ENCOURAGEMENT LEADS TO COURAGE

ENCOURAGEMENT LEADS TO COURAGE

Acts 28:1-16

Dr. Wm. J. Maxwell, Pastor

First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI

June 15, 2008

Encouragement is a wonderful thing, wouldn’t you say? To encourage others means to inspire them with courage, spirit or hope; it means to spur them on towards endurance; it means to give them confidence as we cheer them on.

Special days are even given to encourage others, such as Father’s Day. Families seek to show appreciation to fathers and to encourage them to seek to be faithful in this calling of such importance. A “National Day of Encouragement” was actually initiated last year in the fall of 2007. Gov. Mike Beebe of Arkansas signed a proclamation making September 12^th, 2007 the “State Day of Encouragement.” President Bush also signed a proclamation making September 12^th the “National Day of Encouragement.”

The importance of building others up with words of appreciation and encouragement is highlighted by such proclamations of special day observances. The down-side of this, of course, is that we need encouragement more than one or two days a year. Most days, we all need some form of inspiration, some form of positive stimulation to “keep on keeping on,” moving on our way with confidence.

Even as Christians, beloved by God as we are, saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit of Almighty God, we yet need the presence, counsel and encouragement from Christian brothers and sisters so that we are strengthened and given courage for an often hard journey. No one is exempt from this, not even the apostle Paul.

PAUL’S SITUATION

As we follow the path of Paul’s journey to Rome as a prisoner, we find the journey’s end being all about encouragement. Following the shipwreck, on the island of Malta south of Sicily Paul and all the others were shown “unusual kindness” by the islanders, being welcomed and provided a fire to dry them out and keep them warm.

Secondly, Publius, the chief official or governor of the island, “welcomed (them) to his home and for three days entertained (them) hospitably.” Following a miraculous time of healing ministry by the Spirit through Paul, there was even more encouragement: “They honored us in many ways and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.”

Thirdly, when Paul’s ship landed at Puteoli, they found some Christian brothers and sisters there. From the days of Pentecost on, the Gospel had been carried to Italy. There in their welcoming embrace, Paul received their encouragement over a period of a week.

Fourthly, as Paul and the others journeyed on foot to Rome, Paul was once again given the gift of inspiration as he was greeted by more fellow believers. Somehow, the church in Rome had heard that Paul was coming and they had already heard of the Apostle. He had written a latter to them in 57 AD, at least 5 years before this time. Though he was now a prisoner, Paul was nonetheless esteemed by these Christian believers.

As a matter of fact, so greatly was Paul esteemed by them that they went out to meet him as far away as the Forum of Appius, a city 56 miles from Rome. Still others gathered at the 3 Taverns, 8 or 10 miles closer to Rome. Luke tells us, “At the sight of these men Paul thanked God and was encouraged.”

As we remember that Paul had appealed in Caesarea to Caesar, and was now being taken as a prisoner to Rome; as we recall the horrendous storm at sea, “the Perfect Storm” that had nearly ended his life; and as we recall the name of the emperor who Paul would be facing Nero – we can easily see the greatness of Paul’s need for someone to come alongside of him and give him renewed inspiration, confidence and courage. And in the Providence of God, he received just that!

Here was a man who was human, just like all of us. Paul was also one who suffered greatly for Christ in the fulfillment of his apostolic calling. He once wrote of this to the Corinthians in opposition to false teachers. They had arrived there after Paul had left, spreading their false dogma and contesting Paul’s integrity as an apostle. Speaking against these boastful deceivers, Paul was forced to “boast” about what he had suffered: “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.” [i] So, with such a difficult path in life as that which came to Paul, such encouragement as he received on the last leg of this journey was tremendously important and gratefully received!

OUR OWN SITUATION

Now, while few of us will ever have to face such hardships as that found in the life of the apostle Paul, nevertheless, the need for encouragement is just as great. “In this world you will have trouble,” Jesus said, and we all know how true this is in life. So what about encouragement for us?

We need to look for encouragement.

Perhaps we all recall the lines of the song, “Looking for love in all the wrong places.” Well, we can also look for encouragement in all the wrong places, or in the right places, as the choice is ours.

