Tending the Garden for a Good Harvest: Kindness
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Note: this sermon was prepared and delivered by Rusty Simpson. I am simply posting the notes I took while he preached in order to keep the series intact.
Kindness comes from the Greek word chrestotes, which means goodness, gentleness, excellence, uprightness or the goodness of one's heart toward another. This can include the goodness of God's heart toward us.
The Bible is all about God's kindness to us. We fall away, but He shows kindness to us and brings us back to Himself. Anything good that happens to us in our lives is an example of kindness from God.
Unfortunately, we often fail at kindness. Two kindness failures are shallow kindness and lack of kindness altogether.
Shallow kindness is when you "pretend" to be kind but really don't care. Like a salesman might do to try to get a sale. James 2:15-16 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
A lack of kindness is when Christians fail to be kind at all.
So, how do we fix this? Our Brokenness + God's Grace = Kindness
Our brokenness is the fertilizer in a well-tended garden. It smells, but it is necessary for growing kindness. It is in these broken times when we can best recognize how lost we are without God. This is the point where we can best respond to Him.
Rusty shared an article Philip Yancey (one of my personal favorite authors) wrote for Christianity Today magazine called The Benefits of Brokenness. In it, Yancey references a speech he made for Christians involved in 12 step programs like A.A. During the speech he said this:
When we get to this point, we can recognize that we are in the exact same boat as others, and we can begin to sympathize with our fellow humans. This levels the playing field; we're no better than anyone else. In fact, Romans 3:10-12 puts it this way: As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
The good news is that God shows grace: his kindness. Grace is getting all of God's blessings when we deserve none. When we understand our brokenness, we are thankful for what we have and don't have to compare ourselves with others.
Luke 15 tells the story of the Prodigal Son, who left home, taking his half of the inheritance, and spending it in the Bible-times version of Las Vegas. He finally realized that he'd screwed up, so he came home, hoping to be treated as one of his father's servants. The father showed grace, not because the son deserved it, but because he loved him.
We've been shown infinite grace; to show kindness to others, especially those who are different from us (including those who are living "sinful lifestyles") isn't celebrating what they do; it is celebrating God's love. The father in the Luke 15 story wasn't celebrating how the son had degraded himself; he was celebrating that his son had returned.
So how does this work together to help us show kindness?
When we recognize the kindness that God has shown us and we recognize that we're on a level playing field with everyone else, we can then show kindness. This doesn't mean we're permissive or overlook sin, but we love each other despite our sin.
Note: this sermon was prepared and delivered by Rusty Simpson. I am simply posting the notes I took while he preached in order to keep the series intact.
Kindness comes from the Greek word chrestotes, which means goodness, gentleness, excellence, uprightness or the goodness of one's heart toward another. This can include the goodness of God's heart toward us.
The Bible is all about God's kindness to us. We fall away, but He shows kindness to us and brings us back to Himself. Anything good that happens to us in our lives is an example of kindness from God.
Unfortunately, we often fail at kindness. Two kindness failures are shallow kindness and lack of kindness altogether.
Shallow kindness is when you "pretend" to be kind but really don't care. Like a salesman might do to try to get a sale. James 2:15-16 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
A lack of kindness is when Christians fail to be kind at all.
I was going to link to Westboro Baptist (not really a)church here, as Rusty mentioned them, but their whole website is so hate-filled and horrible that it made me feel sick to even look at it. If you want to see an example of someone who makes all Christians look bad, you can google them. But be warned: this isn't for the faint of heart, and though they may claim to, they don't speak for Jesus.We often fail to be kind in personal relationships - why is it that when we have a bad day, the ones we lash out at are usually the ones who are closest to us?
So, how do we fix this? Our Brokenness + God's Grace = Kindness
Our brokenness is the fertilizer in a well-tended garden. It smells, but it is necessary for growing kindness. It is in these broken times when we can best recognize how lost we are without God. This is the point where we can best respond to Him.
Rusty shared an article Philip Yancey (one of my personal favorite authors) wrote for Christianity Today magazine called The Benefits of Brokenness. In it, Yancey references a speech he made for Christians involved in 12 step programs like A.A. During the speech he said this:
It occurred to me that what recovering alcoholics confess every day—personal failure, and the daily need for grace and help from friends and a Higher Power—represent high hurdles for those of us who take pride in our independence and self-sufficiency.They recognize that they can't do it on their own.
When we get to this point, we can recognize that we are in the exact same boat as others, and we can begin to sympathize with our fellow humans. This levels the playing field; we're no better than anyone else. In fact, Romans 3:10-12 puts it this way: As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
The good news is that God shows grace: his kindness. Grace is getting all of God's blessings when we deserve none. When we understand our brokenness, we are thankful for what we have and don't have to compare ourselves with others.
Luke 15 tells the story of the Prodigal Son, who left home, taking his half of the inheritance, and spending it in the Bible-times version of Las Vegas. He finally realized that he'd screwed up, so he came home, hoping to be treated as one of his father's servants. The father showed grace, not because the son deserved it, but because he loved him.
We've been shown infinite grace; to show kindness to others, especially those who are different from us (including those who are living "sinful lifestyles") isn't celebrating what they do; it is celebrating God's love. The father in the Luke 15 story wasn't celebrating how the son had degraded himself; he was celebrating that his son had returned.
So how does this work together to help us show kindness?
When we recognize the kindness that God has shown us and we recognize that we're on a level playing field with everyone else, we can then show kindness. This doesn't mean we're permissive or overlook sin, but we love each other despite our sin.
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