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TEACHINGS TO VALLEY VIEW COMMUNITY CHURCH

Living Inside Out

11/11/2007 - Kind Love, Galatians 5:22-23

This Sunday our Valley View community joins thousands of churches around the world in observing the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. It's a reminder that there are millions of our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering some form of persecution be it physical, mental, emotional, relational, financial simply because they've chosen to align themselves with Jesus Christ and his kingdom. It's something most of us will never experience.

And so on this day and many other times throughout the year we pray for their strength and their faith and their courage and their ability to forgive their enemies. They are the ones, Jesus said, that will reign in his kingdom. They will be great there.

Today is also the day that we join millions of people in sending shoeboxes of love and hope to needy children around the world. Operation Christmas Child has become a spiritual practice here at Valley View over the last number of years. It's a tangible way that all of us can offer life and hope to kids and families who have no hope. Last year, over 7.6 million shoeboxes were sent to children in 105 countries. And here is what a few of them said.

A child from Malawi says, "Everything I got was of great value. My mum has just given birth to a baby boy. In the box there was a beautiful blanket, three pairs of baby clothes, sweets for all of us, soap, toothpaste - just to mention a few items. All these things my daddy could not afford to buy. Please send our sincere gratitude to the people who sent us these gifts. Everybody is happy. These are gifts from God."

A child from Kazakstan says, "Greetings! My name is Aigul. I am 13. I am Kazakh. All the members of my family (grandmother and grandfather, brother, sister and parents) are Muslims. One day my classmate Zhanna asked me to the Zion church. She said that there would be a great Christmas holiday. I decided to go, and I liked it very much. There were a lot of children. We read the Bible, prayed, played games, and sang songs about God. My brother, sister, and I began to go there every Sunday.

"But our family was against that - they said that we are Muslims and forbade me to go to the church. One day when they all went to the marketplace, I ran to the church where there was a holiday celebration. I received a gift from America. At first I had been very happy, but then I got upset that members of my family might find out about my church visit.

"We and our teachers from Sunday school prayed for my relatives and then I went home. My parents were at home and when they saw me they were angry. I boldly went to the living room and set my box there. Everyone began to look carefully at the gifts. My father took the cross and hung it on a ring of keys. My mother took a postcard. Then they asked about a meeting for adults in the church, and all my relatives except my grandfather went to the church next Sunday. In the church my mother cried very much, maybe because God touched her heart. Now we have a Bible in the house, and every evening from 8:00 until 8:30 p.m. we read it in turns. Our life was changed due to God and the gift. Thanks to him and to Jane from America."

One more. The parents of a girl in Russia wrote this, "Dear friends. We are thankful to the Lord for your kind hearts. God made a miracle and showed his love and care for our daughter through you. She had been dreaming about a teddy bear! She asked us many times to buy her one, but we couldn't afford it. All we could do was to pray and believe that God would answer her prayers.

"She prayed every night before going to bed about a teddy bear, and she dreamed about having and singing lullabies to him. She got so excited when she received a gift and opened the box. There was a teddy bear inside the box! Just like the one she had been dreaming about. There were also many other toys, crayons, and candies. God fulfilled the need tremendously. It was a great example of God's love to our daughter. Now she understands that it is very important to open up your heart and bless someone - serve someone. Tonight before she went to bed she prayed and asked God to bless those who sent her such a wonderful gift. Then she embraced her teddy bear and fell asleep."

This morning we want to talk about kindness. That's what these shoeboxes represent. Each one represents an act of kindness. Each one has the potential to fulfill a dream, answer a prayer, change a life.

We're in the midst of series called Inside Out and we're learning what it means to let the life of Jesus that's inside all of his followers come out and bless those around us. And many times that life, that love looks like kindness. In fact, that's what kindness is. Kindness is love in action.

When we treat someone with kindness our actions are saying, "I love you. I care about you. I want the best for you." That's what these boxes will say to the kids and the families who receive them. Like that one letter said, "We're thankful for your kind hearts. God made a miracle and showed his love and care for our daughter through you."

You see when we treat others kindly we show God's love to people because we serve a kind God. Kindness is who God is. In fact, every one of the virtues found in Galatians 5:22-23 can be seen in God. The fruit of the Spirit is love. God is love. Joy. God is joyful. Peace. God is a God of peace. Patience. God is patient. Kindness. God is kind. Goodness. God is good. Faithfulness. God is faithful. Gentleness. God is gentle. Self-control. God is self-controlled.

