Foreign. Welcome to the Providence Podcast. My name is Chris Oswald, senior pastor of Providence Community Church. Today we are going to be talking about kindness. Talking about kindness today. Dov Cohen is joining me, obviously his idea. And we'll go ahead and jump right into a whole discussion on biblical kindness. Hello, dove. Hey, Chris. Kindness, kindness, kindness. Would you bless us with kindness with the hymn.
Thank you. I will. I will give you the kindness of a hymn. This one from BO the justice and Goodness of God. Again from the Gatsby hymnal. Great God, my maker and my King of thee I'll speak of thee I'll sing, O thou hast done, all thou hast done, Declare thee good, proclaim thee just the ancient thoughts, Thy ancient thoughts and firm decrees, Thy threatenings and thy promises, the joys of heaven, the pains of hell, what angels taste, what devils feel, Thy terrors and thy acts of grace, Thy threatening rod and smiling face, Thy wounding and thy healing word A world undone, a world restored While these excite my fear and joy, While these my tuneful lips employ. Accept, O Lord, the humble song, a tribute, the tribute of a trembling tongue. That's beautiful.
Yeah. I was thinking about on Sunday how we were talking about Jesus came into the world primarily to do this act of creation, to make a new creation. But of course, Simeon tells Jesus, this is one who is destined for the rise and fall of many. And there is the kindness and severity of God. There's the justice and there's the mercy, and that Jesus was an instrument of both of those things. Yeah. Yeah. So we'll be talking about kindness today. So that's a great lead into that.
So I just. I just think kindness is such a virtue and such a. It can be such a blessing to people, and ultimately it's a reflection for the Christians, a reflection of the kindness of God towards us. I'll be talking about all that stuff today. So I appreciate you letting us jump on and do a podcast about this. To start out, Chris, what is the kindest thing someone's ever done for you? Or who is the kindest person you've ever met? The kind of thing someone's ever done for you or kindest person you've ever met? You. I don't know, man. You gave me this outline and I. I have been thinking about that. I honestly think that. And see, I know what you're going to say. You're going to make me look bad, but that's not hard to do. I. You know, I think that I would say that I just grew up around. I had a Lot of people in my life that were very kind. And I think that there was a time when that was more of a culturally insisted kind of vibe. And I grew up in that world where there were a lot of kind people. It surprised me when I would encounter someone who wasn't kind. And so I can't think of just one. The first person that came to my mind was just a Sunday school teacher who I remember he seemed to my little boy brain to be enormous. You know, he kind of looked like Mr. Clean. This is back in the late 70s. He wore like the, you know, all denim, all the time, Right. Like denim vests. I remember that he was bald. Yeah. And he would give. We give us kids, like, silver dollars, things like that. But he would just kind of patrol the church. It's kind of a big church, probably a thousand. And he would kind of control. Patrol it, looking just for ways to help be kind and so forth. And I remember when he died. I was still pretty young when he died, but I just remember everybody felt this huge sense of loss. There was this man who just kind of was always taking care of people. Yeah. There's my example. Dove. Tell me yours.
So I'm going to go with Christine. And you could say it's cliche. You know, it's my wife. Cheat points. But. But I really do mean it. I got three reasons why she's the kindest person I've ever met that I know. Number one, she's thoughtful. Number two, she's generous. Number three, she's loyal. So story on our second date, we're going to walk around Philadelphia, and we're living on the east coast at the time. It's our second date, and I had put all of these different places that we wanted to see in Philadelphia in my Garmin or, you know, my. My gps. I plugged it all in, had the. The whole day planned, and I show up and she's like, dove, like, you don't need that. Like, I know the whole. The whole city. It's fine. And she. She didn't like. She, you know, make fun of me, busted me. It was. It was. It was funny. But she was very kind about it. And then she also admitted that she knew how much I appreciated history, and that was the reason why she. She wanted to and agreed to go on a date walking around Philadelphia with me just to show me and let me see all the historical sites of Philadelphia. So appreciate how thoughtful she was there. She's also. She's generous. She loves to give gifts to people that they'll appreciate is very thoughtful with that as well. And she's just loyal to people like you can really trust. If you say something to her, she's going to hold it in confidence. She's, she's anti gossip and she's very loyal. So Christine would be the most, the kindest person that I've ever met. Very good, Very good. Cool. So why don't you define it? Yeah. So what is kindness? So going into, I've got, again, I've got a long definition and a short definition. So today we're talking about beyond niceness. We're not talking about niceness here, we're talking about kindness, which is. They're two quite different things. So long definition for kindness, it's more than politeness or friendliness. It's an active commitment to love, mercy and service borne through and cultivated by God's kindness to us. It's an active commitment to love, mercy and service born through and cultivated by God's kindness to us. Short definition, it's a desire to help others. It's a desire to be a blessing to others. So that's my definitions of kindness. Anything you want to add there or. No, I mean, I think that one of the things that shines through and compared to niceness and a lot of other things is kindness kind of does something. It's an action, it's not just a. Well, not just. Yes, it's an active commitment. So some word study background in the Hebrew and the Greek, you've probably all heard this