The Lost Art of Building Up Others
Notes
Transcript
This is the week we have looked forward to for months. This week, the election of our next President, many Senators, most Members of the House of Representatives, state offices, county officers, judges, city councilmen, and a variety of measures will be decided. Those who have waited to vote in person will stand in line across the country to mark their ballots at a variety of polling places, or drop off their absentee or mail-in ballots. Some will rush to the Post office for the November 3rd postmark. These ballots will be counted over the next several days, and in many races, perhaps including the presidency, we won’t have a clear winner decided for a while.
The reason we have been anxious to have this week come and go is simply because we are tired of the continuing pattern of divisive politicking that has been going on for months and months. We are worn out by the name-calling, the negative depictions of any opponent, the efforts to show weakness and gaffs and dig up dirt. The parade of people who have been active in the background of all of this politicking and posturing.
The “WHY” of all of this is that our nation, in fact our world, has become hostage to a pattern disparagement, disrespect, depreciation, discourtesy and denigration fueled by insults that are designed to injure, offend, spite, affront, revile and abuse any opponent.
All of that is completely opposite to HOW the Bible tells us to treat one another.
>>So this morning, I want to invite you to back off from the news and get some better instruction from the Apostle Paul in Romans 15. He writes to us about...
The Obligation of the Saints
The Obligation of the Saints
Most of us are not busy with politicking, which is probably a good thing. Still, we have been over-stimulated by the noise on the TV and internet. Now, taking part in elections is important. In the Republic of the United States, voting is a right and responsibility of citizens.
That responsibility should not be simply to flip a coin or vote upon a party line, but should have been carefully decided after study. If your vote is not yet in, don’t decide based on the last-minute noise. Sit down research what the history is, what the promises are, what the character of the women and men is like. Then cast your vote.
OK, enough about politics. Now to the Bible, as it tells us the obligation of the Saints. The saints, by the way, you and me, all, that is, who have placed their trust in Jesus for salvation, and rely on the righteousness of Christ. Today is All Saints Day, or All Hallows Day, which is why last night was Hallows Even. So, as one of the saints of God because of Jesus Christ, we have some obligations. Here’s our instruction from Romans 15:1.
1 Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.
Paul is writing to the Roman Church, which has already had a strong history. This letter to the Romans was written to instruct and encourage, which is why it is still important to us 2000 years later. And Paul write to “we who are strong.”
That would be we who are strong in faith, sure of our salvation, growing in our relationship with God through His Son Jesus. The Saints of the Church.
This verse says the saints have an obligation. Not a suggestion here but the onus to do what this verse says:
Bear the weakness of those who are more fragile in their faith. We must be the agents of help, the ones who stand along side those who are questioning, struggling, wondering how to live and be as a member of the body of Christ.
What does it mean to bear the weakness of our sister or brother?
The word in the scripture is one of several Greek words that mean to carry, with the meaning here to hold up, endure, carry through.
Another way to express this is to say, “Don’t count out your brother or sister just because they are still a little behind you in understanding, in reliance on God, in faithful prayer, whatever it is. Maybe they are watching us and wondering if we are too bold in our practice of faith, wondering if that looks like sin.
The counsel of Paul is to bear the burden of their weakness; in the words of the song made popular on the radio as sung by Allen Clarke, lead singer of Hollies, “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.”
That title comes from James Wells, of the United Free Church of Scotland. In his 1884 book The Parables of Jesus, Pastor Wells tells the story of a little girl carrying a big baby boy. Seeing her struggling, someone asked if she wasn't tired. With surprise she replied: "No, he's not heavy; he's my brother."
If we will take that kind of attitude with others, we won’t run out of patience so quickly. When someone seems weak in faith, we will continue to do the things we need to do; we will carry others when they need carrying. We will walk along with one who needs encouragement. We will help to teach what a disciple of Jesus Christ needs to know, and what are the proper limits of our freedom in Christ. That is our obligation.
Then Paul adds another phrase to keep it in perspective, and that we can use to check our own motives: not to please ourselves. Anyone who has ever cared for someone very young, maybe a baby or young child, knows that how we live our lives has been changed by the needs of this youngster. If there is a child with special needs, or a person of any age who is struggling with illness, injury, or maybe even dementia, our own needs matter less and less as we care for the one who is “without strength”.
Our own pleasure is given up. We serve the one who has no strength of their own, not because we are better than they are but because we care more for their welfare than for what we would rather be doing. We have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.
Drop a phrase and read this in verse 1: We have an obligation not to please ourselves. Paul is warning us against the very motive that is behind so much of our poor behaviors: Selfishness. He has learnt the lesson the hard way, as Jesus stopped him in his tracks when his personal promotion among the Jewish Leaders had driven him to arrest and prosecute those who were following the Messiah. From that day on, Paul did little to please himself, for the Gospel of Jesus Christ became way more important than the goals he had set for himself.
>>So the focus of our activities must come off ourselves, so we will act . . .
For the Good of Our Neighbor
For the Good of Our Neighbor
That’s not how our selfishness wants us to act. We tend towards what makes us happy. What we want to do, or what we have to do. But the Bible clearly tell us a different approach is what God wants from us, in Romans 15:2:
2 Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
Paul restates the negative motivation “not to please ourselves” with the positive action we need to practice.
Each one of us means that this is not a job for the leaders, nor only for those called to humbly serve the dying, like a Mother Teresa, or those called to give up home and family to follow the call to bring the Gospel to a different people.
As Paul writes to the church, he tells us all that “Each one of us” has the obligation to drop our self-promotion to do something that is pretty foreign to our built-in desire to do what we want: please our neighbor for his good.
This does not mean that we become a mindless minion of the mean-spirited person, but that we do what is good for the other person. This is an action of love, not of doting on them. This is the action of being bold to correct and instruct another.
