"Stewards of Encouragement: Provoking One Another - To Good" - November 15, 2009

Text: Hebrews 10: 11-25

How many of you got all excited when you heard that I would be preaching from Hebrews today? Well, for a lot of people, Hebrews is not necessarily the most popular book in the Bible.

Hebrews does include what is called the “Roll Call of Faith” in chapter 11, and after this list of heroes and heroines of faith, chapter 12 begins with the best-known passage in the book, speaking of the way we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses and that it is now up to us to run with perseverance the race set before us. That was our scripture, in fact, just two Sundays ago. There is also a great benediction at the end of Hebrews that we will use for our benediction today. But Hebrews is certainly not as familiar as New Testament letters like Romans or I Corinthians. I was surprised that I had not preached on this passage before, at least not according to my records, and I was surprised by how little I have preached from the book of Hebrews.

There are reasons for this. We often stick with what is familiar, and in the New Testament, that is the Gospels, Acts, and Paul. Other letters are to churches in particular cities – Corinth or Rome or Philippi. We may not be familiar with these cities, but we have all traveled to new places. Hebrews, however is an ethnic term, and somehow the distance seems greater.

The biggest problem is that the book is not so easy for devotional use or for sermonizing. It involves a long, sustained argument that is hard to chop into smaller sections and it refers frequently to Israel’s wilderness journey and the Jewish sacrificial system. Priest, altar, sacrifice, atoning blood, cleansing rituals, priests of the order of Melchizedek, the curtain of the temple – these terms and ideas are not familiar to us and make Hebrews sound strange and hard to understand. But as Clement of Alexandria once said, the Bible does not yield its hard-won truths to the casual passerby. We would do well to dig more into some of the tougher parts of scripture.

And so, we jump in today toward the end of an extended argument the writer makes about the nature of Christ. The priest makes sacrifices on behalf of the people but must do this again and again, over and over. Another sacrifice is always needed. But Jesus is the great high priest who has made a sacrifice for all time. God has made a covenant with us and written it on our hearts. Faith now is not so much about the externals of religious practice, but about the inward working of our hearts.

In light of all of this, we may confidently approach God. We are to draw near to God with a sincere heart. We are to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess. Hebrews was written to a church in a time of crisis. Maintaining the faith amidst growing persecution was difficult, and this is intended as an encouragement.

And then we come to a very interesting verse that we will focus on this morning. It is a most engaging admonition: Let us provoke one another to love and to good deeds.

Let us provoke one another? Provoking people doesn’t sound like what we ought to be doing. Somebody does something stupid, gets in trouble, and they say, “I couldn’t help it; I was provoked.” A kid gets on our nerves, and what do we say? “Don’t provoke me!” Provoking doesn’t sound like a good thing.

From the word provoke comes the word “provocative” and “provocateur,” one who provokes. Maybe you have heard the term agent provocateur. This is someone who infiltrates a group in order to provoke or incite those in the group to illegal acts. Many years ago agents provocateurs were hired to infiltrate labor unions, for example. An agent provacateur might join a protest rally and then encourage others to get carried away to where they get arrested and bring negative publicity to the group. In French, agent provocateur is literally “inciting agent.”

We are familiar with the idea of provoking others to do things they will regret. We are not used to the idea of provoking others to positive actions. But that is what we have here. We are to provoke others to love and good works.

This is a unique idea, you have to admit, and it is really a kind of stewardship. We have been blessed with relationships with family and friends. We have been blessed with influence. We have been blessed with opportunities to work for good. Do we encourage others towards love? Do we encourage others towards good works? This is not a small thing. The possibility that we can provoke others to good can make a huge difference in their lives and a huge difference in our world.

There was a news story last year (in the Chicago Tribune, May 01, 2008) about a softball game between league rivals Western Oregon and Central Washington. With two runners on base and a strike against her, Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University uncorked her best swing and did something she had never done, in high school or college. Her very first home run cleared the center-field fence.

But she missed first base and when she turned back to tag it she collapsed with a knee injury. She crawled back to first but could do no more. The first-base coach said she would be called out if her teammates tried to help her. The umpire said that a pinch runner could be called in but the homer would count as a single.

Then, Central Washington first baseman Mallory Holtman, the career home run leader in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, asked the umpire if she and her teammates could help Tucholsky around the bases. The umpire said there was no rule against it, and so Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace stunned the crowd by carrying their opponent around the bases, stopping to let her touch each base with her good leg.

This was an act that contributed to their own team’s elimination from the playoffs. “We didn’t know that she was a senior or that this was her first home run,” Wallace said. “We just wanted to help her.”

We have all seen plenty of examples of poor sportsmanship. Maybe you saw the video this week of a college soccer player who was punching and kicking opponents and who threw down an opposing player by her pony tail. There are plenty of folks out there who treat the other side with disdain.

I’m wondering: where did these softball players learn to play fairly and help an opponent in need? I think they had to learn it somewhere. I think at some point, they were provoked to good works. And if you think their action didn’t mean anything, I can guarantee you that those on the Western Oregon team will carry with them a spirit of fair play and sportsmanship. By their actions, the Central Washington players were provoking others to good works. It was a provocative act.

