Kindness

Sermon planned for Sunday, July 31st, 2011

Texts: Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Samuel 9:1-13

In the past couple of weeks we’ve been exploring the Fruit of the Spirit. Have these qualities been growing in your heart and in your life? This year, Karen and I have planted another garden, making it the third time since we moved to Gretna. Each summer our garden has grown and become more fruitful. The weeds try to make a dent in our garden, but the greens that we’ve planted don’t give the weeds much of a chance. Is this how the fruit of the Spirit works in your life? Are they so bountiful that there’s barely any room for weeds? Is there so much patience, joy and kindness in your heart and home that vices like selfishness and greed find no rest? This summer we’ve been focusing on what it means to cultivate love, joy, peace and patience – and we still have several others to look at. This morning we’re looking at Kindness.

The plants that grow in a garden are dependent on a variety of things – but most importantly, they are dependent on the seed that is planted. Without a seed, nothing happens – nothing could happen. Once you have seed in the ground you have potential. With the Fruit of the Spirit there is a similar dynamic. The Spirit’s activity in us cultivates love, joy, peace, patience and kindness.

And so the most important question we face is the question about the presence of the Living God – the Holy Spirit. Is the Spirit present in your life? Has the seed been put in the soil, or are we still waiting for God’s springtime?

The gospel – the good news is that YES! God’s springtime has arrived, and the seed has been planted – in fact we’re well on our way to the day of Harvest. The prophet Joel foretold that one day God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh. In fact, seven weeks ago we celebrated Pentecost, when God poured out His Spirit onto the believers gathered in Jerusalem almost two thousand years ago. There, it was said, in Peter’s sermon, that Joel’s prophetic word had been fulfilled. God’s Spirit lives in us. If you believe and trust Jesus Christ, and claim His Lordship – this is precisely because the Holy Spirit has been active in your heart – for Paul writes, in 1 Corinthians 12:3, that no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.

In other words, if you’re here to worship God through His Son Jesus Christ – if that’s you, then the Spirit of the Lord is upon You. The seed has been planted in the soil. The potential for a full harvest is there. But there are other dynamics involved; other things that go on in our life that shape how well that seed flourishes in our garden. This morning, in dealing with Kindness, I want us to examine the garden of our hearts: is kindness flourishing, or are the weeds of cruelty & bitterness taking over? If God’s kindness lives in us by His Spirit, are we making room for that Kindness to grow deeper into our hearts – or are we cultivating the weeds instead?

King David was a man who had a lifelong struggle with his garden of faith. As a young man, David was shown kindness by Saul when he was given the honour to serve the king with his harp. You see, King Saul had David play music for him as entertainment. But this kindness was short-lived. One day, as David was playing his harp for the king, Saul took a spear and threw it at David, in an effort to kill him. Saul had realized that David was much more popular than he was. His jealousy provoked Saul to destroy David. In return for this cruel treatment, David showed kindness to the king, and to the king’s son Jonathan. David’s life was filled with this kind of turbulence. Some of the same people who showed him kindness would later turn on him. His own son Absalom would seek to destroy him.

In our own life, we also come across folks that show us kindness one minute, and cruelty the next. Sometimes this cruelty is intentional, and sometimes it’s the result of how easily we lie to ourselves about our intentions towards others. Maybe you thought you were doing someone a favour when, in fact, your actions hurt them. Or perhaps you wanted to say something comforting but, because of your ignorance about the situation, your words made things worse than before. Kindness and cruelty are often closely mixed – like the few weeds that survive in the middle of my cucumber patch. This happens to us, and we do it to others.

But then, every once in a while, you come across someone who’s kindness leaves a lasting impression. For David, this was Jonathan – a close friend, a helper when David was in trouble. Jonathan stuck beside David even when Jonathan’s father, King Saul, hunted David with his whole arsenal. Jonathan gave David a pure picture of Kindness and friendship – and much later in David’s journey, this memory of his friend would change his life.

Can you name someone who has left a lasting impression on you because of their kindness? For me it is a man named Reuben. I met Reuben just over a year ago. He’s the neighbour to one of our friends; and, one day when we were at our friends for a supper meal, Reuben and his family joined us. As the evening went along, and we got to know each other, Reuben found out that I was a rookie Hunter. Without hesitating, Reuben invited me to join him on a hunting trip in the fall – that I could tag along. For those of you who don’t know, that’s kind of a big deal for hunters. If you have a good spot – it’s actually quite rare for a hunter to invite someone along because it’s hard to find good places to hunt where you have permission from the landowners. After just an hour or two of conversation, Reuben extended this gesture of kindness – he invited me to join him on a hunting trip out west.

Months later, on a day in Fall, I got a phone call from Reuben. He had remembered our conversation over supper in the summer, and he asked me if I was still up for joining him on a hunting trip. He had also invited three other fellows to join us – and so, one early Saturday morning, the five of us drove out to Cartwright, Manitoba.

Reuben didn’t have to do that. He could have kept that place all to himself. Instead, he opened up his weekend for four guys – and I still felt as though I barely knew him. Luckily, I was able to sit in his truck on the way to the land, and had a great conversation. Getting to know him better, I found out that Reuben was a genuinely Kind man. Have you experienced this kind of extra kindness? How does that make you feel?

Out of all the friendships we encounter in scripture, it’s David’s friendship with Jonathan that stands out the most, in my books. Their relationship went deep and their love for one another was profound. In scripture we read that Jonathan loved David as much as his own soul, and that Jonathan made a covenant with David, a promise to protect him. Jonathan was a perfect example of kindness to David, willing to risk his own life, and his relationship with his own father, who was desperately trying to kill David. Jonathan was an example of what Jesus talked about when he said that “no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jonathan’s kindness had a huge impact on David, and this act of kindness would stay with David the rest of his life.

