The Best Spelling Mistake Ever Made: the Fruit of "Little Kind Ones" ~ Romans 2:4; Titus 3:3-6

 

 

In the Gospel of Mark Jesus starts his ministry with this announcement: ¹⁵ “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” And I want to zoom in on an odd word for a sermon that’s about kindness – “repent.” Such a churchy word, right? And yet, I believe that this word is terribly important to Jesus and the Apostle Paul and also one that the church has gotten totally wrong for quite a long time. What do I mean? If you’re like me – you probably grew up thinking of “repent” like this - that it’s  about being really sad.

 

Or experiencing it like this 

 

 – that, at its worst, it’s about self-loathing, or even hurting or hating yourself. Now, we only need to pay careful attention to Jesus’ announcement to know that this understanding can’t be right. Why must I feel bad or guilty in order to “believe the good news”? Why would Jesus, who was called a glutton and drunkard, who made wine at weddings, and hung out with sinners, need me to hate myself? The Apostle Paul will add to this mystery by offering us an intriguing claim that “God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.” And if that’s true – then what does repentance mean and how does it connect with kindness? And to answer that question we’re going to discover that kindness invites us to (1) a bigger vision of God, (2) a better story for us, and (3) a broader human connection for all.

First, a bigger vision of God.

The word “repent” is one of the most misunderstood words in all of Scripture. The Greek word is “metanoeō” which is a compound based on two words joined together: meta (beyond) and nous (mind). It means something like “go beyond the mind that you have” or “awaken to a new way of thinking.” (Advance) Or as I’ve heard millennials say “going meta.” It’s not so much a moralizing word but an invitation to wake up and change your way of seeing and knowing who God is and what God is doing through Jesus to transform the world. Repentance is awakening to the bigger vision that God is always and forever kind and that good news is how the world is changed.

The Spiritual director, Caroline Oakes, offers a great object lesson to express Jesus’ meaning of repentance. She invites us to make the letter O by touching our thumb with the tip of our forefinger and then making a telescope of sorts by bringing the other fingers in line. Now, close one eye and look around through the telescope. You can see but you are limited and hindered. Now, while you are still looking through the hole, open all your fingers and open both eyes. Look how much more you can see. That opening of your hand and acquiring better vision is what Jesus and Paul mean by “repent.” And that new way of seeing begins when we understand the good news of Jesus and Paul that God is kind.

Kindness invites us to “Wake up!” not necessarily “Feel bad!” (though tears still may be shed). And what are we to awaken to? That what motivates us to change, to open our hands and our eyes to God and one another, is when we recognize that God isn’t keeping score, holding grudges, waiting to drop the hammer. We discover a bigger vision that God is always and forever kind. And that (1) bigger vision of kindness is the 

 (2) better story for us that Jesus came to tell.

Jesus’ signature story of kindness and repentant-awakening is found in Luke 15 when he was gently talking to the hurting and the harmed and being judged by religious people for doing so. It’s a story about a son who selfishly demands his inheritance before his father has even died, and then squanders it on “wild living.” But when famine strikes, the son desperately finds a job (horrifying Jesus’ audience) working for a pig farmer – so hungry that he even considers eating their slop. But he “came to his senses,” Jesus says, which is a fantastic way of explaining repentance, when he realizes that his father his generous and kind, and feeds everyone. At which point, the son returns home and before he can even begin to apologize – while he is still a long way off – his father, filled with love, runs to him and embraces him. Jesus’ story reveals that repentance doesn’t make the prodigal a son. It meant awakening to the fact that he always was. His sorrow filled confession isn’t why the Father welcomes him. He was already welcome. His coming to his senses was itself a gracious awakening to the kindness of his father who patiently, lovingly, waited.

Friends, our sin, shame, and guilt, punish us enough. Guilt and judgment are not punitive acts required by God BEFORE he can be kind. Unlike punishment which narrows our vision with fear and shame, kindness is a story that helps us release our fear and embrace a God who is always kind even when we’re not. Jesus’ story of kindness widens our vision because it tells us that we always have a home. The Apostle Paul writes in Titus 3, that the kindness of God through Jesus appeared “not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” So (1)  kindness awakens us to a bigger vision of God and (2)  better story for us, but, it also does one more thing . . .

