There is no substitute for kindness. Honestly is not a substitute. Holding the feeling of love for another person in your heart is no substitute.
A Sermon By
BPB
WUMC
January 22, 2012
THE DNA OF CHRISTIANS, Part III
Knowing What’s Important
(Mark 10:13-16)
It is seldom the content of our words that can get us into trouble, it’s the manner in which we say those words that can get us into trouble. It’s not so much the WHAT as it is the HOW. We run into this kind of thing with our physicians. A physician with a good “bedside manner” can tell us some pretty discouraging news; but it really helps if that physician expresses such news in a loving and caring way. And sometimes people will say about their new minister, “I don’t care how much he knows until I know how much he cares.” It’s all the same thing, isn’t it? In today’s “speak” someone would say that it’s all a matter of “connecting” with the other person. And we “connect” not with abstract words but with the emotions that are underneath those words.
I.
The setting for today’s story is truly one of the most heart-warming found anywhere in the Bible. And we all are familiar with it.
After a long day of teaching a huge crowd of people, it’s time for everyone to go home and eat supper. Apparently, several mothers in the crowd had brought their children that day. And they wondered if Jesus might speak with them. The disciples sometimes tried to “screen” those who wanted to talk with Jesus. After all, it was usually an irate Pharisee or Sadducee who would try to draw Jesus into some sort of an argument. So the disciples tried to prevent these children from delaying Jesus’ plans for the evening. But Jesus welcomed this opportunity.
He said (Peterson’s translation), “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the Kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s Kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”
What a powerful statement! And this story is also found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. It was probably the high point of the entire day for Jesus. No doubt it was for the children and their parents too.
And then the story concludes with these words: “And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them.”
There is a sense of innocence in this story, isn’t there? There is no improper touch going on here, no one’s motives are being questioned, no child is being abused. I point this out because in today’s world we have become almost cold and sterile in our approach with children. Policies and procedures have been written to “protect” the innocent, because there are those who would take advantage of the innocent. We all know that. But Jesus holds these children in His arms and before He releases each child to their parents He pronounces a blessing.
We have long forgotten the importance of giving a blessing to another person. It was practiced in the Old Testament with great frequency. And here’s the thing, once a blessing is given to another person it could never be rescinded (taken back). Jesus has said that God’s Kingdom belongs to those who will trust God with a simplicity of faith. Children are like that. Adults should be too. Jesus blessed these children as already being in the very Kingdom of God that He, Jesus, came to establish. That’s quite a blessing, indeed! He held them in His arms but it was as if these children were holding Him in their arms…they were holding the Saviour of the world and they trusted every word He spoke because He spoke with a kindness that was communicated from heart to heart.
There was innocence in this story, there was gentleness, there was authenticity, and there was Godlikeness. Blessings are like that…it’s as if God were present to remind you just how important you really are in His Kingdom.
II.
There is no substitute for kindness. Honestly is not a substitute. Holding the feeling of love for another person in your heart is no substitute. Including someone else in your private prayers is no substitute. These are 3 good things but they don’t directly interact with that other person, face to face. Kindness, if it is to be real, is expressed to another person, and usually not so much by words but by emotion and action.
It was Jesus’ kindness that would be remembered by the children that day. First of all, He was giving them time—His time—to be together. If people aren’t connecting with each other today it just might be for the lack of time given to each other. People are on the go, with schedules, and with a long list of things to accomplish.
Two years ago Peggy and Ryan and Wilson and I were out west at Yellowstone and the Tetons. We were eating supper at our all-time favorite restaurant. We were seated at a table, ordered our meals, and we were just waiting for the food. It had been a great day. So Peggy and I were talking about the things we had seen earlier in the day. But Ryan wasn’t entering into the conversation at all. He was texting his friends back home. This went on even after the food had arrived. And so I said to Ryan, “Ryan, your Mom and I are with you and we would like for you to be with us.” And he put down his phone and it stayed in his pocket every time we went out to eat. I was so proud of him.
That’s the difference between not connecting and connecting. It means that you give someone else your time. That’s what Jesus did that day with the children. Without having to say it, Jesus was saying to these kids, “You are important to me. I want to be with you!”
A year ago we discussed random acts of kindness. And you were challenged to share a random act of kindness each month with someone else in our church. I know that such a thing has been going on. And I am so proud of those who have stayed faithful to that challenge.