word before, but chesed from the Hebrew, its meanings are mercy and loving kindness. I think you mispronounced that. Chesed. It's chesed. Okay, Correct. I gotta correct the Hebrew on his Hebrew, chesed. It's chesed. No, it's het. Sed. Yes, thank you. Yeah. So what does it mean? So it means mercy, loving kindness, steadfast love, compassion, goodness, loyalty and faithfulness. So it's a really big three dimensional word that we're gonna, you know, we'll unpack Exodus 34:6 to 7 real soon about being part of God's nature. But chesed, the just the mercy and loving kindness, steadfast love of God and then can be acted out on the human plane as well. And then we got the Greek, Christodes. You can correct me if I got that. Got the Greek right. There's no God. Or ironically, you got that one right. Nice, nice. So that just means good, kind, gentle and benevolent. And that is the most used Greek word that I was able to find. Christoes for kindness in The New Testament. In the Old Testament. In the New Testament. And like I said, this is in the very nature of God. So Exodus 34, 6, 7, it says the Lord passed before him, him being Moses, and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord, a God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. That's, that's the chesed and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who know by means clear the guilty is the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children, children to the third and fourth generation. But really the focus there is just the steadfast love of God. When, when God passed before Moses, he said, I am a kind God. Yeah. That's probably top five most important theological words in the Old Testament. Sure. I mean it's, it's one of God's chosen premium words to describe himself. Yeah. It appears all over the Old Testament. Yeah. Which is just. It's great to know that we've got a God who is kind, steadfast love. I listened to a sermon today just about how God is plotting good for us. You know, think of Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd, shall not want. His goodness and mercy shall follow me all days of my life. You know, that, that follow me is the pursuit of. The pursuit of us with kindness, with goodness, with mercy. Yeah, let's. Good stuff.
Let me pause there for a second because it's funny, you know, we're in this moment where all the conspiracy theories turn out to be true, you know, and essentially what's going on typically is behind a conspiracy theory, people are working in the background to accomplish something. And it's like we're just in this particular moment where you look around and you just see evidences of things that would have been called conspiracy theories three months ago that are, that are true now. Sure. And it is a real challenge to be a socially or socially politically aware of online Christian, you know, ingesting all the stuff that we ingest. And remember that the conspiracy is the divine conspiracy. Yeah. God, our Father of the universe, is conspiring, working behind the scenes for our good. Yeah, yeah. In. In a, a union of his sovereign power and his kind intention. He is working for our good. So it's just important. I'm glad you brought up that idea of working in the background because we're kind of being exposed to a bunch of black pill information that I think a lot of it is true. Of course not all of it is true. But fine, fine and good. We have a pattern for that. Psalm 2, why did the nations rage? Why did the kings of the earth conspire and plot together? We have a Bible, we have a verse for that. But that same verse tells us that God was using their conspiracies to accomplish his own conspiracy, which was to bring his son into the world, have his son killed for our sins, and so on and so forth. So I think it's just a moment to remind ourselves that, you know, yeah, there's lots of conspiracies out there. The big one is that the God of the universe took on flesh, dwelt among us, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and rose again. Now reigns at the right hand of the Father and is working all things for the good of those that love Him. That's kind of the important, most important conspiracy. That's, that's very good.
6 · Establishes three biblical grounds for Christian kindness: it is commanded by God (Micah 6:8), it carries promises of blessing (Proverbs 11:17, 21:21), and it flows from God's kindness to us in the gospel (Ephesians 4:32)
So, all right, so now that we've kind of defined kindness and discussed kindness a little bit, let's, let's talk. Why should we be kind? So let's, let's talk about ourselves for a second. Why should we be kind as Christians, as blood bought followers of Christ? So first, it's the command of God. Second, there are promises related to it. And third would be the kindness of God to us in the gospel. So, command of God. One of my favorites. Micah 6, 8. He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. So not just to do kindness, but to love kindness and to walk humbly with God. That's the command. Then we got some promises. Proverbs 11:17. Man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself. Thousand percent. Thousand percent true. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah, no, it's good. And then Proverbs 21, 21. Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness and honor. Going back to the Proverbs 11:17, the man who is kind benefits himself. That reminds me of Ephesians 5, where we're told to love our wives as we love our own flesh. He who loves his wife, loves himself. Yeah, it's, it's that same deal, man. Like, there's just like, there's this way that if you commit to being kind and loving people, it's ultimately an act of self care in some respects. You're, you're doing good for yourself when you go out of your way to be kind. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And then the kindness of God to us in the gospel, which Chris has already kind of talked about a little bit. Ephesians 4:32. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you. So in the same way that God has forgiven us and been kind to us, we should. And we can be kind to one another. Any thoughts there or. No. No.
