Encouragement

“Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize.”

Elizabeth Harrison


Encouragement is good for the soul.
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your own consent."

Well Eleanor, what happens when you've unwillingly given your consent and you do feel inferior?
Criticized? Mistreated? Judged?
What if the world has turned against you, doesn't want to listen to what you have to say, and you just can't feel the love?
What if being inferior is not just a state of mind, but a state of being?

That is where a healthy dose of encouragement is a life-saver.

A compassionate look, an unwarranted smile, a brief salutation an outstretched arm...
could mean the difference of life or death.

I'm not just talking physical life or death, although there may be cases of that too, as you never know what is going on in someone else's mind. For all you know, they were one small word of encouragement away from choosing to leave a hurting and troubled world.

But it's also emotional life or death. As a music director, I've been told by people who loved to sing "once upon a time" never did it again after a remark of some critical director.
Likewise, I've heard stories of singers who found their inner talent, or passion for music through some remarks of encouragement.
A kind word, a willingness to listen, to teach, and to have patience by someone instilled a spark this person's life and inspired them. Their career. Their passion. Their purpose in being.

In the Bible, Jesus uses many analogies involving plants,
seeds being planted and growing and producing fruit,
or not producing fruit.

Encouragement, I believe, is one of the nourishments that these "faith seeds" need in order to survive and thrive. The best example of this is in the Great Commission passage of
Matthew 28:16-20.

(It is written in full in the previous post if you need a reminder.)

Jesus gives the disciples their "graduation speech" as he prepares to ascend into heaven.
He ends it with a word of encouragement.
"And I will be with you always, even to the end of the age."

He will be there for his disciples. With his disciples.
Until the "end of the age."
Whether that means their death or beyond is for you to decide,
but the point is that they are not alone.
They are loved enough to have their teacher, their mentor around
whenever they need help or advice or anything at all.
That is encouraging indeed!

The idea of the holy spirit is that God is within us as well.

There is a United Methodist creed from the United Church of Canada that I love and would like to share with you today. It describes the purpose of the church through encouragement well:

We are not alone, we live in God's world.
We believe in God:
who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new,
who works in us and other by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the church:
to celebrate God's presence,
to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil,
to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope.
In life, in death, in life beyond death,
God is with us.
We are not alone.
Thanks be to God. Amen



Celebrate God. Love and serve. Seek justice. Resist Evil. Spread the good news.

The good news that we are not alone because God is with us.

May those words serve as encouragement for you today.


Grace and Peace,

Virginia Yates

Go make of all disciples...

The great commission.

If you've gone to church more than just on Christmas and Easter,

you've probably heard of this.

It's the "homework" of the gospels.

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee,

to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

Then Jesus came to them and said,

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

(Matthew 28:16-20)

Let's put this in perspective.

1) Jesus was the disciples' closest friend, leader, and spiritual guide for 3 years, performing all these miracles and teaching them about love, tolerance, and equality.

2) Jesus riled up the Jewish leaders of the day with his "reinterpretations" of the Jewish laws and for calling them out because of their spiritual-and political- corruption.

3) Jesus was sentenced to death in the most horrendous way and all the disciples had to go into hiding so that they didn't suffer the same fate.

4) Jesus came back from the dead and showed the disciples the holes in his body where he used to be on the cross; this is what he had said would happen prior to his death.

4) Jesus is now calling all of his disciples onto this mountain so he can give them an assignment so he can ascend into heaven and leave the earth.

My, that's quite a bit to wrap your head around in the span of a few years!

It's no wonder some of them doubted. It sounds unbelievable.

But then, Jesus always did the unbelieveable.

He also did all he could to prepare them for this moment.

All throughout the gospels you hear Jesus forshadowing his death and resurrection.

Performing miracles.

Raising people from the dead.

You'd think if he could do it for other people, he could do it for himself. Right?

The most pragmatic of us have the hardest time.

And when we go through difficult times, it's hard to remember that life will ever be good again.

And when it does get better, we think it's too good to be true.

That's probably the difference between the doubters and the believers:

whether or not to accept the good when it comes.

Fox Mulder from the tv show The X-Files has a poster with a flying saucer on it and the words:

I want to believe.

It's not that the doubters love Jesus any less, I mean, they're there on the mountain top also.

Some may have a critical spirit, or they may just want to believe, but are afraid of the risk.

The risk of things being too good to be true.

It is to these people especially that I believe he especially is speaking to when he makes the next statement: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."

He is reminding them that because he died, he has been to where they have not been, and everything he said while he was alive is still valid- and even vindicated.

Then, he takes it one step further, telling them to become the leaders.

The spritual guides.

The friends.

It is their turn to teach the lifestyle of love, tolerance, and equality.

But it's okay, don't worry- especially you doubters,

because "surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

When I hear preachers talk about this part, they interpret this passage

as Jesus talking about the Holy Spirit.

And while I believe that the Holy Spirit is the force that lives within us and connects us to God,

I think Jesus means more than that.

In the same way that our loved ones may live on in our memories after they have died,

so too do I think that Jesus means that he will live on through the disciples carrying on his memory and the lifestyle of love he spent his time on earth teaching.

The fact that we are having this conversation today means that the teachings of Jesus are alive and well in today's culture. Which means that Jesus isn't really gone in the same way my great-grandmother isn't really gone when I bake her super special chocolate cake, or sing my grandfather's favorite song.

He is alive through us the same way he continued to live through the disciples.

Maybe Jesus was making a prophesy:

"And I will be with you always, to the end of the age."

To me, that means that the great commission is still valid, and gives me a personal responsibility to discern the Bible and try to "get Christianity right" for the next generation.

So I will do my best to inspire others to live lives of love, tolerance, and equality.

Grace and Peace,

Virginia Yates