Sunday Evening; February 29, 2004
Title: The Fruit of the Spirit is Kindness
Or, A Kinder and Gentler Christian
Read Text: Galatians 5:22-23
Introduction
1. Mamie Adams always went to a certain branch post office in her town
because the postal employees there were always friendly.
One day, she went there to buy stamps just before Christmas
and the lines were very long.
Someone told her that there was no need to wait in line...
because there was a stamp machine in the lobby.
"I know," said Mamie, ’but the machine won’t ask me about my arthritis."
2. A beautiful woman married a very ugly man...
and one day, a friend asked her how someone so beautiful could marry someone so...not beautiful.
She replied, "He never once has said anything to hurt my feelings."
Kindness makes a person attractive.
3. In the late 80’s, one of the candidates for president of our country
promised to make this a "kinder and gentler nation".
And, as I thought about that, in preparation for this sermon...
I did a search for the words, "kinder and gentler" on the internet.
It was pretty amazing the different contexts that those words were used in.
at RunnersWorld.com, there was an article by Hal Higdon on a "kinder and gentler race"...
which spoke that since the marathon race, 26.2 miles can be so brutal...
why not run the 1/2 marathon?
at 13.1 miles, its a "kinder and gentler race".
I found computer users talking about the need for error messages on the computer to be "kinder and gentler".
I found an article about the need for kinder and gentler dams.
It seems that these big hydro-electric dams have this big steel spinning turbines in them...
and that those turbines can be kind of hard on fish...
so they design these "fish ladders" for spawning fish to swim upstream and avoid those dangerous turbines.
I found a report that Ohio is trying to run "kinder and gentler boot camps"...
these camps serve as an alternative to prison for people who have been convicted of a crime...
they found that the hard edged military...in-your-face drill sargeant might be too much...
so, they were going to try a "kinder and gentler" approach.
I read about the need for a kinder and gentler IRS...
I even found a recipe for "Larry’s Kinder and Gentler Chili"...
I also read about someone being a "kinder and gentler terrorist"...
can you believe that?
4. Why this sudden interest in things being "kinder and gentler"?
I haven’t done any scientific investigations...
but I’m fairly certain that the reason that people are looking to find "kinder and gentler"...
is because, by and large...there is a great lack of kindness.
And in fact...although I didn’t find a reference to this in my studies...
There is a need for "kinder and gentler Christians".
You would think that could just go without saying...
but I’ve been around some so-called Christians who were rude...
abrupt...
discourteous...
hurtful...
and uncaring about the feelings of others.
Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit...
If we call ourselves Christians...
and the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts...
then kindness is a fruit that grows...
and is produced in the life of the Christian.
5. My friend, Joe, is a professional truck driver...
he drives through Chicago...Indianapolis...
and along the major highways in the Midwest...
And he has seen it all!!
People who, under normal circumstances...
would never even raise their voices...
but they get behind the wheel of a car...
and suddenly they turn into Attila the Hun...
driving like maniacs...
speeding up...
cutting people off...
showing people their middle finger...
as if that somehow provides the proper instruction for whatever driving mistake they made...
6. In my study of Kindness in Scripture, I found that it appears 65 times in my Bible...
but, I want to focus on 2 of those...
Ephesians 2:4-10...
and Colossians 3:12
Body
1. Read Ephesians 2:4-10
A. I want to draw your attention to verse 7,
so that God "might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus " Eph 2:7 (NIV)
God’s kindness to us is made evident in the life of Jesus Christ...
B. A pastor once invited his congregation to come visit him in his office...
and that he wanted to interview them...
One of the questions he asked them was...
"what is it about the life of Christ that attracts you to Him"?
And almost without exception, the people talked about His kindness...
His compassion...
the way that He expressed His love to others.
C. Christ’s life was a living example of kindness expressed...
He took time to hold a child in His arms...
when the disciples would have said, "sorry...the Master too busy teaching the adults...
He doesn’t have time for the children"
D. He expressed kindness to a woman caught in the act of adultery...
everyone else wanted to stone her...
but not Jesus...
He loved her and showed kindness to her.
E. Jesus expressed kindness to lepers...
other people wouldn’t go near them...
but Jesus actually reached out and touched them with His hands...
ministering to them...
healing them...
showing them great kindness...
