Word of Salvation – October 2015

 

Love is Kind

A sermon by Rev. Pieter Tuit on 1Corinthians 13

 

For the past 4 weeks I have been planning to preach this Sunday on these words Love is kind. However, it was only yesterday, by reading the Weekend Australian, that I found out that today is World Kindness Day. I am sure you all knew that and that each one of you is planning to make this a super kind day.

The idea of a World Kindness Movement (WKM) was conceived at a Tokyo conference in 1996.The leader of the movement was Dr. Wataru Mori, a physician in Tokyo. He envisioned that a more compassionate and peaceful world could be achieved if a critical mass of acts of kindness was ignited. The mission of the World Kindness Movement is to inspire individuals towards greater kindness and connect nations to create a kinder world.[8]

So on this World Kindness Day how kind has your day been so far congregation. How kind has our week been? How kind have our marriages been? How kind has our family life been? What kind thoughts have we had about our husband or wife? Young people what kind thoughts have you had about your parents this past week? Parents what kind thoughts have you had about your teenagers this past week? What acts and thoughts of unkindness do we need to repent off? With what acts of kindness have we blessed each other and thanked each other for?

We continue this morning our study of 1 Corinthians 13. We continue to learn about those holy habits that we need to shape our character, so that we can become more like Christ. First Corinthians teaches us that we can be, and do all kinds of things, but if we have not love, we are nothing, zilch, zero. We are just noise makers. First Corinthians also teaches us that this love is not just a feeling, an emotion. No this love is active, practical. It gets to work, shaping our characters. It puts wheels under our actions. This love changes us. This love breaks sinful generational habits. This love changes who we are, and what we do. Yes, this love shapes holy habits in us. Holy habits that we need if we truly want to follow Jesus.

Last time we learned about the first habit. Love is patient. This morning we will look at the fact that this love is also kind. Kindness is one of the holy habits that God’s love is forming and shaping in us so that we can follow Jesus in the midst of an often unkind world and yes, sometimes even unkind church.

The Bible makes it clear that kindness is an attribute of God, just like patience is. In other words being kind is one of God’s habits. It is his custom, his habit to be kind. In Luke 6:35 Jesus says, ”But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your father is merciful.

The psalmist sings in Ps 145:9that God is kind to all he has made. Paul teaches in Romans 2:4 that God is kind to everyone and that his kindness has as its purpose so that sinners will repent. In Titus three we read that when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.

The Bible teaches therefore that there is an inseparable link between Gods’s kindness and our salvation. Ephesians tells us that God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show us the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus, for it is by grace you have been saved.

The Lord Jesus Christ is also portrayed in Scripture as a kind savior. Well-known are the words from Matthew 11 where Christ encourages his disciples to take his yoke upon themselves because he is gentle or kind and humble in heart. Christ’s yoke upon us may not be easy to accomplish but this text tells us that it is gently, kindly, considerately placed upon our shoulders by him who is gentle and humble in heart.

Based on God’s and Christ’s example of kindness Christians are called to show kindness and also to be kind. Christ even says that mercy, or kindness is more important than sacrifice. The Old Testament prophet Micah challenges us to act justly and to love mercy or kindness and to walk humbly with our God. Luke encourages us to exhibit God’s kindness and mercy. Ephesians tells us to be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave us.

We probably do not think of the apostle Paul as a kind person but in 2 Cor.6 :6 he does hold himself up as an example of purity, patience, understanding and kindness. The same Paul is also very much aware that kindness is not something that comes naturally. He says in Romans three there that is no one who is kind by nature. In Galatians five he points out the many acts of the sinful nature that are opposite to being kind. He mentions things such as discord, fits of rage, dissensions. He also point out there that kindness can only be consistently grown in the heart and life of believers as a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

So how can this kindness that is a fruit of the Holy Spirit become a holy habit in our lives. How does a kind person look like? What does a kind person do? How can Christlike kindness strengthen our marriages and make smooth our relationship with our parents and children. What does a kind church look like and what does a kind church do? How do we live with Christlike kindness in a dog eat dog world?

Brendan O’ Neill in the Weekend Australian, mentions that there are experts who argue that kindness is in fact, a mental disorder. They even have a name for it, pathological altruism. This is a type of addictive behavior. Brendan mentions Barbara Oakley of the USA who in her book Pathological Altruism argues that being kind to others can become addictive because she believes that behaving with kindness activates our “nucleus accumbens”. That is the same part of the brain activated by gambling or drugs. This means according to Barbara we get a junkie style rush from doing a good deed; we are kind to others because it gives us a kick.

The apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, sees it differently. He shows us in 1 Corinthians 13 that God’s love in our hearts is a power that moves us to be kind. Therefore kindness is love acting on persons. Such kindness may be soft. Yet, it is not weak. This kindness is tender. Yet, it is not feeble. This kindness is sensitive. At the same time it is not fragile. It is definitely not pathological altruism. It is not a mental disorder. To the contrary it is an aspect of the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

The German philosopher Nietschze hated Christianity because it encourages kindness. He accused Christian love for draining strong people by making them kind. Their kindness caused them to waste their energies on lepers, cripples and the oppressed. He wanted to rid the world of the Christian faith and love so we could produce supermen. Of course the brutal Nazi regime was the result of this kind of thinking.

Scripture, however, shows us the opposite. The Bible shows us that far from being weak, kindness is and takes enormous strength. Kindness is the power that moves us to support and heal someone who can offer nothing in return. Christlike kindness moves the self-centered ego toward the ugly, the weak, the hurt with no expectation of reward. Smedes remarks,”It does not take much power to write a small check for charity. It takes great power to enter a leper colony and care. It takes great power to be a Mother Theresa who wrapped her tender arms around the wretched poor and bleeding sick in the streets of Calcutta.

Scripture shows us that the ultimate model of powerful kindness is God himself. God can be kind, Jesus teaches us, also to the ungrateful and selfish. His kindness is the self-generative power of selfless, giving love.

Kindness therefore is love’s readiness to enhance the life of another person. Yes, kindness is the power to move close to another person in order to heal. The pity that dwells up in us after seeing starving children is not kindness. Kindness is the strength to take the starving child in your arms and feed it on your own breast. Kindness is the power to bear one another’s burden by feeling his pain in your own soul.

We need to understand that being kind in this way, showing the power of love in this way, is risky. Yes, we often fail to be kind because we find it too risky. Today’s culture does not make it easier. An adult now has to be careful how he or she shows kindness to a child. It may be misconstrued as abuse. If you are kind to a person of another race it may be misinterpreted as being patronizing. We dare not risk the power of love because we are afraid of the consequences. The other person may take advantage of us. He may become a parasite. This is why we rather have professional welfare agencies do this.

Welfare agencies know what has to be done and how to do it. They have experience dealing with cheaters and leeches. In this context Lewis Smedes sounds this warning,” Make no mistake about it; if we leave the works of kindness to professionals, kindness will be replaced by efficiency. Love will be lost, and welfare will take its place. This happens if the power of kindness atrophies for fear of the personal risks of kindness

Kindness is a power born of love. Love is the power of God exercised in apparent weakness. This is why we must constantly go back to the cross of Christ where God’s power healed the world by becoming weak. The kindness of Christ’s cross looks like weakness because it is tender, vulnerable, asks nothing, gives everything, stoops personally to those who are weakest and poorest and ugliest. But it is divine power.

Smedes asks the question does this love ever count the cost? Is this love a reckless kindness? We are called to practice this holy habit within the limits of life’s hard realities. We are not super people. For every dollar given to the Moro Moro project we cannot give that to another project like Appin Hall just to give an example. The question can be asked if thoughtless kindness to some people might result in unfairness to others.

Kindness therefore must be used with wisdom within the boundaries of justice and fairness. For example, love will compel a teacher to be kind to all students. Kindness will move the teacher to encourage the dull as well as the bright students. However a kind teacher is also an honest teacher. A kind teacher will criticize an essay honestly, toughly, pointedly. Not to do this would be dishonest, It is eventually unkind because it will make the student live in a fairy tale academic world. However a kind teacher will do so with gentleness understanding that this student may have anxieties about its own abilities. So this teacher will try to find something good to say. And this may encourage the student to go to the teacher for further help. Of course the teacher’s ability to do this is limited by the demands other students rightfully have on this teacher’s time and attention.

It is possible that kindness is stupidly or unfairly directed. At the same time kindness can only be dispensed within the limits of fairness. If we are aware of this it is not unkind to say no to a call for help. Kindness without wisdom and honesty can easily become pity, often hurting others more than helping them. With some of you I have spoken about the difference between helping someone in need or enabling them to continue in unhelpful or even wrong behavior. Parents will want to have the holy habit of kindness in dealing with their children. However sometimes the kindest word a parent can say to a child is the word No.

