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The Assyrian armies were massive, powerful, and brutal. They were well-equipped with advanced technology designed for siege warfare. Through dramatic displays of cruelty to those they defeated, they terrorized those they would attack next.
In the eighth century before Christ, under the leadership of one king after another, the empire of Assyria expanded. Nation after nation fell. The northern kingdom of Israel-the forerunner of the people the New Testament calls Samaritans-fell to the Assyrians in 722 B.C.
A few years later, the armies of Assyria set their sights on the southern kingdom of Judah and its capital Jerusalem.
As the fortified cities of Judah began to fall, Hezekiah, the young king of Judah, took measures to reinforce the fortifications of Jerusalem. He blocked off water sources outside of the city. He made sure the wall around the city was repaired and built another wall outside of that one. He stockpiled weapons and shields. All wise military moves anticipating a siege.
Hezekiah did all he could do to strengthen the city's defenses. But he didn't stop there. He knew that was not enough. He knew he needed to prepare his people to face siege warfare. Siege warfare was not just about wearing down the physical defenses of a city. Siege warfare was about wearing down the spirits of the soldiers defending the city and the residents who depend on those soldiers. Siege warfare was most successful when the defenders of a city lost courage even before they ran out of food and water.
The Assyrian army was particularly good at siege warfare. Long before their army arrived to build earthen ramps and set up battering rams, the news of their past exploits traveled ahead of them. Long before the battering rams were operational, news of fallen cities, mutilated corpses, and cruelty began to batter the spirits of the inhabitants of the next city they planned to conquer.
The propaganda was reaching Jerusalem. Even as fortifications were being put in place, the soldiers of Jerusalem were growing discouraged.
Hezekiah knew that physical fortifications were not enough. He knew his soldiers and his people needed to be fortified too. So he gathered them together, and he encouraged them.
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles."
And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.
That's the power of encouragement. When all seems dark, encouragement opens eyes to see the light. When there is no energy to go forward, encouragement fuels a new start. When all seems hopeless, encouragement brings a spark of hope.
You might have heard the story of the married couple asleep in bed on a stormy night who were awakened by a loud knock on the front door. The man crawled out of bed and grumpily went downstairs. When he opened the front door he found a man dripping wet and obviously very drunk who said to him, "I can't get my car started. Can you give me a push?" To which the man of the house replied sharply, "No! Go and sober up and we will sort it out in the morning!" He slammed the door and stormed upstairs.
When he got back into bed and explained what had happened to his wife she was indignant and said to him, "That wasn't a very kind Christian response. He could be in trouble and you have just sent him out into the storm for the rest of the night!" Reluctantly the man got out of bed a second time and put on his coat and went downstairs. He figured he wasn't going to get any peace until he did something for the man out in the rain.
When he got to the front door the rain was streaming down and he couldn't see the other man. He could hear a faint noise out in the front yard so he called out, "Hello? Are you still there? What can I do to help?" To which the other man replied, "Could you give me a push?" "I'd be happy to if I could see you; where are you?" "I'm over here, on your swing!"
(Borrowed from Brian Winslade, sermoncentral.com.)
That's the power of encouragement. Sometimes encouragement means coming along behind someone who is stuck and giving them a little push. More often encouragement is about coming along side someone whose batteries have run down and giving them a little infusion of energy.
Indeed, greater was the power with Jerusalem than with Jerusalem's enemies during the time of Hezekiah. Assyria did not conquer Jerusalem. At that time, anyway, Judah did not fall.
Encouragement means to put courage in. When all courage has leaked out of us, encouragement from another is needed to put courage back in.
Without courage, hardship cannot be endured. Encouragement lends power to endurance.
Without courage, no new endeavor can be initiated. Encouragement lends power to step out in a new direction.
Without courage, it is easy to fall into complacency and languish. Encouragement lends power to purpose and nudges us to move forward.
Without courage, faith and trust can be worn down by the trials of life and the sieges of trouble. Encouragement fortifies faith and trust, so that we might find hope in God even in the midst of trials and trouble.
That is the power of encouragement.
Discouragement can come from a lot of different sources. Lots of different events in our lives can drain us of courage.
Sometimes a crisis drains us of courage-a crisis of loss, such as the sudden death of a loved one or a painful restructuring of relationships at work or at church or among friends; a crisis of faith, when something triggers a new wave of doubt within us about whether God really exists or whether God really cares or whether God really is trustworthy; a crisis of decision, when circumstances of life bring us to a crossroads and we are unsure of which path to take…to marry or not to marry, to take a new job or not, to move or to stay. Lots of big, and sometimes even small, decisions can bring us to a crisis that might drain us of courage.
