacher didn't say much, but just drove to the spot where he was to let out the hitchhiker. As he got out, the pickpocket turned to the preacher & said,
"Thank you for being so kind to me. And I believe that one kind deed deserves another." Then he pulled out of his pocket the policeman's book of tickets & gave it to the preacher.
Now, I'm not sure what the moral of that story should be, but I'm convinced that it is good to be kind because sometimes kindness produces great dividends.
PROP. So this morning I want to mention 3 important things about kindness.
I. KINDNESS IS POWERFUL
First of all, kindness is powerful. That is something the world doesn't really understand. As the world looks at love, especially God's love, it often sees it as weakness & not as power.
ILL. The German philosopher, Nietzsche, who so influenced Hitler, looked at the Christian world & said that Christianity strips strong men of their power because Christianity encourages people to be kind. They spend their energy trying to take care of the feeble & oppressed.
Nietzsche said, "If we could rid the world of Christianity then we could develop supermen." Nietzsche & all who think like him are wrong, because kindness is powerful. Kindness is love in action.
Probably a good example is the love of a parent. The moment a child is born the parents who know what love is all about begin to think, "We must help this child grow & mature & become a responsible adult." So they sacrifice. They give of themselves. They make certain that the examples they set are good & right.
And an amazing thing happens. The child begins to grow up & make decisions, oftentimes very much like the decisions the parents have made. They share the same values - the same concerns. Why? Because love has been in action, & it has molded & shaped the life.
ILL. Jesus did the same thing for His apostles. We see Him in the upper room as He takes a towel & washes their feet. Now why did He do that? Jesus tells us in John 13:15, "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."
That is love in action, & it is the power that can turn the world right side up!
II. KINDNESS IS VULNERABLE
Now secondly, kindness is vulnerable.
A. When we reach out to be kind we soon realize that being kind is risky.
1. Kindness can be misunderstood.
ILL. A woman's car breaks down on the road, & she worries whether to accept the offer of help from two strange men.
A man is kind to a woman who is not his wife, or a woman is kind to a man who is not her husband. And the world looks at that & sometimes misinterprets it.
2. Kindness can be misused. You help someone, & then that person becomes dependent upon you. He or she comes back again & again with open hands for you to repeat the act of kindness. And you begin to realize that repeating your act of kindness is no longer helpful.
So what happens? Some decide that it is too risky to be kind. So they turn kindness over to the welfare agencies. They say, "They're professionals, they know what to do." As a result, bureaucracy replaces kindness & love is left out.
B. We also learn that kindness requires action.
ILL. We see a documentary about starving children, & if you're like me I suppose you feel a mixture of emotions & you say, "Someone ought to do something about that." And then we think we're kind because we were moved by what we saw.
But that is not kindness. Kindness is love in action. Kindness goes into action & seeks to help solve the problem.
ILL. A few years ago the "Dear Abby" column printed this letter: "Dear Abby, My mother used to be very critical of other family members ? but always behind their backs. Any relative who visited her had to listen to endless bad?mouthing of 'what's wrong with so?and?so.'
"One day, one of her grandsons came for a visit. As soon as grandmother started her usual criticizing, he said, 'Now, Grandma, you have 20 minutes to say nasty things about all the people I love, & then we're going to talk about pleasant things.'
"She was dumbfounded! She did not say anything at all for a full minute, & she didn't use her allotted 20 minutes to bad?mouth anybody. As a matter of fact, after that, she changed dramatically, & today she's the sweetest old lady you can imagine!"
C. And sometimes kindness may cost you something, because kindness dares to be vulnerable to the needs of others.
That is God's love. God looked at the human situation & what did He do? He became one of us. He wept with us, He fed us, He cured us, He showed us how to live.
But what did man do? He took God who is now in a vulnerable position & crucified Him. He nailed Him to a cross on a hill where all could see him, & the world walked by & shook its head saying, "He saved others, but He can't save himself!" (Matthew 27:42)
But wonder of wonders, in that moment of vulnerability, power is unleashed. Power to save. Power to heal. Power to mend broken hearts & broken homes. Power to forgive, & power to forget. "Love is kind," & kindness dares to be vulnerable.
III. KINDNESS IS TOUGH
A. Thirdly: Sometimes kindness must also be tough.
ILL. The story is told of a preacher who was trying very hard to get some back-slidden church members to start attending church once again. He called on them, prayed about them, & even asked others to help, too. But it didn't seem to help. They just didn't bother to attend.
One day, one of the newer Christians, a rough old farmer who was all on fire to serve the Lord, volunteered to go & visit these delinquent members & urge them to come back to church. But the preacher was hesitant because the farmer was rather crude & unpolished in his appearance & speech.
So, he tactfully suggested that instead of taking the time to go & visit each person, that the man write letters to them. And to help him with that, the preacher gave him some church stationery to use.
To the preacher's joy, a few weeks later one of those who had received a letter, a rather prominent lawyer, was back in church once again.
After the service the lawyer approached the preacher & said, "Preacher, I don't know who wrote the letter I received, but I wish you would tell him that there is only one 'T' in 'dirty' & no 'C' in 'skunk.'"
There are times when kindness has to say to the alcoholic or to the drug addict, "You must suffer the pains of withdrawal." That may seem unkind, but in reality that may be the kindest thing a person can say.
There are times when kindness says to a spoiled child, "You can't have it." And you may have to enforce that with a strong physical action. That's kindness. It may not appear to be, but it is.
So, "When is kindness to be tough, & when is it to be tender?" Paul doesn't answer that question. He simply says, "Love is kind," & he leaves it there.
B. Now I want you to notice that Jesus demonstrated both types of kindness.
1. When He drove the moneychangers out of the temple He was being tough. When He told the Pharisees they were "like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones..." (Matthew 23:27) Jesus was being tough.
When He said to them, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:3) Jesus was being tough.
But is there anyone here who would accuse Him of being unkind? No! He was doing the kindest thing He could do, & yet it was tough kindness.
2. There were other moments when He demonstrated tender kindness. He walked by a sycamore tree one day & saw a tax-collector. He could have said, "Zacchaeus, you're the scum of the earth. You have used your power to extort from almost everybody here." And He would have been right.
But in tender kindness he said, "Zacchaeus make haste & come down, for today I must stay at your house." (Luke 19:5, KJV) And Zacchaeus was changed forever because of the kindness of Jesus.
SUM. So Jesus showed tough kindness & also tender kindness. We especially recall those moments of tender kindness because we like them best.
ILL. We think of Simon of Cyrene, the man who was made to carry the cross for Jesus after he stumbled & fell on the way to Golgotha. Jesus had suffered much from the beatings & cruel scourging by the Roman soldiers.
Even though Simon was made to carry the cross, when we get to heaven we want to say, "Thank you, Simon, for carrying the cross for our Lord."
ILL. Or we think of the nameless person standing on Calvary's hill who heard Jesus cry through parched lips, "I thirst." That man took a moistened sponge & pressed it to the lips of Jesus. We feel moved to say, "Thank you for being so kind."
ILL. Then there were Joseph of Arimathea & Nicodemus who came after Jesus was dead & took down His body, wrapped it in linen & placed it in a new tomb. We want to say, "Thank you for being so kind."
CONCL. That is why there is an invitation. That is why there is a time offered for each of us to accept Jesus as our Savior & Lord. God is willing to come into our lives & send us out into the world to change things - not just to stand back & be spectators but actually to change what is there.
Jesus is calling the lost to be saved. He is calling the saved to be committed. - calling us all to be kind. He is calling you. Will you come as we stand & sing?