What we do is usually far more provocative than what we say. Barbara Woods has been in Nicaragua this past week, serving on a mission work team. The group is flying home from Managua this morning. Barbara has gone to work in Nicaragua not once, not twice, but eight times. By her example, she is provoking others to support missions and to participate personally in missions. I hope that in the next year we will send out a mission work group from our church and I hope that others will go on future work teams to Nicaragua and elsewhere. Barbara is provoking us in that direction.

Our text this morning calls us to a ministry of encouragement. Through our words and through our actions, we are to encourage one another. This too is a part of stewardship. If we have the opportunity to encourage others and fail to do so, we are not being good stewards.

Many years ago at the University of Wisconsin, there was an undergraduate literary club. The club consisted of male students who had demonstrated outstanding talent in writing. At each meeting one of the students would read a story or essay he had written, and then submit it to the others for criticism. And they got it. Nothing was held back. The students showed no mercy in dissecting the material line by line. The sessions were so brutal that the members called themselves “The Stranglers.”

Then a similar club was formed called “The Wranglers.” The Wranglers were the female counterparts to the Stranglers. They would read their writings at meetings and critique one another, but there was a noticeable difference. The Wranglers’ criticism was gentle, thoughtful, positive and kind. They lifted each other up and encouraged one another in their writing.

Twenty years later, a university researcher looked at the careers of the members of both groups. Not one of the bright young talents in “The Stranglers” had achieved a literary reputation of any kind. “The Wranglers,” on the other hand, had produced half a dozen prominent, successful writers. What was the difference? The formats of both groups were similar. Both groups had very talented students who were equal in ability. The difference was that “The Stranglers” cut each other down while “The Wranglers” lifted each other up. “The Stranglers” strangled the life out of one another while “The Wranglers” were life enhancing.

We are called to encouragement. We are to offer support and care to one another. And this happens as we gather together regularly for prayer and worship and fellowship. “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.” It is hard to encourage others, and it is hard to be encouraged by others, if we don’t spend any time together. “Do not neglect to meet together,” the writer says, speaking of the importance of gathering for worship.

It is interesting that all of this sounds premeditated. “Let us consider how to provoke one another.” Let’s think about it. Let’s plot how to do this. It is as though we are to be Agents Provocateurs, inciting and provoking and pushing others toward love and good works. We are God’s agents sent not only to make a difference in our world but to incite others to make a difference.

“Let us consider” how to provoke one another reminds us that in order to do this, we have to be very aware. We have to be mindful. Because the way we provoke others to good is a lot different and a lot harder than provoking a reaction or provoking someone’s temper.

Earlier this week I thought that something involving Agents Provocateurs might be a good title for the sermon. But then I googled the term and it turns out it is now the brand name for a line of lingerie that is known for risqué commercials, and I would guess that for a lot of people this is what they think of when they hear “Agent Provocateur,” so I thought better of it. But it is a very interesting idea: God has called us to incite and provoke others to love and to good works.

I suppose the big question this morning is, “How do we do this?” How do we provoke others to good? It may be through a grand gesture, a spectacular example of love and self-sacrifice that impresses and influences others. But most of the time, I think it happens on a day-to-day basis as we demonstrate acceptance and compassion and genuine interest in others. It happens through a consistently positive and uplifting attitude and through small acts of kindness. It happens as we not only act in love toward others but expect the same from them.

There are people who if you hang out with them a lot, it will start to affect you in a negative way. Their attitude and habits and values start to rub off on you and drag you down. But there are also those people who if you spend time with them, you are the better for it. You start to become a better person. These are the people who are provoking others to love and good works.

I started a project at home on Friday. There were some wood trim pieces around the garage door that were in bad shape. They were rotting at the bottom, along the driveway. Too many Iowa winters. This had already started when we bought the house ten years ago and it was time to do something more than just trying to paint over the bad places again.

I decided I would cut out the damaged parts and put in new pieces. But I could not find matching size trim. A 1 x 6 board is no longer 1 x 6 inches and hasn’t been for some time. So I decided to replace most of the trim, and since I was going to the trouble, I decided to get the PVC stuff that won’t rot – it’s more expensive but I don’t want to have to do this job again.

Well, you can probably guess how it has gone. Any project you start grows exponentially. I removed the damaged wood and there were several big nails left that couldn’t be pulled out. So I had to go buy a Dremel tool to cut them off. (I had thought about getting one before so this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.) Then I realized that because the boards I were using were of different dimensions from the originals, I would need a couple more trim pieces and had to go to Lowe’s again.

Then it got worse. The new trim would allow a little bit more of the garage door to show. This part of the door that had not shown before was discolored, so I did some touch-up painting. But the old paint had faded so much that the new paint looked like it was a different color, and I had to paint the whole garage door. I didn’t have much paint and so I used a brush instead of a roller and tried to make the paint go as far as it possibly could, which of course caused several missed spots that will have to be gone over again. The bottom line is that what started as a one-day $40 project is now a minimum 3-day project at several times the expense.

Not that I’m surprised. It is always like this when you do a project around the house. It never fails. And this is the way it is when you encourage others. This is the way it is when you provoke others to loving actions. You can’t be sure where it will lead, but it is going to grow. When an agent provocateur tries to stir up trouble in a crowd, there might be a riot, there might be arrests, there might be chaos, and you don’t know what will happen. And when we try to stir up love, stir up folks to go commit good works, incite others to spread kindness, to act compassionately, there is no telling what will come of it.

Friends, this is our calling. “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.” Amen.