This brings us to the question whether acts of kindness are always works of love. This is an important question. The short answer is that love is always kind. However not all kind acts are loving acts. Yes, kind acts can be done out of arrogance, anger or ambition. A rich politician may side with the poor, not so much to be kind but to get their vote. Sometimes husbands help their wives with household chores, which looks like a kind thing to do, but it is not done out of love, but just to remind them that she is not doing her share. Kids may do household chores because they have to not because they love the parent who ask them to do the chore.

Some of these examples show us how easy it is to get this holy habit of kindness wrong. We seldom have hearts that are pure kindness. We seldom act with clear-cut single motives. Paul in 1 Corinthians is not saying that we have to wait until we can love perfectly that we should be kind. He is telling us here that God’s love in us is the power that moves us in the direction of kindness. At the same time as we are moved by love we will want to develop the holy habit of kindness.

A final question needs to be asked. Can kindness be tough? Is kindness always gentle? The answer is that kindness sometimes needs to be very hard in order to heal. Letting an addict go through the hell of withdrawal will be a kind thing to do. Saying no to a spoiled child may be the kindest thing to do. Saying no to a feeble aged parent’s wish to stay in their own home or keep on driving the car, can be a kind thing. At the same time saying no to an adult child’s wish to stay in their parents’s home can be equally a kind thing. Kindness, driven by love, will make one report instances of child abuse even if it is done in the context of the church. In short, kindness will make us withhold what harms and give what heals.

There are no easy rules for when love that moves us to kindness, requires gentleness or toughness. There are no rules that tell us how to use the power of love in every case. Love enables us to use the most useful means; and if healing requires toughness, kindness must be tough.

Scripture shows that if we are in touch with God, we will be kind. If the Holy Spirit is growing his fruit in us we will be kind. This means that if there is no kindness in us we must ask if the love of God is in us. Yes, we might even need to ask if we are truly converted. At the same time we will not be stupidly kind. Living in a competitive world we will be kind guided by justice and wisdom. Justice must be the framework and wisdom must give the insight to tell us when kindness is just. We will not be perfectly kind. However, influenced by God’s love we will have the power to be kind. We will feel the stirrings of love powerful enough to make us willing to be weak. And we will discover that being able to get close to another person in order to heal is our greatest strength.

Love is kind. Christ’s love in our hearts makes us kind husbands, kind wives, kind parents, kind children. This fruit of the Holy Spirit growing within us makes us kind Christians and kind members of his church. Let us open our hearts therefore to the fruit of kindness growing work of the Holy Spirit. Let us commit ourselves In who we are and what we do to a life and practice of kindness. Amen

PRAYER AFTER THE SERMON

Lord we thank you for your kindness. We thank you for the fruit of kindness in our hearts and lives. We thank you Lord for the kindness we receive from others. Thank you Lord for the times when we are truly kind.

At the same time we confess that we do not always find it easy to be kind. We confess that sometimes we get it completely wrong. We confess that sometimes we do kind things but not out of love. Yes, sometimes we are kind with a clenched fist and anger in our hearts. We confess our unkind thoughts and actions as husbands, wives, parents, children and members of your church.

Therefore O Lord we pray May your kindness lead us to repent of our sin more quickly and more deeply. Lord may we never show contempt for the riches of your kindness, tolerance and patience towards us. Deepen therefore our repentance and compassion and kindness for fellow broken sinners.

Amen

Congregation here again the good news of the gospel from Titus chapter three

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us so generously through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Congregation, Scripture reminds us in 2 Cor. 5 that if we are in Christ we are a new creation. If we are in Christ we also have the Holy Spirit in us .This fruit growing Holy Spirit does his work in us, his fruit bearing people. One aspect of that fruit is kindness.

Read now for yourself 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. As you can see I have taken out the word love and left a blank there. As you read these verses I want you to put your name there.

If you are in Christ, if the Holy Spirit grows his fruit in you, this is who and what you are in Christ. At the same time, this is what Scripture challenges you to be.

Take it home. Hang on your refrigerator, have it in a prominent place in your bedroom as reminder of who and what you are,what God expects and gives you in Christ and through his Spirit.

THIS IS WHO AND WHAT I AM IN CHRIST.THESE ARE THE HOLY HABITS GOD CALLS ME TO AND HE GIVES ME HIS HOLY SPIRIT TO MAKE THIS POSSIBLE

_________ is patient, ___________ is kind.__________does not envy,_________does not boast,______________is not proud,_________is not rude,___________is not self-seeking,_____________is not easily angered,____________keeps no record of wrongs,____________does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth,__________always protects, always hopes, always perseveres.