Bella Vista Church of Christ

11/24/2019 A.M.

LIVING THE GOOD LIFE

Be Compassionate And Kind To One Another

John 10.10 Ephesians 4.32 Colossians 3.12 1 Peter 3.8 1 John 3.17

We continue our study in pursuit of the Good Life...

Jesus came saying... I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly... Life at its best... Life above the ordinary... The Good Life.

A life that Peter says will...

• Help us become like God... Partake of His Divine Nature...

• Make our calling and election sure...

• Make us fruitful and productive in God’s Kingdom of God...

• And will afford us an entrance into His Eternal Kingdom.

Paul says... The Good Life is a result of our walking in step with the Spirit... A daily walk that displays the Fruit of God living in us... Love... Joy... Peace... Patience... Kindness... Goodness... Faithfulness... Gentleness... And self-control.

This Morning... We are adding Compassion... Kindness... to our Daily Walk...

Listen to these Scriptures...

Ephesians 4.32... Be kind and compassionate to one another... Forgiving each other... Just as in Christ God forgave you.

Colossians 3.12...As God’s chosen people... Holy and dearly loved... Clothe yourselves with... Compassion...Kindness... Humility... Gentleness... And patience.

1 John 3.17... Here John asks in rhetoric... If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no compassion on him... How can the love of God be in him?

1 Peter 3.8... Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers... be compassionate and humble.

The Fruit of the Spirit is exhibited in our becoming a people of Compassionate Kindness.

Webster says… Kindness is a demonstration of love and good will toward others.

The Greek refers to something good we do for others...

Our word does not refer to sentiment... But to service.

Compassionate Kindness is not something we feel... It’s not Pity... But something we do... It’s a benevolent behavior bestowed upon another..

Here it is church... Kindness is love in action... Love is not love until it acts... Until it behaves... in kindness.

Like Agape... Kindness is not a feeling... It’s a discipline.

We may find kindness difficult to define... But we can certainly see it in action.

First Corinthians 13 says... Love is KIND!!.. Love expresses itself in kindness.

• For instance… Like love… Kindness always shows concern.

• Kindness does the unexpected and unsolicited.

• Kindness keeps secrets.

• Protects reputations.

• Never speaks all of its mind.

• Kindness never promotes embarrassment.

• Always sounds the note of appreciation.

• Kindness is always dressed in humility.

• Prefers and honors one another.

• Kindness always... Aways...Enriches the one who bestows it.

You see church…

• compassion... Is the key... The motivating factor...That results in Kindness...

• A heart of compassion causes us to serve the Jesus in others.

• Compassion... Prompts us... Nudges us... To wash feet.

• Compassion caused Jesus to… Heal the sick… Preach the Word… Cast out evil spirits.

• His kindness is what brought Him into this world to save us.

• Kindness is the Golden Rule in practice... Treating others as we would be treated.

• Paul said... Kindness is placing the good of others before ourselves.

• Kindness causes us to…Visit the sick… The nursing home… The shut-in.

• Kindness is what prompts… Preachers to preach… Teachers to teach.

• Loving kindness is what causes Elders to shepherd the flock.

• Deacons to serve the church family…

• Kindness causes us to be a better spouse… Better fathers and mothers.

• Loving kindness causes children to honor their parents… To be obedient to parents.

• Kindness prompts us to be... Patient… Understanding… Forgiving.

Senator John McCain tells of an experience he had as a POW in North Vietnam. At the infamous prison called the Hanoi Hilton...

McCain had been tied up in a way to create maximum pain. A guard came in for the evening shift... Placed his finger in front of his own lips as if to say.... Shh...Then loosened McCain’s bonds. As the guard prepared to leave the next morning... He came back and tightened the ropes.

Later... In fact it was on Christmas Day... McCain was given a brief ten minute break outside his cell. That same guard approached... Standing next to McCain... With his foot... The guard drew a cross in the sand... And very quickly erased it.

There... Even in that horrible prison... The love of Christ had gotten through to one guard... And he did what he could do to extend Compassionate kindness to a hurting stranger.

The key to a better life... To the ABUNDANT Life... Is wrapped-upon our becoming like Jesus in Compassionate KINDNESS…

Notice with me the reason we ought to be kind...

Because it makes us more like our Father God and His Son Jesus...

The Bible is about Compassionate Kindness... God is kind...

Nehemiah says... Thou art a God ready to pardon... Gracious... Merciful... Slow to anger... LISTEN NOW!... Abundant in loving kindness.

Psalms 86.15 reads... You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Look for God’s kindness as I read Ephesians 2.4-7... But because of his great love for us... God...Who is rich in mercy... Made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions... It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus... That in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace... Expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Indeed... God's love for us was expressed in His kindness... When He sent Jesus to die for us.

The question is... Are we becoming any more like Him... Passing on His KINDNESS?

OK... We apply our lesson by noting how...

How we can become more kind to others...

First... We must stop judging... Stop being Critical & Judgmental toward others.

Listen church... We will never see past the labels we place upon others around us.

• He’s a drunk...

• She’s a prostitute...

• They don’t care and never will...

• They’re catholic...

• He’s a liberal...

• They’re Muslim...

• He’s just a bum...

• They’re too old… They’re too young…

• They don’t deserve it!!

Riots on our streets... Shootings in public places... Racism... Wars... Hating those of another religion... Ill treatment of immigrants... are attributable to our being judgmental of others.

Listen church... Do we hear any judgmental statements on the lips of Jesus in Matthew twenty-five?... Then He will say to those on His left... Depart from Me...For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat... I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink... I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in... I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me... I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.... Lord... When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison... And did not help You? He will reply... I tell you the truth... Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these... You did not do for Me.

