Romans 11:11-24 Kindness

 

In Romans 9-11, we see Paul’s heart for the Jews. He’s happy for Gentiles who are coming to Jesus and the faith communities that are growing like crazy, but Paul’s not seeing his many of own people respond to Jesus as their Messiah. Paul’s wondering if God’s plan is to use the Gentiles to bring the Jews to Jesus by stirring up jealousy in the Jews. At the same time, Paul’s warning the Gentiles to not get too smug about being grafted into Jesus. It’s only by God’s kindness that they’ve been grafted into Jesus, not because they’re so special in themselves. Paul encourages the Gentiles to instead pray that God will extend his kindness to the Jewish people too.

When you read through Scripture, kindness is a key attribute of the character of God. The Hebrew word hesed is often translated as kindness, though it’s much more, it’s about long-lasting loyalty and commitment. The Greek word christotes is translated as kindness. Our society feels like it’s becoming meaner and harsher. Social media can be an ugly place and kindness can be hard to find. The saddest part is that there are Christians on social media that are as mean and unkind and sarcastic as non-Christians. Instead of changing the culture on social media, too many Christians have become part of the social media culture.

It’s going to take Christians who are serious about Jesus to be part of the change on social media. I am challenging everyone who’s on social media, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok or any of the other platforms, to commit to only being an encouraging presence of kindness who builds others up. This includes politics. If you cannot say something nice about those in government or anyone else, offer up a prayer for them instead. Be a presence of kindness rather than hate and meanness. Kindness is about desiring what is best for the other person, it’s about showing tender concern, it’s about who you are as a person, part of your character. Kindness is sacrificial, focusing on being a blessing. Ephesians 4:31–32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

While many non-Christians would like to know Christians and learn about what we believe, many non-Christians also see Christians mostly act negatively. John Atkinson writes, “What we do and say affects the non-Christians around us far more than it does the Christians. Pastor Lee Strobel said one of the most profound things I have ever heard. I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember the exact quote, "for those of us who call ourselves Christians, we need to know that the hypocrisy meter is scanning our lives." In other words, those who have chosen not to believe are looking for us to fail so they can justify their non-belief.”

Kindness is having a generous spirit, a desire to say or do something that makes a person feel valued, cared for, and cherished. That’s what we saw in the video. In Romans 11, Paul tells us that the kindness of God is the foundation of our salvation. Scott Hoezee writes, “Paul sees kindness as a fierce strength of God. Kindness is the spring from which saving grace flows into our hearts.  Kindness is a disposition of God—that as a Fruit of the Spirit we are to imitate—that makes him prone to reach out to lost sinners such as we all otherwise would be.  Yes, Paul also writes here, there can be a severity to God, too, and at the moment, Paul sees the Jews on the receiving end of that severity.  But there is little doubting which of the two Paul sees as being the core driving force for God: it’s kindness.  Kindness has already won the day and maybe, maybe, maybe even for Paul’s Jewish sisters and brothers it will finally win the day for them too.  But for the rest of us: don’t forget that kindness has saved you.  Let that set the tone for the rest of your life.”

Kindness is strength. It builds up and encourages those whom others ignore or mock. When we treat someone who has been cruel to us with kindness, we’re going way past being nice. Jesus tells the story of a Jewish man who is mugged and his own people, a priest and a Levite won’t stop to help him, but a Samaritan who is despised by the Jews stops, helps, and even uses his own money to help the man recover from the mugging. That’s kindness at work, that’s being like Jesus. Loving the unlovable reveals a deep and powerful kindness. Paul reminds us in Colossians 3:12 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Kindness is central to who we are as followers of Jesus; rooted in God’s kindness to us.

Paul uses the image of branches grafted into the tree or vine to show God’s kindness to us. It’s the same image Jesus uses in John 15, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful… This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Paul reminds the Gentile believers that they’ve been grafted into the church, into Jesus; not because they’re special, but because of Jesus’ kindness. Paul reminds Titus, “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.”

If we’re getting our life from Jesus, drinking from the life we receive from being grafted into Jesus, then we should be looking more and more like Jesus, and one of the ways is kindness, growing more kind as we grow in faith and life. Kindness needs to be practiced if we’re going to grow in kindness. It doesn’t just happen. Kindness is practiced and lived out in relationship with each other and with those in our community. Tom Long says, “kindness is what allows us to see every person as an image-bearer of God…” I love this, kindness is rooted in how you see other people, recognizing them as worthy of kindness because they’re created in the image of God and loved by God.

To grow in kindness, turn to Jesus’ life. Learn from him what kindness looks like. Allow the Spirit to soften your hearts and experience Jesus’ kindness to you. Kindness is intertwined with the love, joy, peace, and patience we’ve already reflected on. When you talk with or about someone you deeply disagree with, how does it go? How do you describe them, do you truly care about them, want what is best for them; do you encourage and build them up, do you have compassion for them?

Sunday evenings we’re listening to the Report on Healthy Sexuality, reflecting on issues such as pornography, gender, the LGBTQ, and marriage. These are issues where there’s deep disagreement between the church and our society, and within the church. How we relate to each other is a witness to our faith and Christian character. Genuinely loving and listening in order to understand those who disagree with us on these and other moral and ethical issues lets them know that we really care about them, that we desire what’s best for them, and that we desire to be faithful to God. While we may disagree, this doesn’t mean we have to see them as enemies.

Wesley Baines writes on Beliefnet.com about “Oskar Schindler’s choice to be kind to 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. An ethnic German and a Catholic, Schindler bought a Jewish-owned enamelware factory called Rekord Ltd., changing the name to Deutsche Emalwarenfabrik Oskar Schindler in 1939. Schindler employed Jewish workers from the nearby Krakow ghetto—a Jewish ghetto created by the Nazis, from which they exploited Jews for forced labor. But while these Jews were basically slaves in Schindler’s enamelware factory, he went to great lengths to ensure they were protected.

Schindler repeatedly bribed SS officers to not deport his workers to extermination camps, adding an armaments manufacturing division to his factory so that he could claim his Jewish workers essential to the war effort. When Krakow was liquidated, and many of its Jewish inhabitants sent to their deaths, Schindler let his workers stay safe within the walls of his factory overnight so that they would not be taken.

Later, Schindler convinced the SS to convert his factory into a branch of Plaszow concentration camp, and brought in Jews from other camps as well, protecting them from the brutality of the Nazis at great personal risk, even going so far as to falsify armament production numbers so as to continue safeguarding his Jewish workers, only shutting down operations the day that the Soviets liberated the local concentration camps. Schindler’s act of kindness saved the lives of over a thousand people.”

Dr. George Cladis writes, “we’re called to be an agent of God’s kindness in the world, exhibiting the richness of God’s grace and presence to those around us. Kindness in Scripture implies a sustained relationship. It isn’t that hard to practice our faith on Sunday mornings at church…but what about the rest of the week? Imagine if we took what we believe into our unique spheres of life, and spilled out the kindness of God there?” This week, go, invest yourself in living out Jesus’ kindness wherever he leads you.