This morning we come to the fifth fruit of the Spirit.  This morning we consider kindness.  I must admit there is a difficulty with the concept of kindness.  The difficulty is not because the concept of kindness is difficult to understand.  Rather, how is it different than the first four fruits?       
- How is kindness different than love? We defined love as acting on behalf of God regardless of how we feel.  We could also say that kindness is acting on behalf of God regardless of how we feel.
- We looked at joy as being who we are to the Spirit.  But in being who we are in the Spirit, we respond in kindness.  That is who we are called to be in the Spirit. If he holds our gavel, we end up being less judgmental and thus… kind. 
- The last two weeks we talked about peace and patience. Peace is allowing good to overcome evil. And patience is suspending criticism.  Both of those concepts are certainly being kind.  When I do good in response to evil, I'm doing kindness.  When I decided to not to be so critical, but instead be patient, that is also kindness.

So the struggle I have with this sermon is defining kindness apart from the rest of the fruit of the Spirit.  What is it about kindness that is unique?  What aspect of the word, kindness, do we need to understand that is different than love?  Why did Paul add kindness to his list, if it wasn't any different than the others?  If it wasn't important for us to understand, why is it on the list? 

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One way to study the meaning of a word in the New Testament is to look how it is used in other contexts to capture the flavor of the word. chras-ta’-tas is the Greek noun for kindness. The noun and adjective versions of this word are used in fifteen verses in the Bible.  I read each of these verses, carefully, to see if I could capture the flavor of the word. Let me share what I found. 

The first place the word  chras-ta’-tas is used  in the New Testament is found in Matthew 11:30.

Matthew 11:30 “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

The word easy is crhsto,thj.   chras-ta’-tas Jesus is saying that following him is easy and light.  Jesus' yoke is kind, it is easy.  So, perhaps that gives us a flavor of what the word means.  We are to be easy with each other.  We are to be easy to get along with.  We are to be easy to enjoy.  Do you know what I am saying?  Some people are easy to be around, while others are hard.  Some people are just difficult.  They are hard on relationships and their critical and disagreeable and easily offended.  That is not what the Spirit produces in us.  Rather, we could say kindness is being easy on each other.  That's a pretty good definition… until I looked at the next verse that used chras-ta’-tas
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It is found in Luke 5:39 and this one is a bit strange.

Luke 5:39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, “The old is better.”

The word better is chras-ta’-tas  Well, let's see.  Kindness is like old wine.  Not being a drinker, I was at a loss.  What is Jesus talking about?  The old wine is kind.  So I went to the reference books and I found that in Classical Greek, which predates NT Greek, crhsto,thj chras-ta’-tas was used to describe superior, or better wine.  And later it began to be used in a moral sense; being better; being superior.  It is used this way in:

1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."

Bad company corrupts better, superior character. Moral superiority, being excellent, is the context of the original word.  And so we could define chras-ta’-tas as being better; superior.  Kindness is being better to each other; being excellent to each other.  It is what Bill and Ted always said, “Be excellent to each other.” 

Here is a story which illustrates this concept. Brian Mittman says he and his parents were having dinner at a fancy restaurant in London. The food was superb, and the setting; complete with chandeliers, crystal and silver; was unbelievably elegant. Nonetheless, when his mother’s main course arrived, she felt the need for a little salt. Trying the three silver shakers that were on the table, she discovered that each contained pepper. She called the waiter over only to be told that she must be mistaken; each table always contained two dispensers of pepper and one of salt. A second attempt, however, showed that their table did, indeed, have three pepper shakers. Horrified, the waiter immediately brought her a saltshaker. When it was time for dessert, the maitre d’ appeared, insisting they choose something “on the house.” Brian’s mother protested. “It’s not that important,” she said. “But, Madame,” the maitre d’ replied in all seriousness, “What if you had been the Queen?”

Perhaps that could be a great definition of kindness, “Treating others as if they were royalty.”  That would make a great definition.  I liked that definition until I read the next verse that used crhsto,thj; chras-ta’-tas  Luke 6:35.

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Luke 6:35 “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.”

Our royalty definition doesn't work, so much, because we are to be kind even to those who are ungrateful, undeserving, who will not even respond to our kindness.  We are to be like God because he is kind.  I then discovered that several of the fifteen verses, which use crhsto,thj, chras-ta’-tas talk about God as being the one who is kind.  Listen to our God being described:

Romans 2:4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

Romans 11:22  Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

Ephesians 2:7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Titus 3:4-5 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,

1 Peter 2:3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Our model for kindness is our God.  God has been kind to us, even though we don't deserve it.  He is the one who is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.  Our motivation for kindness is God has been awesomely kind to us.  So our definition of kindness must include the concept of modeling our God in his aggressive response to those who were certainly not worthy of his kindness.

