Kindness Opens Opportunities (Acts 28:1-10)
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Announcements:
First-time visitors, giving
Hike on Saturday, 7/16
Church business meeting, 7/24
Missionary - Lee
CPT: The local people of Malta show kindness and are exposed to the power of God.
Purpose: Our people should show kindness to the stranger.
CPS: Be kind to the stranger and expose them to God’s power.
Introduction
Our world needs more kind people. We have a real deficiency of kindness in our society. A lot of times, that deficiency of kindness gets into the church. We can get good at beating each other up, in such a way that the world doesn’t even need to try. We’re doing they’re work for them! Christians should strive to be kind to one another.
More than that, Christians should strive to be kind to strangers. Why is that? Because we were strangers and aliens to the gospel, but God showed his kindness to us.
What is kindness? One place defined kindness as the quality of being warmhearted, considerate, humane, gentle, and sympathetic. But the results of kindness is what interests me.
They did a study in the 90s on the impact of kindness in day-to-day relations. They gave 44 doctors a hypothetical patient and asked them to diagnose the illness. But the point of the study was not the diagnoses. In the study, they gave half of the doctors a bag of candy, saying it was a token of their appreciation for their involvement in the study. The other doctors received nothing. The doctors receiving the candy were far more likely to correctly diagnose the patient’s illness. They wrote, “Pleasant-feeling states give rise to altruism, helpfulness, and improved interpersonal processes.” Being kind to others is a good idea!
Kindness is God’s program to make our world a better place. Its a core part of our responsibility to love our neighbors. But does the Bible give us examples of opportunities that arise from kindness?
We will look today in Acts 28, verses 1-10.
Scripture Reading
1 Once safely ashore, we then learned that the island was called Malta.
2 The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold.
3 As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.
4 When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
5 But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm.
6 They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
7 Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days.
8 Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.
9 After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.
10 So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.
Pray
There are at least three lessons that we see here on the opportunities that open up through kindness here.
First,
Kindness opens opportunities for God’s blessing.
Kindness opens opportunities for God’s blessing.
State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point
Text: Acts 28:2; Lev. 19:34; Heb. 13:1-2; Matt. 25:35; 10:42
The people of Malta took an opportunity to be hospitable to the stranger. God provides opportunities for us to be gracious to strangers in situations we may never have planned. Every opportunity for kindness is an opportunity to love like Jesus and experience God's blessing in our lives.
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There is kindness running through this text. But what’s interesting is the opportunities that are opened up here for the Maltese people because of their kindness. Take a look at verse 2:
2 The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold.
Now, what’s going on in this verse? Everyone is in a situation they didn’t plan. The Roman prisoners, including Paul, are shipwrecked on this island. This is an unplanned stop. For the people of Malta, they didn’t expect to have these strangers shipwrecked on their island.
But instead of suspicion they chose kindness. You know, they didn’t think their act of kindness would be something that would open up so many blessings on them.
Because of this act of kindness:
They got to hear from this believer in Jesus
They got to experience miracles of God on their island
Their acts of kindness would be something that millions of people throughout the years would read in the New Testament!
This was a seemingly simple of act of kindness. But these were strangers! Yet, they acted more like believers in God than some believers do. They fulfilled what was written in God’s law. Look at what God says in his law in Leviticus 19:34:
34 You will regard the alien who resides with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
But how did they know to be so kind to strangers? How did they know to be so hospitable? Look at this in Romans 2:14-15:
14 So, when Gentiles, who do not by nature have the law, do what the law demands, they are a law to themselves even though they do not have the law.
15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts either accuse or even excuse them
This work of God’s kindness, this act of loving the stranger, is something written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm that this is the right way to act, because God created all people. He has written his kindness on our hearts. When we are not kind, our conscience should convict us.
Now take a look at the outcome of their kindness! They ended up being exposed to God’s power and blessings. The author of Hebrews writes it this way:
2 Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.
You never know how one act of kindness can impact your own life. This tribe just thought they were being nice to a group of people who were out in the cold. They were letting them warm up by the fire. Yet, one in the group was Paul, one of the greatest missionaries ever. It was Paul who could talk to them about Jesus, a blessing that began by their willingness to be kind.
Kindness opens opportunities for God’s blessing: John Chrysostom, an early church bishop of Constantinople, said this: Do you wish to receive kindness? Be kind to another. Do you wish to receive mercy? Show mercy to your neighbor. Do you wish to be applauded? Applaud another. Do you wish to be beloved? Exercise love.
If we want to see God’s blessing in our Christian walk, we need to lean into those opportunities to lean into kindness, to lean into loving our neighbor. As Christians, there is no substitute for being kind to one another. And every moment with someone is an opportunity for kindness. Who knows why God may have you in that position? Who knows the blessings that God may have in store for you through you being kind to others?
Not just blessing, but look at these other opportunities:
Kindness opens opportunities for God’s healing and for brotherly love.
Kindness opens opportunities for God’s healing and for brotherly love.
State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point
Text: Acts 28:7-9; Gal. 6:9-10
The Maltese people were hospitable to strangers, creating an opportunity for God's healing. Kindness plants a seed of goodness that God can grow into brotherly love through Jesus.
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Take a look at some of the results for the people of Malta from leaning in to kindness. In verse 7:
7 Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days.
