The Unusual Kindness of God
Download MP3Good evening. We are gonna be in Paul's letter to Titus this evening. So if you would, turn in your bibles to the letter to Titus. We're gonna be in chapter 3. It's also in your worship guides.
Jeffrey Heine:And as you're making your way there, you might recall that we are taking a little bit of a break from our series through the book of Acts. We're taking a break to focus for 4 weeks on some of our church family convictions. So through January, we're looking at 4 out of 10 of our priorities that we share as a church family. 2 weeks ago, at the end of December, we had our annual prayer service, and we focused on our family priority to be a people of prayer. Last week, Joel Brooks focused on the priority of God's word.
Jeffrey Heine:Next week, Matt Francisco will be teaching on seeking the welfare of the city. And this week, we will be looking together at the priority of hospitality. Often at Redeemer, we clarify and say, gospel hospitality, because we aren't talking about just general entertaining. Rather, we are talking about our churches, our family conviction of hospitality. We're talking about a unique aspect of the Christian life and the Christian identity.
Jeffrey Heine:In short, when I say gospel hospitality, I am meaning kindness to strangers that is a result, a consequence, of God's kindness to us. In particular, it's the kindness that God has shown us in Christ Jesus. Hospitality is a family conviction, and convictions are supposed to be recognizable. Convictions aren't the same thing as goals that we just hope to do one day. Convictions are priorities that show up in action today.
Jeffrey Heine:Gospel hospitality at Redeemer looks a lot of different ways throughout the year, but the most consistent way is seen in our home groups. 10 years ago, when I was given the task to build and oversee our group's ministry, some people asked if we were going to do some traditional Sunday school type of ministry or community groups. And when your church is made of about 50 people crammed into a living room slash foyer slash dining room, Sunday school sounds like a luxury. You see, homes were all we had. And through the gospel hospitality of the Brooks family, our church family grew in this priority of hospitality.
Jeffrey Heine:It was essential from day 1. And the Lord grew this family trait to where we are now. And even though we gather on Sundays for corporate worship in a bigger space than where we started off, every week, over a 1000 members of Redeemer's family show up to over 50 homes scattered across the city of Birmingham. And the priority of gospel hospitality is in action. Kindness to strangers, to brothers and sisters, to unbelieving neighbors, to coworkers, classmates.
Jeffrey Heine:A kindness that is the consequence of God's kindness to us. And so to root our time together as we think about the priority of hospitality, let's turn to Paul's letter to Titus. Titus chapter 3, beginning with verse 4. And let us listen carefully, for this is God's word. But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God, our savior appeared, he saved us.
Jeffrey Heine:Not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ, our savior. So that, being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that we can worship you tonight in spirit and in truth.
Jeffrey Heine:We ask that you would meet us. Meet us here in your word through your spirit. And we ask that you would grow us up in Jesus. So, Lord, we are desperate. We long to hear from you.
Jeffrey Heine:So speak, Lord, for your servants are listening. We pray these things in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. I want to tell you a story In a battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, King Saul was about to be captured. So to avoid capture, he fell on his own sword and died.
Jeffrey Heine:And as the fight raged on, 3 of Saul's 4 sons died in the battle, including Jonathan. Jonathan was Saul's oldest son and David's closest friend. You may remember that King Saul attempted to kill David on many occasions. And at one point when Saul was hunting David, Jonathan went to David and made a pact. He made a covenant promise.
Jeffrey Heine:And in making the promise, Jonathan gives David his sword and his armor, the armor of the prince, the king in waiting. And in in this, Jonathan demonstrates that David is the true heir chosen by God, who would become the king of Israel. And this is astoundingly unusual, because Jonathan was the rightful heir to the throne of his father, Saul. But Jonathan promised that David would be king. After Saul kills himself and Jonathan and his 2 brothers are killed, the 4th son of Saul, Ishbosheth, fights for a few years for the throne.
Jeffrey Heine:But not long after, ultimately, it is David who becomes king. At the time of his death, Jonathan had a 5 year old son named Mephibosheth. And once news had made its way that King Saul and 3 of the heirs were dead, the house of Saul was in a panic. Everyone fled the palace. They fled because when a king dies, everyone in the house of the deceased king is under the threat of violence.
Jeffrey Heine:Typically, a new ruler would wipe out the entire household, every potential heir, every living relative, even the servants of the former king. They wanted to eliminate any potential adversaries and secure the throne. So everyone in the House of Saul was fleeing the palace. Mephibosheth's nanny was rushing the 5 year old grandson of the deceased king out of the palace. And I'm not sure if you've ever tried to have a complex discussion about the tenuous history of royal succession with a 5 year old.
