Sunday's Message: Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit - A Look at Galatians 5:22-23 (Kindness)

On Friday, August 12, SPC had its annual Summer Day Camp entitled “Big Heart Farms: Where God’s Fruit Grows.” During the day, the children looked at Galatians 5:22-23 and talked about the Fruit of the Spirit. Building on this theme, during nine of our worship services, we’ll consider how we can integrate this fruit into our own lives. We’ll focus on the following qualities:

• August 14 - Love
• August 21 - Joy
• August 28 - Peace
• September 4 - Patience
• September 11 - Kindness
• September 18 - Generosity
• September 25 - Faithfulness
• October 2 - Gentleness
• October 9 - Self-control

And so, as we move into the Fall, let’s talk about how we might cultivate the most important crop of all, the Fruit of the Spirit.

In this fifth message, we considered kindness as a spiritual fruit. The sermon text and podcast is below:

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Well, on this bright, sunny morning, we’re continuing the series we started about a month ago entitled Cultivating the Fruit of the Spirit: A Look at Galatians 5:22-23. Now, as most of y’all know, it’s based on the theme of our Vacation Bible School, and it’s focused on this passage from Paul’s letter to the Galatians:

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. [Galatians 5:22-23, NRSVUE]

Now that’s what we’ve been doing. 

And over that time, we’ve looked at the first four spiritual fruits, starting with love, something we said is essential and active and Godly, and then joy, something that we said is given and empowering and contagious. And then, a couple of weeks ago, we talked about peace and how it can change our perspective of God and others and ourselves. And then last Sunday, we shifted our focus to patience, something that’s important and can be developed when we decide to pause and to trust, to pray and to act. Now that’s the last four weeks in a nutshell. And remember, you can find both the sermons and the services on our Facebook page, YouTube channel and church blog.

And so, this morning we move to spiritual gift number five, kindness. And you know, I think it’s really interesting that we’re doing this on the twenty-first anniversary of 9/11. Of course, if you’re old enough, I think most of us remember what we were doing on that terrible day. For me, I was at Buckingham High School, getting ready to teach a class of eager and engaged seniors the nuisances of the American government. And when I walked by the library, I remember the librarian had a television on and a bunch of my colleagues were watching what was happening in New York, and this was right after the first plane crashed into the North Tower, and I remember thinking what a horrible accident this was. But of course, about twenty minutes later, the principal made an announcement over the loudspeakers that the other tower had also been hit; therefore, it wasn’t an accident at all. And you know, maybe for the first time, my class was dead silent; nobody said a word. I also remember that I had a fellow history teacher who was an MP in the Coast Guard Reserves and I’ll tell you, he was called up and on a plane to New York before 9/12. We didn’t see him for about two years. Now that’s what I recall about the day. 

But I’ll tell you, that’s not the only thing I remember. As we moved past 9/11, in the days and weeks and months that followed, man, it seemed as though the country changed. For example, we, as Americans, sort of put aside our political differences so that we might unite as a nation around a common focus and purpose. And we seemed to show more respect for our national leaders regardless of their party, because they were the ones who would get us through the mess we were all facing. But you know, the thing I remember most clearly was this new spirit of kindness that seemed to be everywhere. I mean, not only was there this outpouring of love and concern for the people of New York City, I swear I think folks were just nicer to one another, and I say that knowing that this certainly wasn’t the case for everybody. You see, in a real sense, we were in this together, and so it just seemed appropriate and right to be loving and kind to the folks who were also sharing our grief. At least, that’s what I remember.

And for that reason, I think it’s both right and appropriate that we spend some time talking about kindness this morning. And to accomplish that, we’re going to do the same kind of thing we did last week. We’re going to use some scripture in order to answer two questions. First, what is kindness, and I’m talking about the kind of kindness we see in the Bible? That’s one. 

And second, how can we become more kind? In other words, how can we show more kindness, but not just to people we already like. How can we become more kind to everybody? Now that’s the plan.

And it starts with our first question, what is kindness? You know, what does it mean to claim this fruit of the Spirit 

and to be kind to all the folks whom God has led into our lives? What is this kindness business all about? Now that’s the question.

And I’ll tell you, based on what the Apostle Paul wrote in his letters, there in the New Testament, I think there are three things we can say about kindness. You see, first, for Paul, kindness is a quality of God. I guess you could say it’s a part of his nature, you know, of who he is, because that’s exactly how he relates to us. For example, according to what Paul wrote to the Romans, “Now you see both how kind and how hard God can be. He was hard on those who fell, but he was kind to you. And he will keep on being kind to you, if you keep on trusting in his kindness.” [Romans 11:22a, CEV] And as he was describing what God has done for us through Jesus Christ, Paul wrote this to the Ephesians:

But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much he made us alive with Christ, and God's gift of undeserved grace is what saves you. God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven. God did this so in the future world he could show how truly good and kind he is to us because of what Christ Jesus has done. [Ephesians 2:4-7, CEV]

And as he described how the people used to be and contrasted that with who God actually is, Paul wrote this to Titus:

We used to be stupid, disobedient, and foolish, as well as slaves of all sorts of desires and pleasures. We were evil and jealous. Everyone hated us, and we hated everyone.

God our Savior showed us

    how good and kind he is.

