RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

“But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.” (Matthew 21:28-32)

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking through a parking lot in downtown Framingham, and I noticed a bumper sticker attached to the rear of a car: “PRACTICE RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS”.

It reminded me of a popular bumper sticker from about fifteen years ago, which read, “PRACTICE RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS AND SENSELESS ACTS OF BEAUTY”. That one used to crack me up! What are “senseless acts of beauty”?! I used to think, “If they’re SENSELESS, why do them?”. Maybe that’s why the newer stickers have dropped the second line of that saying.

My son will probably be upset with me for posting this. (He does read the blog.) But I think it’s a good example of “practicing random acts of kindness”. Guys like Jon, and to some degree me, get a bad rap. Jon and I are not what you’d call “people persons”. I know, I know... how can you be a pastor without being a “people person”?! I’ve gotten asked that from time to time! Well, my first pastor in the Assemblies of God, the late Lloyd A. Westover, was not at all a “people person”. Westover had retired after a successful career as a company representative of Birdseye Foods. (He used to negotiate with farmers to buy their crops for the company.) Westover took Bible correspondence courses and became a Licensed minister, and later at around age 50, an Ordained minister. He could be a real “fire ‘n brimstone” preacher. He taught a Sunday School class and would write ‘YOU’RE LATE!’ on the board for late arrivals. One Sunday, he brought a bullwhip to church, snapping it, and bluntly asking how we thought Jesus felt to be whipped? (That time, even many of his friends and supporters thought he had “lost it”.) Yet, his knowledge of the Bible was profound, and his common sense was rich. I learned SO MUCH from that man! One of my professors in Bible College, Dr. Terry Lewis had served as an Assistant Pastor under Westover. Lewis told me, “Brother Westover is the most Godly man I know.”

SO, Lloyd Westover proved you don’t necessarily have to be a “people person” to be a pastor. (Just as a sidenote, my wife has been an invaluable help to me in the areas of hospitality and people skills!) But back to me, and specifically back to Jon. We would not be described as “people persons”. We can relate to my friend Tom who served 7 years as an inmate at Cedar Junction Prision in Walpole, MA. Tom spent one year in solitary confinement. He has told me it was (spiritually speaking) the greatest year of his life, because he could be alone with God and the Bible and pretty much have nobody bothering him! (Now, granted, I don’t think Jon nor I really want to go to prison!)

Again, guys like Jon and I get a bad rap. Jon particularly can be very blunt and can make pretty caustic comments. Next to some sweet talking car salesman or somebody like that, guys like Jon or I can seem like real jerks. But the real life lesson is what people DO when there’s a REAL NEED and nobody’s watching. We’ve got a woman who attends our church that I’ll call Andrea. Andrea is around 40 and has a number of physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. She lives in subsidized housing and receives a government check each month. Andrea had a very sad family background. I didn’t learn Andrea’s background until I’d known her for a number of years. Although she DOES have a number of emotional problems, etc., when I learned her background I was amazed she even functions as well as she does. Andrea doesn’t handle the ordinary stresses of life very well at all. I’ve seen her sobbing because there was a problem with her telephone, for instance.

At last Friday night’s Bible Study, Andrea literally put her head in her hands and was sighing as if she’d just learned she had cancer.

“Andrea, are you all right?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s just this stupid T.V. of mine,” she responded almost in tears.

She then told us the story that her very old T.V. set had been functioning very poorly. A couple of friends had given Andrea a used T.V. set which was much better than the one she had. They’d come on Friday and hooked up the “new” T.V. but now Andrea could not get anything on it but a recurring blurb saying to call her cable company. I’m not very handy nor am I technically inclined. But I was pleased when Jon offered to look at her T.V. after the Bible Study.

“Aren’t you alergic to cats?” Andrea asked, “What about my cat?”
Jon said he thought it would be O.K.

We went up to Andrea’s apartment after the Bible Study and Jon had his work cut out for him with a maze of wires! There was one line going into the system from the apartment complex security system. There was the cable line. There was a DVD player and a VCR. There were several “splitters” for the lines. And the “new” set was a 27-inch which barely fit into Andrea’s “entertainment center” cabinet. AND, the blurb from the cable system kept playing over and over no matter what Jon did. The cat was meowing and all over the place. Andrea is even less technically inclined than I am, so she had no idea what some extra wires were,nor could she answer other questions Jon had.

I know how short-fused and impatient Jon can be, and I have to say I was proud of him because he could not have been more patient, more polite, nor more gracious in dealing with Andrea. It was getting late, and Jon still couldn’t solve the problem. He assured her we’d be back on Saturday.

Saturday morning, Jon went on the computer researching information about Andrea’s (frankly) unusual cable box, and we went back to Andrea’s apartment. It was about another hour of Jon fiddling with cables, and the cat bugging everybody, but finally Jon figured it out and Andrea had T.V. once again!

Jon COULD have just blown Andrea off on Friday night. It really wasn’t his problem. And, who needed a small apartment, and a slightly emotionally disturbed and sickly woman, and an annoying cat, not to mention a mess of a T.V. hookup?! But, Friday night and Saturday morning, Jon acted like Jesus, and Andrea’s problems were solved.

Again, Jon will probably tell ME off for posting this, but I gotta tell ya, if he can practice a random act of kindness, then there’s no excuse for any of the rest of us.
That’s a big part of what the Lord has called us to do...not just mouthing Spiritual nicities and gobbildygook....but actually, tangibly, practically HELPING people! So, today, “PRACTICE RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS” and I will even add, “AND SENSELESS ACTS OF BEAUTY!”