When Judgment Day comes... Some of us will wish we had of stopped being critical and judgmental... And been more kind to those in need of our help... Those God providentially placed before us.

Kindness is...

• Visiting the sick...

• Reaching out to the elderly...

• Encouraging the lonely...

• Cheering the discouraged...

• Doing favors...

• Running errands...

• Bearing burdens...

• Sharing joys and sorrows...

• Encouraging the downhearted...

• Giving to the needy...

• Filling shoeboxes for underprivileged children...

• Attending a devotional at Concordia...

• Befriending the friendless.

• Helping the homeless.

Listen... Some of us have never... Never done some of these things... Why?... Because we’ve judged them not worthy... Or judged ourselves too good.

The question becomes… Are we willing to give up our judgmental spirit... So that God can be seen in us through our Kindness to others?... I pray we are!

Second... And closely connected... Kindness demands we make an effort to understand others.

In the seventies... Joe South recorded a hit song... Walk A Mile In My Shoes.

It was a song about understanding others... And the fact that... Until we place ourselves in their shoes... Until we Experience...

• Their pain...

• Their heartaches...

• And their misfortunes...

• Cry their tears...

We’ll not likely express our compassion in genuine Christ-like KINDNESS... Amen?

We must rise above our own selfishness.

Remember the story about Lenin... One night... His wife... Exhausted from her vigil beside her dying mother... Asked Lenin to watch and awaken her if her mother needed her. Lenin agreed... And she went to bed. The next morning she awoke to find her mother dead. And Lenin was still at work on his political notes. Distraught... She confronted him... Lenin replied... You told me to wake you if your mother needed you... She died... She didn’t need you!!

No wonder Communism... Socialism... Failed... When those who planned and promoted it had such a hateful unkind attitude.

Contrast Vladimir Lenin with Jesus... Who... Being in very nature God... Did not consider equality with God something to be grasped... But made himself nothing... Taking the very nature of a servant... Being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man... He humbled himself and became obedient to death... Even death on a cross!... So... Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit... But in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests... But also to the interests of others... The greatest in the Kingdom will be the one who serves… The one who washes feet.

You see church... It’s possible for us to get so wrapped up in OURSELVES... That we have no... time... Energy... Or resources... Left for Kindness.

This brings us to the fact that... Kindness will cost us.

People in a hurry are seldom kind.

If you don‘t believe that go with me down interstate 49 tomorrow at 7:15.

• Being in a hurry is the reason for road rage... Unkindness on the highway.

• Being in a hurry is the reason for our discourteous behavior in ticket & checkout lines... At gas pumps... And on the golf course.

In the sheep and goat judgment of Matthew 25... Those ushered into the everlasting joys of the Lord... Were those who took the time and expended their RESOURCES to be kind…

• Feeding the hungry...

• Giving the thirsty something to drink...

• Inviting the stranger in... Helping the homeless...

• Clothing the poor...

• Visiting the sick... And those imprisoned.

In the narrative of the Good Samaritan... Kindness cost... Knowing who is our neighbor... And how we are to treat them… Can become expensive...

• It took the Samaritan’s time...

• His wine & oil...

• His comfort... The injured rode and the owner walked...

• It cost him an untold amount for the insured’s extended care.

In the narrative of the Prodigal Son... Kindness cost...

• The father spent his time looking for his son...

• Energy expended in running to meet him

• A robe... A ring... Shoes for his feet... The fatted calf in a banquet for rejoicing...

• Then there’s the matter of forgiveness...Forgetting the hurt... Forgiving the debt...

Overcoming the shame… Reinstating sonship.

Indeed... Kindness consumes our... time... Talent... Treasure... Energy.

We must take our focus & Priority From off the material.

We gotta ask... What’s the most important thing in your life and mine?...

• Is it people...

• Or things?...

Where is our focus?... What or who is our priority?

Look at the list again... Love... Joy... Peace... Patience... Kindness...Goodness... Faithfulness... Gentleness... Self-control... DID WE HEAR ANYTHING having to do With WORLDLY PURSUITS?... NO ONLY PEOPLE!

You see... Satan has done a job on us... Making us believe that life is all about what we have rather than who & what we are.

Here’s something interesting...

• The Greek word for KIND is CHRESTOS... C-H-R-E-S-T-O-S.

• The Greek word for CHRIST is CHRISTOS… C-H-R-I-S-T-O-S.

It is said that... In the first century... The believers were so KIND... SO GENTLE... SO TENDER... So Benevolent... That many people did not know whether their title was...

• Afollower of Christ...

• Or ... A follower of Kindness.

May this also be true of us today!!... AMEN??

I think the words of Glen Campbell’s song sums up our lesson this morning...

If you see your brother standing by the road...

With a heavy load from the seeds he’s sowed...

And if you see your sister falling by the way...

Just stop and say... You’re going the wrong way.

Don’t walk around the down and out...

Lend a helping hand instead of doubt...

And the kindness that you show every day...

Will help someone along their way.

You got to try a little kindness.

Yes... Show a little kindness...

Just shine your light for everyone to see...

And if you try a little kindness...

Then you’ll overlook the blindness...

Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets.

Indeed… The Fruit of the Spirit is kindness...

Listen to me church… Compassionate Kindness is about the moment...

• It’s about God’s Divine Providence...

• It’s about who God places before us and their need.

Kindness is about what’s in our hand… At the moment...

• Money... Talent... Time... Energy...

• Encouragement...

• A shoulder to cry on...

• A listening ear...

• An understanding heart...

Compassionate Kindness is about those times when God desires we become Jesus... The healer... The helper... The hero... In the life of another person.

Are you in need of becoming a child of God by... Faith...Repentance... and Baptism?

Are we in need of becoming a people and person of Compassionate Kindness?

The invitation is ours as we stand and sing this song together.