THAT'S ENCOURAGING!

A Sermon for the 24th Sunday after Pentecost
November 19, 2006
Pastor Laura Gentry

Hebrews 10:11-25
And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand of God," and since then has been waiting "until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet." For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds," he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (New Revised Standard Version)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I remember a few years ago, I received a nine-page letter here at the church. It was from a Christian writer, not affiliated with any particular group, who was very concerned about warning us of the dangerous reality of hell. Apparently, he felt that Lutherans are not frightened enough of hell, and so he took it upon himself to caution us in the form of this lengthy oration. At one point in the letter, he said, “Pastor, do you realize that the lava that comes out of volcanos comes straight out of the fires of hell?!!” I’m not sure where he got that bit of scientific insight, but he was certainly adamant.

And this fellow isn’t the only one worried about the fires of hell. The fictional Left Behind books, which deal with the presumed horrors of apocalypse, continue to be popular. Many have made the New York Times Bestseller list. In all, there will be 16 books, with the final installment due out next year. Clearly, they grip a real fear in people.

But in the section of Paul’s letter to the Hebrews we heard this morning, he speaks passionately about how we should behave in these last days. Now, Paul believed that the end of the world would be at any moment—and obviously, he was wrong about the timing since it still hasn’t come almost 2,000 years later—but even so, he didn’t think we should live in fear of the final judgement. Instead, we should hold fast to the promise of forgiveness and salvation through Jesus. Meanwhile, we should be about the work of Christ. Furthermore, we should encourage others to do the same.

As we make our way through the Book of Hebrews with its sparkling and sometimes confusing images of sacrifices and great high priests and its extended metaphor of Jesus as that priest who makes all other priests unnecessary, the following verses come to us with a remarkable clarity and freshness: “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Paul is confident that we needn’t be concerned about how lava is connected to the fires of hell or harbor any other apocalyptic phobias like being left behind, as if Christ’s resurrection had no power. Rather than living in fear, we ought to hold onto hope. Without wavering.

Yet this is difficult to do, especially in our complicated world. How do we live in hope? Vaclav Havel, a Czech writer, put it eloquently when he wrote: "Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good."

To hope is to take action. To hope is to believe so firmly in Christ that you are willing to throw yourself into his work—because it is good. And not only that, Paul says that we also should provoke one another to love and good deeds. Have you ever heard of provoking someone to do good? Probably not. The context we almost always hear that word is bad—you provoke someone to anger. But Paul has a different idea. Instead of provoking anger and strife, we should be using that same concentrated energy to provoke love and good deeds.

We simply can’t afford to be grumpy and negative, though as humans, we are naturally gifted in those areas. As believers in Christ in these last days, we must do the radical: be hopeful and encourage hopefulness in others. But how should we go about it? I mean, they didn’t offer encouragement classes in school. Encouragement isn’t a natural skill. It is something that needs to be learned and practiced. So this morning, I offer you three practical ways to encourage people.

1. ENCOURAGE WITH PRAYER
When I was a child, I always thought the prayers of the people went on way too long in worship. In fact, one time when I was in junior high, I passed out during them! And because the prayers were so lengthy, my family had time to drag me out without anyone noticing because their eyes were still closed. But when I went to seminary, I learned to appreciate the prayers of the people and how they can touch upon so many aspects of our faith. One of the things we do during these prayers is to offer encouragement to those who are ill, or recovering from surgery or grieving the loss of a loved one. And in our own personal prayers, we ought to be praying for our church, and for the individual members of it—that’s why we publish all the prayer requests in our newsletter.

Our prayers on behalf of one another pack a powerful punch because God hears and listens. The other thing about prayer is that it changes us. The more we pray for someone, the more we see them as God does—with compassion—and that changes the way we act toward them. When you pray for someone regularly, you can’t dislike them. If you don’t believe me, take the “prayer challenge” and pray for someone you consider to be an enemy. Pray every day for that person for a month and you’ll find you no longer consider them an enemy.

That’s why Paul encourages us to encourage one another through prayer. This is, indeed, Christ’s work.

2. ENCOURAGE WITH WORDS
Another way that we can encourage others is through our words. As you know, words are powerful and sometimes we wield them like weapons instead of lifter-uppers. We need to be much more careful about our use of words.

After speaking with someone, ask yourself, “Has this person been encouraged by our conversation? Do they have more hope now? Are things brighter for them as a result of our contact?” If the answer is no, then it’s time to get more encouraging!

3. ENCOURAGE WITH ACTIONS
Finally, we need to encourage with actions. Beyond just saying uplifting things to others, we can be doing things to encourage people.

I found a company on-line that sells sample encouragement letters. The written word, it explains, is more powerful yet than the spoken one. “Encourage people with letters,” they say, “we’ll show you how!” And while, I don’t think buying encouragement letters is necessary, I do think they have a point about the impact of them.

Consequently, we have an encouragement team here at church. They do simple things like send notes that say: “You’ve been caught doing something great!” We can all be doing more of that. How many times have you thought about sending an encouragement note to someone and then neglected to actually do it? Taking action—even in a small way—can make a big difference.

In addition, Paul says we mustn’t neglect coming together for worship. This is an important a way of taking encouraging action. It is so difficult to live in hope, to hold on to Jesus without wavering. We absolutely need one another. We can and should be a blessing to one another. That is the active encouragement that a congregation is meant to provide all its members.

Although we live in the “end times,” and have no idea when that final judgment will come, we must not give in to fear. We must trust fully in the grace of God and spend our energy on hope and encouragement in Christ. We can encourage others through prayer, through words and through actions. We can do it! It’s just a matter of getting into new, hope-centered habits. We can make a difference and that’s encouraging!

Now, may the peace of God, which passes all understand, keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© Laura E. Gentry 2006