Fruits of the Spirit 06 - Kindness

Reading: Titus 3:1-11
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,  Titus 3:4-5 (NIV)

I.   The human capacity for Cruelty

     A.  Some people have been Extremely cruel

           1.  Hitler, Stalin, the Khmer Rouge, Papa/Baby Doc Duvalier, Idi Amin, the Spanish Inquisition, the Roman Colosseum, the class bully.

           2.   Cruelty as a form of entertainment

                 a.  The Colosseum has given way to the likes of the Texas Chainsaw Massacres, Halloween I-V?, Mortal Kombat, Quake, and other games.

           3.  Cruelty disguised as humor.

                 a.  We joke at people’s expense about their mistakes, weight, height (or shortness), hair (or lack of it), style of clothing, accent, and a host of other things about people that make them unique.

                 b.  As I read that list some of you were reminded of hurt you have felt as the butt of someone’s so-called joke.

     B.  Most of us have been the Victims of cruelty

           1.  There’s hardly a person in this room who, at some time or other, has not been the victim of somebody’s attempt at humor, somebody’s bullying, or somebody exploiting others for personal gain at the expense of others’ pain.

           2.  We have been “the hated” of v.3.

           3.  Some in this room have been the victims of the worst kinds of cruelty: cruelty disguised as love.

     C.  All of us have been cruel

           1.  Most appalling of all, everyone in this room has acted cruelly at some time in their lives.

                 a.  Maybe you didn’t kill 6 million Jews, or torture anyone for their beliefs, or dismember anyone for the pleasure of it.

                 b.  But have not hurtful words escaped from you lips? Have not your hands done hurtful deeds? Have you ever ignored someone near to you that needed comfort, encouragement or just to be loved?

           2.  We are not just the hated, we are also the ones “hating one another.” Much more than we’d like to admit.

                 a.  We have “lived in malice and envy” toward people. We, “enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures,” have taken perverse delight in someone “being cut down to size.”

           3.  We can point our finger easily and readily at those who have victimized us, but we also need to stand in front of the mirror and recognize how we have victimized others.

II.  God’s Kindness to cruel people

     A.  God moves First

           1.  When we look in the mirror and around this room, and at others we know sometimes we see the ugly truth and we don’t like it.

           2.  God sees it too. But what does He do? He pours out mercy in the form of kindness (v.4).

           3.  God recognizes that for us to change we need healing more than we need “to be taught a lesson.”

     B.  God’s kindness is rooted in Himself

           1.  God is kind to us because it is in His nature to be kind—not because we deserve or have earned His kindness. In fact, quite the opposite.

           2.  He knows what we are and sees the ugly truth about us in more stark detail than we do. It’s just that his mercy is bigger than our cruelty.

     C.  God rescues us from Ourselves

           1.  God saves us because we where slaves to “all kinds of passions and pleasures.”

           2.  We were victims of our own addiction to our messed up way of life.

           3.  He doesn’t tell us to act better. He makes us better (vv.5-7)

III. A New kind of kindness

     A.  God’s kindness Changes cruel people

           1.  Paul never gets around to saying what happened to him that changed the truth we read in v. 3. He doesn’t need to.

                 a.  It’s obvious that when God rescues us from our former way of life, we are changed.

           2.  Malice is gone, envy is gone and even if being hated is still there, hating in return isn’t. That’s what happens when God’s kindness touches you — you become kind.

     B.  Love is Kind

           1.  Love is patient, love is kind. (1Cor.13:4)

           2.  Love is the one thing that must characterize Christian living and all Christian relationships. And love is always kind.

           3.  You cannot love and abuse, you cannot love and hurt someone humorously, you cannot love and bully people, you cannot love and strike out in anger, you cannot love and gossip.

                 a.  Love is kind and none of the above is kind.

     C.  Kindness avoids Division

           1.  Paul encourages Titus to avoid discussing issues that major in the minors — in “foolish controversies.”

           2.  The divisiveness of having the “right” parentage, or the “right” ideas about God’s will, have nothing to do with the Grace of God which saves and washes, gives rebirth and renewal, makes righteous, gives hope.

           3.  One cannot experience the kindness of God and fail to experience an overflow of kindness toward others.

                 a.  Experiencing the grace and kindness of God is the ground for doing what v.2 asks us.

                 b.  What if we find it difficult to do these things? What if our fruit is still small, green and sour?

                 c.  It is our experience of God loving us that helps us learn to see people the way God sees them — when deserving doesn’t matter. When God’s loving kindness toward them is visible and demands us to respond to them as we see God responding.

The Bottom Line:

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