The life of God is inside us and kindness is a big part of that life. The prophet Isaiah talks about the kindness of God when he writes in Isaiah 63:7,I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us— yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.

God is a kind God. Now I know that's a stretch for a lot of people to believe, maybe that's a stretch for you to believe right now because of some of the bad things that have happened to you in your life or are happening to you right now. You may be thinking, "If God is so kind why did my parents get divorced or why was my Dad an alcoholic or why was I abused as a child or raped as a teenager? If God is so kind why did I end up with cancer or some other disease or disability?" And on and on the list can go. Just fill in your favorite hurt and blame it on God. A lot of people do.

I can't answer those questions for you specifically, nobody can. But I can tell you this. We live in a broken world where there is evil all around us and inside us too. And we feel its affects every single day to one degree or another. This world is not the way God wants it to be. But one day he will make it right. He will make it the way it should be. His kingdom will come. His will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That day is coming, but that day is not today. And until that day comes he promises to be with us and to love us and to treat us kindly in the midst of our pain.

And he wants us to treat others kindly as well. I see kindness all over the place in the Valley View community. And it's wonderful! People around here don't just talk about love. You put love into action and you inspire me to want to do the same.

Jen and I have been the recipients of your kindness recently. As some of you know, about a week and a half ago Jennifer was doing a very kind thing. She was taking donated furniture from a family in the area to the Laurel House, the domestic abuse shelter where she volunteers.

We had borrowed Tim's pickup truck and had loaded all the furniture that we could fit into the bed of the truck and while I was turning it around in the driveway Jennifer's hand got caught between the truck and the wall of the house and broke her left wrist in two places. Ouch! Not a very kind thing for me to do. I felt horrible. Jen felt horrible. The couple who donated the furniture felt horrible about it. We couldn't believe it actually!

And when it became obvious that she was in way too much pain to move we called 911 and an ambulance took us to Phoenixville Hospital. And after I called home to let the kids know what had happened to mom, I called Tim and asked him to pray. But shortly after we arrived at the ER, Tim showed up and it was just so good to have him there. He helped to calm our fears and take our minds off the pain. That's kindness. That's love in action.

Proverbs 12:25 says, Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. And anxious is how we were feeling that night, but Tim's kind words cheered us up. The morphine drip helped too!

The next day we went to the orthopedic doctor and were treated kindly by the Physician's Assistant who just so happens to be part of our Valley View community, Sharon Folger. That was a special gift from God. And since we've been home there have been phone calls and get well cards and flowers and meals and we have felt the kindness of God to us through you.

You see life is full of accidents and broken bones and all kinds of hurts. Even when we're doing kind things we can get hurt. But if we just focus on the hurts we're going to miss the kindness of God. Because the kindness of God comes at us through the people who help us get through the hurts.

I've never forgotten that quote that I heard a speaker say once. I've shared it with you before. "Be kind to everyone, because everyone is fighting a battle." I've come to see that that is so true. No one has it easy. Everyone is fighting a battle of some sort. So be kind to them.

One author I read said, "Our kindness should embrace all of life … pets, livestock, trees, grass, shrubs, flowers, forests, lakes, wildlife, resources of the earth entrusted to our care … all should be treated with kindness. Perhaps no other fruit of the Spirit has such far reaching effects."

There's a lot of talk these days about global warming and taking care of the planet. It's become a major political issue. This week I spent a few hours with my daughter on a field trip up to a landfill in Birdsboro. It was part of her fifth grade science unit on trash and recycling. And I was impressed at the regulations that are now in place to protect the environment from the harm and hazards of waste removal. In mean when I was in fifth grade everything was just thrown into a dump. Who cares? Just get rid of it. But you can't get away with that anymore because of the harm trash can do to the environment.

And that's a good thing. As believers in Jesus we should be on the cutting edge of those concerns because this is the world that God created and the world that God loves and he gave to us to steward, not to abuse, and one day we know he will renew it all and restore it to the beauty it once had before the fall and the catastrophic effects of sin. So we need to treat this planet kindly. Be kind to people. Be kind to the planet. Be kind to the poor.

A special target for kindness, God says, are those people who are oppressed, bullied, and marginalized. All through Scripture God aligns himself with the poor and the disadvantaged. "What ever you did for one of the least of these," Jesus said, "you did for me." Look at these passages I discovered this week.

Proverbs 14:21, To despise the poor is to sin, but blessed are those who are kind to the needy.

