Be Encouragers

Be Encouragers! Hebrews 10:24-25, Encouragement vs The Great Kiwi Knocking Machine!

Play the Song ‘You Ugly’, I just thought we could do with a little entertainment this morning prior to the sermon as you see this song came out of the United States of America, only in the U.S eh what a discouraging piece of music. I guess at some stage we have all heard those words, or have we can you relate to it?

As a nation Kiwi’s are brilliant at encouragement I looked it up on Google and found I419000 references to it in 0.12 seconds, but what came up was The Great Kiwi Knocking machine, now that’s not about encouragement.

For non New Zealanders the term, “The Great Kiwi Knocking Machine” might come as a surprise, but as New Zealanders or Kiwi’s we all know what it is, it’s not something that is used for processing fruit or plucking feathers off endangered wild life.

The Great Kiwi Knocking Machine is something that is called into play whenever a fellow New Zealander is either doing well, actually achieving something in life and needs to be put back in their place, their place being level with everyone else or a bit below where they started out before they did well, or if someone is not doing well, The Great Kiwi Knocking Machine comes into play because they have failed and require a few extra blows to let them know just how badly they have done, and not to think about doing any better.

The Great Kiwi knocking machine is vicious, direct and deadly. Interestingly it is not made of ball bearing shooting steel sprung loaded catapults, or any other form of energy released machinery, it comprises of the product of the tongue and mind, a quick wit and a smarmy sense of humor. The Great Kiwi knocking Machine uses words to rob, kill and destroy.

The Great Kiwi Knocking Machine is alive and well! Attacking the bloke who works hard to achieve; who is told “he has ideas above his station”; the mum who wants the best for her kids who is told she does to much for them or why bother they will find their own way in life; the kids who get bullied because they are different or liked more than the one who is doing the bullying, and at this time just prior to the elections the politicians who resort to character assignation of their competition, not to mention the media making fodder out of politicians.

The path to the Great Kiwi Knocking Machine is littered with the wilted storks and petals, the dried stigmas and what could have been life giving pollinating stamens of crushed tall poppies that were cut down with a lightening quick razor sharp tongue.

Have you ever been on the receiving end of the Machine, have you ever driven it?

In the church we are not to go there! We are required to be different, while disputes may arise, while we may have our own view, while differences are seen, we are called on to encourage one another. In the church there is no place for causing casualties of friendly fire. There is no place for the Great Kiwi Knocking Machine, for the scythe shaped tongue that destroys buds of brilliance that dare to grow taller than the norm or over perform, that dare to show grace, or love as Christ loved them, there is also no place to knock the person who is seeking, who is different in the way they dress or look or act, we are called to encourage one another!

For while the world would say break them down, God tells us to build them up!

The writer of Hebrews tells us this: “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25) That day being the Day of the Lord’s return.

This may all sound a little odd in the culture where we exist, a little countercultural.

Let’s have a wee look at what we have here, what this is all about in regards to how we are encouraged to build one another up and help one another on in life.

1) Well back in the day some had given up meeting together, maybe they had found the meetings weren’t meeting their needs, perhaps they had it all together and didn’t need to attend, perhaps “God” told them that they should stay home, or that they just didn’t feel up to attending meetings with other Christians, maybe the message was just plain boring, it could have been the message challenged them, the offering challenged them, the Romans threatened them, the religious people glared at them on the way to the meeting, that someone growled at them, told them their child was a handful, someone was over welcoming, looked at them strange, that no one at the meeting talked to them, that the dog had eaten their bible, or that the camel train kept running late, whatever it was they gave up attending, they gave up, just plain gave up.