Be an Encourager

The door slammed shut and he was alone. Benjamin Weir, Presbyterian missionary to Lebanon, lay on his foam mattress on the floor in the darkness of his tiny room, somewhere in the bowels of Beirut. He had been kidnapped by terrorists, and was facing the unknown. He was blindfolded. His leg had been chained to a radiator. As he thought about his wife and family, he wondered if he would ever see them again. Fighting back the fear rising in his throat, he did the only thing he could do. He began to pray.

As he prayed, Benjamin Weir determined that whatever the outcome of his situation, he would thank and praise God for his blessings. He reached down and felt the chain that was chafing against his leg, and he had an idea. He would count the links in the chain, and for every link, he would name something for which he could thank God. As his fingers ran slowly over the links of the chain - the symbol of his captivity - Benjamin Weir began to count his blessings one by one: his salvation, his relationship with the Lord, his wife, his family, his health, the foam mattress to lie on, the privilege of prayer… and on he went, one blessing for every link of the chain. By the time he was done, Benjamin Weir was no longer a prisoner. He was still chained in that dingy apartment room, to be sure, but his spirit was free.

The Apostle Paul often referred in the NT to being in chains. We know that he saw the insides of the jails in Philippi, Ephesus, Jerusalem, Ceasarea, and Rome. But sometimes he spoke figuratively of his chains: he often called himself a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether his chains were literal or figurative, Paul understood that chains were on his life because the Lord had put them there. His chains were a product of his service for Christ.

So he did not rebel against his chains, or resent them. He understood them to have a purpose that related to Christ’s purpose for him. He saw his circumstances not as hiding places from God, but as meeting places with God.

The name George Fox may not be familiar to you. Fox lived about 300 years ago. He was the founder of the Society of Friends, which we know today as the Quakers. He was a very devout Christian man, and spent his life as a wandering preacher. He and his followers were often persecuted and thrown in jail. But in spite of this he persevered. He said “I was never in prison that it was not the means that God used to bring others out of their prisons.”

It is all too easy to get the impression that people like George Fox, and Benjamin Weir, and the Apostle Paul are extraordinary people. We think of them as saints who’ve attained a level of spiritual maturity that we can never reach. They never get depressed, they never become discouraged; they are always on top. And if we think that, we are dead wrong.

These men and others like them were simply human. They felt the way we feel. They did get depressed, they did get discouraged. The Apostle Paul tells us as much in the pages of the NT. And one of the things they needed in their times of discouragement is something that we still need today in the church. They needed encouragers.

Encouragers are people who have a special knack of coming alongside us and lifting us up when we are down. It may be in what they say to us, it may be in something they do for us. It may simply be their just being there when we need them. Encouragers are very important people. Let’s find out today from the pages of Scripture some ways that we can become encouragers.

Paul wrote the book of Colossians when he was in chains. He was under house arrest in Rome. He had lost his freedom of movement, but he hadn’t lost his freedom of spirit. At the end of that letter, he named 10 people who had been an encouragement to him in his chains. Let’s look at these people in Col.4: 7-18…

1. Tychicus… the encouragement of faithfulness

Colossians 4:7-8 Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.

One of the greatest ways that we can encourage one another is by our faithfulness. There is no greater comfort than to know that there are people you can rely on. People who will be there for you, people who will get the job done.

Tychicus was an encouragement to Paul because of his faithfulness. All we know about this man is what we read here although he is mentioned in Acts, Ephesians, 2 Timothy, and Titus. He evidently had served with Paul for quite a long time, and it was over the long haul that he proved faithful.

We can be encouragers if we keep our commitments to those we have promised to serve. In our jobs, in our church, in our families, we can be a tremendous encouragement to others simply by being faithful like Tychicus.

2. Onesimus… the encouragement of grace

Colossians 4:9 He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.

If you have ever read the fascinating little book of Philemon, you’ll remember Onesimus. He was at one time a fugitive from justice. Onesimus was a slave who had run away from his master, quite possibly having stolen some of his master’s possessions. This was a capital crime in the Roman Empire. Onesimus made his way to Rome to lose himself in the crowded capital probably full of fear and bitterness at his lot in life. But he somehow came in contact with Paul, and Paul led him to the Lord.

Onesimus, the fugitive with a price on his head, became a trophy of God’s grace. He was ready to go back to his master Philemon and serve him again. God’s grace had wrought a miraculous change in his life.

We can be an encouragement to others when, like Onesimus, we allow God’s grace to do its work in our lives. When others see that God has given us beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of despair, they will be lifted up. Because they will see God graciously at work in our lives. But if we want to encourage others in this way, we must be open to allow God’s grace to do its work. We must be willing to place our attitudes, our priorities, our very lives under His control.

