“But The Fruit Of The Spirit Is Kindness”
2 Samuel
9 Luke 6:35-36
INTRO: Two things about the early Christians baffled pagan
Greeks and Romans.
First
thing was the Christians’ sexual purity.
We think that our culture is obsessed with sensuality.
First century paganism was even worse.
Perversions
of every kind were openly flaunted in highest society.
Immorality was prevalent and totally
accepted.
Here
were these Christians. Dressed modestly.
If married, faithful to
spouses. If
unmarried chaste.
Romans said:
Who are these people?
One ancient writer said this: “They
share their meals, but not their beds.”
Brings us to the second thing that baffled the pagan Greeks and Romans.
The incredible generosity
of the early Christians.
The
Christians gave generously of their possessions and time.
Common practice to turn old slaves into
streets.
Infanticide also common, unwanted babies put
on garbage dumps.
Christians
cared for slaves, collected babies and raised as
own.
The
Roman Emperor Julian tried to wipe out Christianity.
But he wrote a letter to a Pagan
priest—never going to be able to destroy them.
“Not only do they care for their own poor,
but for ours as well.”
Wasn’t sexual purity or generosity that caused the church to grow.
Grew because of the
Gospel.
But
the sexual purity of Christians and the generosity of Christians
shut the mouths of
critics and gave credibility to their message.
Not
going to talk about first thing—sexual purity.
But
want to consider the second—generosity.
Generous giving and service of early
Christians was spiritual fruit of kindness.
It was a fruit that adorned the preaching of
the Gospel—
gave credibility to
the message.
Kindness
is simply loving deeds.
Bible
says that true love will always find expression in kindness.
If there is no kindness (no loving deeds)
then there is no love.
“If someone sees brother in need and has no
pity, how can love?” “With actions”
Kindness is the evidence of love.
That’s
the reason why kindness of early Christians, giving and serving poor,
such a powerful
thing—gave them such credibility
evidence of the
spirit of love in them
evidence that
couldn’t be refuted by their enemies
Fruit
of kindness is not a little thing.
Outward evidence that God’s love is really
in you.
Evidence of who you really are.
This
is a fruit you must cultivate. Can’t neglect.
I
don’t think that there are any of the fruit of the spirit
that raise more
practical questions than kindness. For
example:
When
do you stop giving to a person?
Always have to show kindness, but sometimes
kindness means saying—
I’m not going to give you any more financial
support.
That
seems mean to the person in need. But
sometimes that is kindest thing.
Another
question: Kindness is Bible always
depicted as giving material things.
How do you show kindness to a person who has
no material needs?
So
what I want to focus on are the biblical motivations for kindness.
If motivations are right, in step with
Spirit,
comes to practical
questions of kindness—things more clear.
Three motivations for kindness.
1. Your experience of God’s
kindness.
2.
Your understanding of Christ’s redemption.
3.
Your hope for eternal reward.
MP#1 Your experience of God’s kindness.
It
is your own, personal experience of God’s kindness to you in Christ
that is the deepest
motive for your kindness to others.
What
motivated David to extend kindness to Saul’s grandson?
Invite him to table, honor him, restore his fortunes?
Two
motives mentioned.
First, David’s friendship with Jonathan, Mephibosheth’s
father.
You remember the history of their
friendship.
But
there was a deeper motive, hinted in verse 3.
“Is there no one still left in the house of
Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”
David
wanted to show Saul’s descendants the kindness he had received from God
That was a motivation that went deeper even
than an old friendship.
David
had experienced God’s kindness over and over.
Psalm
18 David reflects on a difficult time in his life—says at end:
“[the Lord] shows unfailing
kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”
Gratitude
for God’s kindness motivated him to show kindness to Mephibosheth.
What
is God’s kindness?
When David said that he wanted to show Mephibosheth “God’s kindness”
what did he
mean?
This
is crucial, because it gets to the heart of kindness as a fruit of Spirit.
The
essence of God’s kindness is that He is kind to you in Christ.
“Be kind to one another . . . even as God for
Christ’s sake has forgiven you.”
“God demonstrates his own love for us in
this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
“For God so loved the world that he gave his
only begotten Son.”
God’s
love and kindness to you is always in and through Christ
reaching out to you
in your sin and alienation from Him to do you good.
God’s
kindness to you in Christ has two very important characteristics.
1. God’s kindness to you is costly.
He
gave his beloved Son to humiliation and death so that you could be saved.
Not only did Christ give his life
willingly—Father gave him up for sacrifice.
That was necessary for sins to be paid for,
divine justice satisfied.
So
this means that all fruit of the Spirit kindness will be costly as well.
What
did it cost David to extend kindness to Mephibosheth?
There was some financial cost. But I doubt David felt that at all.
When
you read through 2 Samuel carefully see evidence that
there remained
a pro-Saul, anti-David
faction for many years. David had to be
aware of this.
Mephibosheth was
not just any grandson of Saul—son of oldest son.
