Summer Fruit: Kindness

July 26, 2015

Summer Fruit:  The Kiwi of Kindness    NOTES NOT EDITED

Ephesians 4:30-5:2

SIS— Kindness drives a Christian to be useful to others in
ways that will make their lives easier, more effective, and eternal.

This week I read about another smuggler.  A man on a bicycle carrying two heavy sacks approached the border of a closed country.  The guard at the border questioned the bicyclist.  “What do you have in those bags?”  To this the man replied, “Sir, the bags are just filled with sand.”  The border guard did not believe the man and growled at him, “You will have to open those bags so I can inspect them.”  The man complied with the guard’s orders.  The guard inspected each bag carefully and found that they were, indeed, only filled with sand.  The man put the bags back upon his shoulders and continued into the country.  This same even took place about two or three times each week for a month.  Each time, somewhat reluctantly and skeptically, the guard let the man pass with his sand.  After a little more than a month of this routine the guard did not see the man at the border again.  Then, the border guard met the man on the bicycle in the city at a local café.  The guard, now off duty, struck up a conversation.  “Hey, I haven’t seen you on your bicycle carry sand for a while. Your activity has got me wondering.  I know you were smuggling something into the country, but I can’t figure out what it was.  If you tell me what you were smuggling carrying those bags of sand on your bicycle, I promise I won’t turn you in.  I just need to know.  What was it you were smuggling?”  The man calmly responded, “bicycles.”

That story enlightens us in regard to our study of the “Fruits of the Spirit.”  It teaches us something about Bible study in general.  We can think we are seeing everything that is in a text, but often we can be overlooking what is really important.

Take the “Fruit of Kindness” as an example.  The word “kindness” conjures up in our mind—at least my mind—the picture of a gentle old man or lady taking care of stray animals.  Or, we might get the picture of someone giving money to a beggar on the street.  Certainly, kindness involves gentleness and generosity, but the biblical issue entails so much more.  

Three primary word groups are related to our English word,  “kindness, ” in the N.T.  Two mean good or beautiful, such as “good works” (kalos, Mat. 5:16) or “good things” (agathos, Lk. 1:53).  The word used in our text here in Ephesians and the list of the “Fruits of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:22-23 is from, crestos.  The words, "be kind," in verse 32 (γνησίως gnēsiōs, become + χρηστός chrēstos, kind) require a bit of explanation and expansion, just like other words describing other Fruits of the Spirit we have seen thus far.  The dictionary gives us the meaning of "friendly, generous, or considerate."  The N.T. Greek possesses these qualities but with a different emphasis.  Most people consider being "friendly, generous, or considerate" as describing a personality trait, or the demeanor of a person.  The Greek word gives more depth to the idea of kindness by adding the idea of being "useful" to another person.  Kindness is more than a benign idea of "do no harm," but more proactive as "do much good."  That's why the word, "crestos" often translates the Hebrew word in the Septuagint, "tōv," meaning "good."  Kind people are a sources of good for others.  Kind people actively work for the betterment of others.  In some Classical Greek texts the word, "crestos," describes a "worker bee" in a hive, as opposed to a "drone."  The drones are rather benign (they have no stingers) and do not contribute to the upkeep or safety of the hive.  Drones simply hang around the queen.  Worker bees sustain the life of the hive.  So, to be "friendly or mild," while admirable traits, do not sufficiently describe the fruit of kindness.  Kindness is an active, consistent, sacrificial lifestyle that works to be useful and beneficial to other s in tangible ways.  It is not a personality trait, but a proactive lifestyle.  It is also important to note the “voice” in the grammatical construction of verses 31-32.  The construction uses “passive” voice as opposed to “active” voice.  This is very significant in regard to kindness specifically and the fruits of the spirit in general.  Kindness is a response to the Holy Spirit in a person’s life (v. 30), and not something that arises out of the “goodness” of a person (for we know that there are no “good” people, Lk. 18:19).  Kindness emerges from the life of a Christian just like grapes grow from a vine—it is the vine that produces fruit, not the branches (Jn. 15:5).