The seed of kindness had been planted; but would it grow? After David had become king, many things changed – and not all for the better. The kind and gentle young man, who ran to protect lambs from the ferocious bear or lion, was now the man who ferociously pursued Bathsheba, was now the man who sent Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, to his death so that he could have Bathsheba all to himself. The kindness that had been given to David had been lost. Would he ever get it back again? There’s this huge conflict in our hearts, isn’t there? We meet people like Jonathan, like my friend Reuben, and we experience profound kindness and care – but it doesn’t rub-off on us like it should.

After we arrived at the land, by Cartwright, Reuben and the four of us guests all scattered off into the woods to hunt white-tailed deer. I remember the cool temperature and the powdery snow that I easily pushed through with my old winter boots. By the end of the day, my feet were nearly frozen. At around 11am I saw my first deer that day and minutes later, Reuben was mentoring me on how to properly field-dress my first deer; a young buck. After we finished, Reuben started carrying the deer out of the bush for me – I told him that I would do it, but he gladly insisted that he wanted to do this for me. Imagine that! Carrying a deer out of the bush is no easy feat, especially when there’s a lot of hills and valleys, covered in snow and dense bush. Several times I told him that I would take the deer, but again and again he insisted that he carry it to the truck, which was parked out on the field by the edge of the forest. Reuben’s kindness towards me was one of the clearest expressions of Christian love that I’ve ever experienced. I barely knew the guy, yet he served me as though he were my closest brother and friend.

As I prepared this sermon I was faced with a haunting question: had Reuben’s kindness towards me rubbed-off at all? Had the fruit of the Spirit in his life had any effect on my heart? I’d like to think it has – but I think it would be best to let my friends and others around me give you a verdict on that one. I wonder how easy it is for my heart to deceive me – to convince me that I’m acting with good intentions. I do know that I like to reminisce about that hunting trip. I enjoy remembering the feeling of shooting my very first deer; but even more than that, it gives me joy to remember the day I spent with Reuben. I haven’t spent much time with him since – our schedules and our paths don’t meet up that often. But that day with Reuben continues to inspire me, even as I’m haunted by the sneaking suspicion that I haven’t learned all the lessons that I need to from that day.

Years after Jonathan showed kindness to David, and years after David showed his ferocious cruelty to Bathsheba and Uriah, David was confronted with an opportunity to redeem himself. In his later years, King David sought out any relatives of Saul and Jonathan. David wanted to know if there was still someone remaining from the house of Saul. Why? For what purpose? David wanted to show them the kindness of God. Mephibosheth, the son of David’s best friend Jonathan, came to meet David. Mephibosheth was a crippled man, being lame in both his feet. In those days, Mephibosheth would have been looked down upon by his peers on account of his disability; but David didn’t let that stop him. Instead, David made a covenant with Mephibosheth – that he could come and always enjoy a place at David’s table. Not only that, David also restored all of Saul’s inheritance, giving it to Mephibosheth. David had become the hero of Micah’s prophecy – David did justice to Saul and Jonathan’s legacy, and he finally returned the kindness that had been shown to him.

The prophet Micah wrote: O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? David acted justly towards the house of Saul and Jonathan, he displayed his love of kindness. What changed for David? Part of the answer, I think, is found in David’s prayer of confession and repentance. After David acted cruelly towards Bathsheba and her husband Uriah – after he had an affair with her – David was confronted by the prophet Nathan who spoke out against David’s sin. So many kings and leaders of our world fail to heed the voice of God’s prophets – they fail to heed God’s wisdom – but David chose to listen. He heard Nathan – and God’s words of judgement turned David to repentance.

Let’s read David’s prayer of confession and repentance together in Psalm 51 (HWB 818). In Galatians we read that kindness and goodness are the fruit of the Spirit; if that’s the case, what happened to David? What was the source of his new-found kindness? By his actions towards Mephibosheth, we can tell that his prayer of repentance was sincere. When he asked God to give him a new and right spirit, God accomplished that, and more! The kindness that God had planted in David’s heart – through Jonathan’s friendship – had now grown into a fruitful garden. But it took confession and repentance. It took David opening himself to the gift of the Spirit that God had made present in his life.

Brothers and sisters – like David, you and I have experienced both kindness and cruelty from the hands of those around us, and we have each also given both kindness and cruelty. Our gardens all have some weeds growing in them; but people like Jonathan and my friend Reuben are great examples for us – examples of what happens when you let the Spirit hold the reigns in your life; they are examples of what happens when you confess and repent from your sin, and turn to God. What happens? You begin to see the fruit of kindness take over – and the weeds won’t stand a chance!

May the garden of your heart be in tune with the Spirit of God at work in you. May you cultivate the seed of kindness that God has planted in you – whether that be through the kindness of a friend or neighbour. May their kindness ‘rub-off’ on you. And may you be encouraged, by folks like Jonathan and Reuben; and may you know that the fruit of God’s kindness can take over in your life. You can let go of bitterness. You can get rid of cruelty in your attitude and practice. You can do this because of what the Holy Spirit is doing in you. Welcome the Spirit’s work, celebrate it, and provoke one another to live a Spirit-filled life. Please join me in prayer:

Spirit of the Living God, descend upon us. Break us, mould us and fill us. Cultivate in us the kindness that you have made visible in the lives of Your saints. We give you thanks for the gifts of kindness we receive from you, and from those that you have sent into our lives. We are encouraged by their love and care. Clean our hearts from all malice, anger, hatred and cruelty. Instead, give us Your Spirit and make us instruments of your kindness in our world and in our neighbourhood. We ask for these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our kind Lord, Amen.