His
elevation to honor, putting him in
Know David made at least one enemy doing
this.
So
David paid a political cost to be kind to Mephibosheth.
That is indeed very costly to a person in
his position.
When
you show God’s kindness to people—will be costly to you in particular way.
2. God’s kindness to you in Christ is costly, it
is also close.
God
wasn’t just kind to you from heaven, He sent His son.
Christ became a man. He was incarnate—with body, soul, emotions of man.
He was tempted in every way as we are, yet
without sin.
Since
His ascension He has sent us His Holy Spirit to live in us as Comforter.
One day coming back to
take us home. God’s kindness is a
close kindness.
David
could have sent his officials to Lo Debar.
Spend whatever money it takes to make him
comfortable.
Set him up financially. Get him best medical care for feet. Buy him nice house.
David
could have done all that from afar.
But instead he brought Mephibosheth
to
In
video series we’ve been watching Sunday nights, Shepherding A
Child’s Heart—
Tedd Tripp tells a
story of a woman who once said to him—
“I don’t have enough fingers to wear all the
rings my husband has bought me over years.”
But not one time in our marriage has he ever
said, “I was wrong, please forgive me.”
That’s
a negative example, but it makes the point.
No
matter how much those rings cost—weren’t really costly to that man.
The costly thing in his case,
would have been to confess wronging his wife.
That would have been real kindness to her—brought
him close to her.
When
start to work this out in your life, your relationships—see many substitutes.
Fruit of the Spirit kindness is costly and
close.
Only
way you can ever be truly kind—if you have experienced God’s kindness.
Have you?
Do you know God’s kindness to you in Christ? I hope so.
First
motivation is your experience of God’s kindness—the second motivation is . . MP#2 Your understanding of Christ’s
redemption.
Jesus
came not only to save our souls, He came to save our
bodies and all creation.
He came to push back the effects of the Fall in every area of life.
Let’s
go way back to the Garden of Eden. What
happened when Adam sinned?
(Tim Keller)
Four concentric circles—like ripples from rock in a pond.
First,
inner circle—Adam and Eve were alienated from God.
Instead of walking with
God in cool of the day, hid from God, guilty.
Spiritual brokenness, fellowship with God
broken—leads to hell
Second
circle—Adam and Eve alienated from themselves.
Before sinned could stand naked before God
and all creation—I’m all right.
After sin, shame,
nakedness. Psychological
brokenness
Third
circle—Adam and Eve alienated from each other.
Before sin—“Bone of bone,
flesh of flesh.”
After ate fruit—“What have you done?” “The woman . . .”
beginnings of
hatred, divorce, racism, war, murder. Social
brokenness
Fourth
circle—Adam and Eve alienated from creation.
Before complete dominion,
bodies with potential of living forever.
After, creation cursed, bodies cursed—toil,
thorns, return to dust.
disease, accidents,
tornadoes, hunger, poverty. Physical
brokenness
When
Jesus Christ came to earth, brought His kingdom, carry out redemption
which of the
effects of sin did He come to heal?
He came to restore all things—came to
reverse the effects of the curse.
Of
course, everything hinges on that center circle—alienation from God.
That is the heart of Jesus’ redemptive
work. Save from sins. Peace with God.
If that brokenness is not restored, nothing
else will ever be.
But
that’s not all Jesus came to restore.
Didn’t just preach the good news—repent,
believe, made right with God
Healed
the sick, made lame walk, gave sight to blind,
restored families broken
by death, provided food for hungry, wine for wedding,
ate and drank with
outcasts of society, Samaritans, tax collectors, prostitutes
Came to bring restoring power to every part of world broken by sin.
In his miracles and kind deeds gave us a
foreshadowing of the consummation
of His kingdom in
the new heavens and new earth.
No
death, crying, sorrow, pain, hunger—all things made right.
David’s
kindness to Mephibosheth dealt with outer circle
brokenness.
Physical needs—better food, place to live, medical care.
Social needs—place at the table.
Foreshadowed the redemptive work of Christ, pushing back effects of
fall.
That’s what the fruit of kindness does.
Brings Christ’s redemption
to physical and social needs.
When
you take a meal to a grieving family that has lost a loved one—
it’s not just a Southern
custom—it’s a little bit of Christ’s redemptive work—
pushing back the
effect of the fall. Giving hope one day
tears wiped away.
When
your son’s friend comes over to your house—
and you know this
boy doesn’t have father in life—
and you say: “Why don’t you go fishing with us? Or to the beach with us?”
You
are in that kindness pushing back effects of fall, social brokenness.
Little way, revealing what God intends
fathers to be like.
When
you let a lonely person, or a weird person talk your ear off—
when you have a
million other things to do—and you engage, smile, question.
That
kindness is an expression of Christ’s redemptive work—
pushing back the
brokenness and loneliness of this world.
You
may be given opportunities for kindness that are very costly, very close.
Long-term, expensive kindness to particular
people God brings to your life.
