KINDNESS
Dorothy Dalton
Midland SDA Church
August 13, 2016
Turn if you will to 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8. The first passage we are looking at this morning is very familiar for many of you. In fact, some of you may have committed it to memory. I will be reading from the New International version 4 Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, 5 it is not rude, it is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.
Ephesians 4: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Prayer
Webster defines kindness as: the quality or state of being gentle and considerate.
Let’s begin thinking about the idea of kindness by looking at “the man of kindness”, Jesus Christ. I have selected a few occasions that I believe give witness to our topic this morning. The first is a young couple whose wedding ran a little longer than anticipated and they may have had more guests than anticipated. Whatever the reason they ran out of wine. It was the custom of the times for marriage festivities to continue several days. The discovery caused much perplexity and regret, it was customary to dispense wine on festive occasions, and its absence would seem to indicate a lack of hospitality. Jesus and his mother were present at the wedding. And his mother took it upon herself to take the problem to Jesus He was kind, turning the water into wine. It was His first miracle. It occurred in a small town called Cana in Galilee. People are still taking about that miracle. The couple were impressed by the miracle but especially impressed by the kindness of Jesus. That He would be so kind to save them from social embarrassment.
There is another person who would like to give testimony to the kindness of Jesus. His name is Zacchaeus. He is a short little fellow, chief among the publicans he wears the latest style clothing and lives in a big house on the edge of town. But, don’t let the big house fool you, no one ever comes to visit him. His rank and wealth were the reward of a calling they abhorred. After all he has no friends: because he used their tax money for his big house. Why would they want to come and see him? It appears he had never had a guest until the day that Jesus came to town and said “Zacchaeus today I am going to your house.” Not only was Zacchaeus himself blessed, but all his household with him. Zacchaeus had received Jesus, not merely as a passing guest in his home, but as one to abide in the soul temple.”
Perhaps the most touching story is the one about the woman who had been sick for 12 years. She suffered from a hemorrhage. It left her with no more money, no more doctors, no more hope. She had spent all her means upon physicians and remedies, only to be pronounced incurable. But, worse of all it left her with no friends. Her condition was one that left her ceremonially unclean. She could not go to worship. She could not live with her own family. For 12 years she carried the stigma of this disease. But then Jesus came to town. “She had heard about him. He was going to the house of a prominent rabbi, who’s daughter was gravely ill. The crowd was large. She tried to press through the crowd; but in vain. She had begun to despair, when, suddenly He came near where she was. The golden opportunity had come. She was in the presence of the Great physician! But amid the confusion she could not speak to Him, nor catch more than a passing glimpse of His figure. Fearful of losing her one chance of relief, she pressed forward, saying to herself, “If I may but touch His garment, I shall be whole.” The crowd was large and in a hurry. They were pressing in on Jesus. As He was passing, she threaded her arm through the crowd and succeeded in barely touching the hem of His garment. In that moment, she knew that she was healed. Instantly her pain and feebleness gave place to the vigor of perfect health. Jesus suddenly stopped and said, “who touched me?” The disciples questioned him, “who touched you?” There are people all around, everyone is touching you, “No, no” Jesus said again, “who touched me?” You see there is touching and then there is touching?” Desire of Ages tells us that Jesus could distinguish the touch of faith from the casual contact of the careless throng. In just a moment the divinity of Jesus had healed the woman before the humanity of Jesus had seen her. That is how responsive heaven is to our touch. So, Jesus stopped and asked, “who touched me?” The people answered this query with a look of amazement. Jostled upon all sides, and rudely pressed hither and thither, as He was, it seemed a strange question. The woman finding concealment vain, finally, spoke up and came and knelt down at His feet. With grateful tears she told the story of her suffering and how she had found relief. Then she told him the whole story, the whole story, I wondered. Yes, the whole story. Who can remember the last time this woman had the ear of somebody to hear her tell her story. But now, even with the critically ill daughter of the most prominent man in the village, waiting for Jesus to arrive, Jesus stops everything and takes time to hear her story. When is the last time someone wanted to hear her whole story? He said I want to hear her whole story. I want to hear how long you have been sick, I want to know her symptoms, I want to know how many nights she lay awake, how lonely she has felt. I want to know how many doctors she has seen, I want to know every detail. How kind of Jesus. It was the power of Jesus that healed her body but it was the kindness of Jesus that restored her dignity. And like it was not enough that he stopped the crowd and disrupted the village. He called her “daughter.” “Daughter”, he said, “be of good cheer.” Who can remember the last time she had been called daughter. “Daughter”, he said, “be of good cheer your faith has made you well.”