Let’s Read Together Our Text on Kindness:  Ephesians 4:30-5:2

Biblical kindness, that not only blesses the doer eternally, but moves the one receiving the kindness closer to an eternal blessing has three components.

1.  COMMUNION with God and Man (30, 22-24; 32)

Lost people cannot be kind in the sense that God’s Word describes kindness.  Yes, they can do a “few good deeds” now and then.  Or, they may do a “lot of good deeds,” but that is not kindness in the Biblical sense.  Humanity, apart from God, will never be a “kind” place.  Think about it for a moment:  how many people give to “charitable” organizations (including the church), at least in part to get a tax deduction.  Is this “kindness?”  Not in the biblical sense. 

According to recent studies, the average person in the U.S. gives less than 2% of their income to churches or other charitable organizations.  Charitable organizations are glad to receive this money.  Persons who attend church regularly and are active in the ministry of a local church give 10% or more to charity—year after year.

What makes the difference?  Communion.  Communion is defined in the dictionary as:  the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings.  Communion (Greek, koinonia) is described in the Book of Acts:

^{Acts 4:44} Now all the believers were together and held all things in common.  ⁴⁵ They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need.

Acts 4:34 adds, “There was not a needy person among them.”

Kindness, like all the Fruits of the Spirit as I have mentioned several times but it bears repeating, requires an “intimate relationship with God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.”  Look what v30 says,

³⁰ And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. 
You were sealed by Him for the day of redemption.

This entire section, verses 17-31, leading up to the command to “be kind” (v32) is about “living a new life.”  In fact, the HCSB adds that as the title for this section.  Christians have “communion” with God—an intimate relationship—through the ministry of the Holy Spirit that transforms us into new men and women.  Look at verses 20-24:  ²⁰ But that is not how you learned about the Messiah, 21 assuming you heard about Him and were taught by Him, because the truth is in Jesus. ²² You took off your former way of life,  the old self  a that is corrupted by deceitful desires; ²³ you are being renewed  in the spirit  of your minds; ²⁴ you put on the new self, the one created  according to God’s likeness  in righteousness and purity of the truth.

Kindness is a “Fruit of the Spirit” and spiritual fruit cannot grow on fleshly vines.  When we realize we have sinned against God, and we turn 180 degrees away from our life of sin (repent), then God “seals us with His very own Spirit.”  Now, we become “reservoirs” of kindness with good deeds bubbling up without an external pump or influence.  Kindness is not what a believer does, so much as “who a believer, IS!”  Kindness requires “communion” with God through the forgiveness of our sins.  Verse 32 drives home this point.

forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.

If you are not a believer, and you have not turned away from your sin, and received forgiveness, then, stop trying to be kind or good.  It is a waste of your time.  You’ll be like Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is promising to do “great good for our country.”  He’s says, “I want to make America great again.”  My problem is this:  where’s his goodness going to come from?  He has no reservoir of goodness or kindness because he is not saved.  He has never even asked God for forgiveness.  He went into great detail in a recent interview in which he was asked directly, “Have you ever asked God for forgiveness.”  His answer,  “No, I guess I have not. When I realize I have done something wrong, I just try to make it right.”  That’s the sorry plight of every non-believer:  trying to impress God with good works rather than repent and receive God’s Indwelling Spirit.  As a result, I think Trump has been married four times and has filed for bankruptcy multiple times—and who knows what other skeletons lurk in his closet.  Now, I don’t want to beat up on Trump because he is not a Christian—he’s probably no worse in the spiritual arena than any of the other 30 GOP candidates—but, I want to illustrate that true “kindness” requires a deep COMMUNION, or connection with God.

