WHY IT MATTERS: Encouragement is precious because it’s relatively rare.
- 2 Corinthians 8:24.
- There are some sermons where you have to spend the majority of the message explaining the idea. This is not one of those messages.
- This is a straightforward concept. We know what encouragement is. We know that it’s a good thing. Yet most of us don’t do it much at all. We’ll get into the reasons why in just a minute.
- Verse 24 is striking to me. In fact, I think it could be seen as the lynchpin of the whole passage.
- The whole passage contains a lot of specific encouragements which we’ll get to later in the sermon. For right now, let’s just consider the interesting emphasis that this verse gives us.
- Having complimented the men he was sending to them, Paul then closes out the chapter by complimenting the Corinthians too. This is the beginning of his praise for them that we will see in chapter 9. So this is kind of the dovetail.
- There are a couple nice phrases in this verse.
a. “show these men the proof of your love”
- Paul clearly has confidence that the Corinthians will not disappoint him and he’s willing to say it out loud.
b. “the reason for our pride in you”
- Paul also tells them that such actions are why he and his companions have great pride in the Corinthians. Here again, encouraging words.
[Maybe don’t put this section in the sermon outline – just share as part of the previous point.]
WHY IS ENCOURAGEMENT SO DIFFICULT FOR US TO DO?
1. IT'S A MOMENT OF VULNERABILITY.
- If it’s a sincere personal compliment, it’s a moment of vulnerability. We’re saying, “I appreciate you” or “You matter to me” or “I need what you share.” Whatever the specific reason, we are sharing something personal and that is difficult for some people.
2. IT'S JUST EASIER NOT TO.
- It takes a little effort to step out and say those words. We wonder, “What if I say it wrong?” or “What if they don’t like what I say?” or “What if it’s awkward?” There is no guarantee that it will go well. Sure, we know it could be a golden moment, but it could also see us walking away muttering to ourselves about how stupid we are.
3. WE TAKE PEOPLE FOR GRANTED.
- And then there are the multitude of situations where we don’t encourage the person because saying something encouraging never crosses our mind. We just take them for granted. They always do that. They’re always there. They always take care of things.
- Most of us have experienced not noticing someone until they are gone. Whether it’s a person getting sick, being out of town, or even dying, we just presume that they will take care of all the things they always take care of. It’s not until they aren’t there anymore that we notice how much they handle.
WHY IS ENCOURAGEMENT SO IMPORTANT?
1. PEOPLE GET TIRED OF THE WEIGHT OF RESPONSIBILITY.
- When you’re a leader of a church or a point person for a ministry, the weight of the responsibility can weigh heavily on you.
- “How are we going to meet budget?”
- “Where can I find enough volunteers?”
- “How can we turn around this downward trend?”
- “How can we move forward and do better?”
- “Who is responsible for the mistakes that were made?”
- This weight gets particularly bad during moments of crisis when everything comes to a head. It also is especially heavy when there are problems that don’t resolve and so you have to deal with them over an extended period of time.
2. PEOPLE FEEL TAKEN FOR GRANTED.
- The old vets of your ministry team may feel like this. They’re the tried and true people you know you can rely on. They’re the ones who are quick to jump in to help. They’re your core people.
- That’s a recipe for sometimes feeling taken for granted.
- Others may feel like these folks don’t need encouragement because they’re always there. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need encouragement. They may have switched to doing what they do out of obligation and duty instead of love for God. They may just be doing it out of routine. Some encouragement can help them do it for the right reasons. Some encouragement can help them do it with joy.
3. PEOPLE HAVE SELF-DOUBTS.
- Let’s talk about two groups: rookies and grunts.
- Rookies are new to ministry. They aren’t really sure they’re doing it right. They may feel like what they’ve done is a mess. They can use encouragement that they are heading in the right direction.
- Grunts are those who work behind the scenes. No one may see what they do. In some cases, they may choose those jobs because they don’t feel worthy to step up to more prominent ones. (Not always, but sometimes.) That may be why they choose to serve in hidden ways. They could use some encouragement that they are appreciated and that they are doing a quality job.
HOW TO DO IT:
- This passage is an interesting one to preach concerning encouragement because Paul does not just tell them to be encouraging, but he actually does it. So let’s pull a couple examples of each of these ideas from Pau’s encouragements.
- What I’m sharing here are just a few ideas that I think point us in the right direction on encouraging.
- Consider naming some example from the congregation of each of these.
1. BE SPECIFIC.
- Saying, “I appreciate you” is not nearly as meaningful as “I appreciate how you always have your work to me ahead of schedule.” It’s more powerful because it’s more specific.
- Saying, “Thank you” is not nearly as meaningful as “Thank you for being someone that I can depend on to help me.”
- Of course, big compliments can be great when they speak to the heart of who we are, but there’s something to be said for small compliments. Especially when they let us know that people appreciate the little things we do. We probably figured no one was paying attention.
- What are some examples in this passage?
a. v. 17 – “. . . Titus . . . is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative . . .”
- Paul praises Titus’ zeal and work ethic.
b. v. 22 – “. . . our brother . . . is zealous . . .”
- Again, we see a specific encouragement.
2. BE SINCERE.
- It’s especially meaningful when people share encouragements that you can tell are meaningful to them. We don’t just want to say what people want to hear, but say that’s on our hearts.
- What are some examples in this passage?
a. v. 23 – “As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you . . .”
- Paul’s a big name. Yet he reveals how much he thinks of Titus is saying that he is his “partner.”
b. v. 2 – “For I know your eagerness to help, and I have ben boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give . . .”
- Paul here clearly appreciates the financial help that the Corinthians have been willing to share.
3. LOOK AT SPIRITUAL THINGS.
- Often the things that we do encourage others about has to do with relatively shallow things. “Man, you’re a good wide receiver.” “You’ve got the best fashion sense.”
- Encouragement is rare, but encouragement about spiritual things is even rarer.
- What might this look like? Not only looking at the activity that we see, but also the presumed heart behind it. (And, yes, I know that we can never know with certainty the person’s motivation, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t presume the best.)
a. We see a new volunteer to the Food Pantry and instead of just thanking them for showing up, we say, “We appreciate the help and I love the fact that your heart is to be used by God in His Kingdom.”
b. We enjoy a song in worship and instead of just telling them it was a pretty song, we say, “That song really spoke to me in worship this morning. Thank for having a desire to lead people before God in worship.”
c. We appreciate our pastor showing up at the hospital and instead of just saying thanks for stopping by, we say, “Pastor, I appreciate you stopping by. Thanks for being a good shepherd to me and my family.”
- In all these, we’re looking for the spiritual heart beneath the action.
- In the passage, let’s look at a couple examples.
a. v. 16 – “I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you.”
- Titus doesn’t just do the needed actions – Paul praises his heart.
b. v. 18 – “. . . the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel.”
- It’s good that he’s being lifted up for what he’s doing.