Jeffrey Heine:But it's about as exasperating as trying to get a 5 year old to hurry. Some of you might have had that adventure on the way here this afternoon. Did you explain how bad the parking is? And they did not care? Well, very tragically, in the nanny's haste of hurrying the boy out of the city, Mephibosheth falls and is terribly injured.
Jeffrey Heine:Mephibosheth is so badly injured that he will never walk again. Many years go by. King David is on the throne, reigning over the kingdom of Israel, and David thinks of his old friend Jonathan. He remembers the unusual kindness that Jonathan showed him and the covenant promises that were made. David asks a royal attendant, is there anyone left of the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God?
Jeffrey Heine:The attendant tells David that there is a servant from the house of Saul still living, whose name is Ziba. David sends for Ziba to come to the palace, and Ziba comes before the king. David asks him, is there anyone left in the house of Saul that I may show the kindness of God? And Ziba responds, well, there is still the son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, who is paralyzed. David says to Ziba, where is Mephibosheth?
Jeffrey Heine:And let's be honest, there's no way that David pronounced it right the first time. David asks, where is Mephibosheth? And Ziba says, he is in the house of Machir, the son of Amiel, at Lo Debar. Lo Debar in a very rough Hebrew translation, it means no word, no thing, nothing. David calls for Mephibosheth to come from nothing to the royal palace, the place that he hadn't seen since his grandfather was the king, since he was a little boy, since he could walk.
Jeffrey Heine:Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the grandson of King Saul, the erstwhile heir came to the palace that was no longer his family's, and he carried he was carried to the throne where his grandfather no longer sat. Mephibosheth was placed before the throne, which he had no right, no claim, no plea. Mephibosheth comes before the king and falls down on his face. David says, Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth answers, behold, I am your servant.
Jeffrey Heine:David realizes what Mephibosheth must think. He must think that David called him to the palace to punish him or to even kill him. David calls out to Mephibosheth, do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father, Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul, your grandfather, and you shall eat at my table always. Mephibosheth says, who am I that you would show this kindness, this regard for such a dead dog as I. Mephibosheth, in all honesty and all humility, asks, who am I?
Jeffrey Heine:David calls the servant Ziba and says, all that belonged to Saul and to all his house, I have given to your master's grandson Mephibosheth. And you and your sons and your servants will work the land and always have food. But Mephibosheth shall always eat at my table. The story ends with these words. So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons.
Jeffrey Heine:And he lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the table of the king. Now, he was lame in both his feet. That's how it ends. Why close the story by reminding us that Mephibosheth was paralyzed? Well, maybe one reason is to remind us, the listener, of the distance, to remind us of how far Mephibosheth had to be brought to eat at the table of the king like a sun.
Jeffrey Heine:To be seated like a prince, Mephibosheth had to be carried metaphorically and literally. He must be carried to sit as an heir at the table of the king and to be given an inheritance in the kingdom. He who did not belong at the table and could not get there on his own, even if he tried, He ate always at the table of the king. That is how far the kindness of the king has brought him. Gospel hospitality begins in the unusual kindness of God.
Jeffrey Heine:We will not engage in true, genuine gospel hospitality until we know it as an extension of the unusual kindness of God, the kindness of God shown to us in Jesus. Because it is Christ who carries you to the table of God's grace and seats you as daughters and sons of the king. That is the unusual kindness of God, and that is the heart of hospitality. The context of our scripture tonight, Titus chapter 3, it's pretty simple. Titus is a Christian church leader.
Jeffrey Heine:He's been entrusted with the work of organizing the leadership at the local congregations in Crete. And the Apostle Paul is writing to encourage Titus, to offer some wisdom regarding the work. And in this brief letter, Paul pauses from talking about the details of church work, and he turns his attention to the kindness of God. Paul knows that if Titus sources his energy and his motivation, if he finds his strength for this difficult task anywhere besides God, that he will not only fail at the work, but he will most certainly burn out trying. You may hear that term a lot, burnout.
Jeffrey Heine:It's a newer term for a very old problem. Some of the things that are being addressed by Paul in this letter to Titus suggest that Titus might not be doing very well personally. A lot of fires to put out in Crete. Some of the specific encouragements that Paul is offering to Titus align with the typical characteristics of burnout, exhaustion, cynicism towards others and feeling ineffective and unproductive. Does that sound familiar?