8 Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him.
9 After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.
10 So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.
Now there are some amazing things that come from kindness. For the Maltese people, one of the results of their kindness was miracles of healing over the people on their land. Their ability to lean into humility and kindness led to people being healed.
Don’t you know that there are opportunities from healing from acts of kindness?
Kindness opens opportunities for healing: I heard this story about a pastor. He prayed for a man who had a deadly disease. In the middle of the week, he got a phone call from the wife. “You prayed for my husband who had a deadly disease.” The pastor thought, “Had… wow, he was healed!” The wife said, “No, he passed away.” The pastor said he felt terrible. The wife said, “Don’t feel bad. When he came into church last Sunday, he was filled with anger. He was angry at God that he would be gone soon. He wanted to see his children and grandchildren. He would lie in bed and be angry at God. The more angry he was, the more miserable. But after you prayed with him, a peace came over him. In his last three days, he had the best days he’d had in a long time.” The wife said, “We laughed. We sung. We read Scripture. We prayed. They were wonderful days… he wasn’t cured from his illness, but he was healed from his anger.”
I think of that story, and I think of the power of a simple act of kindness. We don’t know what a person is going through. But if we take an opportunity to show God’s love in kindness, who knows the opportunities for healing that can come?
I love what Paul says in Galatians 6:9-10:
9 Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.
10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all, especially for those who belong to the household of faith.
As we look back at those verses in Acts, think about how the seed of acts of kindness resulted between the people of Malta and Paul. It says in verse 10
10 So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.
There was this brotherly love that grew from an environment of kindness. That reminds me that, as we have opportunity, let us work for the good of all. Kindness blossoms into good fruit.
Kindness opens opportunities for brotherly love: I think of our block party that happened yesterday. People from the neighborhood came and were blessed by free food, games for their kids, and kind conversations with other people in our church. I saw nothing but smiles yesterday. There were kids running around and laughing. There were parents who got to be with their young kids in an environment of Christian love.
That’s the kind of opportunities that I hope that we will lean into as a church. As people in our community, let us lean into opportunities for kindness, because we want to see God’s healing in lives. We want to see God’s healing in relationships. We want to see God’s healing in our community. And it will come as we love people with the love that only Jesus brings.
That bring us to our third point,
Kindness opens opportunities for being a witness to God’s power.
Kindness opens opportunities for being a witness to God’s power.
State the point; Anchor the point; Validate the point; Explain the point
Text: Acts 28:3-6; Eph. 4:32
The kindness the Maltese people showed to Paul, and his companions opened an opportunity to witness God's power. Strive to be kind to others. Share the gospel through the story of God's goodness in your life.
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There is this interesting part of this story in Acts 28 where Paul is attacked by a viper. What has just happened is that the people of Malta have shown extraordinary kindness to Paul and his companions. They are bringing them in out of the rain and have a fire going. So Paul is returning the favor of kindness by gathering wood for the fire, until he is bitten by a snake. Look at Acts 28:3:
3 As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.
4 When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
5 But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm.
6 They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
Now, I can picture how puzzled they were. They knew what a viper on their island can do to a human. They have lived on this island longer than these strangers, and they know that the snakes on their island were lethal. They thought for sure, this man Paul is facing divine justice for his crimes.
But nothing was happening to Paul. This is something not normal. There is something bigger at play here. They tried to come up with an answer, but the point here is that their act of kindness put them in a position to be a witness to the power of God in a life.
What would have been the opposite? Had they not leaned into kindness, they would not have missed out on what God had for them through the ministry of Paul. Yet God would use their kindness to expose his power in a life to them.
Paul also was kind. He returned the act of kindness by getting wood for the fire. He didn’t know about the snake, but it ended up being the miracle that these people needed to open themselves up to the healing power of God in their lives.
Paul leaned into being kind by serving them through getting wood for the fire. I love what Paul says in Ephesians 4:32:
32 And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.
Kindness is ultimately rooted in the grace of God on the cross. God’s kindness in Christ, taking on our sins on the cross so we can be free, is our example of kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. Forgiveness is the ultimate kindness, and it’s something that God shows us on the cross. Considering the amazing kindness of God, delivering us through Jesus on the cross, we are called to be kind and compassionate to others.
Kindness opens opportunities for being a witness to God’s power: An author said this: “Be kind to unkind people—they need it the most.”
The truth of the gospel is that all of us have been unkind to God. Our sin is our unkindness to God. It is our separation from him. But because of the kindness of God in sending his Son to die on the cross for us, we are free. Not because we deserved it, but because as unkind people to God, we needed his kindness the most.
In the same way, be kind to others.
Conclusion
Kindness opens opportunities for God’s blessing.
Kindness opens opportunities for God’s healing and for brotherly love.
Kindness opens opportunities for being a witness to God’s power.
Conclude
Have you heard the message today and realized that you need Jesus? Are you ready to put your faith in Jesus? We want to pray with you and celebrate your new life. Please see one of our pastors after the service.
Blanks: blessing; healing; brotherly love; being a witness; power
Prayer
Doxology
24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you;
25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’
24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy,
25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
You are dismissed to the patio for our baptism. We will close our service outside, and we ask that you take time after the service to fellowship. And be kind!
