Kindness & Goodness Part 6 of When I Grow Up Matt Reynolds June 10, 2012 SPUMC Well we continue working our way through the Fruit of the Spirit this morning. This is series called When I Grow Up and it s all about having a vision for what it looks like when we grow up in Christ. No matter our physical age, what are we hoping to become as we grow up spiritually? What does look like when we move on to spiritual maturity? Most simply the picture for spiritual growth is Jesus. Colossians 1:15 says, [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God. So the fruit of the Spirit, the God s Spirit, are characteristics that describe God s nature and really our most vivid picture of what the Fruit of the Spirit looks like when it s lived out is Jesus. So to have a vision for what spiritual maturity look likes, one good description to start with is the Fruit of the Spirit. And so that is why we are doing this series. Looking at this word picture, or vision, of what our lives will look like if we partner with God, surrender to his Holy Spirit, and grow up in spiritual lives. Let s look at these two verses again together in Galatians 5:22-23. Let s read this all together again as it s on the screens 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. 1
So far in this series we have covered love, joy, peace and patience. Today I am going to take a look at two of our remaining fruit kindness and goodness. These sound nice and simple enough don t they? Does anyone ever set out to purposefully not be kind or good? But yet, the world that we find ourselves in is not one that is characterized by kindness and goodness. These don t typify our daily experience. Why? Maybe goodness and kindness aren t so simple after all. Here is what I want to propose this morning. At their roots goodness and kindness have one key thing in common. They are both about being other-centered rather than self-centered and that means they push back against the very core of our sinful nature. Kindness is a lifestyle of extending love towards others in big and small ways. Treating others with love and respect. The word goodness in these verses in Galatians is actually a Greek word that is not specifically emphasizing moral goodness or living an upright life although no one argue that the Holy Spirit grows us in that way too. Rather, the word that is used here is more closely related to the idea of generosity. Actually some translations, like the New Revised Standard Version, actually translate the word as generosity rather than goodness. The characteristic Paul is talking about is the act of being good toward others. 2
So that is why I wanted to group these two together, because in essence, both of these manifestations of the Holy Spirit are about looking out for the welfare of others before ourselves. If we want to see growth in these ways it will require less selfishness and more selflessness. Heidi often helps me with many sermon ideas and critiques. We were talking about goodness and kindness this week and I asked her if she had any insights or ideas. She said well, that should be easy. Just put up a picture of me on the screens. So here you go. Maybe I should preach on humility instead. In any case, yesterday was her birthday. And last time I preached I got myself in a little trouble because I made a few comments that related to how old she is. So before I say any more about her, I want to emphasize that today I will not dwell on her agedness any more. I won t mention Heidi and old in the same sentence. I WILL NOT dwell on the fact that she is so much older than I am. I will NOT to say thing like well it s all downhill from here. And I certainly won t make any jokes like for your birthday I couldn t use birthday candles on the cake because I didn t want the fire department to show up at the church parsonage. So just to be clear I won t be saying any of those sorts of things. But in all seriousness she is the oldest living example of kindness and goodness that I can think of. 3
Ok does anyone have a place where I can sleep tonight? No really, when I think of goodness and kindness, I do think about Heidi. She is one of the most kind and good people I have ever met. And I specifically think about the way she treats our two boys. Now with a 3 ½ year old and 4 month old it is always exciting and fun sometimes but I can easily get impatient. Heidi, however, demonstrates unquestioned kindness to our boys. If goodness and kindness is about looking out for others above yourself that is exactly what she does with our kids. Her needs are always a distant priority. Her unconditional love for Grady and Nolan compels her to sacrifice much of her own self to provide loving care to them. If you are a parent, or even if you are not, you know the kind of selfless love I am talking about. A mother will do anything for her kids and most times it s as the expense of something she would want to do for herself. A mother would even lay down her life for kids. Well if you think about it that is exactly what God has done for us. Remember, goodness and kindness are first and foremost attributes of God himself. In the time that we have remaining I want to examine how God first demonstrated kindness and goodness toward us, so that maybe we can understand a little bit of the way we are supposed to demonstrate these attributes toward others. 4
In a short little letter called Titus, the Apostle Paul share some words that I think describe beautifully the sort of kindness that God has extended to us. The letter of Titus, like the second letter to Timothy, was written to a younger leader during Paul s second imprisonment in Rome. Like the letters to Timothy, this is a letter of guidance and instruction. Let s look at Titus 3 for a moment. [READ TITUS 3:1-8] 1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. 3 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. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 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, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. 5
He is calling Titus to lead people in living lives characterized by goodness, but what is the motivation he gives because God is so kind to us first. Verses 4-5 says, 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. The word that Paul uses here for kindness if the very same in the Greek that he uses in Galatians when describing the Fruit of the Spirit. See God is the truly kind one. He is the truly other-centered one. While we were dead in our sin and lost in rebellion, he gave of himself, his very own son Jesus Christ, out of deep love for us. God is infinitely other-centered and sacrifices all to show his love and care for us. That is real kindness. That is real goodness. Ultimately Jesus is the perfect demonstration of kindness and generosity. The cross is our picture for self-giving love extreme other-centeredness in all its vivid detail. And that is the fruit of the Spirit that he wants to grow in us to extend to others. We may catch a little taste of this sacrificial kindness in the way parents treat their children. But God doesn t want us to simply love our kids in that way. Kindness and goodness are not reserved for only those that are blood relations or those easy to love. The reality is that everyone we interact with is a creation of God the Father and all are deserving of Godly kindness. What if we demonstrated the same level of self-sacrificial goodness and kindness to others that we do to our 6