(3) Kindness creates a broader human connection for all of us.

At this point, it’s important to talk about the origins of the word kindness in English. Originally, it meant the duty of goodness toward one’s own family, one’s kin. Kindness originally was kin-ness, get it? Jesus will upend this notion and declared that everyone is kin and thus everyone deserves kindness. And it turns out that the kindness of God announced by Jesus is more than the source of repentance, more than simply a better story about who we are and who God is, it is also our biological reality given to us by God. Kindness is what we were made for.

We truly awaken when we recognize that the God who is kind is the one who made us kindly. Scientists tell us that oxytocin, sometimes called "the love hormone," or “cuddle chemical,” plays a role in forming social bonds and trusting other people. It's the hormone that mothers produce when they breastfeed, cementing a bond with their baby. It’s also released when couples are physically intimate. But here’s the kicker: acts of kindness, like breastfeeding and sexual intimacy, also increase levels of oxytocin making us more trusting, more generous, friendlier, even lowering our blood pressure. And these biological realities occur in both the giver of kindness and the receiver of kindness. So kindness, biologically, helps us mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally. It’s a fruit that reproduces every time it’s eaten. 

So we’ve seen that (1) kindness awakens us to a bigger vision of a God who transforms our way of seeing with kindness. (2) Kindness is a better story that Jesus wants to teach us about ourselves – we deserve it. And even that (3) kindness connects us – intimately – to one another. But I’ve saved the best for last. Kindness is also the best spelling mistake ever made.

In Greek the word “kind” is χρηστός / chrēstos, which is almost identical to the word Χριστός / christos meaning “anointed." It’s one letter of difference yet both letters sound the same resulting in Jesus the kind One versus Jesus the annointed. For Greek Speakers in the first century, who weren’t Jews and had no notion of a “messiah” or “anointed one,” this caused a lot of confusion. In our oldest fully intact version of the New Testament, called the Codex Sinaiticus, each time the word Christian appears (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16) the copyist (the one copying the New Testament by hand), instead of writing Χριστιανός / Christianos, meaning “little Christ,” wrote Χρηστιανός / Chrēstianos, meaning “little kind ones.”I pray that people would make that spelling mistake again. 

I invite you today to repent and become a little kind one, to awaken to the reality of a meta-story of a kind God who invites people to change by blowing people’s minds (that’s my definition of repentance). I invite you to awaken to the reality that kindness is what you were made to offer others, what you were made to receive, and what you were made for. I invite you to awaken to the reality of leaning on the Holy Spirit to bear the fruit of Jesus Chrēstos, Jesus the Kind One. Amen.

What's love got to do with it?: the Fruit of the Spirit - Love ~ 1 John 4:7-9; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

We just finished a whole series on the power of poetry only to run smack dab into the fact that our first fruit is best described by a Paul with a poem. We always hear this poem at weddings and yet when we read it in the context of the Bible. It’s for a church divided.

It is in the difficult realities of relationships and community that real love described by Paul which is desperately needed in our current social and political climate. So we are going to be discussing fruit that is necessary so that we might walk hand in hand even when we don’t see eye to eye. But we should at this point offer a definition of what we mean by “fruit of the Spirit.” The fruit of the Spirit are heavenly virtues gifted by God through the Holy Spirit to conform us to the character of Christ. That is the purpose of fruit. We don’t always have to agree on things but we must all participate in the fruit that Jesus reveals and gives. But we are still left with the nagging question, “What defines love?”

Today we’re going to talk about the source of fruit, the God of love and our transformation. We’re basically going to answer the question: Who is God and how do we change? And then we’re going to look more clearly at the fruit of love – what it is and how do we know we’re doing it - by taking Dr. Lemmond’s Love Test!

God is love and love is a “peanut” (the only root fruit).                                 