Apparently, the Apostles found one very good source of support in Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus. The Bible tells us that the Apostles gave Joseph a new name because of his character and demeanor: “Barnabas,” meaning “Son of Encouragement.” [ii] Such a person was the kind that you always wanted to be around! I suspect that when Barnabas spoke up, people listened!

Pastor and author Max Lucado writes of the need to seek good, solid encouragement from others. He writes of when he was participating in a ½ Ironman triathlon. After the grueling 1.2 mile swim and 56 mile bike ride, Lucado wasn’t looking forward to the next stage: a 13.1 mile run!

As he started that phase, he asked the jogger next to him how he was doing. He soon regretted this, as he heard the jogger say: “This stinks! This race is the dumbest decision I’ve ever made.” The jogger went on and on, heaping complaint on complaint, and bringing discouragement at Lucado’s doorstep.

“My response to him?” writes Lucado – “‘Goodbye.’ I knew if I listened too long, I’d start agreeing with him.” So what Lucado did then was run up to a 66 year old grandmother. She had a totally opposite demeanor and an altogether different disposition. “You’ll finish this,” she encouraged. “It’s hot, but at least it’s not raining.” “One step at a time … don’t forget to hydrate … stay in there.” And as he again writes, “I ran next to her until my heart was lifted and my legs were aching. I finally had to slow down. ‘No problem,’ she said, waving as she kept going.” [iii]

I admire Lucado’s willingness to tell us that a 66 year old grandmother beat him out in a contest like this! I appreciate even more his ability to compete in a ½ Ironman Triathlon; and even more the lesson of choosing deliberately to listen to the voice of encouragement, rather than to the voice of discouragement.

Sometimes the voice of encouragement is there, but we’re looking too much at the challenge before us. Perhaps you’ve heard the story of Florence Chadwick, who in 1952 attempted a great athletic feat – swimming the very cold ocean waters of the Pacific between Catalina Island and the coastal shore of CA.

Amazingly, she swam for 15 hours through fog and rough waters. In time, her muscles began to cramp and as they did, her determination to finish began to weaken. Her mother, riding alongside in a boat with others, had constantly encouraged her strongly not to give up. But in time, Florence could go no further. The unfinished task was just far too daunting, as she stopped swimming and asked to be pulled into the boat.

In just a few minutes of paddling in the boat, the fog lifted, and the shore was discovered to be less than a half mile away. “All I could see was the fog,” she reported to the press. “I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.”[iv]

Well, again, we need to look for encouragement,

and listen to encouragement,

But we also need to give encouragement to others.

If we know personally the critical importance of receiving inspiring, emboldening and helpful words from others, it should be no surprise to us that the Bible often commands us to do the very same in giving such words to others. “Encourage one another daily,” the writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews says, “as long as it is called Today …” [v] Though we may not always feel like giving courage to others by our words, as some of our days are better than others, yet every day we should attempt to do so.

In a very candid way, Lucado has revealed the day when he was feeling prideful after a particular speaking engagement. He was returning home on a flight and in time became quite frustrated. The airline attendant couldn’t seem to do anything right and he didn’t like it one bit. She was fumbling about and mixing up orders. Again, he was feeling cocky, having just been a keynote speaker and having received much commendation from others.

After a while, he was surprised by the attendant, kneeling by his seat and asking if he was “Mr. Lucado.” “Are you the one who writes Christian books?” she asked. Before long, Lucado heard her open her heart to him, explaining the suddenness of divorce papers, and the refusal of her husband to answer her telephone calls. She felt like her life was ending and she spoke to him of her deep need for encouragement and prayer.

Lucado tells us that he gave both encouragement and prayer to her, but he tells us more. He was feeling suddenly very guilty for his sinful attitude. He tells us:

I did (pray for her). But both God and I knew she was not the only one needing prayer.

Perhaps you could use a prayer too? How is your hearing? Do you hear the servants whom God sends? Do you hear the conscience that God stirs?

And your vision? Do you still see people? Or do you see only their functions? Do you see people who need you, or do you see people beneath you? [vi]

On the last leg of his perilous journey, the apostle Paul found much in the way of encouragement. It’s there for us to discover as well, if we would only look for it, and listen to it.

But let’s not stop there, dear friends, Lets give encouragement to others, for the journey can be long and hard for all of us, and encouragement always leads to courage!