Stir Up One Another
Hebrews 10:19-25, esp. 24-25
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Harry G. Winsheimer
June 8, 2008

The Epistle to the Hebrews is called a letter, but really is in the style of a sermon by an unknown preacher. 

Hebrews 10:19-25 (NRSV)

Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Did you follow all of that?  To me it sounds like two computer geeks talking with each other.  As we say, “It is all Greek to me,” which it was.

The allegorical imagery used by the preacher is from the Tabernacle of the Old Testament.  In the Tabernacle, a priest represented the people before God.  A curtain separated a room (sanctuary) into which only a priest was allowed to go to meet God.  Also, blood sacrifices were offered to make up (atone) for sins. 

The preacher wrote in compounded sentences structured around the exhortation: "Let us...."   Abridged and paraphrased the text may read:

My friends, since we have confidence to approach God because of the sacrifice of Jesus [not the sacrifice of animals or birds], and since we have Jesus as our mediator between us and God [not the priest],
let us approach God with purified hearts,
let us hold firmly our eternal hope,
let us stir up one another to practice Christian love and good works, while meeting together, and encourage one another.

We will reflect on the last "let us".

Will Willimon wrote of an exchange that he had with a man. The man said:

"We don't go to church. No, on Sundays we turn on the television, and in our religious programs, we just have ourselves church right here.  In fact," he continued, "we feel a lot more religious right here in our living room in front of the TV on Sunday morning than we do when we are at church."

What would you say to him?  How would you respond?

I could see his point.  Can you?  After all, who doesn't feel more vaguely "religious" sitting alone in the safe cocoon of your living room, watching preachers who always soothe and comfort and never offend, sitting alone where there is no one sitting beside you on the pew to challenge you or make you uncomfortable [or bring up emotions from friction].  It's safer, easier at home.

Apparently the preacher-coach who wrote the sermon to the Hebrews had people in the congregation who had dropped out.  They had quit coming to church.

With the urgency of a losing coach, he gets into the face of the congregation, shouting, "Don't quit meeting together!"

Relationships are important in church.  New Testament Christianity is about relationships -- relationship with God and with people. 

We Americans are into `private' religion, private spirituality.  New Testament Christians would have thought that peculiar.  If Christianity is about loving God and loving our neighbor, as Jesus said, yet we cut out the neighbor, then do we have Christianity?

The preacher-coach exhorts us to meet together!  That is the norm.  The preacher-coach is really into it.  The verb that he uses is "provoke" or "stir up" or “spur on” one another. 

One of my favorite memories of high school is of the pep rallies.  Do you still have those? They were held before major ball games.  Pep rallies were held during the last period on Fridays when no one wanted to study anyway – we were daydreaming about the weekend.  The classes were shortened, and we gathered in the gym/auditorium.  The superintendent gave a speech, and the principal.  Then, maybe the coach and one of the players aroused our school spirit.  Finally, the cheerleaders pranced and rehearsed us in the usual cheers.  If they had a special cheer for the upcoming game, they taught us that.
I left feeling great, on top of the world, confident that we could beat anyone in the universe. 

If the preacher-coach were standing in front of us, I picture the preacher-coach bouncing up and down, cheering, "Meet together!  Meet together!  You can do it!  Get the team spirit!  Encourage each other to do Christian love and works."

Grads, you have heard us oldsters lecture you on peer pressure.  You have heard old people, like Lou, tell you to watch out for the bad influence of your peers who taunt you into smoking, drinking, drugs or driving with too many in the car.  Peer pressure, you know what it is.  We give it a negative tone.  It’s bad.  

Peer pressure is what the preacher-coach urges, the good kind of peer pressure.  Yes, there is positive peer pressure!  There are peers whom we may spur to do well, peers who cheer us on to be our best.  Those of us who have walked already the road you now walk know how vitally important our choice of peers is.  We also know that you will have to choose new peers.  When you come home at Christmas or next summer, the old gang may not be here.  You will be choosing new peers now.  And you will choose new peers with every move that you make.  For the rest of your life you will choose peers.  Choose well!  

The preacher-coach urges us to choose people of faith, and for us to meet together.  Why?  For what purposes?

Two missions are given.

A.        To encourage love

While reading Barbara Johnson's book, "Stick a Geranium in Your Hat and Be Happy!", she introduced me to a New Testament Christian whom I did not know, Onesiphorus.  Are any of you acquainted with Onesiphorus?  How many know Onesiphorus?  I have to tell you about him.  We read about him in the second letter of Paul to Timothy.  This letter is the most personal and private of the New Testament letters.  It was written from prison by Paul, the veteran missionary, to his young colleague, Timothy.  Incarcerated in chains, Paul was feeling somewhat abandoned by old church friends, except for Onesiphorus.  II Timothy 1:16; 4:19  Paul wrote, "May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not afraid of my chain.  When he arrived in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me… ." 

"Because he often refreshed me!" I love that expression!  I thank Barbara Johnson for giving it to me. 