kids? What if we extended a little bit of the kindness and goodness to others that God has extended to us? Now bear with me for a moment because I want to get a little theological on you Because God s kindness and goodness are not only demonstrated in the way he interacts with us, his creation. Think about this being other-centered requires an other. The whole concept of love involves multiple persons. What does love mean if there is only one party? Nothing, really. You can only rightly describe love when you have two or more persons. So if God is only one person before creation then he needed creation to rightly be called be good and kind but that is not what we believe at all. We believe God has been loving and good and kind for all eternity. Then how could God have been good and kind in his nature before he created someone else to love? How could God rightly be called those things when he was all that existed before creation? Here s the key The historic and orthodox Christian faith esteems that our God is Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One God, but three persons. Each is distinct and yet of the same divine substance. It is one of the great mysteries of our faith and yet it is one of the most beautiful distinctions about Christianity. We know from scripture that perfect love and service exists between the persons of the Trinity. Jesus talks often in scripture about coming to do only his 7
Father s will. The Father, at Jesus baptism, talks about his Son that he loves and with whom he is well pleased. Jesus yields the way and recognizes the role and power of the Holy Spirit saying it is better that he leave the earth so that the Holy Spirit can come. So think about this, even before God spoke the world into existence. Even before he breathed out the universe perfect love and selflessness existed within God himself. For all eternity our God has been living in a divine dance of love. Father loving and serving the Son and Spirit. Son loving and serving the Father and Spirit. Spirit loving and serving Father and Son. You see, goodness and kindness, extreme other-centeredness, has existed within God for all of eternity. That is why John can truly say, God is love. To the very core, our God truly is love! At his core is kindness and goodness. Even before creation, for all eternity, God has been selfless and always giving for the benefit of another. I know this is a little abstract and perhaps hard to grasp, but this is why the doctrine of the Trinity is so unique and so important to Christianity. Perhaps you have heard of the Trinity before and you think, Yea, yea, that s nice, Father, Son and Holy Spirit I got it. But because God is three in one, he can rightly be described as loving and kind, always. Forever God has been living within himself an ongoing mutual exchange of love. 8
So here is the exciting part. This divine attribute of other-centeredness is our opportunity to participate in the very life of the Trinity!!! And by cooperating with the Holy Spirit to yield the fruit of kindness and goodness we have the opportunity to give people a glimpse into the very nature of God! We can almost walk around as little windows into heaven so that people can encounter God as they encounter his goodness and kindness in us. Now let me get a little more tangible again. When I think of goodness and kindness, one of the best examples that comes to my mind is some people I met in some slums outside of Monterrey, Mexico. Once I spent a couple of weeks on a mission trip there. We served in this neighborhood that was unlike anything I had ever seen. The streets were simply dirt. The houses were mostly random pieces of crates or other trash stuck together to form shelter. The wealthiest people in the neighborhood had bare cinderblock homes. They would save up and buy one cinder block at a time until they made a more permanent house. There was some electricity, but it looked like Christmas light wire just hanging from some small posts running about. They went to the bathroom in holes in the ground. And yet in the midst of all that, there was this incredible, joyful group of Christians. They had a small church, again pieced together with random boards and metal. They had small wooden benches inside to sit. It was just one room, 9
smaller than most of our Sunday school rooms, and yet they cherished that place of worship. And they were not unhappy people. Joy filled their lives and they displayed the Fruit of the Spirit. At the end of our trip, after serving them for two weeks they wanted to thank us, so they asked us to come for dinner. Now this was a little scary. We had no idea what to expect. We knew we had to eat out of respect and love, but I was a little scared. So we showed up at this little church hut building and do you know what happened? These villagers brought in pan after pan of tacos. Dozens and dozens of the best tacos I have ever eaten. They were delicious! But you know the most incredible part? These people fed us tacos with meat in them, more than we could even eat, and they fed our entire team of maybe 20-25 people! I don t know how long they would have to work to save enough money to provide that kind of meal, but if they were saving to buy one cinder block at a time to build a house, you can imagine they probably didn t have lots of extra cash sitting around to buy meat and feed that kind of a crowd. Friends, this was a sacrificial act of true kindness and goodness. These people were filled with the Holy Spirit and sacrificed for others. This was a picture of true love. I encountered Jesus through these poor villagers in Mexico. 10
They became a little window into heaven and I encountered the very nature of God. What if we, who have been given so much more, extended kindness to others as radically as those Christians did to me and my team? Well, much like when I talked about patience several weeks ago I believe we nurture kindness and goodness in our lives by practicing in small ways that over time will change us in big ways. All of us can make small choices to extend kindness to others and when we do that we put ourselves in the ripe environment for the Holy Spirit to transform us into truly kind people. Maybe it s as simple as looking for opportunities to intentionally compliment your wait staff when you go out to lunch later today. Maybe it means randomly helping someone get their groceries to their car. Maybe it means calling up a single mom and offering to watch her kids for a couple hours just because. It could be anything. We can all practice intentional ways to extend kindness. Mother Theresa once said, Small things done with great love will change the world. Every time we give ourselves the opportunity to sacrifice something of ourselves for the benefit of others we are changed more and more into the likeness of Jesus. And the more we live lives that look like Jesus, the more the world will be changed. 11
Did you know that goodness, or the act of serving others is one of our distinctives as United Methodists. John Wesley told Christians 250 years ago Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can. Friends, if you want to experience meaningful and joy-filled life if you want to give people a taste of God s nature a window into heaven if you want to see God s kingdom established here on earth as we pray in the Lord s prayer if you want our church to make a difference in our community then partner with the Holy Spirit to practice goodness and kindness. How will anyone ever know the love of God if they never experience it from his people? When I grow up I want to be good and kind. Friends, the fruit of the spirit is radical other-centeredness. Let s pray. 12