7 · Signals a shift from theological foundation to biblical illustration
All right. Good. All right, then let's move on. Let's illustrate some kindness from the Bible. So I got three stories that I want us to run through. We'll run through the stories quickly and talk about the components of kindness that are exemplified in the stories and we'll go from there.
8 · Examines the Joseph narrative to identify three components of kindness: forgiveness rooted in trust in God's sovereignty, humility that refuses to usurp God's place as judge, and generosity expressed in long-term provision
So first one would be Joseph. I see Joseph as just an exemplary, kind person, especially to his brothers. So background story for anyone who doesn't know the story. I know we covered it last spring in the sermon series. But Joseph has his dreams that his family will essentially bow down and serve him. So his brothers get upset and they sell him into slavery. He endures trial upon trial in his life, but then ends up ultimately being promoted to Egypt's second in command. And his brothers resurface when there's a famine in the land. So through the story, I see three components of kindness that I wanted to call out. First, that he's forgiving. Second, that he's humble. Third, that he's giving. So first of all, that he's forgiving. Joseph was tender hearted. He wept and forgave his brothers when they came and they resurface. And he trusted in God's good sovereignty over his situation, which allowed him to forgive. And I think one component of kindness is just being a forgiving person. Second would be humble. Joseph was humble. He did not embrace excessive self importance, but he showed kindness to his brothers because he knew that he was not in the place of God with the ability to condemn them. And so because he was humble and he knew that he was not in a place in the God, a place of God to condemn them, he was able to show kindness to his brothers. And third, he didn't just show kindness to his brothers, but he was giving in the sense that he pledged not just to forgive his brothers, but he pledged to provide for them and their families. So generation to generation, he would make sure that his brothers and their families were okay in the land of Egypt when they came and served her in there, there during the famine. So forgiving, humble and giving, that was Joseph.
9 · Develops the theological principle underlying Joseph's kindness: brushes with mortality and loss produce a recognition that all we have is from God, which frees us to be generous
It seems to me that once you have a few brushes with mortality, maybe car accidents, a cancer diagnosis, in Joseph's case, Multiple brushes with mortality and you survive those, or you have brushes with real poverty and you survive those. You know, I think it helps you to almost lose stuff because you're reminded of like, I really would have just been. I really just would have died the other day in that car wreck or whatever if God hadn't spared me this idea that my life is not my own, my stuff is not my own, my health is not my own. All that. That seems to be a foundational element for Joseph because when it comes time to be kind, which kindness really is just kind of giving, it's giving attention, giving care, giving, you know, giving your time and so forth, you know, when it's time to be generous, you either are going to be. You're gonna. That whatever generosity manifests that. So at. In a particular moment is really an expression of who you believe gave you all this stuff. Because if you believe it's all you and so on and so forth, then it's really not inconsistent then to say, well, I earned it, I'm keeping it, and, well, that person needs to go out and earn it too, and so on and so forth. But when you really have all these close calls and you can see how, just thinking about the assassination attempt on Trump, the first one, you know, you have this moment where it's like centimeters. Yeah. And there's no. There's no clear explanation as to, you know, why one. Why I went one way and not another. The reasonable thing to do. We'll see if old boy is reasonable with this. But the reason to do is to say God spared my life and therefore my life is not my own, and so on. So anyway, you know. But I think that Joseph's multiple brushes with his own mortality and realizing that God had spared him and sustained him and elevated him, he never. His particular story didn't include any period where he felt like he deserved was. Was all quick enough. I think a quick enough turn of events. We say it was quick, it wasn't. But at the same time, there were so many downturns that the only thing standing between him and death was God. And I think that kind of person who has seen the fragility of success is then able to steward that success much better than someone hasn't seen how easily it can come and go. Yeah, yeah, it came from God and now you can use it for God's glory and the good of other people. Yeah. My sense is, is that when we look at all these guys in the Bible that were kind. A massive amount of that is rooted in some Understanding of God's sovereign. Yes, yes. Anyway, Good, good.
