Have you ever watched a game, so you’re an in-person spectator, and you shouted encouragement? “Way to go!” “Come on!” If it’s your kid or grandchildren you shout out, “You can do it John/Jane!”
Or even if you’re watching a game on TV, did you ever shout to the athlete or team? Like “Go, go, go!”, “Yes!”
Right now, the Olympics are going on and there are no spectators. There is a Covid state of emergency in Japan. So, when we watch the Olympics and cheer on TEAM USA from our couches, you and I will have to shout VERY LOUD so the athletes can hear us, all the way in Tokyo! I know I’ll be shouting; I can’t help it.
It’s just instinctive, we almost can’t help expressing our enthusiasm or encouragement. Why do we do that?
Does it help? Are you helping someone hit the ball? Can the athlete’s feel your enthusiasm through the TV? Why are we shouting encouragement? Because we want to help, and it seems to help. Those Olympians are disappointed there won’t be spectators, they miss that energy!
In the Book of Hebrews in the New Testament, Hebrews was written to Christians, some of whom were considering converting back to Judaism, or just drifting away from their faith.
The message of Hebrews is “Keep the faith!” The author of Hebrews believes encouragement is our Christian duty, and that encouragement works! Vs. 23 tells Christians to encourage themselves: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Hebrews 10:24 teaches Christians to then encourage others: “ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
In the letter to Hebrews, we see there are Christians in danger of drifting away from their faith. The author is trying to awaken them to the way they were once enthusiastic about their faith. In chapter 10 vs. 32-34, the author encourages them by reminding them they were heroes of the faith in the past.
“32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.”
Those verses give encouragement: once you were heroes! There’s a hero inside you, waiting to get out!
I love vs. 39: “But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”
In other words, we don’t give in to fear, we don’t give up and lose our salvation. We are the ones who have faith in God and Jesus Christ and are being saved. We need to encourage ourselves and encourage those around us, we have been heroes and we will be heroes. No matter the cost, we will believe and follow!
I think that we encourage others because we know there is a hero inside every person, and we need to help others remember and take hold of that courage we have from faith in God. God’s purpose for you is that you encourage others that there’s a hero inside.
Encouragement works because we can all remember an encouraging word someone gave to us. Sometimes years later that encouragement still impacts us!
Our United Church of Christ Conference had a walk or bike ride event July 9 and 10, from Port Clinton, the edge of Schuylkill County to Philadelphia. Kevin particularly likes to cycle, so I urged him to do it. I said I would drop him off, pick him up, and I was going to do a small part of it, 11 miles on a trail from Gring’s Mill in Reading to Blue Marsh Lake and back. Kevin was going to do the ride from Hamburg to Reading. There were three riders for the start Friday morning: the minister who organized it: Nicole Jackson, our conference minister Bill Worley, and Kevin! They were going to ride 21 miles on hilly roads. Kevin quickly learned that Nicole was training regularly, preparing for a 100mile bike race, so she was very fit. Bill was very fit, and Kevin was slower. So Kevin rode faster than he is accustomed to. They would ride for a way, and Kevin would get behind, then Nicole and Bill would stop and wait for him. They insisted they were a group; they wouldn’t leave Kevin. So, they finished that 21-mile morning ride together. Kevin likes technology, and he has this Garmin device attached to his bike. When they were done with the ride, based on his heart rate, the device told him not to do this ride again for 3 days: he needed that much time to recover! That ride brought out the hero in Kevin, he rode faster than usual to keep up! My shorter ride brought out the hero in me, because I’m not used to being on a trail with other bicyclists. Some cyclists would pass me, and I then I would go faster because when they passed me, I had to try to keep up with them. It was a matter of pride!
Kevin and I both wouldn’t have gone out and ridden that fast without encouragement. It makes such a difference! The organizer, Nichole Jackson, encouraged us to ride and brought out the hero in us. God’s purpose for you is that you encourage others that there’s a hero inside.
There was a study done of married couples. And it found that couples where the partners say 5 positive things to their spouse for every negative thing they say, they are going to stay together! They won’t get divorced. That’s pretty hard to do, to say so many positive things! Because in all our relationships: at work, with neighbors, with family, friends, and so on, we say on average 1 positive thing to them, for every 3 negative!
Think about that. When your boss or spouse or an acquaintance says, “The problem with you is….” Do you take out paper and pencil and eagerly take notes on what they say? No! You tense up, you try to think of a biting comeback, or you silently think: who do they think they are? When someone says, “You need to lose weight,” How do you feel? Awful! When someone says negative words to us our blood can boil!
But when someone encourages you? “I love your jokes!” “You’re really talented!” “I’m sure you’ll do great things!” Boy, that’s great, isn’t it? We want to keep that person around!
You may think, but people have to hear the truth. We have to tell it like it is and say negative things. Well, 5 positive things to 1 negative means you can tell a negative truth. But it needs 5 positive things to go along with it. So that can be, “You’re not working very hard lately.” One negative. But, “I’m so excited to see what you’ll do in the future.” “When you put your mind to it you really work hard.” “I’m so blessed to be your friend.” “You’re a caring person.” “Your smile lights up the world!” All those positive statements are the sugar that makes the medicine go down, as Mary Poppins would say!
My homework for you is to think about, who do you need to share more encouragement with? Who can you start saying 5 positive things to, for every negative one?
We Christians do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved. That means there’s a hero in everyone. There’s a lot of negative in the world, which means everybody can use a boost. When you tell someone 5 positive things for every 1 negative, they’ll feel less insecurity and more confidence. They’ll feel less hurt and more healing. They’ll experience less regret and more fond memories. So be the cheerleader, the coach, the spiritual mentor that the people in your life need. Consider how, through kind, encouraging words, you can spur someone on to love and good deeds. Amen.
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