Sermon Tone Analysis

By Pastor Glenn Pease

Clovis Chappell, the great Southern preacher, told this story of a Christian man who bought a lovely home in the suburbs in one of the big cities of the South.

He had his furniture moved in one day, and the next day he arrived and was out walking over the wide lawn of his new property.

His next door neighbor came rapidly across the lawn to meet him.

He was glad to see he was eager to be a friend.

But his neighbor did not greet him peacefully, but instead, with a voice of anger asked if he had purchased this property.

"Yes," he replied.

"Well then you have just bought a law suit.

That fence is 7 feet over on my land, and I'm going to have every inch of what is mine."

These provoking words encourage a response of anger and defense, but the Christian man said, "There is no need for a law suit.

I believe you are perfectly sincere in what you say, and though I bought this land in good faith, I am not going to claim it.

I will have that fence moved."

The neighbor was wide-eyed in amazement.

"Do you really mean it?"

"That is exactly what I mean," was the quiet response.

The neighbor said, "No you won't.

This fence is going to stay right where its at.

Any man who is as white as you are can have the land."

They became good friends because hostility was met with kindness rather than more hostility.

We greatly underestimate the power of kindness because we look upon it as a mild and superficial virtue.

You can study history and discover that almost everybody recognizes the value of kindness.

It is a universal virtue, and, therefore, because it is not unique to Christianity we tend to minimize its importance.

This is folly, for if the natural man can love on this level, what a poor testimony it is if Christians do not.

In Acts 28:2 we read that after Paul and all the other prisoners had survived the shipwreck, and made it safe to the island of Malta, "The islanders showed us unusual kindness."

Here was a pagan people showing Paul and the others great kindness which they much needed.

Cicero the Roman said, "Nothing is so popular as kindness."

Sophocles the Greek said, "Kindness is ever the begetter of kindness."

The religions of the world all praise kindness.

Bertrand Russell, the famous atheist philosopher, wrote a book titled Why I Am Not A Christian.

In this book he surprised the world by saying that the key to a stable world is Christian love.

He wrote, "If you feel this, you have a motive for existence, a guide in action, a reason for courage, and imperative necessity for intellectual honesty."

Here is a non-Christian praising the value of Christian love, and the impact it can have on all humanity by means of its kindness.

If anybody can see it and have it, then it is too commonplace to be a major significance is the way we sometimes tend to think.

The only problem with this logic is it has to ignore the fact that the Bible gives kindness a major role, and the Bible is to be our guide, and not logic, or our feelings that it is too universal to be a major Christian focus.

And so the first thing we want to consider is-

THE IMPORTANCE OF KINDNESS.

Paul writes in Eph.

4:31-32, "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgives you."

Being kind is the opposite of all those negatives, and so it covers all that is involved in being polite, courteous, tolerant, and thoughtful.

Peter does not hide this virtue in the closet, but puts it right up there with the key virtues of the Christian life in II Pet.

1:7.

He writes, "Add to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love."

You are playing in the major leagues when you are being kind.

Eros love says I am in the world for my pleasure.

Agape love agrees that pleasure is a valid and vital part of life, but its vision goes beyond self-pleasure and seeks to give pleasure to others, and that is why it is kind.

Kindness is giving to others the pleasure you desire for yourself.

You like to be treated with respect and courtesy, for this enhances your self-esteem.

Jean De La Bruyere said, "The most delicate, the most sensible of all pleasures, consists in promoting the pleasure of others."

During World War I Marshal Foch, the French commander, was approached by a noisy Westerner who criticized the French politeness.

"There's nothing in it but wind," he sneered.

The Marshal replied, "There's nothing but wind in a tire but it makes the ride very smooth and pleasant."

Being kind may seem superficial, but the superficial is more important than we realize.

Washing your face is superficial, for it only affects one layer of skin, but it is important none the less.

Waxing your car is superficial.

Painting your house is superficial.

Wearing clothes is superficial.

There are hundreds of things that we do that are a mere surface things, but they are still important.

The surface is not irrelevant just because it is not the ultimate.

Being kind may not be the ultimate goal of the Christian life, but it is one of the aids to achieve the goal of being Christ-like.

Dr. Harold Dawley says if we are wise, we will not only check the oil level in our car, but we will check the lubricant level of our lives, and see if we possess an adequate supply of kindness to make life run smoother.

If not, we need to add, add, add.

Get yourself prepared to live in a world where friction is frequently wearing us down.

Agape love meets life's friction with kindness, courtesy, and politeness, for many a rough ride is made easier by these lubricants of love.

Napoleon was one of the world's great generals.

Many thought he was the anti-Christ in his day, but there was a reason for why his troops would die for his cause.

He made it a point to be kind to every soldier who fought under him.

He would find out some personal information from the commander of each unit about each soldier, and then on the day of review he would walk up to one, address him by name, and ask him how is your family in such and such a place.

He made them feel like he knew them personally.

This kindness expressed publicly made him a great leader.

We do not know if he was sincere, or just using good psychology, but it does not matter.

Even if a virtue is abused, it is no reason for a Christian to neglect its proper use.

There is power in kindness, and the Christian has an obligation to use this power for the kingdom of God.

Lack of kindness is the cause for much of the conflict among Christians.

Samuel Coleridge said, "The first duty of a wise advocate is to convince his opponents that he understands their arguments, and sympathizes with their just feelings."

I read of Christians all the time who do not show the slightest interest in understanding their opponents views, nor in being sympathetic to their feelings.

The result is another area of life where the wise pagan may be superior to the unwise Christian, for he knows the value and the power of kindness.

It is a secular problem that says, "You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

Most of us are not into catching flies, but it works with people too.

Kindness can bring peace and reconciliation where all else fails.

Criticism tends to compel people to justify their bad behavior, but compliments reinforce the desire to do what is good.

This is just good psychology that secular people use as well.

The difference is, nobody is commanding them to do it, but the Christian is commanded to be kind to one another.

The expression of God's nature demands it.

The example of Christ's nature demands it.

The experiences of life's nature demand it.

It is important for all aspects of life.

It is the positive that balances out the merely passive attribute of patient longsuffering.

Longsuffering puts up with people, but kindness puts out for people.

It was longsuffering that made the Prodigals father wait and hope, but it was kindness that called for the party to celebrate the son's return.

Longsuffering endures the pain, but kindness enhances the pleasure.

God does not just endure the folly of man, but He responds in kindness to them.

He is active in His expression of love for the least and the lost.

Sometimes Christians feel proud because they tolerate the sinners and endure their presence in the world.

We share the same world and put up with them, but we do little on the active side of showing kindness.

Jesus, however, demands this as evidence that we are truly children of God.

In Luke 6:35 he says, "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.

Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked."

God is actively engaged in being kind to the wicked of the world.

He makes His sun to shine and reign to fall on the unjust as well as the just.

He does not withhold the blessing of creation and His providence from those who are not in His kingdom.

It is God's conviction that people will be won more through kindness than by judgment.