Sometimes it's nothing that dramatic. Sometimes it's simply the wear and tear of everyday life that can slowly erode our courage. Tiredness, sickness, and stress can drain us of courage. Unkind, harsh, or demeaning words can drain us of courage. Little failures and disappointments can drain us of courage.
I think that most of us have a pretty good idea of the things, at least in our own lives, that drain us of courage.
I want to move to a different question. What is the nature of a person who can replenish our courage? What is the nature of an encourager?
Let's take another look at Hezekiah. The people of Jerusalem heard Hezekiah's words of encouragement and they gained confidence. His words of encouragement were effective. They heard his words of encouragement and they gained confidence. What was it about Hezekiah that enabled the people to receive his words?
I'm going to share three things that I noticed. There are probably more. There are three things in particular that I noticed about Hezekiah in this passage and the story of Hezekiah that goes around this passage.
One is that Hezekiah was able to see beyond the obvious to the invisible. All of the visible evidence pointed to the hopelessness of their cause. The armies of Assyria had plowed through every army in their path. Hezekiah, in coming to the people, didn't deny the reality of the circumstances. He admitted to them, the armies of the king of Assyria are vast and they're on their way. But his vision was not limited by the circumstances. Hezekiah could see possibilities that the people could not yet see.
The nature of an encourager includes expanded vision-the ability to see the reality of current circumstances and also to see the future possibilities that are masked by current circumstances. A vision not limited by circumstances. A vision that can see possibilities that others can not yet see.
The second thing that I noticed in this passage is that Hezekiah was trustworthy. The people had a relationship of trust with this king. Hezekiah had only been king for a few years when this attempted invasion, this siege, happened. But he had not been idle during those years. He had worked hard to re-establish the trust of the people, because the trust was not there. The trust had been squandered by his unfaithful father, Ahaz, when he was king. So by the time this event happened, the people knew that Hezekiah had their best interests in mind and they had already seen him consistently act on their behalf. I believe in part they could hear his words of encouragement and gain confidence from them because they trusted him already.
The nature of an encourager includes trustworthiness.
The third thing I noticed about Hezekiah is that he demonstrated that he took his own words of encouragement seriously. In this passage we hear Hezekiah urge the people to look beyond the immediate evidence of superior arms on the side of Assyria to see the invisible evidence of a superior God on their side. Hezekiah urged the people to place their faith in God even in the face of hopeless odds on earth. I believe that in part the people received those words, they heard those words of encouragement, and gained confidence, because they had already seen that Hezekiah was a man who placed his faith in God. He wasn't telling them to do something that he wasn't already doing. Hezekiah's father, Ahaz, who was one of the particularly bad kings of Judah, had turned away from God, and the people had followed his example. When Hezekiah became king, he demonstrated his turning to God. The first act of his reign was to teach the people again to worship, and the people followed his example. So by the time this threatened siege from Assyria was on the horizon, they already knew Hezekiah as a man who placed his trust in God. He didn't tell them to do something he wasn't already doing himself.
Generally speaking, the encouraging words that a person might give carry little power if there is no evidence that the speaker of those words already knows something about applying them in his or her own life. The nature of an encourager includes authenticity and the willingness to share from personal experience.
There are no doubt additional important aspects of the character of an encourager. But those three are a good place to start.
Expanded vision. An encourager, an effective encourager, has expanded vision. An effective encourager has the ability to see possibilities that others can not see. The ability to recognize the reality of circumstances, but not be limited by the immediate evidence.
Trustworthiness. An effective encourager is trustworthy. An effective encourager has taken the time to build relationships, build trust, to show real care, and to show that their words come from that care. An effective encourager is trustworthy.
Authenticity and the willingness to share from, or at least out of, personal experience. This does not necessarily mean sharing the details of one's own story. Sometimes that's helpful; sometimes it isn't. What it does mean is sharing the lessons from one's own experience in a way that other people can see is real. An effective encourager is authentic and takes her words of encouragement seriously in her own mind.
Encouragement has power.
Encouragement requires character.
Postscript:
Encouragement also requires a set of skills. There are some who are particularly gifted with the ability to encourage and it comes naturally. But all of us, as disciples of Christ, are called to build one another up, to encourage. There is a set of skills that can be developed.
Next week we will ordain and install Calvary's newest officers. One of the responsibilities of spiritual leaders is to encourage the flock in the midst of life's trials. One of the responsibilities of the flock is to encourage those who bear the burden of leadership.
So next week, in that context, I will take another look at what the Bible has to say about encouragement, particularly focusing on some of the skills of encouraging.
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