How much does it take to be Kind?

Frequently he says, "Thank you for being kind to me." 

His life has been hard...addiction, homelessness, crimes, imprisonment, years of mounting hardships brought about by life's circumstances, and now illness...

How much does it take to be kind? 

He has many questions about spiritual things... we look in the Bible for answers and sort out those that are not of God.  I can see a peacefulness growing in him!

Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!

Laud Him, all you peoples!

For His merciful kindness is great toward us,

And the truth of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord!  PSALM 117

Mission, Jesus style calls us to be kind and compassionate to other human beings.  The Psalm above was in my mind this morning.  Merciful kindness - - Tender Mercy  

The English definition of "Mercy" is 1) kind or forgiving treatment of someone who could be treated harshly; 2) kindness or help given to people who are in a very bad or desperate situation.

"Kindness" means having or showing a gentle nature and a desire to help others, and wanting and liking to do good things and to bring happiness to others.

Questions flood my mind!  In what ways is God's grace communicated through merciful kindness?  A volume of conversations about grace and repentance come together ...and I wonder:

Does grace prompt repentance OR does repentance prompt grace?

I recall someone once sharing a seminary classroom experience that erupted when the lecturer didn't seem to be connecting with the students.  The professor drew a gigantic ARROW on the board, pointing straight down...

He then stood back and said: "If you understand that, you understand everything you need to know about what it means to be a Christian...who also happens to be a Lutheran."  And he left the room! 

Can you imagine that class of students  - - stunned - - staring at the ARROW - - and drawing conclusions from this bold statement?  Given the situation, a logical conclusion may have been "we're all going to hell."

The professor began the next class by drawing that same arrow on the board, and with the full attention of the class said:

God always comes down. 

God always comes down.There is never anything that we can ever do to turn that arrow around and make our way UP to God.God came down in Jesus.

And God still comes down, in the bread and in the wine,

in the water and in the fellowship of believers.

God ALWAYS comes down.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”  JOHN 6:35-40

It is grace that prompts repentance.
Grace - - unmerited favor.  

The moment we qualify it, it is no longer grace!
Love came down in the form of Jesus Christ and from His obedience, grace flowed.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  EPHESIANS 2:8-9

Without God's grace, each of us live in spiritual poverty.  The Lord calls those who have received His grace to share it with others, not as dogma, rather extended in various forms such as merciful kindness.  Kindness is a way of expressing Gods grace and love.

We love because he first loved us. 1 JOHN 4:19

As I live out the grace he's poured down on me...As I pour it out for others, my heart gains more capacity to grasp what He's done for me, and what He's doing through me.    

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.  ROMANS 12:2-3

In what ways are you allowing God's grace to you flow to others through your kindness? 

How might these thoughts help you to be more intentional in showing merciful kindness,
a gentle nature, toward those who are in bad or desperate situations?