The kindness of Jesus. Kind enough to save a couple from social embarrassment, kind enough to have lunch with a crook. Kind enough to bless a weak sister. We think often, and well we should, of the power and passion and devotion of Jesus. But those who knew Him well, and those who know Him well also speak of His kindness. Yes, we can understand Jesus and His kindness. We understand that He forgives us and died for our sins. But, we must never forget that God, Jesus’ father, is never far away or absent from our daily life. He is not watching at a distance just waiting to catch us doing something wrong. No, He is very involved in our daily life. He is a kind Heavenly Father. I would like to share a few verses to give voice to how much we are loved by the Father. The best reference I believe is found in John 10: 30 where Jesus proclaims, “I and my Father are one.”
John 5 15 (NIV) Jesus proclaims: "the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do
only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son
also does.
Nehemiah
9:17b(NAS) says “thou art a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. David agrees Ps 63: 3 (KJV)
“Thy loving kindness is better than life.
Titus 3: 4b-5a (NAS) speaks of the kindness and love of God our Savior. And Paul is exuberant when he announces in Eph 2: 8-10 (MSG) Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea and all his work. All we do is trust Him and let Him do it
Acts 10:38 tells us “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with Him.” We forget many times that Jesus was not alone because God was with Him as a very active force. And don’t forget the Holy Spirit is with them.
We read the stories of Jesus and we can identify the occasions of kindness by Jesus but never give thought to how God and the Holy Spirit may have been involved. In fact, I believe we are too familiar with the miracles of Jesus and we miss the magnitude of what is really occurring. We become blasé quickly passing over the details. We no longer hold them in wonder. All the technology of outer space travel, computer simulations, the medical marvels available today have all taken away the wonder and we miss so much.
Let’s look at a familiar story and see if you will agree. Turn to Mark 4: 35-41
Try to put yourself in this story. If you had been in that little boat that day you would have been talking about it until the day you die! It’s recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. In the KJV the storm is call “a great storm of wind” in the NIV we read a furious squall, NAS calls it a fierce gale of wind and the Amplified calls it a furious storm of wind of hurricane proportions and Desire of Ages calls it a tempest.. Checking the meaning of words in Strong’s Concordance it appears there was a hurricane above and an earthquake occurring below.
Desire of Ages provides this insight. “Absorbed in their efforts to save themselves, they had forgotten that Jesus was on aboard. Now, seeing their labor vain and only death before them, they remembered at whose command they had set out to cross the sea. In Jesus was their only hope. In their helplessness and despair they cried, “Master, Master!” But the dense darkness hid Him from their sight. Their voices were drowned by the roaring of the tempest and there was no reply. Doubt and fear assailed them. Again they call, but there is no answer except the shrieking of the angry blast. Already their boat is sinking. A moment and apparently they will be swallowed up by the hungry waters. Suddenly a flash of lightning pierces the darkness, and they see Jesus lying asleep, undisturbed by the tumult. In amazement and despair they exclaim, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?”
Their cries awaken Jesus. As the disciples grasp their oars to make a last effort, Jesus rises. He stands in the midst of His disciples while the tempest rages, the waves break over them. And the lightening illuminates His countenance. He lifts His hand, and says to the angry sea, “Peace be still.” The storm ceases. The billows sink to rest. The clouds roll away and the stars shine forth. The boat rests upon a quiet sea. And I find this statement in Desire of Ages interesting. She writes “even Peter did not attempt to express the awe that filled his heart.
DA Pg 336 When Jesus was awakened to meet the storm, He was n perfect peace. There was no trace of fear in word or look, for no fear was in His heart. But He rested not in the possession of almighty power. It was not as the “Master of earth and sea and sky” that He reposed in quiet. That power He had laid down, and He says, “I can of Mine own self do nothing.” John 5;30. He trusted in the Father’s might. It was in faith—faith in God’s love and care—that Jesus rested, and the power of that word which stilled the storm was the Power of God. As Jesus rested by faith in the Father’s care, so we are to rest in the care of our Saviour
Jesus is our model of kindness. The word kindness as used by Paul in 1 Corinthians means useful, serviceable adapted to its purpose. A person who is kind is skillful, useful, nice and helpful, thoughtful and cordial. They bring something into your life in a classical and kind fashion. That’s what kindness is. They know how to do the right thing.
