This sermon is about kindness. Kindness is mentioned hundreds of times in the Bible. There are many stories of amazing kindness, such as the story of the Good Samaritan helping a total stranger, taking care of him, paying for his hotel room, and coming back later to make sure he is okay. He didn’t get anything in return for what he did, and he didn’t expect it. He did it because that’s what good people do.
There is the story of Pharaoh’s daughter seeing the baby Moses in a basket in the reeds, taking him in, and finding a nursemaid to raise the baby. She paid the nursemaid, not expecting to get anything back. She did it because a baby needed help.
There is the story of Joseph being kind to his brothers, even though his brothers plotted to kill him, and sold him into slavery. He could have gotten revenge on them when they came to Egypt for food, but instead he gave them the food they needed and many gifts. He did it because he loved his brothers.
There is the story about the woman Ruth, who lost her husband, and all of the men in her life. But she took care of her mother-in-law Naomi. When they came to Bethlehem, there was a famine going on so there was not much to eat. But she met a man named Boaz who was kind to her. Why? Because he had heard about Ruth being king to Naomi. Kindness begets more kindness.
There is the story of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair. She is described as a woman who had lived a sinful life, but she did something that the Pharisee who owned the house did not do – she took care of his needs. And she even paid for a bottle of perfume to put on his feet, even though she was not rich. She did not ask for anything in return.
When people are kind to each other, it makes people feel better. You can help people cross the street, you can open the door, it gives people a better day.
It is hard to be kind when you are angry at someone. When someone is bullying you, for example, you may want to hurt them. But you don’t know where they are coming from. You need to change the negative into a positive. You try to understand them, and you can ask them “why did you say that?” Then let them explain to you why they said that. Or you can find out why they are upset with you. For example, one guy who was bullying me, turned out to have an autistic sister.
When people are grieving it is important to be kind to them. Put yourself in their shoes. They may need good words, hugs.
People give homeless people a bad rap. They may think they are better than them. They sometimes walk funny and people think they are drunk. People are afraid they will take advantage of them. Kindness is not to give money directly them, because they may use it to take drugs, but to help them in other ways, such as giving money for social services. Organizations can help them find housing, food, jobs and other things.
In your family, there may be people who you have to tolerate. But you can greet them, and include them. You can talk to them and listen. Maybe you can see them in a different light, and understand where they are coming from. This is the kindness of acceptance. Don’t do it because you might get something back. Do it because it is what good people do.
Amen.
READINGS
Old Testament Reading: Ruth 2:1-12
Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek,whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grainbehind anyone in whose eyes I find favor.” Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!” “The Lord bless you!” they answered. Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?” The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”
At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel,under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
New Testament reading: Matthew 25:31-45
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fireprepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
Reading from Swedenborg’s New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine #104
Kindness is an inner desire that makes us want to do good things even if we do not get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do them. When we do good things from this inner desire, there is kindness in everything we think, say, want and do. It may be said that a person and an angel, as to their interiors, is kindness, when good is their neighbor. So widely does kindness extend itself.