Paul thought of Onesimus as a dear brother because to him, Onesimus personified the grace of God at work in a life. That made him the encouragement of grace.

3. Aristarchus… the encouragement of fellowship

Colossians 4:10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings

When we think of Paul in prison, we often think of him there alone. But he was not often alone. In Philippi, he had Silas. In Rome, he had Aristarchus, whom he calls his “fellow prisoner”.

When you are going through rough times, isn’t it encouraging to have someone come alongside you to share those trials with you? Someone who, by their very presence and fellowship in suffering, proves that they care.

Biologists who have studied the great whales have found a very unique behavior among them. Whales, as you know, are mammals and must come to the surface of the ocean to breathe. When a whale is injured, or when a baby whale is born, they may not be strong enough to make it to the surface to breathe. Other whales will come alongside that whale and literally lift it up to the surface, with their bodies under it, supporting its weight. In coming alongside, these marvellous creatures are illustrating the very meaning of the word “encourage”. In Greek, that word means to come alongside and lift up.

Perhaps you have been injured. You’re hurting. You have pain in your life that threatens to overwhelm you. God wants to bring to you an encourager - someone who will come alongside and lift you up, so that you can breathe and live again.

Are there people you know that need you to do that for them? Is there someone for whom you can be a “fellow prisoner”, just as Aristarchus was for Paul? God wants us in the Body of Christ to look for ways that we can get alongside and encourage each other, for this is what true fellowship is all about.

4. Mark… the encouragement of reconciliation

Colossians 4:10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.)

At one time, the name Mark may as well have been “Mud” in Paul’s mind. Paul and Barnabas had set out on their first missionary journey, accompanied by Barnabas’ young cousin John Mark. For whatever reason, part way through their mission, Mark gave up and went home. He quit.

When it came time to go out again, Barnabas wanted to give Mark another shot at it, but Paul wasn’t having any of it. We read in the book of Acts that a sharp dispute rose up between the two of them over Mark. The result was that the team split up. Barnabas took Mark with him to Cyprus, while Paul took Silas back into Asia Minor.

Mark had shown immaturity. He had let Paul down. But Paul had not been the most understanding leader at that point in his life, either. He wasn’t in the business of giving out second chances. So there was a rift between them.

But somehow, we don’t know when or how, there had been a reconciliation. Paul and Mark had made up. They had gotten back together. They had forgiven each other. And this time the bond was permanent. By the end of his life, as he writes in the book of 2 Timothy, Paul could say about Mark

Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.

There is something beautiful about a relationship once broken that has been mended by the grace of God… When two people, once at odds, have put their differences behind them and are friends. This is why it is such a ministry of encouragement to be a reconciler, a peacemaker.

Proverbs 16:7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.

Is there someone you need to make peace with today? A brother offended? A spouse who is hurting? Perhaps one of your children you have been overly harsh with? Be devoted to the ministry of reconciliation, and you’ll be an encourager.

5. Justus… the encouragement of comfort

Colossians 4:11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.

We know very little about Justus, save that he was a comfort to Paul. He was one of Paul’s Jewish co-workers. He was an encourager in that he proved a comfort to Paul. We don’t know how he did it, or what he did, just that he was one of those people who it is comforting to have around. He was a giver, not a taker.

He probably did practical little things to help Paul. Perhaps a note of encouragement. Perhaps a generous gift of time or substance to help Paul in his ministry.

You might remember three years ago, when I first came to Lynbrook. Joe Hart, the former pastor of First Baptist Church of Babylon, spoke at my installation service. He gave me a very practical piece of advice that I have followed through with. Joe told me to start a file of encouragement. Every time I received some encouragement or comfort from someone, Joe told me to put it in the file. And then, on a rainy day when things weren’t going so well, and I might be feeling down in the mouth, I could just take out my encouragement file and be comforted.

Well, I have been doing that these three years. And I can say that we have some Justuses here in our congregation… people who by their kind words and deeds have proved a comfort to me. I have in this manilla folder cards and letters from over thirty individuals who have proved a comfort to me. I am grateful to God for their encouragement of comfort.

6. Epaphras… the encouragement of prayer

Colossians 4:12-13 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Paul did not plant the church at Colossae. Epaphras did, as you can see if you read Col. 1. And now that Epaphras was with Paul in Rome, he continued to labor on behalf of the church at Colossae. His labor was a labor of prayer. Paul said that he was working hard for the church there in Colossae and in Laodicea and Hierapolis, and he means that Epaphras was working hard in prayer. Because prayer is hard work. It is some of the hardest work to do in the Christian life. That is why so few of us do it.

