And most of us, I think understand what it means to be kind. When we think of kindness, we think of friendliness, generosity–of being considerate. We think of stories like this one which appeared in Reader’s Digest: Leaving a store, I returned to my car only to find that I’d locked my keys and cell phone inside. A teenager riding his bike saw me kick a tire and say a few choice words. “What’s wrong?” he asked. I explained my situation. “But even if I could call my wife,” I said, “she can’t bring me her car key, since this is our only car.” He handed me his cell phone. “Call your wife and tell her I’m coming to get her key.” “That’s seven miles round trip.” “Don’t worry about it.” An hour later, he returned with the key. I offered him some money, but he refused. “Let’s just say I needed the exercise,” he said. Then, like a cowboy in the movies, he rode off into the sunset. (https://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/kindness-strangers/)
We admire the people who do such things. Our hearts become warmed when we hear stories or see actions of kindness. When we receive such acts of kindness, our hearts melt and we react with overwhelming gratitude. I remember not to long ago, I had taken my family to eat in Bellville at Galileo’s. We enjoyed our meal and prepared to go only to find out that someone eating in the restaurant that evening had paid for our entire family. The next time we saw this person, we thanked her profusely for her generosity and gave her plenty of hugs to show our gratitude. Kindness has this effect upon us.
And conversely, when we see cruelty, our hearts harden. We get angry at the perpetrators. We decry their actions and how they handle themselves. We prefer kindness and want it to rule the day! And so, we make bumper stickers that say, “Practice random acts of kindness.” We initiate anti-bullying programs in school. We post memes on Facebook that say, “It is better to be kind than right.”
And honestly, I only disagree with one of those things: I disagree with the meme that says “It’s better to be kind than right,” because the right thing is the kind thing. Some may disagree, but let me explain. Let's say that your kid comes up to you five minutes before dinner and says, "Mom, dad, I'm really, really hungry. Can I please have a bowl of ice cream?" Now, one might say that it would be the kind thing to give her the ice cream, after all, she is hungry. Even though you might be right that it would be better to make her wait until dinner. But is it really kind to give her the ice cream? No. It isn't. That's not the nourishment that she needs. In this case, and in others, the right thing--making her wait for dinner--is the kind thing. And that brings us to the heart of what kindness is as a fruit of the Spirit. For you see, kindness can be practiced by anyone. Anyone can be compassionate. Anyone can be generous. Anyone can bring a smile to another person’s face by an act of kindness. But what Paul is talking about here is not simply a pleasant disposition or a nice deed or action towards someone. It is much deeper.
You see, the Greek word used for kindness here, xrēstótēs, doesn’t have a good English equivalent. I think one of the commentaries I consulted this past week said it best when it said the word could best be translated as “useful kindness.” Now, what does that mean?
Let me illustrate with the following two stories. Three boy scouts were asked by their scout leader to do an act of kindness one day. Later that afternoon, they returned with news of great success. They told their scout leader they helped an old woman cross a street. He said, “It took all three of you to help an old woman across the street?” “Yes,” the boys said, “She didn’t want to go!” Now, helping an old lady across the street is certainly an act of kindness, but helping here when she doesn’t want to go isn’t. The act isn’t useful. In other words, it is not what is needed. The old woman didn’t need help crossing the street. While the scout’s intentions were honorable, the action was not helpful. It was not xrēstótēs.
On the other hand, this story, I think, comes much closer to the meaning of this Greek word. A little girl was sent on an errand by her mother. She took much longer than expected to come back. When she returned, the girl’s mother demanded an explanation. The little girl explained the reason. On her way, she met a little friend who was crying because she had broken her doll. “Oh,” said the mother, “then you stopped to help her fix her doll?” “Oh no,” the little girl said, “I stopped to help her cry!” This little girl was able to see beyond the broken doll and see into the depths of another’s grief. She was able to see a heart that needed someone to grieve with her. The little girl addressed a deeper need than simply trying to piece together a broken doll. That’s xrēstótēs. That’s the kindness that St. Paul lists as a fruit of the Spirit.
Interestingly enough, this term does not appear a whole lot in the Bible. It has only scattered references, and Jesus doesn’t use the word kindness at all. There is only one time when he uses the word in its shorter form which is translated kind. But that reference is an important one in helping us understand the kind of fruit we produce. We have that lesson before us today from the sixth chapter of the book of Luke.
Jesus is teaching to a great crowed gathered on a plain, and very much like the Sermon on the Mount found in the book of Matthew, Jesus is laying out the ethics of a Christian life. The teaching he gives here is quite difficult. “Give to everyone who begs from you.” That is no easy task at all, especially knowing that many who beg these days take advantage of people’s generosity–and I am specifically talking about those folks standing on the street corners holding signs. Jesus says, give to them.
He continues, “And if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.” Yeah, you know that guy you lent your favorite tool to. Don’t ask for it again. Let him have it. Does anyone practice this? Really?
