So,

What is the kindest thing anyone has done for you?

Brought you over a meal when you were sick?

Helped you get your car out of the driveway in a snow storm.

Back when I was visiting Mick’s Market for an occasion ham, egg and cheese on hard roll, I heard the head of the deli’s daughter having a complete melt down because she had missed the bus to school during June’s Regents exams.

She was pleading with her mother with tears about driving her to school, but mom was just unable with a whole stack of people waiting for orders.

So, I called Sarah the mom over and said, “look, I don’t have to be to work at any particular time, so I could go get my car and take her to school for you, but I am only offering, knowing that either you or she might be uncomfortable with that. So, you can decide, talk it over with her, and she can be there in like twenty minutes.”

So, I took her. She was silent most of the way there, staring at her hands until I said, “By the way, I really like red hair, I used to have red hair.” She looked up very quizzically and said “really?”

What is the kindest thing you have done for someone else?

While there have been many times when people have been exceptionally kind to Sue and I, one of the times that stands out was when Adam Battles came over and filled up my car with gas.

I had called the Session to let them know that my father had died after what was supposedly successful carotid artery surgery, and that Sue and I and newborn baby Brian were headed to Buffalo to be with my mother and sisters.

Adam, who was on the Session at the time, showed up at our door and asked me for my car keys and disappeared with the car, only to come back to announce that the gas tank was full, since it was evening and he knew we would be driving through the night and wouldn’t find many places open for gas.

He never asked what was needed!

He just did a kindness, because that is what the people of God do!

What is the kindest thing anyone has done for you?

And as long as we are talking about it, what are some of the kindnesses you have shared with others? Acts of love or generosity that you have done even though there was no benefit to you.

Did you know that being kind not only marks you out as being a good Boy Scout - after all the Boy Scout Law says, “a scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent - it also marks you as a person who is a bit fruity. Yep

Because God’s people are filled with the Holy Spirit which is made evident in the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

In fact, Paul here in Colossians reminds us again that resurrection people are kind!

It is a sure sign that we understand our forgiven status, that we are no long proud and arrogant, argumentative and difficult, divisive, and dismissive of others, but are instead gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient!

Resurrection changes everything.

It both makes us into people of hope, because our future is secure, but it also empowers us to be like Christ.

It empowers us to care about others, to love them, even when we disagree with them, even when they are hard to love, even when they persecute us, even when that kindness is costly.

Our job as Christ followers is not to put them down, or to prove them wrong, or to make sure they get their comeuppance…

But to love them into a life changing relationship with the living Christ, an encounter that can change their understanding of themselves and their vision of the world and can enable them to be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient too!

Resurrection is not just a conversation about the future. It’s not just a conversation about what will happen to us after death, because as Paul makes clear it has everyday consequences.
Paul says, “God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient. 13 Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you. 14 Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.”

Kindness truly is a superpower, because it comes from supernatural origins in the heart of God, and…

It can change the everyday circumstances and certainly the attitude of the people around us who are struggling, lost, hurt, confused, and angry.

So, the question now is, who do you need to be kind to?

Who do you know who has been struggling with illness or childcare or finances or just life?

And what could you do that would “make a difference” even for just a moment.

Bob Harvey has been in and out of the hospital and the rehabilitation home. I don’t know what is on his diet, but what about dropping off just a slice of that birthday cake you probably shouldn’t eat anyway.

Archie and Maria are struggling at home. What about sending a card with a note that you are praying for them every day.

Our confirmation class is joining the church next Sunday. Write one verse of scripture that you love on an index card for each of the three of them, Kaitlyn, Mason and Audrey, or a special prayer and we will include them in their gift bags.

And which of your neighbors needs you right now to do something to give them hope, which of your co-workers, which of your enemies?

Whatever it is, get your kindness engine running to show that resurrection power is alive and well in your life and that you are actively looking for ways to touch others with the love and peace and presence of Christ through your kindness.

Amen!