But prayer is a tremendous ministry of encouragement. Have you ever had the privilege of knowing that someone has been praying for you? Perhaps you have gone through some difficult test, some deep waters, and you’ve felt God’s hand upon your life in a very special way. Just when you needed Him most, God came through for you. And later on, you’ve found that someone was praying for you at that very moment. What an encouragement!

7. Luke… the encouragement of friendship

Colossians 4:14 Our dear friend Luke, the doctor

One of the greatest encouragements you can give to another person in the Body of Christ is just to be a friend. Just to show an interest in the life of another person. To care about the things that they care about. To hurt when they hurt, and rejoice when they rejoice. Luke was such a friend to the Apostle Paul. He accompanied Paul on all his missionary journeys after the first one.

Now Luke was no ordinary character. Though he was very self-effacing, he was a brilliant man. He was a doctor of medicine. He was a brilliant historian. He was an accomplished writer. Some of the most beautiful prose of the NT comes from the pen of Luke. He wrote the Third Gospel. He wrote the book of Acts. But, most important to Paul, he was a friend.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Do you have a friend today? Are you being a friend to someone in the Body of Christ? If you want a friend, you must be a friend. One of the great tragedies of our fast-paced, transient lifestyle today is that we so seldom are able to cultivate and develop deep friendships with one another. And so we live in a wilderness of acquaintances, with no real friends.

8. Demas… the encouragement of being opposed

Colossians 4:14 … and Demas send greetings.

Although there is no indication of it here, Demas was a man who would hurt Paul deeply. Later on, when Paul was imprisoned a second time at Rome, under the penalty of death, Demas turned his back on him and left.

We read in 2 Timothy 4 these tragic words…

Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me

Can you feel something of the pain in those words? Paul felt this betrayal very deeply. It hurt. He felt rejected. And, unlike the situation with John Mark, there was no reconciliation with Demas. Because Demas had other priorities. He had had enough of sacrificing and suffering for the Lord’s work. So he left to find his own way.

It is no fun to be opposed, but I would suggest to you that there is some encouragement in it.

Someone has said that if everyone is for you, it is because you’re probably not doing anything worthwhile. The great British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said “No government can long be secure without a formidable opposition.”

I believe that one of the secrets of effective Christian living is to make sure that the right people are against you for the right reasons. Now obviously you are not supposed to go looking for enemies and life would be wonderful if everyone were in your corner, but that’s not reality. You’re going to be hurt, you’re going to be betrayed, people are going to turn on you and even desert you when you need them most. Just be sure that they do that because you are following Jesus.

People turned against Him. They refused to follow Him, because His way ran counter to their grain. Because His way was God’s way.

If that is the case in your life - if people are against you because you are following Jesus, then you can take some encouragement from it.

9. Nympha… the encouragement of hospitality

Colossians 4:15-16 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.

One of the graces of the Christian life is the gift of hospitality. This woman Nympha was so hospitable that she allowed the church to meet in her house. Ladies, how would you like to have church in your living room every Sunday? I’m sure of one thing… Nympha probably wasn’t one of those women whose house had to be perfectly spotless before she could have company.

Is your house open to others? Have you extended hospitality to someone in the Body of Christ lately?

10. Archippus… the encouragement of being needed

Colossians 4:17 Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.”

Archippus was a man we read about only here and in Philemon 2. Some feel that he may have been Philemon’s son or perhaps his brother. At any rate, Archippus had a ministry to do in the church and Paul exhorted him to do it. Archippus was one of many disciples of Paul; young men who like Timothy and Titus and Epaphras looked to Paul for counsel and guidance and encouragement in their work. And Paul, for his part, was needed by these young men. And therein was another encouragement for him. People like Archippus depended on him. They needed him.

As you look around you at the church today, can you say that you are needed? Do you get a sense that people are really depending on you? The answer hinges upon how involved you really are in the life and ministry of the church. Too many Christians in the church in North America today are spectators. And as a result, they are disenchanted. They easily become disillusioned with the Christian life and with the church. They become very critical and they complain and it is really because they aren’t doing anything meaningful in the way of serving.

Everyone is needed in the Body of Christ. There is no room for spectators. You have a unique contribution to make, unique gifts and abilities with which to serve the King of Kings. And when you do, you will know the encouragement of being needed.

Have you encouraged anyone by telling them how much you appreciate what they do in this church? How much you personally depend upon them?