2.  COMPASSION (25-29; 31-32)

True communion with God—and intimate relationship with God through the Holy Spirit dwelling in our lives—leads to deep compassion for others.  Our text links the fruit of kindness with the spirit of compassion:

And be kind and compassionate  to one another, forgiving  one another, just as God also forgave you  in Christ.

Communion with God makes God our Heavenly Father which makes other Christians our brothers and sisters.  So, communion has both a vertical aspect and a horizontal aspect.  So many churches are full of people that have little in common except they sit in the same building once a week.  Even worse than that, many people who sit in church with others week after week, suffer serious deficiencies in the hearts that makes it impossible to produce the fruit of kindness, or any other fruit of the Spirit.  In fact, if they are even true believers, any fruit that they produce is full of worms or outright rotten.  Instead of exhibiting a spirit of “kindness and compassion,” many believers suffer from several “fruit damaging attitudes.”  Notice the list in verses 22-32:

lying or gossiping (vv25, 31); anger (vv26, 31); stealing (things like cheating on income tax; getting soda in a water cup at McD’s, v28) being lazy (v28); not sharing generously with others (v28); harsh, crude, or foul language (v29); bitterness (v30); shouting (creating an uproar, disturbance, or dissension as in a group, v31); malice (any feeling of ill-will, v31).

Did anybody flinch from anything mentioned on that list?  Any of these attitudes will destroy the fruit of kindness specifically, or spiritual fruit in general.  Kindness is impossible if we are walking in the flesh.  We cannot love those in the family of God, and we sure won’t display a “crazy kindness” to those in the world, if our fruit has worms in it like those attitudes in this list.  Verse 22 and 24 tell exhort us that we must, “take off the old man and put on the new.”

Our text calls us to:  be kind and compassionate (v32).   Kindness and compassion are like two sides of the same coin.  The word translated “compassion” actually intensifies the meaning of kindness.  The English word comes from two Latin words meaning, “with passion.”  A person whose heart if filled with kindness through an intimate relationship with God is like an “artesian well” of “good deeds.”  An artesian well or spring is a source of water that flows up from the ground without any external force or pumping.  In the same manner a person who has been truly “touched” by God and lives in a moment by moment communion with God cannot help but to look at others “with passion.” 

The word translated, “compassion” in the HCSB is translated “tender-hearted” in other translations (KJV, ESV).  It is based upon two words, “eu” meaning “good,” and “splanchnon” which refers to the “inner organs,” especially the bowels or intestines.  The idea of “tenderness” comes from the fact that these are “vulnerable or tender” organs.  It was in this area that ancient people spoke of emotion, as in the phrase, “bowels of mercy” seen often in the KJV.  The point with compassion, or “good innards,” is the fact that our love for others comes from the deepest parts of our being.  We should have that kind of “deep, tender, passionate” concern for others that drives us to the most active practice of kindness.  Communion with God, true communion, leads to an intense compassion for others both in the family of God and in the world, evidenced by an unstoppable flow of kindness.

One of my least favorite presidents in modern history was Jimmy Carter.  He was a “one-term president,” and not a very good one at that according to many political pundits.  He’s also very “liberal” in his theology.  Here’s the deal with Carter in my estimation:  what he may have lacked in politics and theology he more than makes up for in compassion.  Jimmy Carter is the face of “Habitat for Humanity.”  Habitat for Humanity builds houses for low income families and then gives them away at little or no cost.  Jimmy Carter, in his earlier years with Habitat actually swung a hammer on projects.  Nobody can fault his “compassion” for his fellow man.  Here’s something Carter once said about the compassion of most churches:  Most church members—including me—rarely reach outside to people who are different from us or less fortunate.  Quite often my Sunday school class with say, “Why don’t we take up a collection and give a nice Thanksgiving meal to a poor family?”  The next question is, “Who knows a poor family?” Nobody does.  We have to call the welfare office to get a name and address.  Kindness fuels compassion.  “Be kind and compassionate.” 

3.  Commitment (5:1-2)

Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. ² And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.

