Wouldn’t it be nice if people were a little more kind? It doesn’t feel like that is asking too much. It’s not like we’re asking for a cure for cancer. It’s not like we’re asking for world peace. It’s not like we’re asking for the impossible. We are just saying that it would be nice if people were a little more kind. The way the world is today, we could use some more kindness. That is not to say that you will not meet kind people out there. You will. But there are also a lot of selfish people, a lot of angry people, a lot of mean-spirited people. We could use some more kindness. Evidently God thinks so as well. When Jesus departed this world, he did not abandon us, but sent to us the Holy Spirit to comfort us and encourage us and guide us in all truth. The Holy Spirit brings us gifts. The fruits of the Spirit, we call them. The Bible tells us that the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The topic here is kindness.
We hand out bottles of ice cold water most Saturday mornings on the Cross Seminole Trail. We call it “servant evangelism.” Sometimes we create opportunities to talk to people about Jesus. More often we create opportunities to simply do something nice. After four years, and several hundred bottles of water, I can report that people are not too concerned about whether our church is Calvinist or Arminian. They are not too concerned about our doctrines of atonement or predestination. What seems to impress them is the kindness. Whether they are believers or not, whether they take a bottle of water or not, they are impressed that someone would be so kind to offer them a bottle of cold water. Kindness makes an impression.
In the Letter to Titus it says, “When the kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us.” I like that. The kindness of God. Not the majesty of God the grandeur of God or the omnipotence of God. The kindness of God. I hope you feel that God has been kind to you. I hope you feel that, at least sometimes, other people are kind to you. Maybe that will impress you. Maybe that will make you want to be kind to others. In our sermon this Sunday we will look at the story of Ruth and talk about kindness, the fruit of the Spirit.