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” This is a saying found in every world religion and ethical system. It sure would be nice if we actually did it.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.” Are you really listening to what Jesus is saying here? I mean, really listening? In Jesus’ day, it was common place to give to someone expecting that the other person would give in return to you. By giving to another, you put someone in your debt. So, if you invited them to a dinner at your house, they were now obligated to invite you to their house. If you loaned something to a neighbor, it was expected that if you asked for something, it would be loaned back to you. If you gave a gift to someone, it was expected that they would give a gift in return. There was an entire system built upon this kind of exchange.
And really, is it so different today? Not really. If we get a loan from the bank, are we expected to pay it back? Absolutely, and with interest. If we work to get a politician elected, do we expect him or her to enact the laws that we support? Absolutely. If we give our time to someone, do we expect that he or she will respect our time and our person as we are doing that? If you don’t think so, let me ask you this: do you get angry when you are trying to talk to someone and they look like they are ignoring you? If we go into a restaurant to buy a dinner, do we expect to be waited on promptly and cared for by the wait staff? And if we are not, what do we do? You see, this system of exchange and indebtedness is still in place today. It may look a little different, but it is still there.
Jesus upends this system of how the world works. Jesus throws it all out the window. He says, “Don’t buy into this system. Don’t expect rewards from others. Don’t expect to give and then receive in return from them. Don’t expect to lend and get anything back. Don’t live by the “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch my back” axiom because even the sinners–those at the bottom rungs of society–do that. You live differently. You expect rewards differently. You do not expect rewards from others–expect rewards from your Heavenly Father. As Jesus says, “Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.”
And here is the why. Jesus lays out the why we act and move differently. “For he–Your Heavenly Father–is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
See, there is that word kind. It’s the shortened version of kindness. It’s what God gives to the ungrateful and the wicked. He gives them what they need. And what do they need? Jesus says it: Mercy. They need mercy. But let’s get a bit more realistic. Let’s drive Jesus’ point home into our own lives, because we shouldn’t use the word “they” in reference to the ungrateful and the wicked. We should use the word “us.” Now, I know that might be a bit unpopular to hear. That might be a bit like nails on a chalk board. We don’t like to hear that we are ungrateful. We don’t like to hear that we are wicked. We don’t even really like it when someone has the audacity to say that we are sinners.
And, yet, that’s exactly what Scripture says we are. You can’t read through Jesus’ teachings here and think that you follow them perfectly. You can’t read through the Old Testament commandments and think that you follow them all. You can’t read through the rest of the New Testament and come away with the idea that you have somehow satisfied what God demands of you. This is why St. Paul writes in the third chapter of the book of Romans, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God!” All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We stand condemned. Indeed, we are wicked.
And being wicked, being condemned, we deserve God’s judgment. We deserve God’s wrath, but instead, God gives us what we need. God gives us what we need to change our hearts and change our minds. God shows his kindness–his xrēstótēs by doing what is actually quite unthinkable. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but we are now justified by grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forward as a sacrifice of atonement effective through faith.” That finishes out Paul’s statement in Romans chapter 3. God took on human flesh and sacrificed himself on our behalf making payment for our sin; absorbing our debt; and declaring us not guilty–even though we were. And as he pays our debt by hanging on the cross and facing the wrath we should have faced, he gives us his righteousness. He gives us his sinlessness. He clothes us with himself. He gives us a new status and adopts us as His children. It would have been easy for God to think that we needed punishment, but He knew that we needed a Savior. And that’s exactly what He sent in the God made flesh–Jesus Christ.
And when we have encountered this grace; when we have met Jesus at the cross and seen the outpouring of His great love; when we feel the mercy he has extended to us–we become merciful. We produce kindness. Deep down, we long to discover the deepest needs of others. We long to look deep into their hearts and find what will bring them the most joy; peace; and healing. We no longer simply look at the surface, but we long to see with God’s eyes–so that we can address what is most needed.
A church began seeking one day to reach out into its community. They began making plans to build a facility for youth complete with gymnasium and playground. They were excited about the prospects, but some wondered how much use these facilities would get. Would the community come and use these things? The seeds of doubt were planted, and one day someone asked: how many kids are in the neighborhood around us? That one question spurred a group to go investigate. What they found was quite different. Their neighborhood was not full of kids–not in the least. The demographic was quite different. In fact, the majority of their neighborhood consisted of retired adults, so the church shifted gears. They talked with their neighbors. They discovered their needs, and so they scrapped their plans for a youth facility and built a senior citizens center with full handicap access. They put in an exercise pool and exercise room especially designed for older adults to help with therapy and rehab. The church decided it would keep any necessary fees to a minimum so that the community–particularly those with a fixed income–could enjoy these facilities and benefit from their use. And once completed, every day the facilities were in use. The church addressed the community’s greatest need. That’s xrēstótēs.
How do we know that we are producing this fruit? How do we know that kindness is flowing out of us? I think we must begin by asking ourselves if we are asking the right questions. Are we asking ourselves: what is the biggest need that my friends have? Are we asking ourselves: what is the biggest need that my family has? Are we asking ourselves: what is the biggest need that our community has? And are we listening to our neighbors? Are we listening to our friends? Are we listening to our communities? Are we digging passed the superficialities and seeing their hearts? If we are, we are practicing kindness. We are producing the Spirit’s fruit. May we produce it in abundance. Amen.
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