10 · Examines the Ruth narrative to identify three more components of kindness: protection (creating safety for the vulnerable), generosity (providing abundantly), and generational vision (caring about future generations)
All right, second story. Let's talk about Boaz and Ruth for a couple minutes. So with. With Ruth. So she was with Naomi and they were in Moab, and there was famine and there was loss in. In their time and in their day. So Naomi with Ruth, they return to Bethlehem. And Naomi instructs Ruth to glean from Boaz's field. And we. I think we all probably know the story about Boaz's kindness towards Ruth. Boaz redeems Ruth and really takes care of her and sets his protection over her. So some components of kindness in this story that I think I want to. I think we want to pull out is how protective Boaz was, how generous Boaz was, and how generationally minded Boaz was. So Boaz was very protective. He kept Ruth leaning in his field and charged the young men not to touch her, not to harm her in any way. So he was really very protective of Ruth through that. He was also very generous to Ruth. Boaz ensured that Ruth was provided well, for she ate until she was satisfied and even had some leftover. So he was very generous towards Ruth. And so that's another component of kindness. And then a third component of kindness that we've been talking about, a province with the men, quite significantly, has been generationally minded. So Boaz was determined to trigger the perpetuation of the name of the dead. He was not just focused on showing kindness to himself or his generation, but also future generations. So he made sure that Ruth's lineage and that Ruth's family's lineage, and I believe Ruth's ex husband, you know, deceased husband's lineage, lived on through what he was doing and showing kindness towards Ruth as well as Naomi. So any thoughts on Boaz and Ruth?
11 · Examines the David and Mephibosheth narrative to identify three final components of kindness: initiative (actively seeking opportunities to be kind), mercy (showing kindness to those associated with enemies), and grace (blessing those who can offer nothing in return)
Well, together, let's combine, you know, you've got Joseph and now Boaz. I think in both cases, one of the. One of the benefits of being a kind person is that there's moments where someone presents themselves in a severity of weakness. They are really super vulnerable. And you can either be cruel or you can be kind. It's kind of this. That's just to flip the script on the Joseph story or the Ruth story and imagine them encountering. Imagine Joseph's brothers encountering someone who's not kind but cruel. Right. Exploiting all of their vulnerabilities in all sorts of terrible ways. And then that really rings through with the Boaz story. And he really could have made a play there that was cruel and hard and so on. And so forth. So I think, like, we all. I don't think we're completely clear on how much our world is made better by the fact that there are so many people out in the world that love Jesus and. Or, you know, I mean, tried to articulate some of that yesterday, but you can go to places today where there is not a culture of kindness, and then you be vulnerable there and see how that turns out. Right, Right. You need something in those environments, express a weakness of some kind in those environments and see how that goes. Right. So, yeah, I think, like, both of these I'm looking at, it's like, boy, these stories would be very different if those men were not kind. Yeah. And look at what happened, like, with. With Boaz and Ruth. I mean, that led to, what, Obed, then Jesse, and then David through Boaz's kindness. So what a lineage, what a blessing. Great. All right, so third story, David and Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth. Did I get that right? Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth. Okay. Try saying that sometimes fast. Well, that's one of those. That one lends itself weirdly to Southern Baptist drawl. I've remember, I've heard so many Mephibosheth sermons, and it's Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth. Okay. David went to find Mephibosheth. Anyway, go ahead. Do you want to. Do you want to tell this story? Sure. Obviously, there's antagonism between David and Saul for quite some time. Saul's constantly trying to pin David to the wall. David has an act, an attitude of honor, not so much towards Saul, but toward the Lord who has positioned Saul into that spot. And so David is careful and trusting in the Lord and refuses to take vengeance. And by his own hand, eventually, the Lord, through a variety of providential means, has Saul dead on the battlefield. Saul's really just been terrible to David for all this time. But Saul's son Jonathan had been quite kind to David, and they had. They had developed a close friendship. Anyway, long story short, David gets appointed to the throne, and it's really the kind of thing in Eastern. In the ancient Eastern world, in particular the Middle Eastern world, like, the thing you do when you become king is you consolidate power by killing everybody else in the competing households. And you definitely go on kind of a uniking terror as well. Like, you're really. What you're trying to do is consolidate power, build a power moat, as it were. And you certainly just. That's the Move. So David, with kindness in his heart, seeks out a relative of Jonathan's, and he finds out that there's this cripple named Mephibosheth. Do you remember his. Do you remember what it says about his disability? I thought it was his feet. I think so, yeah. Yeah. He couldn't walk. Anyway. So David finds out. Now, David's intending to be kind to him, but Mephibosheth doesn't know this. He thinks he's essentially lined up for the slaughter. And so he brings Mephibosheth to him. And David extends kindness to him on behalf of his love for Jonathan and essentially says, you'll always have a place at my table indefinitely. Yeah, excellent. So some components of kindness in the story. 3 Again, initiating Merciful and gracious. Initiating merciful and gracious. Gracious. So initiating. David sought out someone to be kind to from Jonathan and Saul's household. He. It didn't just come into his lap. He actually went out and sought to be kind to Jonathan's household. So it's. Initiating merciful. Saul was not good to David, as, you know, as you were talking about. Yet David is determined to show kindness to Saul's family and to Jonathan's family. And gracious in that. Mephibosheth, he was lame. And not lame like, you know, lame like, maybe he was lame, too. But he was. He was lame in the sense that he couldn't walk, but he. But he could do nothing for David. He was. David was gracious. Mephibosheth, he could do nothing for David. Yet David brought him to his table, fed him and took care of his. Took care of Mephibosheth for a very long time. So initiating merciful and gracious, just more components of kindness. Yep. Very good.