Proverbs 14:31, Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

Proverbs 19:17, Those who are kind to the poor lend to the Lord and he will reward them for what they have done.

Be kind to the needy. Be kind to the poor. On Wednesday night a group of us were sitting around our family room talking about these passages and how they are at the heart of the mission of Christ. God is always on the side of the poor and the oppressed. He loves to identify with them. Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of God, Jesus said.

In his book The Irresistible Revolution Shane Claiborne writes, "Jesus was not simply a missionary to the poor. He was poor - born a baby refugee from the badlands of Nazareth, wandered the world as a homeless rabbi, died the rotten death of insurrectionists and bandits on the cross, executed by an oppressive empire, buried in a borrowed tomb. Jesus was crucified not for helping poor people but for joining them. That is the Jesus we follow."

And when we show kindness to those who are in need whether its through giving money or food or clothes or redistributing resources like donated furniture in a pickup truck or volunteering our time and talents at a shelter it's like we're lending to the Lord. We are putting God in our debt. And he will make sure that we are rewarded, repaid in some way. And I believe that the joy we feel inside when we help someone in need is a big part of that reward.

I was talking to the director of the homeless shelter this week and said, "We want to come down and serve again on Wednesday night. Do you have anything for us to do?" And Genny said, "Anything to do? There is always tons to do. You can sort clothes and other donated items and help us get organized. But even more than that you can just come and sit and talk with the residents here. Listen to their stories. That would be wonderful. They love when people do that."

"Be kind to everyone, because everyone is fighting a battle, but especially be kind to the poor," Jesus says. "Treat them like you would treat me."

Be kind to your enemies too. That takes kindness up another notch, doesn't it? And we say, "No way! Why should I be kind to my enemies?" Because if you're kind to your enemies, you won't have any will you? Think about it. It takes two to fight. But if you're not going to fight, then you really don't have an enemy do you? Again, God is the model for this.

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 children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

How is God kind to the ungrateful and the wicked? Jesus adds these words in Matthew 5:45, Your Father in heaven causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Being kind to our enemies is a God thing. I don't want to be kind to someone who threatens me or opposes me or criticizes me or slanders me or hurts me in some way. But remember we're not talking about our own efforts here. We're talking about living inside out. We're talking about allowing Christ to live out his life through us. And the Christ in us wants to love our enemies.

One writer put it this way," Kindness is not the exclusive fruit of Christian character. Some of the most moving kindness ever shown me came from total strangers, who, in some cases, were not Christians. However, our kindness should be of such quality that we can even love our enemies. To live this way calls for courage. Some of those to whom we extend kindness will turn around and kick us in the teeth.

"It is sheer folly to extend kindness to others expecting that those same people will reciprocate. Often they will not show any appreciation at all. We must leave the results entirely in God's hands. Kindness will be returned to us, but often from totally unexpected sources and frequently from strangers to whom we never showed kindness in the first place. God makes sure that the principle of sowing and reaping never falters."

Remember, when we choose to be kind to someone, anyone, don't expect kindness in return. But it will come back to us in some way. God guarantees it.

Being kind to our enemies is what the persecuted church is faced with every single day. That's what they ask us to pray about. So I want to come full circle this morning and close with this true story about Richard Wurmbrand who wrote the book Tortured for Christ.

Wurmbrand was a pastor in Romania when the communists took over the country in 1945 and started controlling the churches. Not long after that he was arrested and imprisoned first for 8 ½ years and later again for 5 ½ years. And in his book he tells of the unspeakable treatment he received.

He spent the first three years in solitary confinement. And then he was put in an ice-box, a "refrigerator cell," and half frozen to death. He would be taken out to thaw and then put back in again over and over and over. Many of his bones were broken including four vertebrae in his back, he was carved in a dozen places, burned and cut with 18 holes in his body. Yet he wouldn't renounce his faith in Christ. Nor would he stop loving his enemies. He was determined to live inside out.

At one point he writes, "I decided early on that if the communists allowed no place for Jesus in their hearts, then I would allow no place for Satan in mine. I love my enemies with all my heart. Communists can kill Christians, but they cannot kill their love towards even those who killed them."

Valley View let's continue to be a kind community. To people. To the planet. To the poor. Even to our enemies. "Be kind to everyone, because everyone is fighting a battle."

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Valley View Community Church, feel free to contact us at info@valleyviewseek.org or call 610.631.2707.