In 1 John 4:8 we hear that “God is love.” Not that God loves, but that God IS love. “God is love” is foundational because it establishes that love is the essence, the very character, of God. We need to know that God is not trying to love us. God isn't pumping God’s self up to care about us because God is love itself. You don’t need to God into love, send flowers, offer candy, or even change your attitude or speak directly. God will always love you. And 1 John states that any experience of love is an experience of God and any experience of God must be an experience of love.

1 John 4:8 is important because the verse begins with this statement, “Anyone who does not love, does not know God.” And if we think about this, we realize that in any discussion – social, spiritual, political, or personal - God and love can never be separated. 1 John 4:7-9 means that anyone who is not loving reveals that he or she does not really know God and any view of God that is not loving is not an accurate view of God. But we are still left with the nagging question, “What defines love?” Fortunately, the Bible contains a wonderful definition of love which not only tells us about it, but also tells us about God since God is love. This definition is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 known as the love chapter and it sets it out this way.

“Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

Now if this biblical definition of love is correct, then we can with great confidence know that we are learning something about God and replace every use of the word “love” in vss. 4-8, with the word “God” to gain a much more accurate perception of who God is because God is the root and source of all love. God is the root of every fruit! To say the “fruit of the Spirit” is to recognize the source from which they come. All of the fruit mentioned in Galatians 5 must be, first and foremost, understood as reflecting God’s own character BEFORE they’re ever ours. YOU are not the root. That’s why I said in my first point that love is a peanut. Peanuts are the only root-fruit in which you are ingesting the source, the root, of what is also being grown. In the same way, God is the root of love which is the very source of your own growth.

If we don’t get this right that God is the root of the fruit, we will imagine that this description of love and the source of our own fruitfulness is a burden placed upon us to do better. We’ll throw up our hands and say, “Who can love so selflessly as this chapter describes?” Without any waffling about our need to act lovingly, we should remember that 1 Corinthians 13 presents no command directed at us anywhere in the chapter. I am not saying that we aren’t called to live out the love of this chapter (Jesus will command us to love God and neighbor). But when we recognize that love is first and foremost fruit and that God is the root we begin to understand that we will only be able to be fruitful by uniting our lives, in conscious surrender to God. So, if you’re taking notes, write at the top of the page “Love TO DO List” and then cross it out. The fruit of the Spirit is not a to-do list. This is a list of things that are done for us and in us by the Spirit of God, which is why in Paul’s anti-list to the fruit of the Spirit he uses the term “works” or “acts” of the flesh. So we must begin this study by centering ourselves away from a to-do or how-to mentality toward a God-is, God-did list. Verses 10-12 remind us that God will complete this fruiting of love in us and says it will be us finally seeing each other and God “face to face.” But notice that nothing changes on God’s side. At that moment, God will love us the same as God loves us right now (all the verbs are in the present tense). The change will occur in us when we finally recognize just how much God loves us. We will finally comprehend that we are “fully known.” I want to invite you right now to that reality - surrendering to the fact that God is already present, actively loving us. I invite you to awaken to the inevitable spiritual reality that you and everyone else is “fully known.”

God is not some Old Man in the sky. God is the active force of love that animates the entire universe. You are not the engine of your own change. You need only surrender to the gravity of love – God’s own character which saturates the world. You need only give yourself over to the way in which the river is already flowing. The first element of change in Christian transformation is always surrender to the God who is your root and fruit. So make conscious surrender to the God who is love a daily part of your spirituality.

Love ain’t no adjective. Love is a verb.

What exactly does vss. 4-7 say about love?

Paul offers a rich description of the kind of love that he is discussing. However, what most English translations fail to capture is that all these descriptors are verbs, not adjectives. What might seem like a pedantic grammatical point is actually quite important. That is, the love that Paul is describing is not merely some sort of emotional state but real action.