12 · Signals a critical shift in the argument from kindness as gentle provision to kindness as potentially severe
Now, let's talk about, like you mentioned at the beginning, kindness is not niceness. Right. Let's differentiate there a little bit. Yeah. So got three illustrations to show how there's a hard side to kindness. Kindness is not always niceness.
13 · Establishes that God's affliction and discipline are expressions of His faithfulness and kindness
So God's affliction can be a kindness to us. Psalm 119:75 says, I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous. And then in faithfulness you have afflicted me. There are times when it seems like God's not really being maybe nice to me, but he's always being in Christ. He's always being kind to us in that he's working good through what he's doing to us and in our lives. So God's not, you know, like a nice. Not always a nice guy, but he's always being kind. And so sometimes he gives us affliction as a kindness to bring us back to him. Work good purposes in our hearts to show us something of him. So, you know, Proverbs tells us that you can actually hate your son if you neglect the discipline. Right, right, right. So sometimes niceness is actually. Niceness is actually a bit of a cop out to not treat a wound as serious to save peace when there is no peace, you know, to not help someone. I was actually thinking with your first question, the kind people in your life. I really think that, you know, maybe one day in heaven you'll have perfect perspective and you'll know, like, who was the kindest person to me ever. And. And you won't have a wife then, so you won't have to suck up to that. I'm kidding. No, I. You know, there might be one day when you kind of. Anyway, I just was thinking about how, man, has anybody been more kind to me than the preachers over the years who insisted that I trust Christ. Right, right. You know, and call out sin. Yeah. And just told me, you know, as, you know, as a kid and as a young man, like, yeah, or I was thinking about like a packer or someone like that who sits down and writes a book about God so that this Chris Oswald living in Jeff City, Missouri, you know, at 16, knows what God is like. Yeah. And. Yeah. You know, and. And there were hard things there. Part. Part of that was me and my sin and so on. But, like, how kind of God to tell me the truth, to correct my lie, you know, correct my errors and so on and so forth. Yeah, yeah, agreed.
14 · Uses Paul's epistolary ministry as a case study in the hard side of kindness
Which brings up one of Paul's. I mean, this is consistent in Paul's ministry. He does not pull punches. He attempts by every means necessary to be nice. I mean, he goes out of his way in almost every. Almost every epistle to offer some affirmation. Yeah. Thankfulness, praying for you, I love you. Right, right. So on and so forth. But there are multiple, you know, instances where he pulls no punches, Second or First Corinthians being one, and Galatians being probably the hottest. Right. And he really just says, guys, you're. You're. You've got me really concerned that you have walked away from the very thing that saved your souls. And. Yeah, he pulls no punches there at all. Yeah. Yeah. Is that the only letter where he doesn't start out with thankfulness? I think so. So, yeah, he definitely can be a little rough with the Galatians, but they needed to hear it. They need to hear that we're saved by grace, through faith, and by Christ's merit. And I think one of the really interesting things about being a jerk for Jesus, because I've definitely, you know, I've been a jerk for me sometimes, but I've also been a jerk for Jesus sometimes. But in those moments when it's done right and you're right in doing it, if you really look at what's happening there, that person is just the person who's being mean, quote, unquote. They are really fighting for your freedom. Yep. Yep. Yeah. You know what is Paul really wanting to get out of this? Right. He's wanting them to be freer than they want to be. He's one. He's wanting them to have joy in Christ more than they want to have joy in Christ. You know, like he. He's being mean to them. But it's a godly mean because it. And it's a kindness because he's like, I want you to not return to the bonds of slavery that you were once in. Right. You know? Right. Which leads us to Proverbs 27:6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, profuse are the kisses of an enemy. You know, sometimes a hard word needs to be said and doesn't have to be said. I mean, there's a place for admonishment and for exhortation, but something can be said gently. But sometimes the hard word needs to be said. And faithful, the wounds of a friend refuse to the kisses of an enemy.
15 · Applies the hard-side-of-kindness principle specifically to the men at Providence
Yeah, and this is. I mean, we've talked a lot about this with our guys because we are over correcting. We don't want to overcorrect, I guess I should say, from all of the niceness culture that was predominant in evangelicalism. And winsomeness always works, and so on and so forth. And we really don't have a group of men at Providence that think that way and act that way. We have guys that probably need to just continue to grow in gentleness so that they can say the hard word at a proportionate level given a bunch of other factors. So I think that the thing that we're trying to grow in as men at Providence is to be able to say the hard word. That's important, but then to learn how to say it at a proportion at a level that is the minimum necessary to get the job done. That's kind of the working definition we use for gentleness. And what you'll find, because we're talking about a fruit of the spirit here, what you'll find is that all the fruits of the spirit have to work together. Like patience is an important aspect of kindness. If, especially on the hardware side of things, if you're trying to just fire one shot, change someone's whole perspective in one conversation so you can move on. Right. You're probably not going to be gentle. Right. So the hard word, yes, that can be a kindness, but it's also kind to think, how. How can I be minimally violent in my care for this person, just like you would with a surgery or anything. Yeah. Good. Good.