May God help us to see the kindness of Jesus in each sunrise and sunset. To be kind is to be useful in someone’s life. It’s more than being nice or pleasant. It’s taking a wrench in your hand, its’ writing a check.
Psm 107: 43 Whoever is wise will observe these things and they will understand the loving kindness of God
4 do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? Repentence from what? Well, first: Repentence from rebellion, repentence from sin, but also repentence from unkindness. How can those of us who have been treated so kindly treat others with unkindness? We have completed the circle. If you love people you will be kind.
Kindness in action. The story of Shaya.
Where is God’s Perfection?
In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional schools.
At a Chush fund-raising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.
After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, “Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God’s perfection?”
The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father’s anguish, stilled by the piercing query.
” I believe,” the father answered, “that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that he seeks is in the way people react to this child.”
He then told the following story about his son Shaya:
One afternoon Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball.
Shaya asked, “Do you think they will let me play?”
Shaya’s father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya’s father understood that if his son was chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging.
Shaya’s father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said “We are losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning.”
Shaya’s father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shaya’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya’s team scored again and now with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base, Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game? Surpassingly, Shaya was given the bat.
Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it. However as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to make contact.
The first pitch came in and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya’s teammates came up to Shaya and together the held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya. As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung at the bat and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.
Everyone started yelling,”Shaya, run to first. Run to first.” Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher’s intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman’s head. Everyone yelled, “Run to second, run to second.” Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shaya reached second base, the opposing short stop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, “Run to third.” As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, “Shaya run home.”
Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a “grand slam” and won the game for his team.
“That day,” said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, “those 18 boys reached their level of God’s perfection.”
Kindness in action. What about your workplace or neighborhood? Maybe a shy worker or someone that has a disability. Maybe it is someone who doesn’t speak the language or is not picked for the team. Maybe they just don’t fit in, How could you be kind to them? How can you be kind to someone in public? You are not going to like what I’m going to ask you. How about when you’re driving and someone needs to cut in because of the barrels blocking their lane. They are driving by this long line of cars looking, waiting for someone to let them in. That is where the rubber on the tires meets reality. How do you act in public. Are you kind? Your neighbor’s trash can has rolled into the street and there is trash strewn everywhere. You know they would be embarrassed so what do you do? Would you be enough to pick it up? We should give special attention to those in the family of believers. What about your enemies? Are you always kind
Ephesians 4:32(ESV) 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Luke 6:35 "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.
Kindness at home, kindness in public, kindness in church, kindness with your enemies. Pretty much covers it all, don’t you think? Well, almost. There is one other person who needs your kindness. Who might that be? Yourself. We are so hard on ourselves. Nobody knows our mistakes and shortcomings more than we do. And nobody reminds us about them more than we do. And we are good at remembering them. Nobody knows our secret thoughts. We know the things we did, the things we wanted to do but never did. We are hard on ourselves! I have good news for you. God know every thought you have ever had. He knows every dream that has never been realized. He knows the times you should have stood up instead of chickening out. None of this changes God’s kindness one bit.
How would you like to stand before a mirror and be kind to yourself and say I am God’s child and He has been kind to me. I am no longer whatever title you have given yourself. Look yourself in the eye and say I must be good or God wouldn’t love me so much. I’m going to move on. I am not what I was because God has forgiven me and I’m going to let Him forgive me. If God thinks you are worth the price of His son, who are you to disagree? You have been adopted and are a child of the King. “Come unto me all ye who are heavy laden and you will find rest for your soul. I’m not going to beat myself up with past failures if God has forgiven them I guess I can forgive myself. Yes, I can forgive myself and I’m going to be kind to myself.
While we sing our closing song I sense there may be someone here who is carrying a heavy burden and need the prayers of the church or maybe you would like to come on behalf of somebody. You can then let them know that we have prayed for them. Now, that’s a kind thing to do. Maybe you don’t know Jesus and you would like to come forward to become a follower of Jesus or a member of this church, you can do that too.