He saved us because

    of his mercy,

and not because

of any good things

    we have done. [Titus 3:3-5, CEV]

You see, for Paul, kindness is a quality of God. And that’s the first thing we can say.

And second, according to Paul, I think we can also say that kindness is just not in our nature either to do or to accept. In other words, even though it may be a characteristic of God, whether we like it or not, the same just can’t be said about us. Although it gives me absolutely no joy to say, kindness is not something that comes naturally, not to most people. And I’ll tell you, just like it was with kindness being a quality of God, Paul was pretty clear about this too. For example, in arguably one of the least flattering descriptions in the whole Bible, Paul wrote this about humanity, you know, about us: 

"There is no one who is righteous, not even one;

     there is no one who has understanding;

        there is no one who seeks God.

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

    there is no one who shows kindness;

        there is not even one.” [Romans 3:10b-12, NRSVUE]

Not exactly something you’d write in a Mother’s Day card. You see, for Paul, it’s just not in our nature to be kind. But he didn’t stop there, he also believed we’re not very good at accepting kindness from others, even God. Again, to the Romans, he wrote, “Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” [Romans 2:3-4, NRSV]

I’m telling you, for Paul, like it or not, kindness just isn’t in our nature either to do or to accept. And that’s the second thing we can say.

And third, in spite of everything else, kindness is still something that God wants us to show. I mean, even though it’s really not our thing, as we’d say in the 70's, that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t want it to be. No sir, if we listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote, it seems pretty clear that God wants us to integrate a bit of this divine quality into our own lives. I mean, just think about those passages in which he challenges us to claim certain positive characteristics. And even though it’s not the only quality we’re called to claim, it certainly appears in the list. For example, Paul wrote this to the Colossians:

God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient. Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you. Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together. [Colossians 3:12-14, CEV]

Now that’s what he wrote to the Colossians. And remember, as we’ve been talking about for the last month or so, kindness is included as one of the Fruit of the Spirit; therefore, it’s a quality that he certainly believed we could integrate into our lives. And we know that because this is what he wrote after listing all nine of his spiritual fruit: And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. God's Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit. [Galatians 5:24-25, CEV] And so, along with being a quality of God but not exactly in our nature, kindness is definitely something that God wants us to show. You see, according to Paul, that’s what it is.

And how can we become better at showing it? How can we become more kind to the people around us? Well, again for the Apostle Paul, it’s both clear and doable. I mean, take what he wrote to the Ephesians. You see, in a broader passage where he talked about how Christians needed to straighten up and fly right, you know, how liars should stop lying and thieves should stop stealing, how believers should stop talking trash and start saying things that actually help others, you see, after telling the Ephesians all that, he said, “Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don’t yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.” [Ephesians 4:31-32, CEV] Now that’s what he wrote.

And I’ll tell you, I think that gives us a pretty good idea about how we might become more kind in our living, and it all comes down to stopping and starting. Let me explain. You see, if we want to be more kind, I think we really need to stop being so bitter and resentful and indignant about things that we may have faced in the past or might be facing right now in the present. And we need to stop allowing ourselves to get so angry that we lose control. And we need to stop letting whatever bitterness and anger we might be feeling from time to time, man, we’ve got to stop those emotions from causing us to yell and to quarrel, to abuse people by our words and our actions, even to curse God and slander those around us. Simply put, if we want to be truly kind, we need to stop acting like jerks. 

And instead, we need to start making the conscious decision that we’re going to become as useful and helpful as possible, even if we don’t want to be useful and helpful because that might demand some sacrifice on our part. And we need to start showing as much compassion and understanding as we can, even when we don’t want to be compassionate and understanding, because deep down, we don’t feel they deserve it. And I’ll tell you, if we’re serious about kindness, we need to start trying as hard as we can to do what is often one of the most challenging things for any of us to do. Like it or not, we need to “forgive others, just as God forgave [us] because of Christ.” [Ephesians 4:32b, CEV] We need to forgive. And for me, that just makes sense. I mean, I think it’s awful hard for us to show kindness to someone we still blame. Man, we’ve got to pull an Elsa and “let it go.” You see, when we stop and then start, in my opinion, that’s how we can become more kind to the people around us.

Now do you remember how we started this message by talking about 9/11, you know, about what happened on that horrible day and about some of the things that seemed to change in our country? Do you remember that? Well, let me ask you, after twenty-one years, do you think that we, as Americans, are still putting aside our political differences so that we can unite around a common focus and purpose? Are we still united? And after twenty-one years, do you think we’re still showing respect for our national leaders, regardless of their party, because they’re the ones who will get us through the mess we’re all facing? Do we still show respect? And after twenty-one years, would you say that we live in a nation where kindness is everywhere, because people are intentionally nice to one another? Is that our country now? I guess something may have gotten lost in the last two decades.

But you know, as it relates to kindness, that doesn’t have to apply to us. You see, right here and right now, we can recognize what kindness is all about, that it’s a quality of God but it’s not in our nature to do or accept and yet it’s still something that God wants us to show. And then, with that in mind, we can decide that we’re going to stop being driven by a whole bunch of negative feelings we may be experiencing and we’re going to start becoming as useful and helpful as possible and to start showing as much compassion and understanding as we can and to start forgiving others, just as God has forgiven us. In other words, if we chose to have the same kind of attitude we saw in our country right after September 9, 2001, I believe that this is how we can cultivate kindness.