And
many days you will be given opportunities for small kindnesses—
costly in their own
way—maybe to grocery budget, or your schedule, or nerves.
But
large or small, do you see how grand the fruit of kindness is for Christians?
It is nothing less that the redemptive power
of Jesus Christ in you pushing back
the effects of the
fall in lives of people. Healing social and physical brokenness.
Like
Jesus touching the lepers, speaking to the outcasts, feeding the hungry—
when you are kind, giving
people a taste of Christ’s eternal kingdom.
Motivation
for kindness your experience of God’s kindness,
your understanding
of Christ’s redemption, and third . . .
MP#3 Your hope for eternal reward
The
Bible says over and over again to believers in many places—
that you will be
rewarded in eternity for the fruit of kindness you produce now.
It’s
in the Matthew passage we read, mentioned many other places.
Luke 6:
“Great is your reward in heaven.”
Heb. 11 “Looking forward to their reward.”
How
can it be that we are rewarded in heaven for kindness on earth
if our salvation is
all of grace?
How
can we believe in unmerited favor and then talk about eternal reward?
Answer
is very satisfying.
All
the kindness you produce is only possible because the Holy Spirit is in you.
Kindness
is the fruit of the Spirit.
When a Christian is kind, looks at his kindness.
He sees the good part—Wow! Look what God has done through me.
He sees the ugly stuff mixed in (griping,
manipulation)—Ugh!
But
God is so gracious to His children He receives your act of kindness
because you are in
Christ, He accepts it (not the bad part, but good part)
and he rewards you
for it.
Like
giving your child money so he can buy you a Christmas present..
Takes your money and buys you something.
You hug and kiss and thank him for the
present.
You
gave him the money to buy your gift (he didn’t earn the money.)
He gives you back something he did not buy
with his own money.
And you reward him with hugs and
kisses. It’s all grace.
Move
this into the spiritual realm.
Lord
gives you the gift—many names eternal life, divine nature, holiness,
mind of Christ—His
life in you.
Then
you act on it. By gracious work of Holy
Spirit—good things happen, fruit.
You
offer it back to God. He accepts, rewards.
Not
like rewards in this world—all up to you.
Different economy in God’s
family. All grace.
What
is the reward?
The
reward for kindness is Jesus Christ’s commendation.
It is hearing on the Great Last Day “Well
done, good and faithful servant.”
That
act of kindness that seemed so small back then, hospital visit, prison visit,
meal, for that
needy, sympathetic ear, remember that?—that was for me.
Thank you.
Think
about the picture that Jesus is painting for us in this passage:
On the Day of Judgment—I will stand,
glorified and radiant, King of kings,
Lord of lords, before the Great White
Judgment Throne of the Father,
before all angels,
and great multitude of mankind, and I will say to you
personally, for all
to hear:
Thank
you for your kindness to me.
A
desire to be commended by Jesus Christ on the Day of Judgment
is a great and
glorious motivation for kindness.
Causes you to look at every opportunity for
a loving deed—this is for Jesus.
Gives eternal weight to what you do.
Cuts through your stinginess. Stinginess
is the opposite of kindness.
Holding on to and
protecting your stuff—money, time, energy.
If I use this for this
person, not going to have enough for myself.
I can’t afford to be kind.
Is
there any greater return for your investment that what Christ promises?
His reward, His
commendation.
One reason early Christians were so liberal
in their giving—kindness flowed.
Lived with such vivid expectation of Lord’s return.
For many, threat of being martyred for the
faith, meeting Lord.
Wanted to be met with His
commendation. Gave, gave, fruit
of kindness. \
In
the last book of the Bible, Revelation 22, Jesus Christ speaks of His return:
“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me,
and I will give to
everyone according to what he has done.”
Does
that stir you up to kindness? It should.
CONC: As I said at the beginning, kindness is a fruit of
the Spirit
that causes the
world to sit up and listen to the Gospel.
Several
years ago read an interview of a graduate of my college,
This man lives in
He
was pro-life. His opponent, incumbent,
was pro-abortion.
District pro-abortion. So she attacked him with the usual weapon.
Said he didn’t care about the rights of
women.
But
someone told her that this man, her political opponent and his wife
had for years opened home to pregnant, unmarried, homeless
women,
so would have a
place to live until delivery of babies.
She
was stunned. Came to
see him. Asked
him if this was true.
How many years he and his
wife had done this, how many women helped.
When he had told her the whole story she
said:
I’m not going to attack you on this issue
again, going to be a different race.
Here
was a Christian couple whose personal experience of kindness of God—
motivated them to
costly and close kindness to needy young women.
Their
kindness was an expression of the redemptive work of Christ—
pushing back the
brokenness in these women’s lives.
Giving them a warm home
and a place to lay their heads.
What
was the result? The fruit of kindness
that brought honor to the Lord—
and the promise one
day to hear: “Well done, good and
faithful servant.”
Your
opportunities for kindness may be different.
But you too must do all you can to bear the
fruit of kindness.