16 · Establishes the first and most important means of cultivating kindness: meditating on God's kindness in three temporal dimensions—past (He forgave us), present (He provides all things), and future (He will eternally lavish kindness on us)
All right. So now let's move on to how can we be kind? How can we cultivate kindness in our hearts, in our lives, in our. In our thoughts, words, actions? So a few suggestions, a few thoughts would be first, meditate on and experience the kindness of God expressed in Scripture. So meditate on and experience the kindness of God expressed in Scripture. We've talked about this a bit. Ephesians 4,32, he forgave us. We mentioned the Scripture already. But be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. So God was so kind to forgive us by sending his son to die for us that just thinking about that can generate feelings of kindness and that we can then act upon and. And work within. And then Romans 8:32, he's actively providing everything we need right now to know him and to glorify him and to honor him and to love others. So Romans 8:32, he did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also, with him, graciously give us all things? Just thinking about how he didn't spare his own son and how he's now graciously giving us all things that are needful for us, that can spur on kindness. That's a good moment to hit pause and say that people like to. I hear a lot of people quit on kindness at a certain point, and they say, well, I've been kind enough to that person, or I've already done X, Y, and Z for that person. Sure. That's actually not how this works. You may need to change what you're doing. You may need to say a hard word instead of a yes or whatever. But if you're going to follow God down the road of kindness, there's no moment when that's done exactly right, you know, not. At least not. Not usually. I maybe, maybe I could think of something, some exception to that. But I do think people tend to think that they reward themselves, they pat themselves on the Back say, well, I've been kind enough to so and so, and now I'm done. Like, well, I'm sure glad God doesn't do it that way. Right, Right. He. He gave us his own son and freely gives us all things. He continues to care for us. Right. Anyway, how many times should I forgive my brother? Yeah, just keep on forgiving. But then also, like you said, the format of kindness. May more of me shift a little bit. Me shift? Yeah, I think maybe sometimes the people are saying I need to be done with this because they've realized they're enabling bad behavior, which I completely get. There's a category for that. You may have to change how you express kindness, but you don't ever get off of the need to show kindness. Right. All right. So meditating on God's kindness in scripture, he forgave us. He's providing everything we need right now and thinking about eternity. He's going to be eternally kind to us. We can look forward to that. So Ephesians 2, 4:7 says, But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made a lie together with Christ by grace. You've been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now here, focus on this so that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. God is going to show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. That's just like, that's mind blowing. You need the Holy Spirit to eliminate that. That's just like almost unfathomable, like God showing us lavish riches, immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us.
17 · Unpacks the eschatological dimension of God's kindness
Well, I think that shows you in part that that is part of his nature, because he's just, it's never going to stop. He's going to always be kind. Right. It probably would be helpful to think of it more as this is who, this is so much of who God is, that as long as I'm in His presence, which I will be forever, he will constantly be kind to me, just as sure as he will constantly be holy, just as sure as he will constantly be glorious. He will constantly be kind to me. And then you need, you know, First Corinthians 15, for instance, our bodies resurrection comes and we receive new bodies prepared for eternal glory. And one of the, one of the things I think is true, it sounds weird, is that we actually need our hardware upgraded to endure the level of kindness that God is going to lavish on us for all of eternity. Amazing. We actually have to get fortified and recreated as our bodies, our minds, everything to sit under the steady stream of God's kindness forever. And then the idea of the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness, the idea of an infinite God that is infinitely kind pouring out his kindness on you for all eternity. I think the idea is like you need forever to get through the first page of God's kindness and then you need another forever to get through page two and so forth. And yeah, so this is a deep part of God that he is going to be showing us for all eternity. Yeah, just amazing.
