The Art of Loving: Showing Kindness (1 Cor. 13:4-8)

The Art of Loving: Show Kindness
1 Corinthians 13:4-8

INTRODUCTION:
I like Peanuts cartoons. Rachel got me a Charlie Brown and a Snoopy plush doll for my office two Christmases ago. When I read Peanuts, it reminds me how simple life can be. It is also a reminder to be nice to the “Charlie Browns” of the world.

Charlie Brown picked up the ringing phone one time. A female voice on the other end said, “Charlie Brown, we’re gong to miss you. Marcy and I are going to camp, and we’re going to be swimming instructors.”

Then Marcy took the phone and said, “Charles, we just called to say good-bye and that we love you.”

Charlie Brown hung up the phone and stood there with a grin from ear to ear. Somebody asked him, “Who was that?”

“I think it was a right number,” Charlie Brown replied.

The art of loving is always the right thing to do. So important is the art of loving to our lives and existence as human beings as well as our lives as Christians, that we are devoting the first Sunday of every month this year to “The Art of Loving.”

A teacher asked her students to tell her the meaning of “loving-kindness.” One little boy jumped up and said, “If I was hungry and someone gave me a piece of bread that would be kindness. But if they put a little jam on it, that would be loving kindness!”

Family, the apostle Paul calls on us to practice “kindness” as an expression of a loving heart.

SHOW KINDNESS IMMEDIATELY:
It is so important for us to act as soon as the mood strikes us! The longer we wait to show kindness, the less likely we are to do it. For example, someone might show kindness to us and we think, “I’ll write them a note and tell them I appreciate what they did for me.” But then life gets in the way and we forget.

There is a prayer that was popular among the Quakers which said, “I expect to pass this way but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show or any good I can do for my fellow human beings, let me do it now. Let me not defer it nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

Jesus challenged us to “go the extra mile” in Matthew 5:41. How about if we constantly thank those who have gone the extra mile with us? Look for opportunities to express kindness and appreciate to those who go above and beyond the call of duty? “Boy, you’re really doing a great job! I appreciate what you’re doing.”

A heart that loves like Jesus loves might have the right to be demanding, but instead, it is kind. A loving heart doesn’t just do big, grand things for other people. It gives the gift of courtesy in a hundred different ways, day in and day out.

I remember Jesus had been asked by an official of the synagogue to come and raise his daughter from death, and Jesus left immediately. The story is told in Mark 8. But on the way, a woman who had been losing blood for twelve years came up and touched the border of His garment and this whole distraction delayed Jesus. But, Jesus took the time to heal the woman and to teach the crowd about His miraculous ability.

Every single interaction we have with other people is either expressed in kindness and courtesy, or it is not. We decide every time, multiple times a day whether we are going to live in love, or not.

THE PERFECT EXAMPLE:
Let’s reflect on a few more examples of Jesus’ kindness and courtesy.

Mark 10:13-16 - Parents wanted Jesus to bless their children. The ritual of “laying on hands” and blessing children had a long history in Jewish culture, going all the way back into the book of Genesis. If you add to that, the fact that Jesus could perform miracles, then you can understand how significant it was for these parents to want Jesus to lay His hands on their children and bless them. The apostles thought Jesus was too busy or too important and they rebuked these parents. But Jesus, in turn, rebuked His apostles; scolded them for not having the humility they ought to have, and then blessed those little children.

In the next scene, Mark 10:17-22, Jesus dealt with a man who asked a question and Jesus knew that the man was not going to like the answer. But Jesus was kind anyway. In fact, Mark writes that Jesus “felt love for him” (ver. 21).

How do we feel about people who are: young, rich, and influential? It seems our natural tendency is to be envious and / or resent that person. Could we be kind and courteous to such a person? Or would we be cynical and bitter?

An older woman was looking for a parking spot at a grocery store. She saw an empty place and started to turn in there when a young 20-something man whipped in right in front of her. As he was walking by her car, he leaned over and said, “That’s what you can do when you’re young and quick!” Well, the woman didn’t say anything, she just rammed her car right into his car, found another parking place and as she walked by him with his mouth hanging open, she said, “That’s what you can do when you’re old and rich!”

A little boy had a canary which he loved very much. His mother got sick and the singing of that canary annoyed her greatly in her weakened condition. The mom mentioned to her son that the canary’s singing made her pain worse. That little boy gave his canary to his cousin. When he got home, he told his mom that the little canary would not cause her any more pain. He had given it away. “But did you not love that bird very much?” She asked.

“Yes,” he said, “but I love you a great deal more. I could not really love anything that gave you pain.” How kind are we? How much are we willing to do, to show love and kindness to others around us?