Jeffrey Heine:Maybe vaguely familiar? It is the energy for Titus's work, the strength that is key to preventing this burnout. The work will still be tiring, the people will still be frustrating, and there will be times when Titus will feel like he's not accomplishing very much at all. But the fuel for that work will make the difference. The strength for Titus to keep going, to run the race before him, must be the loving kindness of God.
Jeffrey Heine:It is the kindness of God shown to a broken sinner that has no right or claim at the table of God's grace. The kindness will be his power to persevere. Everything else will lead to burnout. In the life of the Christian, in pursuing righteousness and faithfulness, and in particular, faithfulness in showing hospitality, that living can only be fueled by the kindness of God, his kindness in saving us, giving us new life, renewing us by the holy spirit. Hear this.
Jeffrey Heine:Your character will not be enough to sustain you in showing sincere hospitality. Your virtue will not be enough to sustain you, to show hospitality to strangers, to brothers and sisters, to the people in your life, it's not going to be your desire, your determination, nor your sense of obligation, because gospel hospitality is way too hard for your virtue or your desire to be enough. The only fuel for sincere kindness to strangers is the kindness of God shown to you. Because when the goodness and the lovingkindness of God appeared, Paul says, God saved you. Everything else comes from that.
Jeffrey Heine:Everything else comes from when that kindness appeared and rescued you from nothing to seat you at the table of the king. You were rescued not because of your good behavior or your potential. It's it's not that somehow you were good enough or righteous enough. No. You were rescued according to God's own kindness.
Jeffrey Heine:And this unusual kindness is the mercy of new life, a new and washed life by the Holy Spirit, whom God richly poured out on every believer in Christ Jesus. All of this unusual and overwhelming kindness of God was shown so that by being made right in relationship with God, through His grace, we might become heirs, heirs of life with God forever. That is the unusual kindness of God. He is carrying you to the table of the king. And you, you could not earn a seat at that table.
Jeffrey Heine:You could not claim a right to a seat at that table. The distance is too great. You could never get there, even if you tried. Yet you sit always at the table of the king. He carries you to the table of the king to be made a son, made a daughter, qualified by the life, death, and resurrection of the king himself.
Jeffrey Heine:And you sit always at the table of the king. Hospitality is not a challenge or a project. It's an expression of our identity as the children of God. The table of God transforms the tables in our homes so that we might welcome the stranger, the lonely, the hurting, the frustrated, the friendly, the ungrateful. How?
Jeffrey Heine:Because in gospel hospitality, we do not simply imitate the character and activity of God. We participate in it. In hospitality, we're not just doing an impression of God, we are participating in life as his children. My mother has saved everything from my childhood, Toys, clothes, artwork, papers. It's like she's preparing for there to be a museum about me one day.
Jeffrey Heine:She still has every one of my report cards, all of them, and they aren't good. Sorry, they aren't well. Recently, I've become very grateful for my mother doing this, in archiving my childhood. Most of the t shirts that my girls wear were mine as a kid, which is nice, because they don't make ALF T shirts in those small sizes anymore. But my mom has this impulse for sentimental archiving.
Jeffrey Heine:That's how I've chosen to describe it. Over Christmas, my family went to see Mary Poppins Returns, and afterwards, I was cleaning out the trash from the car, you know, all the popcorn that we didn't need to buy. But everyone had to have their own. And so, we're I'm not complaining. Right?
Jeffrey Heine:And so I'm cleaning all of that out, and I see the ticket stubs, and I think, well, I better save these. You know, the kids are going to want to remember this day. And then I realized I was saving trash. And so when I do this, and I do it a lot, when I do this, I'm not simply acting like my mother. I'm not just imitating her.
Jeffrey Heine:That is my mother in me, in my blood and my bones. She's part of me. My sentimental archiving is a result of being my mother's son, and our kindness to to strangers is a result of being God's children. And that doesn't mean that hospitality comes easily. Not at all.
Jeffrey Heine:Kindness to strangers, to brothers and sisters in the church, to believing and non believing family members and friends, it is not easy. Sometimes, it is very challenging and very painful. And the reason that hospitality isn't always easy is because it always costs something. Christ motivated, Christ centered kindness is always costly. It's sacrificial.
Jeffrey Heine:There's a kind of modern criticism and objection to the ideas of kindness being sacrificial. In fact, it's an argument against Christian kindness and blaming Christianity for the errors that have ruined kindness. And a few years ago, 2 writers took on this so called problem of Christian kindness in a book, and they outlined the charge. Kindness was a human default, they said. Kindness was the societal norm of every person, because in acting kind, you were fulfilling what it meant to be human and deriving a pure joy.