Paul describes what love must do or not do rather than what love is. He does not romanticize it with abstract language or metaphor (like “love is a rose”) but uses action verbs to describe it, as in 13:4-7: makrothymeo (“to be patient”), chresteuomai (“to act kindly”), zeloo (“to be jealous”), perpereuomai (“to brag”), physiomai (“to be proud”), aschemoneo (“to behave indecently”), zeteo (“to desire”), paroxynomai (“to be upset”), logizomai (“to reckon”), chairo (“to rejoice”), synkairo (“to rejoice with”), stego (“to bear”), pisteuo (“to believe”), elpizo (“to hope”), hypomeno (“to endure”).

Seven out of the fifteen action-verbs have to do with what love must do (NOTE: I couldn’t translate it utterly as it should be but used adverbs in order to connect to a verb): It literally reads “Love patiences” but we don’t talk that way. Perhaps better is “Love waits patiently,” “Love acts kindly,” “Love rejoices in the truth,” “Love bears all things,” “Love believes all things,” “Love hopes all things,” and “Love endures all things.” Then, the rest (eight of them) has to do with what love should not do: “Love does not envy,” “Love does not boast,” “Love doesn’t act arrogantly,” “or rudely,” “or irritably,” “or resentfully.”

Love is a busy, present tense, active thing that never ceases to work because it is God’s work. It is always finding ways to express itself for the good of others. The point is not a flowery description of what love “is” but of what love is doing, and especially what love does to one’s brother or sister in the church.

Paul never says that such love feels good for the giver, and this is where the typical use of this chapter goes off the rails. Such misunderstanding creates trouble for the realities of the church. Because of our disordered assumptions about what love actually is, we often act as though the mission of the church is to gather like-minded and likeable people together. We think that in such a community it will be easy for us to love or, more honestly, to “feel the love.” But true love is not measured by how good it makes us feel. In the context of 1 Corinthians, it would be better to say that the measure of love is its capacity for active compassion in a context of tension and disagreement without division.

You know how in certain Lifestyle magazines they have test to help determine whether you like something, or how to know if you’re doing something well. I thought it would be fun to create a Love Test based on 1 Corinthians 13 – when you speak, when you go on social media; When you are talking to your annoying child, annoying boss, annoying spouse, annoying church member?

Am I waiting patiently? Am I acting kindly? Am I boasting about myself? Am I dishonoring others? Or, use your name in place of “love” in the chapter. “Jon is waiting patiently. Jon is acting kindly. Jon is not behaving enviously.” But here’s the thing. You can and should take this test yourself. BUT – you also must allow this test to be taken by the person you are acting towards. I’m not saying that the other person always gets the say. If you are or have been a parent you know full well that immaturity can associate real love with mean-spiritedness. However, if you are dealing with another adult – or a person who is mature enough – or who sits on the margins and has a certain point of view – and they are telling you that you are not patient, not kind, are being boastful, are rude, are recording wrongs. Then you are failing the test and will have to try again and take it again. I meet too many Christians who wish to argue that the intent to love secures the fact that they are doing so. When I’m being a bit salty – I have on occasion said that that is exactly how abusive parents spouses talk explain away their own violence. Can’t you see that I am loving you?

I also want you to know that there are trick questions on this test. By the way, I loved trick questions when I was a professor because they often real true understanding or comprehension. In the Medieval period confession manuals for priest would literally insert trick questions to ask parishioners to ensure that they were paying attention and awake. In one confession manual, it randomly inserted the question, “Have you plotted to kill the king?” That question would surprise people and force them to pay attention because of course they hadn’t. The best trick questions aim to trip you up by exposing your own false assumptions by jarring you awake. Paul talks about them at the beginning of the chapter but they are worth mentioning here. Don’t be fooled by thinking that you are loving well if you can simply answer “yes” to these questions: “Am I gifted?” “Am I right?” “Have I sacrificed a lot?”

So friends – God is love. And that means that God is always loving and that God is the source of all loving and the very root of your own fruit. So surrender to God and begin to actively allow God’s own life to shape your own in the present to act lovingly toward others. And you do that by pausing and surrendering to the utterly unchangeable reality that you are fully known.