It seems like Jesus’ life was one interruption after another. But He was always kind to other people. He was called a “friend of sinners” (Matt. 11:19). Jesus ate meals with people whom most everyone else despised, like Zaccheus. Jesus was kind to the woman caught in adultery (John 8). He was kind to the woman at Jacob’s well (John 4).

Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead. He fed huge crowds, twice. They had been following Jesus for a few days and He didn’t want to send them way empty handed.

The challenge you and I have - is to imitate Jesus’ kindness. Jesus even told us to be kind to our enemies! Matt. 5:43-48. Why? Because when we are kind to everyone, even our enemies, then we are reflecting the nature of our God: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8).

Of course, Jesus taught us in Matthew 25:31-46, when He pictured what the great judgment will look like, that when we serve other people, we are serving Him.

Unawares

They said: “The Master is coming
To honor the town today,
And none can tell at whose hour or home
The Master will choose to stay.”
And I thought, while my heart beat wildly,
What if He should come to mine?
How would I strive to entertain
And honor the guest divine?

And straight I turned to toiling
To make my home more neat;
I swept and polished and garnished,
And decked it with blossoms sweet.
I was troubled for fear the Master
Might come ere my task was done,
And I hastened and worked the faster,
And watched the hurrying sun.

But right in the midst of my duties,
A woman came to my door;
She had come to tell me her sorrows,
And my comfort and aid to implore.
And I said, “I cannot listen
Nor help you any today;
I have greater things to attend to.”
And the pleader turned away.

But soon there came another -
A cripple, thin, pale and gray;
And said, “Oh, let me stop and rest
A while in your home, I pray!
I have traveled far since morning,
I am hungry and faint and weak.
My heart is full of misery,
And comfort and help I seek.”

And I said: “I am grieved and sorry,
But I cannot help you today;
I look for a great and noble guest.”
And the cripple went away.

And the day wore onward swiftly,
And my task was nearly done,
And a prayer was ever in my heart,
That the Master to me might come.

And I thought I would spring to meet Him,
And serve Him with utmost care,
When a little child stood by me
With a face so sweet and fair;
Sweet, but with marks of teardrops,
And his clothes were tattered and old.
A finger was bruised and bleeding,
And his little bare feet were cold.

And I said: “I am sorry for you;
You’re sorely in need of care;
But I cannot stop to give it;
You must hasten otherwhere.”
And at the words a shadow
Swept o’er his blue-veined brow;
“Someone will feed and clothe you, dear,
But I am too busy now.”

At last the day was ended,
And my toil was over and done;
My house was sept and garnished,
And I watched in the dusk alone;
Watched, but no footfall sounded,
No one paused at my gate,
No one entered my cottage door.
I could only pray and wait.

I waited till night had deepened,
And the Master had not come.
“He has entered some other door,” I cried,
“And gladdened some other home!
My labor has been for nothing!”
And I bowed my head and wept;
My heart was sore with longing,
Yet, in spite of all, I slept.

Then the Master stood before me,
And His face was grave and fair.
“Three times today I came to your door
And craved your pity and care;
Three times you sent Me onward,
Unhelped and uncomforted;
And the blessing you might have had was lost,
And your chance to serve has fled.”

“O Lord, dear Lord, forgive me!
How could I know it was Thee?”
My very soul was shamed and bowed
In the depths of humility.
And He said: “Thy sin is pardoned,
But the blessing is lost to thee;
For comforting not the least of Mine,
Ye have failed to comfort Me.”
Author unknown; from Willard Tate’s book Habits of a Loving Heart

HOW WILL WE LIVE?
An old Indian man used to meditate every morning on the bank of the Ganges River. One day, when he finished meditating, he saw a scorpion floating helplessly on the water, close to drowning. As the scorpion came near, the old man reached out to rescue it. When he touched it, however, the scorpion stung him.

Instantly, the man withdrew his hand. But soon he tried to save the scorpion again. This time it stung him so severely with its poisonous tail that his hand began to swell and bleed, and his face contorted with pain.

At that point, a bystander saw what was happening and said, “Hey stupid old man, what’s wrong with you? Only a fool would risk his life for such an ugly, evil creature. Don’t you know you could kill yourself trying to save an ungrateful scorpion?”

Looking the bystander straight in the eye, the old man replied, “My friend, just because it’s the scorpion’s nature to sting does not change my nature to save.”

It was Jesus’ nature to show courtesy and kindness to others. That’s the nature of a loving heart. Let’s read again Paul’s description of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, and let’s dedicate ourselves to developing the loving heart as Jesus had…

Take home message: We should focus our hearts on being kind to all those around us, especially to those who are unkind to us.

Start an evangelistic conversation: “What is your view of God? Do you view Him positively or negatively?”