Jeffrey Heine:And it was Christianity that had to go and mess it all up, to mess it up by making an obligation, a duty out of it, by making it sacrificial. Is this true? Here's a summary, kind of a little quote from what what they have to say. In Christianity, quote, kindness became linked disastrously to self sacrifice. Pagan kindness, by contrast, had nothing to do with self sacrifice.
Jeffrey Heine:The pleasures of kindness were powerful because they derived from the natural sociality of man. People were kind not because they were told to be, but because it made them feel fully human. To love one another was a joyous expression of one's humanity, not a Christian duty, end quote. So are they right? Is Christianity guilty of ruining kindness?
Jeffrey Heine:I do think that the issues that the authors are describing has a lot to do with some of the difficulties that we face when it comes to hospitality in the church today, issues like obligation and sacrifice. Jesus gave his followers commands, commands for Christian living, what it means to be righteous. But the command of hospitality has been twisted in its application within the church. But it's a subtle twist. But it comes out in things like, well, now we have to be kind, because God said so.
Jeffrey Heine:Now we have to invite the neighbors over for dinner. Now we have to pay for the coffee for the person behind us in line. And do you see it? That little kernel of truth to this charge that Christianity has ruined kindness. But it's not Jesus's fault.
Jeffrey Heine:You don't have a have to have a doctorate to utter that line. It's not Jesus's fault. It's not Jesus's fault. The truth is that Christians can be very insincere in our kindness, especially when we don't find the basis of our kindness in our identity as the children of God, especially when we forget that we were carried to the table. Synthetic Christian kindness comes from a culture that separates out obedience to God from relationship with God.
Jeffrey Heine:That is religion. That's not the gospel. That's not Christianity, thinking that we can obey our way into the relationship with God. That that's the basis for being accepted by God, that we can earn our way to that table. No.
Jeffrey Heine:Obeying out of a relationship with God, that is the gospel, which means obedience absolutely matters. Obligations, chores, duties, these still matter, but they come out of of a relationship with God. And as Christians, we have an obligation to follow Jesus' command to be hospitable. But just because it's a command doesn't mean that it cannot be sincere. As Christians, we can do bad hospitality.
Jeffrey Heine:We can offer synthetic and insincere kindness, but that's our error. True gospel hospitality, showing kindness to strangers because of God's kindness to us, does not come solely through obligation. It comes through adoption. Sincere hospitality is not the default mode of humanity. It's the family trait of the children of God.
Jeffrey Heine:And it isn't an ordinary obligation. It's an inheritance of kindness. So let's make no mistake. There is a call to action here. There is a command to be hospitable, to show kindness to strangers as well as to the brothers and the sisters in the faith.
Jeffrey Heine:There is a duty to hospitality, but it is a duty lived out of the relationship with God. So that was that first objection, that Christianity made kindness into an obligation. The second complaint, that Christian kindness linked kindness to sacrifice. And that's true. Christ upended our notions of kindness when he showed humanity what divine kindness is.
Jeffrey Heine:And we see this upending of kindness over and over again throughout the gospels, hours before he would be betrayed by a friend. Jesus sat at a table with friends and said, greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. Genuine gospel kindness is sacrificial because it requires us to count someone else as more important than ourselves. It counts the needs, desires, questions, pains, joys, sorrows of others as important enough to give of our time, our money, our preference, our patience. That kindness sacrifices not only out of obligation, but out of grace.
Jeffrey Heine:David did not have to show kindness to Mephibosheth, and God didn't have to show kindness to you. It's all grace. Every step of faithful hospitality draws from the well of God's unusual kindness. Because we have been carried to the table of the king, seated as sons and daughters, given an inheritance of kindness. Hospitality is a duty.
Jeffrey Heine:It is sacrificial. The last criticism I want to highlight is that there's this critique that Christianity universalized kindness. So what does that mean? The argument is that humanity used to be good at kindness when it meant being kind to those like you. Kind to those in your tribe or group.
Jeffrey Heine:The rich showing kindness to the rich, the poor to the poor, the masters to the masters, the slave to the slaves. Kindness was easier when it was only to your own race or gender or people of the same status. But it was all ruined when Jesus came along and said, you have heard it said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say, love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons and daughters of your father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good.
Jeffrey Heine:He sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?
