|
VISALIA CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 14, 2011
Romans 12-8-Needed the Gift of Encouragement
Sermon: Rev. George G. Vink
Scripture: Romans 12: 1-8
Sermon: ENCOURAGING—
A NEEDED GIFT OF GRACE!
Dear Followers of Jesus Christ,
Allow me to do an informal survey that may or may not indicate your age or a knowledge of unforgettable songs. If I were to sing the words, “O Give Me a Home…,” what words come next? Let me show you one whom we saw last month. I stared him down and ran for the car as any wise man would. Continuing our song survey, “Where seldom is heard…,” what’s next? Right! “Where seldom is heard a discouraging word….”
I believe that “Home on the Range” with its picture of deer and antelope playing under nothing but blue skies is desirous because we encounter plenty of discouraging words and more-than-enough discouraging events.
Another survey…. (Retiring pastors can do strange things.) Please close your eyes….Now bring to mind the person in our church family whom you would identify as a great encourager. You might take the time after the service to tell him or her. And, don’t worry, if they’re what you think they are, they won’t get a swelled head.
As someone who isn’t as good at encouraging as I’d like to be, I’m urging you as a church to be better at it. I’m hopeful that as a body we can grow in being more positive, more encouraging and upbuilding of one another. It’s a gift of grace that can be nurtured by doing. Let’s read it in God’s Word as found in Romans 12. (Read Romans 12:1-8)
We read these words three weeks ago and focused heaping burning coals as an act of kindness and demonstration of our love. We do so because of what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. We hear it in “Therefore, …in view of God’s mercy….” Remember, keep in mind Jesus’ sacrifice and “offer you bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God…as an act of reasonable worship.” You may recall I shared the graffiti that made an impression on me: “The problem with living sacrifices is that they’re always crawling off the altar.” Let’s apply it to the gift of encouraging that’s so needed and so helpful in building up the body of Christ.
As the writer of Romans, Paul knew encouragement from having received it as well as having nurtured others with doing his share. You may recall how Barnabas needed God’s “strong” encouragement to minister to a struck-blind Paul. God said “Go!” and Barnabas went! The church, and some individual ones more so than others, still needs more Barnabases! There is a need for encouraging words. The skies often look so threatening, so stormy. The task facing young parents may appear so overwhelming. The loss of a loved one can be so devastating. There’s….
Let’s read Romans this way: “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer yourselves as living sacrifices….” Then, “We have different gifts. If it is encouraging, let us encourage!” It may not be your major gift, but I believe we can all do more encouraging of one another. There are few people, if any, who do not need it at some time. It may be someone floundering in their faith, not sure if it can really be true. It may be someone who finds the ground shaking under his feet because his wife said, “I don’t love you anymore.” It may be a daughter away from home the first time or the college graduate looking for work.
Our encouragement can come in a variety of ways. Often it’s a matter of listening to the heart in addition to the words. It can be a card sent with a note of appreciation or a phone call just to say, “I’m thinking of you.” If you’re with it, it could be an email or a quick text. Sometimes it could take the form of a few crisp Benjamin Franklins or a coffee date at McDonald’s. Instead of saying, “If there’s anything I can do, let us know,” it could be taking the kids for an afternoon or taking the car for a LOF.
Barnabas’ other name, “Son of Encouragement” means more than a “Joseph from Cyprus.” The word for “encouraging” in Romans 12:8 is the same used for The Holy Spirit. It’s someone who comes alongside, walks with us. It’s what may be in mind when we sing, “O For a Closer Walk with God….” It’s having Him walk with us through the bumps of our journey as well as the sunsets. It’s being like the friends who came and sat with Job. Their encouragement stopped when they started talking!
Our church needs encouragers! We live in a world that’s discouraging all too often. Barnabases are the people who make a difference. I’m grateful for those in our church whom God uses to encourage others. It’s a gift, but again, it can be developed, practiced more. It’s behind the scenes, often an unnoticed giving of themselves with no awards given, but giving hope where needed. Barnabas is such an example.
Acts 4:36 introduces us to Barnabas. “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas,(which means Son of Encouragement,) sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.” Ananias and Sapphira also sell some land, but they were doing it to impress, and pay the price for lying. Barnabas gives of himself early in the life of the church, encouraging it in doing so. Paul puts “encouraging” with. “contributing to the needs of others.” A good connection! They’re related!
We encourage when we contribute to the Christian Tuition for fellow church members. You encourage the staff and council when you support the ministries of the church. You encourage others when you notice the need for Bible Trek teachers and step up and say, “I’ll help with that!” You encourage our custodians when you pick up a piece of trash. You…. When you do so, you may not know what child is watching or what other member is encouraged by your doing so. It may be your own son or daugher. I think of my Dad’s example of being a chapel’s treasurer or my Mom’s leading a Ladies Aid Society. Examples are such wonderful encouraging means of affecting lives!
Look at Barnabas! Acts 9 tells us of God’s push to have Barnabas take a risk. After all, Paul had been persecuting the church, taking prisoners. Imagine if Barnabas had been disobedient! Paul becomes a bold preacher and writer of a large percentage of the New Testament. Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement, impacted a lot of lives! It’s the work of the Holy Spirit. Later in Acts 11, Barnabas goes to Antioch and encourages the church to “stay true to the Lord” as he pastors there with Paul.
People need encouragement also as it comes by way of teaching. Imagine being urged by Barnabas to do something while he’s a living example of it. We hear Paul’s urging us in our Romans 12 to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices.” We can read in the book of Acts how Barnabas and Paul becomes Paul and Barnabas. A change in priority! No concern over power, prestige or position. Makes me think of an old rhyme, “It takes more grace than I can tell to play the 2nd fiddle well.”
One more look in the history of the early church found in Acts 15. Paul and Barnabas have “sharp disagreement.” It was all about taking John Mark. Paul disagreed then and later with Barnabas. Uncle Barney was willing to risk taking John Mark. Paul was a bit more program than people. But, we read later in 2 Timothy about Mark’s being helpful again to Paul. That’s what the church is all about—forgiveness and working together! It’s all about encouraging one another as Hebrews 10:25 states and Paul told the Thessalonians.(I Thess. 5)
We’re called to do so as believers who are determined to be more Christ-like! We must look around with the eyes of Jesus and see the struggling marriage or the lonely widower. Let the Holy Spirit, our encouraging paraklete use you and me to be a Barnabas. Let it be said that in your church, “…seldom is heard a discouraging word.” Be a church of those who see Barnabas as an example of being a living sacrifice, determined to stay on the altar. Be more like the person you brought to mind earlier.
Are you willing? Do you really have a choice?
Amen!
| 