When we go out to buy something, like a car for example, sooner or later we always get down to the question, “How much is this going to cost?”  When it comes to kindness, that’s a question we should ask and one that the Bible answers, especially in this text.  If you will recall when I preached on the “Fruit of Love,” I pointed out that it was mentioned first because all the other Fruits of the Spirit are related to it, and flow forth from it. 

In our text we are being exhorted, or commanded, to live a “renewed life in the Spirit.”  We are told what to put off, such as in our list of “worms” in our fruit—gossiping, crude language, bitterness, causing dissension, and all the rest.  We are told what to “put on,” such as kindness and compassion.  Now, Paul is going to tell us “how” to be kind and compassionate and demonstrate the “Fruits of the Spirit” in our daily living.  To boil our instructions for fruitful living down to the most concise statement it would be:  “Imitate God.”  Simply live your life like Jesus lived His life.

The key element in the life of Jesus was “total commitment.”  As they say in the sports’ world, “He left it all on the field,” or in His case, the cross.  When Jesus reached the climax of His worldly mission He gave absolutely everything He had—down to the last drop of His blood.  So, to exhibit the Fruit of the Spirit, in this case, kindness, one simply needs to “Imitate God.”  He “gave Himself for us, a sacrifice.”

I know people who regularly give to the people begging at street corners or freeway off ramps.  Certainly these would qualify as “acts of kindness” at least at some level.  But, remember the word for kindness means in part to be “useful.”  When we drop a few bucks on a beggar, are we truly be useful?  That is a rhetorical question not because the answer is obvious, but because it is not obvious.  I believe we ought to help the down and out.  In fact, I feel good when I give a beggar a few bucks.  But, am I just glossing over the issue like whitewashing a grave?  How does God measure kindness?  God measures kindness by the depth of our commitment, not represented by an occasional gift to the down and out, but by our lifestyle.  God measures our acts of kindness not by how much we give away, but how much we keep for ourselves.  I almost reworded that statement and considered taking it out all together as being too harsh.  That’s too much to put on people.  That’s a guilt trip I told myself.  That’s cheap manipulation of peoples’ emotions.  Then I read vs. 5:1-2 again:  Imitate God.  [Jesus] gave Himself for us, a sacrificial offering.

Hard to say that in a way that doesn’t sound like it some all-consuming and absolute—maybe even a bit harsh.  Folks, that’s what the Bible says.  The real problem I have with preacher’s like Joel Olsteen and others of that ilk is that their preaching seems more like a “what’s in it FOR ME, message rather than what should be flowing FROM ME.”

Remember I said earlier that the word here translated, “kindness,” is found in some Classical Greek texts referring to a “worker bee” as opposed to a “drone.”  A drone never leaves the safety of the hive.  A drone lives off the nectar the worker bees collect and cultivate.  So many Christians are like “drones.”  They never leave the safety and security of the sanctuary.  Drone-Christians, will never be “reservoirs of living water” to people in the world?  No, they will be like the Dead Sea—it is dead because fresh water flows into it, but does not flow out of it.  Therefore, it is a “dead” sea.  It has an inlet, but no outlet and therefore no life.

Communion with God breeds compassion for others and requires a total commitment to bear the fruit of kindness, or any other of the Fruits of the Spirit.  Commitment.  It’s a hard word.  It’s a word that leaves little room for discussion.  Commitment has no loop-holes.

Years ago, A Pig and a Chicken are walking down the road.

The Chicken says: "Hey Pig, I was thinking we should open a restaurant!" Pig replies: "Hm, maybe, what would we call it?"

The Chicken responds: "How about 'ham-n-eggs'?" The Pig thinks for a moment and says: "No thanks. For you that would be involvement, but for me it would be total commitment.”

Kindness, true Biblical, Fruit of the Spirit kindness is a “total commitment” to others and the kingdom of God.  Kindness drives a Christian to be useful to others in ways that will make their lives easier, more effective, and eternal.

<<end>>