18 · Establishes the second means of cultivating kindness: recognizing God's daily kindness in common grace provisions—shelter, clothing, relationships, strength, opportunities
So, all right, so we've meditated upon the kindness of God in scripture. A second way to grow in kindness is to meditate and experience God's kindness in your daily life. Just to be thinking about, not like to think about, you know, chapter one of eternity. And God's kindness is, is amazing and mind blowing. But, but also think about, you know, like, I have a place to live. I have clothing on my back. I've got, I've, I've got family and friends and church and relationships and God's given skills and opportunities and strength, just all the common grace in our lives, just God's kindness to us. Yeah, this reminds me of that quote we read last time we were talking by that author who was studying the decay of European civilization. He said that when a privilege is turned into a right, all courtesy and kindness is eliminated. And you want to not understand God's kindness. The fast way to do that is to take everything for granted. And. Yeah, and that was, you know, yesterday's sermon on the new nature. It was really intended just to, just to remind us of what has actually happened to us and what is happening to us. It's very easy to take all that for granted. Yeah, yeah. So thinking about common gracing, about saving grace, we've already talked about a bunch sustaining grace. And all of this rooted in Jesus, life, death and resurrection. You know, apart from that, we are dead in our sin, condemned, and we have no hope. But in Christ, God has made us new and is showing us kindness, has showed us kindness, is showing us kindness, and will show us kindness forever and ever.
19 · Provides a concrete list of practical kindness applications
So some granular and practical ways to be kind. So we can think and we can, you know, we can meditate all we'd like. And that's great. You need to do some stuff. You need to do some stuff. Yeah, yeah. So I've Got a list here about 25 practical ways to be kind. Before we run through all of them, Chris, do any stand out to you that you'd want to, that you want to highlight that you resonate with you? I mean, yeah, these are not, some of them are very small. Yeah, they're not, they're not on the same scale. Right. I would say like fundamentally, if you want to be kind to someone, pay attention to them, pay attention to them. Notice when they are up, notice when they are down. Notice what they like, notice what they don't like. You know, people feel loved when you know them. And fundamentally God's kindness to us is rooted in his knowing us perfectly. And so yeah, you've got listening there. One of the things I'd say is like some people are naturally way better at noticing and picking up on vibes and so forth than others. And if you are not naturally good at that, that is not, that's not one of those places where you get to stay the same. You know, you need to become like Christ in this area. You need to be a noticer if you're not naturally good at it. Well, friends, I've got things I'm not naturally good at that I have to grow in. But this is not one of those sort of nature things like if, if you are more inclined to miss people's body language, miss stuff. Well, I'm sorry. Work on it, you know, and, and I think a lot of that comes down to also when you're in environments where there are people that, especially people that you're called to care for. Don't, don't be on your phone the whole time, don't play video games like focus on the people that are there. You're just, even, just even giving people your attention is an act of kindness. It's a small one. So I'd say the big thing here is pay attention. And then a lot of these things are kind of lined up with what you notice about people when you pay attention. Yeah. What do they need? Yeah, like offer childcare. Right. A meal. Which I feel also is very self serving of you to add to there. Yeah. If anyone wants to be kind to me and Christine, they're happy to babysit for us. We do have my mother in law in town right now, so we're good. But if they do that, will you do the last one and leave a generous tip. Leave a generous tip. Sure, sure. Anyway, you want to go through your list. So I think that's a great point. Just paying attention to what people need and Being actively committed to their good and doing them good, either through a word or through an action. I mean, you know, we can talk about offering to babysit for a busy parent or making a meal for somebody. And then you got, you know, little things like if you're, if you're out to eat, offering to pray for your waitress or, you know, always trying to be inclusive and invite anyone who's maybe on the fringe out, out to lunch or, you know, whatever you're doing. Yeah. You know, bringing in coffee or snacks at work. You know, stuff like that. Holding the door open for others. Little things, little, little kindnesses that can share credit with others is a really good one you've got on there. Smile at people, I think is huge. I think that one is like, could we just all revolutionize the culture and get back to all of us nodding at each other and smiling at each other? That would be so nice. How about just calling or texting someone out of the blue. Yep. Being like, hey, I praying for you, love you, you need anything, kind of deal. I think that's probably good. Maybe even writing a note, a thank you note or a note of encouragement to somebody. That can be a blessing to somebody.
20 · Identifies the structural life pattern required for consistent kindness: margin and slowness
A lot of these have to do with slowing down. A lot of these have to do with not being that person who thinks that you are more important because you're busy. You know, whether that's, you know. One of my most recent pet peeves is how someone will kind of block a whole section of a parking lot because they're waiting for a space to open and they're just like sitting there like, well, no, this guy's going to pull out and I'm going to get this space. Meanwhile, all of us are just waiting for you to move. And it's this. Or people that will just do weird things on the road because they missed their exit or something. And what, what comes across a lot is people think their time is more valuable than mine. And I think that, that a lot of kind. You cannot be a busy person and a kind person. You know, in, in a, in a busy kind of frenetic sense. Right. You, if you're going to be kind, you have to live a slower life than, than the people that, you know, the hustle and bustle of this world would have you believe. Kindness really is a kind of big margin, Demanding. Yeah. And having a common others orientation. Noticing others, caring for others, doing things for others. Yeah. It's all, it's all kind of rooted in a slower life than what a lot of people Are used to living.
