Fruit of the Spirit:
Kindness
James 2:24-28
January 18, 2015
Mark S. Bollwinkel
In his book Tattoos
on the Heart (Free Press, 2010) Ft. Gregory Boyle tells the story of a
prison yard conversation with convicts at Folsom Prison while he was a chaplain
there years ago. Teaching a course on
short stories Ft. Boyle asked the student prisoners to define the terms they
were using for "sympathy, empathy and compassion".
"Well, sympathy," one begins, "is when your homie's
mom dies and you go up to him and say, ""....sorry to hear 'bout your
moms."" Just as quickly,
there is a volunteer to define empathy.
""Yeah, well, empathy is when our homie's mom dies and you
say, ""....'bout your moms. Sabes que, my moms died six months ago,
I feel ya, dog.""
""Excellent"", I say, ""Now, what's
compassion?"" No takers. The class collectively squirms and stares at
their state-issued boots.
""Come on now,"“I say, ""Compassion, what's it
mean?"" Their silence was
sustained, like visitors entering for the first time some sacred, mysterious
temple. Finally, an old-timer, down twenty-five years, tentatively raised his
finger. I call on him. ""Well now,"" he says,
all eyes on him shaking his head, ""Compassion, that's sumthin'
altogether different.....cause"" he adds humbly, ""That's
what Jesus did, I mean, compassion...IS....God."" (Boyle pp. 61-62)
This is exactly
the same point taught by Jesus.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love
them. If you do good to those who do
good to you, what credit is that to you?
For even sinners do the same. If
you lend to those from whom you hope to receive what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as
much again. But love your enemies, do
good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.
Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High;
for God is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is
merciful. (Luke 6:32-36)
The Bible says “God
is love”. (I John 4:8) And “…love is
patient and kind; love is not envious or boastful, arrogant or rude”. (I Corinthians 13:4-5a)
Please note this
is not just a warm and fuzzy ideal.
Compassion, kindness and love are presented in the Bible as an action,
as something we do; which is the point of the writer of the letter James, in
our scripture lesson for this morning.
Faith in this God of love without works is dead.
Both Protestant
Reformers Martin Luther and John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement,
shared misgivings about the Letter of James being in the New Testament at
all. Both argued fiercely that we are
saved by grace and grace alone not by the accumulation of good deeds. In other words, we can't ever earn God's love
by being good enough. No one can be good
enough. God's love and blessing is a
free gift, given without strings attached.
That is amazing grace indeed. (Romans 5:6-11)
Over the years
we've come to understand that the writer of the Letter of James wasn't
suggesting that we could earn God's love with good deeds but rather that it is
impossible to love God without acting like it.
Faith in the parent of Jesus isn't an academic exercise. It is something we do. If we worship the God of love we can't
separate such faith from our actions.
Wesley suggested
that by the "Means of Grace" we can encounter and grow closer to God
in this world. The Means of Grace are
found in "Works of Piety" (prayer, fasting, studying the Bible, observing
the sacraments, community worship and healthy living) and "Works of
Mercy" (doing good, visiting the sick and those in prison, feeding and
clothing the poor, earning, saving and giving all one can financially, working
for justice in the society). In spite
of his concern about the Letter of James, Wesley insisted in his own way that
one can't separate faith from works. In
the end our true religion is how we live our lives. We 'practice' our faith, and folks like you
and me, need a lot of practice.
Application
companies for our smart devices offer us all sorts of "apps" for
health and well-being; Calorie Tracker, Lose It!, Daily Burn, iFitness, Sick of
Smoking, Drink Less Alcohol Tracker and Stress Check all give the user an
opportunity to pay attention to their health and make positive changes in their
lives. But regardless of how smart the
app is one has to use it to make it work.
[Darn it! I’ve put all those weight loss apps on my iPhone and still
haven’t lost a pound! I am still waiting
for the App or pill or doctor that will make me lose weight without having to
eat less or move more!]
The apostle Paul
loves lists. We can find them throughout
his New Testament writings. During this
sermon series we are focusing on his Letter of Galatians (5:22-23); "...The
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Metaphorically these are God's
"apps" for our lives. As we
adopt and practice such things as kindness we grow closer to God and to one
another. As we adopt and practice such
things as kindness we "reach up, in and out" for God. That doesn't mean giving lip service to such
ideals. It means acting with them, on
them, it means as James insists, that we put our faith into actions.
Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. did.
The Rothko
Chapel in Houston, Texas is a non-denominational community meditation center
open to all people of all faiths. It has
become a forum for spiritual conversation about the world and its challenges. In front of the Chapel is a large reflection
pool in which sits Barnett Newman's sculpture Broken Obelisk (1963-67) dedicated to the memory of the vision and
work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The obelisk is an ancient architectural form originating in Egypt now
found all over the world in many different cultures. Obelisks are usually erected as memorials
honoring an individual or an event in a nation's history.
When Dr. King
delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963 from the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC he looked across the reflection pond of the
Washington Memorial to the tallest stone obelisk (555'5.12") in the world
dedicated to the first President of the United States.
Newman's
sculpture was conceived in 1963 and first installed in 1967 before Dr. King's
assassination so the artist was not suggesting that Dr. King's dream or legacy
was 'broken'. Rather this abstract
expressionism suggests that the past we honor is over and that to truly honor
the ideals of our heroes, such as President Washington or Dr. King, it is we in
the present that must act to insure such hope in the future.
Dr. King once
said, “Life’s most urgent question is ‘what are you doing for others?’”
Dr. King's faith
in the God of love fueled his strategy of non-violent resistance to the racist
segregation of our nation years ago.
The fruits of the spirit...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control were not simple ideas to
Dr. King but actions the faithful can live by to confront and change the evils
in their lives and of this world.
As we celebrate
Dr. King's work and dream this weekend, which did not end with his
assassination, we memorialize the most recent victims of mindless violence in Paris,
Pakistan, New York City and Salinas. Before we despair of the madness of this
world, remember that it is active faith, love and kindness that motivates men
and women to put on the uniforms of their countries in order to serve and
protect. It is active faith, love and
kindness that inspires the emergency first responders, police, paramedics and
Emergency Room personnel who day-in-and-day-out save lives.
If we find
ourselves lost and lonely, discouraged or confused about God do something good
for somebody else and it will change your life and theirs. Dr. King said:
Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to
serve. You don’t have to make your
subject and verb agree to serve. You only
need a heart full of grace. A soul
generated by love.
Amen.
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