Jeffrey Heine:You, therefore, must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. It's true. Jesus is guilty of turning the world's definition of kindness upside down. We don't just show kindness to the people who are easy to love. We are called to cross whatever barriers are put up in front of us, whether they are social or racial or economic, ethnic, cultural, etcetera, and display the unusual, even at times unreasonable love of God.
Jeffrey Heine:Because that is the kindness that has come to us. What happened to kindness? Well, the kindness of God appeared, and he saved you. And if you struggle with the challenges of hospitality, if you find it difficult to show kindness to strangers, you are not alone. It isn't an issue of you being a bad Christian.
Jeffrey Heine:The struggle for sincerity is not a sign that you're failing as a Christian. No. It's why you need the unusual kindness of God. Part of Christianity is growing to truly believe the things that we say we believe. And much of the Christian life is about becoming sincere.
Jeffrey Heine:Another way to say that, much of the Christian life is about learning to obey from the heart. So if you find it difficult, and I'd imagine that the vast majority of us here do, I encourage you, don't simply focus on the activity of hospitality, not first. Don't focus first on what you're going to do. First, focus on your motivation. Focus on your strength for kindness.
Jeffrey Heine:Focus on the why of hospitality. From where does your energy come? Because once we have located our motivation and and our strength, once we have answered the why of hospitality with Jesus' kindness to us, then we begin to prayerfully ask, Is there anyone to whom I can show the kindness of God? Those words of David become our words. And I know what some of you are thinking.
Jeffrey Heine:You're wondering what you're supposed to do next, and you are the reason why I didn't write a part about what to do next. You see, many of us need to linger in the question of why. Before we get to the how of hospitality, we need to answer, why? Why sacrifice? Why step into these places where you have to interact with people who might not even like you, and they might be in your family?
Jeffrey Heine:So what do we do? We answer that question, why? Kindness to strangers that is a result, a consequence of God's kindness to us. The strength to do it must come from God himself. It's the only way it's going to work.
Jeffrey Heine:But then, for for those who are ready for that next step, who feel confident and secure in answering that question of why, where your motivation is coming from, where your strength is going to come from, when you feel a confidence in those things, then then I have 2 things that I would like to ask you to pray about. And we're going to take some time in just a few moments to pray individually. Don't worry. We're going to take some time to pray. And so for that first camp, it's praying through and asking the Lord to show, what is your motivation?
Jeffrey Heine:What have you been looking to for the strength to answer the why of hospitality? Praying about that. And then for others, first that you would pray for people to seek out, that you would use those words of David and pray, is there anyone to whom I can show the kindness of God? Ask that of the Lord. See who he brings to mind.
Jeffrey Heine:And then invite them over, seek them out, invite them to coffee. Give them your time, your attention, your resources, even if you know they're going to refuse it. Seek them out this week. A second prayer. Pray for a posture of readiness.
Jeffrey Heine:At the end of the book of Acts, not to give a spoiler for our Acts series, but in in the last chapter, Paul has been on a ship for a while. It's been adrift, and it's raining and he's cold, and they come to the shores, and they land on the shores of Malta. And they get out of the boat, and these people that live there, the natives of Malta, they they build a fire for Paul and his shipmates, because it's raining and it's cold. Paul refers to that as an unusual kindness. These strangers, who didn't have to do anything, saw someone cold and built a fire.
Jeffrey Heine:Pray for a posture of readiness. Pray that you would be attentive to whatever the Lord might use the tide to bring to the shores of your life this week, that you would be ready for an unusual kindness, that your eyes would be open, not just to what you need and what's going on in your day, but eyes to see those around you and to be ready, because the Lord has made you ready, given you the strength to be ready, the resources to be ready, the life and grace to be ready to show simple kindness. In short, for all of us, that we would pray to be ready this week, to participate in our Father's kindness in this world. So we're gonna take some time to pray about those things. I'm I'm gonna pray for us first, and then we'll move into a time of prayer, and then we'll sing together.
Jeffrey Heine:So let's pray. Lord, we recognize the kindness that you have shown us in Jesus. And we know that we will never fully plumb the depths of that kindness. But help us. Help each one of us here tonight who know you and love you and through your grace, follow you.
Jeffrey Heine:Help each one of us to take one further step in understanding this kindness that has come to us. Deepen our understanding and our believing in this kindness. Show us how far you have carried us to the table. Show us what it means to be a daughter, a son of the living God. And help us to pray.
Jeffrey Heine:Pray to be ready. Pray to seek people out. Pray to be rooted in Christ for the why of hospitality. And help us, Lord, to be sincere. We pray these things in the name of Christ, our King.