Sometimes we need to be reminded that kindness has no substitute. Sometimes we need to be reminded that in order to really connect with another person we can’t be in a big hurry, that if we are going to touch another person’s heart it will require that we touch that person with a genuine caring heart of our own, that if we are going to be a blessing for another person we’ll first need to tell them how important they are to us. Every one of us can do these things if we but remember the kindness God has expressed to us over the years. I’m encouraging you to touch others with kindness.
III.
We are born with our own unique blend of DNA from our parents. Before God came calling, I was taking science classes at Mizzou. One of the classes that I took was a course on Genetics. I loved that course. It was so intriguing. It dealt with x and y chromosomes and how you inherit your genetic coding from your mother and father and it showed you how to determine the probabilities of certain traits. For example, if a blue-eyed man married a brown-eyed woman what is the probability that your child will have brown eyes? Those kinds of things are fascinating to me.
I believe that God has a DNA that is transferred to us, too. Jesus is quite clear that He comes inside of us and, with our permission, He helps us to become more and more like Him. Theologically, we know that such a thing is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is like a child who, as an infant, is adopted by a loving family. Now, that child’s DNA will come from her genetic parents. We know that. But as that child is raised by another set of parents altogether and as that child is raised in a loving-caring home, chances are that a whole lot is going to rub off from her adopted family on to her. It doesn’t always work that way, but the chances that it will work that way are pretty strong. That’s what Jesus does once the Holy Spirit comes into our life…Jesus begins to “rub off” on to us. God, the very make up and substance of God, begins to cast its image upon us. The third DNA trait we Christians get from God is kindness. And kindness is so very important because it has no substitute.
Sam Day sent me the neatest little story this week about Forrest Gump.
The day finally arrived. Forrest Gump goes to Heaven…
He is at the Pearly Gates, met by St. Peter himself. However, the
gates are closed, and Forrest approaches the gatekeeper.
St. Peter said, “Well, Forrest, it is certainly good to see you.
We have heard a lot about you. I must tell you, though, that the
place is filling up fast, and we have been administering an entrance examination for everyone. The test is short, but you have to pass it before you can get into Heaven.” Forrest responds, “It sure is good to be here, St. Peter, sir. But nobody ever told me about any entrance exam. I sure hope that the test ain’t too hard. Life was a big enough test as it was.”
St. Peter continued, “Yes, I know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions.
First: What two days of the week begin with the letter T?
Second: How many seconds are there in a year?
Third: What is God’s first name?”
Forrest leaves to think the questions over. He returns the next day and sees St. Peter, who waves him up, and says, “Now that you have had a chance to think the questions over, tell me your answers.”
Forrest replied, “Well, the first one—which two days in the week begin with the letter T? Shucks, that one is easy. That would be Today and Tomorrow.”
The Saint’s eyes opened wide and he exclaimed, “Forrest, that is not what I was thinking, but you do have a point, and I guess I did not specify, so I will give you credit for that answer. How about the next one?” asked St. Peter.
“How many seconds in a year? Now that one is harder,” replied Forrest, “but I thunk and thunk about that, and I guess the only answer can be twelve.”
Astounded, St. Peter said, “Twelve? Twelve? Forrest, how in Heaven’s name could you come up with twelve seconds in a year?
Forrest replied, “Shucks, there’s got to be twelve: January 2nd, February 2nd, March 2nd…”
“Hold it,” interrupts St. Peter. “I see where you are going with this, and I see your point, though that was not quite what I had in mind…but I will have to give you credit for that one, too. Let us go on with the third and final question. Can you tell me God’s first name?”
“Sure,” Forrest replied, “it’s Andy.’
“Andy?” exclaimed an exasperated and frustrated St. Peter.
“Ok, I can understand how you came up with your answers to my first two questions, but just how in the world did you come up with the name Andy as the first name of God?”
“Shucks, that was the easiest one of all,” Forrest replied. “I learnt it from the song,
ANDY WALKS WITH ME,
ANDY TALKS WITH ME,
ANDY TELLS ME I AM HIS OWN.”
St. Peter opened the Pearly Gates, and said: “Run, Forrest, run.”
The story is true:
“And He walks with me,
And He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own.”
There’s the blessing of Jesus’ Kingdom. We are meant to be kind because God is kind to us.
