Presbyterian Church of Easton
Sermon 1 Thessalonians 5:15 “Kindness and Goodness”
March 13, 2022
We are continuing our look at Christian virtues. We become virtuous as we become more and more like Jesus. Christian virtues are all based on faith in our triune God. And we develop virtues through spiritual practices such as worship, prayer and Bible study. Last week we looked at the Christian virtue of patience. And today we will look at the Christian virtues of goodness and kindness. We will get to this, but first let’s pray.
“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)
When someone does something bad to us our response is usually to do something bad to them. We want revenge. We want to get even. When we were kids and someone punched us in the face on the playground we punched back. This led to an all out fight followed by detention and a stern lecture from our parents.
We see this all the time in sports. A pitcher beans a batter with the ball. The batter, infuriated, storms the mound throwing punches. The situation escalates as the dugouts empty. The umpires throw out the pitcher and batter. And coaches try to restore order.
The general principle is that if you respond to evil with evil the situation escalates into a vicious cycle that is hard to end. Think of the Hatfields and the McCoys and a cycle of revenge going on for generations. Think of what is happening in Ukraine today. But the Bible teaches us to respond to bad with good thus breaking the vicious cycle. We see this clearly in Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica.
1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.
The Bibles we use are in English. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. The New Testament was written in Greek The New Revised Standard Version, which I just read from, is a very good translation. But sometimes meaning gets lost in translation. Sometimes you have to go back and look at the original language.
The word that Paul used and is translated for us as “evil” is the Greek word,“kakos”. Don’t return “kakos” for “kakos”. “Kakos” means bad or evil. The ordinary Greek word for “good” is “kalos”. Bad is “kakos” with a “k”. Good is “kalos” with an “l”. So we would expect Paul to say, “ See that none of you repays evil for evil (kakos for kakos), but always seek to do good (kalos) to one another and to all. But, surprisingly, this is not what Paul said. He did not use the word “kalos” meaning “good” and we might expect.
So, what did he use? Well, Paul used the Greek word “agathos”. Like “kalos”, “agathos” is translated into English as “good”. But it has an additional meaning. “Agathos” means that when you do something good for another person you are motivated by an internal moral sense. This is the Christian virtue of goodness: We do good motivated by our inner moral consciences.
In the 14th chapter of the Gospel of Luke there is a story about a great banquet. Jesus observed people acting selfishly by sitting in places of honor. So Jesus told them a story about inviting the poor to dinner. Let's hear Jesus’ story.
Luke 14:12 He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”
Notice that Jesus was exhibiting the Christian virtue of goodness. He acted on an inner moral sense to benefit the marginalized in society. Christian goodness requires us to do the same.
Suppose you are away from home attending a conference. You are sitting at the hotel bar having a drink with a very attractive member of the opposite sex. You believe that something good, “kalos” will happen when the two of you go up to your hotel room. And you convince yourself that your spouse will never find out. So the two of you go up to your room.
Now suppose you are at that same conference. You are sitting at the same bar with the same attractive member of the opposite sex. You believe that something good, “kalos” will happen when the two of you go up to your hotel room. But you act out of “agathos”. You have an inner moral sense that adultery is wrong. So you say “goodnight” and go to your room alone. Then you call your spouse.
The Christian virtue of goodness means that we always do good motivated by our inner moral sense. Where does this inner moral sense come from? It comes from our spiritual practices, worship, prayer and Bible study all built upon faith. This is why I have you say the Ten Commandments every Sunday in Lent. I did this so that you would internalize God’s law. My hope is that you will develop an inner moral sense that will give you the Christian virtue of goodness.
Now, let’s look at the Christian virtue of kindness.
Matthew 22:37 Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the essence of the Christian virtue of kindness.
In 1 Samuel, David and Jonathan reached an agreement. Jonathan said that he would protect his friend David from his father Saul. And he asked David, out of kindness, to protect his life and his family’s lives.
1 Samuel 20:12 Jonathan said to David, “By the Lord, the God of Israel! When I have sounded out my father, about this time tomorrow, or on the third day, if he is well disposed toward David, shall I not then send and disclose it to you? 13 But if my father intends to do you harm, the Lord do so to Jonathan, and more also, if I do not disclose it to you, and send you away, so that you may go in safety. May the Lord be with you, as he has been with my father.
So Jonathan has promised to protect David from the wrath of King Saul, Jonathan’s father. This is kind. Jonathan is risking his own life, and is risking his own possible kingship for the benefit of a friend. And he asks David for something in return.
1 Samuel 29:14 If I am still alive, show me the faithful love of the Lord; but if I die, 15 never cut off your faithful love from my house, even if the Lord were to cut off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”
Jonathan is promising to be kind to David and is requesting David's kindness in return. This formed the basis of a covenant between them.
Years later, after Jonathan died with his father in battle, David became king. Jonathan had been kind to David. Now it is time for David to return the kindness.
2 Samuel 9:19 David asked, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and he was summoned to David. The king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “At your service!” 3 The king said, “Is there anyone remaining of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?” Ziba said to the king, “There remains a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4 The king said to him, “Where is he?” Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6 Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, “Mephibosheth!” He answered, “I am your servant.” 7 David said to him, “Do not be afraid, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan; I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you yourself shall eat at my table always.” 8 He did obeisance and said, “What is your servant, that you should look upon a dead dog such as I?”
9 Then the king summoned Saul’s servant Ziba, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master’s grandson. 10 You and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him, and shall bring in the produce, so that your master’s grandson may have food to eat; but your master’s grandson Mephibosheth shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so your servant will do.” Mephibosheth ate at David’s table, like one of the king’s sons. 12 Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba’s house became Mephibosheth’s servants. 13 Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he always ate at the king’s table. Now he was lame in both his feet.
It was the practice of ancient kings to kill all the members of the last king’s family. But David didn’t do that. He showed kindness to his friend Jonathan by protecting his family, especially his lame child, Mephibosheth.
So we have looked at two Christian virtues today. The Christian virtue of goodness allows you to do good based on an inner moral sense. The Christian virtue of kindness allows you to act in obedience to the command to love your neighbor. We develop these virtues by believing in our triune God and engaging in spiritual practices. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven we ask that you send the Holy Spirit with the gift of the Christian virtues of Goodness and Kindness. Help us to be good, always acting out of an inner moral self. Help us to be kind, always loving our neighbor. This we pray to our good and kind savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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