For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11
The above verses have become my mediation mantra for this Advent season. The word “encouragement” has popped up several times for me - in a Vestry bible Study, in several ways in last week’s sermon, and as a part of priestly ministry. I was ordained deacon (the first step towards priesthood) on the Feast of St. Barnabas (June 11), 1999. he name “Barnabas” means “son of encouragement.”
St. Barnabas was the apostle who met Paul after his conversion and journeyed with him in his early ministry. Because of Paul’s past persecution of Christians, he would not have been welcomed into the Christian community without Barnabas’s companion ship and encouragement. Coincidentally, my first parish had a private elementary school dedicated to St. Barnabas. The School’s ministry was certainly one of encouraging young minds to develop in healthy and whole ways, and my ministry was to work with the school and parish through some trying times as the school sought its independent footing.
All of this has been swirling through my mind as I pray over those words, “encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.” I have come to believe that much of ministry is encouragement. Even evangelism, when done well, is encouragement. If we delve into understanding and practicing encouragement, we may be surprised at how good we are at evangelism and all ministry (and how rewarding it is)!!
Encourage in greek shares meaning with “advocate” and “exhortation.” It is related to the word Jesus uses for the Holy Spirit in his final night with his disciples. The gift of encouragement is listed as one of the spiritual gifts in Scripture - a talent God gives us to use in spirit-led ways to build up the people of God.
Encouragement offers hope through the belief that things can and will get better. Encouragement allows us to see positive potential in people and in circumstances. As Christians, even if things are falling apart, we find encouragement in God’s work of bringing life out of death, of making all things new. When a person’s life seems to be collapsing, we can offer encouragement through faith in forgiveness, healing, and in God-given potential - knowing that with God, all things are possible.
Even exhortation, when done right, is encouragement. Sometimes a bit of warning, serious direction, or prodding (or even “tough love”) is needed, but it must always be offered in a way that is not about condemnation, but about building up. As Paul writes above, “God has not destined us for wrath but for obtaining salvation” (wholeness).
God is at work in the world through Christ reconciling us to God’s own self. A ministry of encouragement is a way we can participate in that ministry of reconciliation and healing. In what ways is God calling you to be an encouraging presence in the life of another, or in circumstances of stress or doubt? God has given us this gift. As we use this gift, may God’s healing grace strengthen and make whole.
Blessing Always,
Dirk+