F. Even while Jesus was hanging on the cross...
He said, "Father, forgive them, because they don’t realize what they are doing"...
what a profound expression of kindness...
even to those who were being cruel to Him.
F. One time, a religious leader asked Jesus how to receive eternal life...
and Jesus asked him..."well, what do you think"?
the man said, "love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength;
and love your neighbor as yourself".
Jesus said, "good answer!!! do this and you will live"...
but the man wasn’t satisfied with that answer...
he wanted to find a loophole...
so he asked Jesus, "and who is my neighbor"?
So Jesus told him the story of the Good Samaritan...
how a man was horribly beaten...
several religous people saw the man but passed on by without helping...
the only one who stopped to help him was a Samaritan...
Jesus then asked the man, "which of these people was a neighbor to the man who was beaten"?
and the religious scholar replied, "the one who treated him kindly"...
Jesus said, "go, and do the same"
2. And that brings us to our 2nd Scripture, Read Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with ...kindness" Col 3:12 (NIV)
A. Kindness is love in action.
Kindness is not just an attitude in our heart or in our mind...
it has to get out...
it has to be expressed...
kindness held inside is no kindness at all...
it has to be let out.
B. If we are Christians...
if the Holy Spirit resides in our hearts...
then the FRUIT of the Spirit...
will spring forth KINDNESS in our lives...
Colossians 3:12 says to "clothe yourselves with kindness"...
When you first get up in the morning...
before you put on your shirt or pants...
before you put on your shoes or your coat...
put on kindness!
C. In my study for this sermon...
I came across a website at www.actsofkindness.org...
It is a non-profit organization that encourages people to perform "random acts of kindness"...
One day, a man was hurrying to his car...
because he was worried that the time had expired on his parking meter...
as he approached it, he saw a slip of paper...
his heart sunk, thinking he had gotten an expensive parking ticket...
instead, it was a note that said, "this was a random act of kindness, pass it on".
Evidently someone had seen the meter was about to expire...
so they slipped a quarter in the slot...
and the owner of the car avoided a hefty parking ticket...
Something so simple...only .25, and yet, so meaningful to that man.
and not only that, but the person who helped him...
I’m sure that he or she felt happy in knowing that they helped someone.
D. Remember Joe, my friend I mentioned earlier?
He and I were talking about that just this week...
He mentioned how on a certain 4 lane road in Muncie, Indiana...
there was a huge line of traffic...
and a car was wanting to turn left ...
and no one was stopping to let the car through...
traffic was barely moving...
so it wasn’t like it would slow them down any to pause for a moment and let that car cross...
but no one would stop...
until Joe got up there...
he stopped...
and finally, someone in the other lane stopped...
and that car was finally able to turn left...
the driver was obviously grateful..
and waved...
and it didn’t slow Joe down one bit.
and it made him feel good to know that he was able to help someone...
something so small...
letting someone turn...
but yet, it made 2 people feel very good...
E. Now, I’m not saying that we should just be kind for selfish reasons...
because it makes us feel better...
or because it helps us "earn" our way into heaven...
I’m just simply pointing out one of the fringe benefits of expressing kindness.
I just finished reading "Second Wind"...
one of our missionary books...
near the end of that book...
Paul and Tina Jones served the poor community in Tecate, Mexico...
and some of the people who were helping others were asked about receiving an eternal reward because of their ministry...
one lady named Dona responded, "I consider it a blessing to help the migrant workers. This is my joy and my reward. The eternal reward is in the hands of my Father in heaven".
Another man responded, "God has adopted me into His family, and I have expreienced new life. This is reward enough for me. If there is an eternal reward, then it is only pan dulce de vida, the sweet bread of life".
Conclusion
1. This is the Lenton Season...
the time when we focus our attention upon Christ and His life,
His ministry...
His suffering...
and His death...
And as we look as His life...
I hope you notice the kindness that is so evident in everything that He did....
2. And with Christ as our example...
and with the Holy Spirit providing the fruit of kindness in our hearts...
may it be expressed by random acts of kindness...
not just once...
not just twice...
but every day...
let’s put on kindness at the start of every day...
the world needs to see kinder and gentler Christians in action.
Pass out bookmarks printed from www.actsofkindness.org.