And then the phrase gives title to my message today: TO BUILD HIM UP. As the title of this message says, this is nearly a lost art.
We are so wrapped up on ourselves that we have to make a complete turn-around to be BUILDERS and not COMPLAINERS.
The essence of what it means to self-isolate, stay safer at home, to wear a mask and “socially distance” ourselves is all about “for the good” of others. These actions are part of what it means to not please ourselves. All of this package of protections is not about PPE, or personal protective equipment, but IS about our care for the health of others more than the convenience to ourselves.
In this time of COVID-19, are you being a builder or a complainer? Have you made the adjustment in your own heart that it is more important to build up the health of others than it is to please yourselves? Guess what—it’s not just a good idea, it’s Biblical!
The art of building up another is not hard to do. What can you say to someone to encourage them? What can you say to put them above your own wants?
How about, “thanks for your work” when you see someone taking the extra steps of cleaning to help us stay free of infection? How about encouraging your server when you are eating out under a tent or when we can again eat in at a restaurant? Have you developed the habit of telling someone they are doing well, or that they look good, or that they have helped us all by making a tough decision?
The art of building up another is not hard to practice, but it goes against all the cues in our world to put yourself first. We don’t have to wait for a Staff Sergeant in Basic Training to break us down before we finally train hard enough to earn our graduation.
>>We can in stead learn to . . .
Follow Christ’s Example
Follow Christ’s Example
because if it’s Biblical to build up others, it is going to be an attribute of the person of Jesus Christ. Here’s how it reads in verse 3:
3 For even Christ did not please himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
Here is not just Jesus setting aside his own wants, but Jesus bearing the pain of others. The quote is from Psalm 69:9, which Paul attributes to the work of Jesus for us.
For Jesus, the Cross was not to please himself; it was to meet our needs for forgiveness, which could only be satisfied by sacrifice in the patterns of the Old Testament. “Without the spilling of blood there can be no forgiveness of sins” Paul wrote in another place.
Paul is encouraging us to step up to the challenge of setting aside our own pleasure for the good of our neighbor, whomever that may be. What will it take from you to move that other person you have some contact with or influence over just a little bit higher than they started today?
Did you know it can sometimes be as simple as reading the name tag of someone at the checkout when you shop, and speaking their name and a word of thanks? To say “Thank you, Elisabeth” or “Thank you, Jorge” can remind someone that you see them as a valuable person.
Add some understanding of the problems to your requests for help. Today is the first day of the month, which means there is a lot of movement between houses and apartments. It also means that if you needed to rent a truck, it was hard to find one.
Jill gave me a storage cabinet because she moved out of her house, so I needed a pickup. I talked to one U-Haul agent who told me there were no trucks available, and when I said, “Yeah, it is the end of the month,” she said, “thanks for understanding. Some people get upset that I don’t have what they need and yell at me.” Well, it’s not her fault I’m late to the party.
But that’s pretty simple. What we really need is to step in the path of what’s challenging the health, safety, growth and development of another, whatever it may cost us. Build up one another is not only about our compliments. It is also about removing them from danger, instructing them in righteousness, and leading them to the fulness of salvation in Jesus Christ.
So,
2 Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself. On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
>>And now Paul reminds us of the Bible’s
Basic Instructions for Tough Times
Basic Instructions for Tough Times
that we have access to in the scripture. In verse 4, we read:
4 For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.
We should have the mindset of “So it is written, so it shall be” when we read the scripture, for as Paul reminds us, there is a purpose it is there. It was “written for our instruction” for our good.
The more we understand about the purposes of God, the more we will know that the Bible is leading us to hope. Not through easy times but through tough times. “Hope through endurance” reminds us that the more we practice the disciplines of prayer, service, and obedience, the better we will have hope for the future as we trudge through the struggles or difficulties of the day. Enduring faithfully will produce hope—a faith that God will come through.
If we can get through these times by following the lead of the scriptures and the practice of doing what what is right, not only will our hope increase, but we will find that the scripture is not a taskmaster, but a source of encouragement. Isn’t it good that God gives us all we need, all the time!
>>When we focus on surrender instead of selfishness, we discover that we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus. We will make it through the tough times as the word of God instructs and encourages us, and as we endure what is necessary for this time.
That’s because,
God Gives What We Need
God Gives What We Need
5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.
This is a kind of benediction that is written here for us, following the instructions of Romans chapters 12-14. It is a prayer that our God, the God who gives us endurance and encouragement, will help us with our other needs as well.
In this section, Paul is teaching us what it means to live in positive relationship with others, but he also knows that it is not always easy to wear a smile when we are dealing with others.
So the prayer is that we understand that our God not only enables us to endure the times and find encouragement in Christ, but also gives us what we need to live in harmony with one another. We are sometimes like Lucy in an old Charlie Brown comic who says, “Oh, I love humanity. It’s people I can’t stand.”
Relationship always requires work. And building up others is a great way to make that work easier. You will always get along better if you add some encouragement and thanks before you stomp on someone with a word of how to do it right.
Paul tells us to dive deeper, not just putting up with people, but put your purpose of pleasing others in the arena of living in accord with Christ Jesus. Not just the goal to get along, but understanding that that . . .
Getting Along Glorifies God. Yes, that’s what it says. When we surrender our wills to the needs of others, when we encourage and build up hope in others, when we put others before ourselves, God is glorified in our actions.
Positive, loving relationships with the people of God puts a smile on the face of our Father God.
I think this should be our goal:
6 so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.
Finally, in this message, note how Paul puts the second bookend on how to live with those who are a challenge to you. It started with
1 Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters.
and now Paul again says
Welcome Others for God’s Glory
Welcome Others for God’s Glory
7 Therefore welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed you, to the glory of God.