21 · Uses a neighborhood tragedy as an illustration of how crisis can awaken kindness—people responding to evil by intentionally choosing kindness as a cultural weapon
Yeah, we had that, you know, terrible murder that happened in our neighborhood, I guess, more than a month ago now. And one of the things I've really appreciated about our neighborhood coming out of that is. And everybody is being really careful to be kind right now, and people that would not wave at me before waving at me now. And yeah, it. It really. Everybody could see, like, this is. So it was that beautiful kind of common grace version of do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. You know, it was. But really what. My neighborhood is a kind of peak kindness. Right now, people are being extra careful with one another. You know, delivering things to one another. Everybody's stopping and talking and so on. It wasn't like that a couple months ago. Yeah, it wasn't bad. It was. It was pretty good before, but it's way better now. And I think people just realize, man, this is like, I don't want to live in a world where cruelty wins. And the way you fight, that is. That's good. It's good.
22 · Synthesizes the entire discussion by returning to the gospel foundation: kindness flows from experiencing God's kindness, not from trying to earn it
All right, so to wrap up our discussion, kindness is just a beautiful expression of God's truth. You know, we talk about truth and beauty in community. This is one attribute that I think we'd love for. I think Providence excels in even now. But just more and more, we want to show kindness to each other and kindness to people in the community. Kindness, everyone we touch, just a beautiful expression of God's truth. And there are many reasons to be kind in many ways that we can be kind. And really the best way to cultivate kindness is just to meditate on the kindness of God to us and then actively look for ways to show kindness to others and just to connect us all back to the gospel. Like we talked about in the devotions podcast, we don't show kindness to others in order to be accepted by God or to earn his kindness towards us. We show kindness to others because God has been so kind to us, and we want others to experience his kindness as well. So we don't show kindness to be accepted by God, but because God has been so kind to us, we want others to experience his kindness as well. Amen. Amen. The world is trying to teach us to be selfish and to be transactional with people, but it is such A sweeter world when we are kind to one another. Yeah, absolutely.
23 · Chris closes the podcast by praying for sick church members, persecuted Christians in Pakistan, and Christmas Eve services
Hey, I have had a heart today. In particular, we've got just a few members that are not doing well health wise. And I thought, well, dove's coming in here in a little bit. Why don't we pray for these folks? And we won't mention any names. This is a podcast that goes out all over the place. Right. It's the most popular podcast Created in the 66215 zip code. No surprises in the world. Yeah. But anyway, I was hoping we could just pray together real quick for some of our members who are doing well physically, and we'll. We'll pray and then we'll just close out. Father God, we are so grateful that in the midst of a busy season for people where folks are, you know, obviously moving toward taking care of their own families and homes and unique, special and good ways. But, Lord, I'm just mindful of people who. They're just not physically healthy right now. And everything is hard when you're not physically healthy. And, Lord, as I approach your throne with confidence, as that throne has been made accessible to me and to all of us through Christ, I just as a child, ask that you would heal my friends of their diseases and their infirmities, and that you would bring real healing to their bodies. Father, that would be my preference. That would be what I would know to ask as the best thing. If you have better than that, then we pray that that better would be what is done. But as best as I could see, I would just like these folks to be physically restored. So I pray, God, that you would heal them, and I pray, God that you would help them to know that. That they are loved, that this season of physical calamity is not an expression of your disfavor in any kind of gospel way. Lord, you are faithful to us and you allow us to experience both ups and downs as an expression of your kindness. And I pray that nobody who's sick, who's struggling with their health would think for a second that God isn't kind to them. Lord, I am confident that what Paul says in Second Corinthians is true, that these light, momentary afflictions are preparing for us an eternal weight of glory. And that if you call a saint in this world to suffer, then you have a plan, Lord, to lavish extra kindness on them in the next. And so we. We ask that you would heal them. We ask God that you would help them not to feel alone or singled out in any way through this. And we ask God, that you would remind them that you are not so unjust as to overlook the season you're letting them walk through now. God, you will. You will shower them with your loving kindness in ways that demonstrate your justice and your mercy and your goodness, Lord. So, Father, we just lift those folks up to you. We continue to pray for our friends in Pakistan and we ask, Lord, that you would just give the leaders wisdom as they navigate this. It happens a lot there where a Christian gets accused of blasphemy in some respect or another. It often leads to a. It often leads to a murder. It often leads to Christian losing their life by the hands of a crowd. The hands of a crowd, Lord, we pray against that. We pray that your angels would protect these saints. We pray that light would shine in Pakistan and that the whole nation would be a nation that honors and serves the Lord Jesus. Lord. We ask that you would bless the various churches that will be meeting tomorrow night for Christmas Eve services. We pray you keep them safe and that you fill them with your spirit and that many people who don't know you would come to know you as they gather to celebrate the coming of our Lord. We love you, God. Thank you for this time. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.