Jesus Fruit: Complete an ARK or Commit a RAK - 2nd Samuel 9 (Wednesday Night Reflection)

He was elected on a campaign theme of change.  With little to no political experience, he hit Washington DC.  No, I am not talking about any of our current leaders, I am talking about Evan Baxter…fictional Buffalo news anchor turned United States Congressman on a campaign theme of “Change the World.”  After he and his family move to their new home outside Washington, his wife comes and tells him of the prayers of his children…He ends up on his knees praying that he may “change the world.”  He learns quickly to be careful what he prays for…for the next morning a shipment arrives at his home—a container filled with ark building equipment and directions.  He is commissioned by God to build an ark.  Evan Baxter is confronted with it early on, but learns completely by the end of the movie the answer to the question, “How do we change the world?”  

For Evan Baxter it was an ARK:  “One Act, of, Random Kindness (ARK) at a time,”for others it is a RAK. What is a RAK?  It is the same thing as an ARK in a different form.  RAK’s are “random acts of kindness.”  Random Acts of Kindness became a catch phrase in the 1990’s as Dr. Chuck Wall, a professor at Bakersfield College teaching human relations, heard the radio announcer say, “We have another random act of senseless violence to report.”  He heard that report while he was in the middle of deciding the assignment for his next class and decided almost immediately to change the word violence to kindness.  Later that day, Professor Wall walked into his classroom and gave his students their assignment for the week: “Today I will commit one random act of senseless kindness.”  The students were to commit a random act of kindness and then report on it.  The whole concept took off and went way beyond the classroom…leading to organizations like Kindness Inc. and the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation.  It, either knowingly or unknowingly, is most likely led to the formation of the Downeast Kindness Crew.

Whether it is an ARK or a RAK…it is all about Kindness.  Kindness is our fifth quality of Jesus Fruit.  We began with Love…the grounding trait for all aspects of the Fruit of the Spirit, for without love, nothing else we do matters.  Then there was Joy, Peace, and Patience…today though we come to Kindness.

An act of kindness was the key to the Scripture reading this evening.  It is the Old Testament story of David and Mephibosheth. 

Some quick background to the story:

Saul had been made the first king of Israel.  Saul messed up, so God choose a new king, and, unbeknownst to Saul, had young David anointed as a boy to be the King of Israel.  David did not automatically assume the throne.  Saul finished out his reign until he died at his own hand.  During this period, Saul repeatedly tried to kill David or have David killed.  At the same time, David became friends with Saul’s son, Jonathan.  In fact, they became best friends.  David spent most of the time while Saul remained king on the run from one place to another, and though he had the opportunity to take Saul’s life on more than one occasion, David refused to do so, because Saul had been anointed as belonging to God.

After Saul’s death, David assumed the throne and was crowned King of Israel.  Shortly into his reign, we come to our Scripture reading from today.  We don’t know what precipitated the event as it happened.  David could have been spending a quiet day after finally defeating those Philistines once and for all (or at least it seemed that way at the time) and was reflecting on what things he had been determined to do once he was king.  He could have been sitting there in the throne room surrounded by people, but where he found himself was realizing he missed his best friend. Jonathan had been killed in the same battle in which Saul took his own life.  Whatever the case, David decided it was time for him to complete an ARK or commit a RAK.  David asked one of his advisors, “Is there anyone left alive in Saul’s family, if so, I would like to do something nice for them, for the sake of my friendship with Jonathan.  David’s people did a little bit of digging and research and realized that one of Saul’s household servants was still around.  His name was Ziba.  David asked Ziba, “Is there anyone still left in the household of Saul that I may show the kindness of God”?  Ziba said, “Yes, Jonathan’s handicapped son, Mephibosheth, is still alive.”  So David sent for Mephibosheth, and when Mephibosheth arrived.  Mephibosheth dropped to the floor before David, probably anxious about his health and well-being, because it was nothing for a new king to come in and have the old king’s family and servants expunged. 

David told Mephibosheth not to worry, that he had had Mephibosheth brought in, not to harm him, but in order to show him kindness for the sake of his father, Jonathan.  David informed Mephibosheth that all the land and possessions that had belonged to his grandfather, Saul, would be given to him.  Today we might think that was not David’s choice, in our society the courts would rule that it would go to the next of kin.  However, in David’s time, David, as King, would have the authority to take that land and make it his own.  As an act of kindness, though, David gives it back to Mephibosheth. 

Unfortunately, there was not much that Mephibosheth could do with the land…for Mephibosheth had been dropped as a child, resulting in the crippling of both of his legs.  He could not work the land…he could not provide for himself.  David continued to pour out kindness upon Mephibosheth.  King David invited Mephibosheth to eat at the palace every day…David’s court would provide food for Mephibosheth.  In addition, David commanded that Ziba, Saul’s former servant, who would have been David’s servant, that he and his family were to serve Mephibosheth.  They were to tend to the land that now belonged to Mephibosheth and bring in the crops for him.  The Scriptures tell us that out of David’s kindness, Mephibosheth who could have been tossed aside or even put to death, became like one of the king’s sons.

My brothers and sisters, we have experienced that same kindness.  We were crippled and lame.  We could do nothing for ourselves.  We were hampered by our sin.  There was nothing that had to be done for us.  We deserved to be cast out.  We deserved to be put to death.  God, because He is a just God, had every right to do so.  Yet, because of His love and mercy, He instead showered us with kindness.  He sent His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, to show us how to live in His Kingdom…and even when we rejected Jesus and hung Him upon the cross…God out of His love for His Son, heard His Son’s cry, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” and God continued to pour our kindness upon us…and offering us forgiveness. He gave us the Holy Spirit that we might live for Him. He gives us the promise of eternal life that we might live with Him forever. And we are now treated, out of God’s acts of Kindness, as sons and daughters of the King.  These were not random acts of kindness…but intentional acts of kindness by our God out of His love for us.

As children of the King, we, therefore, are expected to shower that same kind of kindness on those around us.  Bearing Jesus Fruit is a sign that we are children of the King and our acts of kindness should not be random either.  We have to do more than complete and ARK or commit a RAK.  We should be intentionally kind because we are giving witness to the kindness that was shown to us.  We should be intentional about reaching out to those who are in need.  It should be seen all around us, much like the way our community has responded to the two men whose ship sunk in the Pamlico…from helping raise it back up to the fundraiser to help them recover and rebuild.  It is about giving a hand up to those struggling to escape from poverty…giving comfort to those who mourn…providing hope for those who live in the darkness…defending the weak…bringing peace to those who are afflicted…giving companionship to those who are alone…

Love…joy…peace…patience…kindness…we continue to build and see that the fruit we are to bear are simply a reflection of what God has done for us.  We are to become the image of God for the world…drawing them into His Kingdom, that they may become sons and daughters of the King as well…

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…Amen.