That is a neat example of Christian love: it is one cheering Christian refreshing another.  In order to refresh each other, we have to get together, be church.

Do you know what is one of the hardest things for many strong Christians?  Some of the strongest Christians, the most giving people, have a problem with this.  Accepting Christian love.  Accepting support from other Christians.  Accepting encouragement. Pride tells them that they are in the role of giving love. They are what I call the “grace givers”.  They think of themselves as the encouragers.  They do the cheerleading. Wonderful people.   Church life exists because of them.  Well, you have to get it before you can give it.  You have to keep getting it to keep giving it.  Strong personalities with disguised vanity tend to think of love as an internal perpetual motion machine.  No, no, no!  Over time, there is a tendency for these strong Christians to become rigid and judgmental, and to lose the capacity to understand, love and encourage anyone but friends. The only perpetual motion machine that generates love and encouragement is God, and only God.  The rest of us need to be fed love, if we are going to feel and act out love.  We need to be encouraged to be able to encourage. 

Paul, we just heard about him.  He was the giant, the super-star of Christianity.  But, he still treasured Onesiphorus.  Why?  Onesiphorus refreshed him.  Onesiphorus encouraged him.  If the giant of the faith needed encouragement at times, what of me?

I need encouragement, often!   And I have received it! In my career, I have visited countless people hospitalized in crisis.  Frequently I did not want to talk with another person who was coping, or trying to cope, with an overwhelming load.  I may have been having a bad breathing day, or someone had been on me about something, or there was a dispute in the congregation.  It could have been many things that made me feel funky.  I would try to perk up myself as I approached the hospital room, offer a prayer that Christ go with me, and walk into the room.  The patient and I would talk about the crisis.  Then we might laugh a little.  And, we might talk about things in the church, or about the ball team.  When I strode back into the hallway, I stood straighter and stepped quicker.  Why? Because the patient had ministered to me.  Had the patient administered a drug?  Of course not.  Had the patient practiced therapy on me.  No.  What had happened?  I had forgotten myself for a time and focused upon the patient.  The interaction with the patient had lifted my spirit.  I had gone to minister, and came away having received ministry -- refreshed.  How often I have received refreshing, encouraging love from Christians! 

One of my elders in a previous church, Jeff Somerville, ran the New York Marathon.  I phoned to ask how he did.  He told me of how impressed he was by the millions of people along the route standing out in the rain, cheering on the runners.  He said, "If they would stand out in the rain and cheer us on, I felt that I had to complete the race."  He did.  The same year, Tim Gardner from that village ran the Washington Marathon.  With Jeff’s comment in mind, I asked him about the impact of the crowd.  He said that they were absolutely necessary for the last eight miles.  Runners needed them.  Incidentally, he heard his name called as he ran, turned and was surprised to see a couple of the church among the cheering crowd.  They lifted their spirit.

To practice love, we have to get together.  It may be in twos, or threes, or tens, or hundreds.  To receive love and to encourage love, we have to be with people.

The preacher is like the coach who cares about the Christian, who cares about the team, getting into the face of the player, exclaiming, "This is worth doing, and you can do it!"

B.        To encourage good works

The other mission for getting together is to urge each other to Christian works.

This congregation is superb at doing Christian works.  Think of all the mission trips!   Already the Mississippi team is back.  So is the South Carolina team.  Still to go are the Medical Team to Honduras that leaves next weekend, the Work Camp of teens to North Carolina, and the team to the ndian Reservation in South Dekota.

Dozens will volunteer to assist with Vacation Bible School.  Several of you participate in the “Write from the Heart” card ministry, a ministry of love and encouragement.  You give a huge number of hours to life that takes place within these walls.

And so many of you volunteer in various service organizations in Adams County!  I keep learning about how deeply the people of this church are involved in the community.
 
And further, you contribute thousands of dollars through this church to give a helping hand for rental of a musical instrument, summer church camp, apartment rent, mortgage payment, toy for a child whose parent is in the county correctional facility, repair of a porch, and so many more ministries.

Over the summer, there will be Sundays when I will not be in the pulpit.  Instead, we will hear about the good works the people of this church are doing.  Sermons in action.

You are an exciting church!  (If you have been only a pew sitter, test some of these missions to see if they will not add to your life.)  What am I doing?  What am I doing?   I am encouraging you to do good works! 

I am only able to encourage you because we are meeting together!   Do you know how love and good works get done?  Often by, to use the secular expression, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”  Friends encourage and help each other.  You need help in painting the kindergarten classroom; you know me; therefore, you ask me to paint.  Then, I am going to paint the Eisenhower Lounge, and I need help.  I know you; we have worked together; I ask you; you agree.  It is work.  But, we enjoy good fellowship and have fun.  And we have those good feelings of accomplishment and being worthwhile.

While meeting together, let us encourage each other, let us spur each other to practice Christian love and good works. 

1  William H. Willimon, "Pulpit Resource," (Grover Heights, MN: Logos Productions Inc., O-D, 1997), p. 28.

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