Looking Forward to May 5, 2019 -- Easter 3 -- Kindness and Gentleness

During the Easter Season we are going to work through a series looking at the Fruits of the Spirit as Paul listed them in his letter to the Galatians. Paul listed 8 fruits (well sort of as there are 8 things listed but the word fruit is actually singular in translations that use the metaphor -- the Jerusalem Bible simply says "the Spirit brings") and we have 4 Sundays available for the series so we will look at 2 each week.  This week we look at Kindness and Generosity

Also as this is the first Sunday of the month we will be celebrating Communion.

The Scripture readings for this week are:

• Galatians 5:22-26
• 2 Corinthians 9:6-12

The Sermon title is Gently Growing Kindness

Early Thoughts: Be kind. Be generous. Sounds like pretty common advice doesn't it?  One of the things that came to mind as I was starting to think this morning was this song:


Yes technically the song is about being humble and kind but it seems to fit. (Lyrics here). To be fair there are lines that resonate with a number of the "fruits" we will look at over the next few weeks.

 One of the possible sermon titles for this week that I considered and discarded was the phrase "Sharing is Caring". TO me Kindness and Generosity are often two sides of one coin.  Can we truly be kind to each other if we are not also generous, if we don't give something? That something might be money or some other object that can be held in the hand (this passage from 2 Corinthians is taken fro ma section where Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to contribute to a fund he is collecting to support the Christian community in Jerusalem). It might be time. It might be something else. It isn't necessarily that 'what' that is important, it is the act of giving. I am tempted to say that to give is to be kind and that to be kind is to offer something.  While you can give without being kind (Premier Ralph Klein throwing money at people in a shelter comes to mind, though I am not sure that counted as giving) the reverse is not, to me true.

The challenge, of course is to know best how to be kind. What is the best thing to give? What is the best way to support? Don't think I will be able to fully resolve that in one sermon.

Jesus challenged/encouraged/exhorted/commanded us to love our neighbours both as we love ourselves (Matthew Mark and Luke) and as we have been loved (John). Being kind and generous of spirit is a part of that. And PAul tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. I read that as saying that God prefers us to give, to be kind, to be loving not because we are commanded but because we choose to.

How will you be kind today? How will you be generous? How will you nurture kindness and generosity in your circles of the world?  Somehow I suspect the Time with the Young at HEart this week will be about Random Acts of Kindness....
--Gord