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As I continued to look at the fifteen verses, I tasted another flavor to the word.  That comes from these verses.

NRSV Ephesians 4:32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

NRSV 2 Corinthians 6:6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love,

This tenderhearted humility; this not being boastful or proud; this genuine, uncritical love, has the flavor of doing good for people and not for yourself.  It's an attitude of doing good for the other person and not for any self-focused reason.   We can ruin our kindness if we do it for our own glory or benefit. So, in our definition of kindness, we need to include the idea of not doing for self, but doing it in secret.  Perhaps that could be our definition.  Kindness is secret acts of good. 

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We have looked at 14 of the 15 verses that use chras-ta’-tas but the other one is disturbing.  I thought about leaving it out because it is negative.  But it too makes an important point.

NRSV Romans 3:9-12 What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: "There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one."

This verse is a serious reminder that apart from the work of the Spirit in us, we cannot become this kindness thing.  Apart from God we might do an occasional kind thing.  We may even give a ton of money to some charity.  But the kindness we are talking about is a fruit of the Spirit.  It is the Spirit working in us and through us and changing us and leading us that will bring us to kindness.

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So, after examining the 15 verses, where does that leave us in our understanding of kindness?  Let's put it together and see what we get.

- Kindness is being easy on each other, having that spirit that is enjoyable to be around.
- Kindness is treating others as if they are royalty.  And that is an excellent thought. 
- But kindness also has to do with treating our enemies and those who are hateful, as God has treated us.  Kindness acts regardless of the results or how people might respond to our kindness.
- But it also has to do with having a spirit that is unconcerned with being recognized for the any act of kindness.  In fact secret kindness may be the best kind.
- And all of this kindness stuff comes from being in touch with the Spirit.  It is certainly, not in our DNA.

How is kindness any different than the other fruit? 
- Love covers much of the same ground.  But the fruit, kindness has a slightly different taste. Love is acting on behalf of God; while kindness is done in secret; not to make any point at all.
- Joy is who we are to the Spirit; kindness is not about us at all! 
- Peace is responding to evil with good; kindness is not a reactionary thing at all. 
- Patience is suspending our criticism; once again it is reactionary and about us.

- Kindness is aggressive.  God didn't just sit back and see if we would ever come to him. He pursued us. Kindness models God's intentional actions toward us. It deliberately seeks out good to do.
- Kindness is without any ulterior motive. It is done because it is done.
- Kindness is from the invisible Spirit and has this Ninja like quality as it assassinates royalty with good.
- Kindness is this out-of-body experience.  It has nothing to do with self and everything to do with being easy for the other. 

So, here is my definition.  Kindness is aggressive, selfless giving.   It is not passive.  It does not wait to be asked.  It is offensive, not defensive.  It searches for and accomplishes what is the very best it can do for others, without regard for self. 

Here is another story.  There was once a minister in a small European village.  He was greatly loved by the people, and they believed he had a singularly close relationship with God.  He disappeared every Friday and could not be found for several hours.  The villagers boasted during those hours, “He ascends to heaven and talks with God.”

A skeptic came to the village, one day, and it wasn’t long before the villagers told this newcomer about their minister, “Every Friday he ascends to heaven and talks with God.” The skeptic doubted the faith of these simple people.  Increasingly irritated by the, “Every Friday he ascends to heaven and talks with God.” The skeptic determined to find out where the preacher spent Fridays.  So, he hid near the preacher's house and he watched as he rose early, spent time in prayer and left his house dressed like a peasant.

The young skeptic followed the old preacher from a safe distance.  He knew now that he would be able to catch the preacher doing what he really did on Fridays.  He watched as he made his way in the forest and began to cut down a tree.  He spent the next several hours chopping firewood.  Then as the skeptic continued to watch he gathered up the big load of firewood and went back into the village to the very poorest part.  It was the home of an old woman and her sick husband.  After leaving the couple enough wood to last them a week, he returned quietly back to his home.

The villagers were surprised when the young skeptic came to church the following Sunday.  They were even more surprised when he soon became a believer and a disciple of the old minister.  When the old minister died, it was this young, former-skeptic, who took his place as the church's leader.  For the rest of his life, whenever he heard one of the villagers speak of the old minister, “Every Friday he ascended to heaven and talked with God.”  The young skeptic, now devoted minister, would add, "If not higher." 

Kindness aggressively focuses on others but, ironically, leads us higher than heaven!

Los Alamos Church of Christ
October 11, 2009