Encouraging words build community spirit

LAST MONTH, as part of my training as a Methodist minister, I shared this reflection with a church where the minister was preparing to leave.

The Bible reading was Collosians 1:1-14 . This reflection was inspired by and adapted from the Roots worship resources website.

On the last Sunday in June, the minister and I were with the community of a nearby church for their annual graveside service. We gathered in the cemetery next to the old church. Though the church closed almost 60 years ago, the graveyard is still used to this day.

During the service we remembered those who have died in the past year. After the service, people told stories of family and church members they recall fondly, with great appreciation.

This was also the last time the minister would be with them on a Sunday morning, so they gave thanks for him and his ministry.

I remembered this as I was reading the opening of St Paul’s letter to the Collosians. In it, Paul is commending this church community for their faith in Jesus, which is bearing good fruit. He prays that they may continue to build up a community of love and mutual encouragement where everyone’s needs are met.

Paul continues in this letter to warn this community away from error and remind them of sound Christian teaching. But he doesn’t start by telling them where they are going wrong.

Encouraging words are so important for ensuring people have the confidence to do the things that are asked of them. The encouraging words Paul said to the Collosians may also encourage us today.

Paul is writing to people in a place that feels neglected and unloved. When the city of Collosae, in what is now Turkey, was destroyed by an earthquake just two or three years after this letter was written, the Roman Empire did not rebuild it. People moved away to other more important cities. This city to which Paul is writing might not have mattered to Caesar, but it mattered to God, and Paul writes to encourage the new Jesus followers in the city to stand firm in their faith and support for one another.

In our world today, spirituality is often described as individual and personal. For example, I might speak of my inner peace or my private walk with God, . But for Paul, our spirituality is a gift from God that comes through people like Epaphras (Collosians 1:7) who spends his life serving the needs of others.

In this opening of Paul’s letter, all the verbs and the ‘yous’ are plural; he is reassuring them, and us too, that truly we are all in this together.

So, in a culture which encourages people to look out for themselves and their own needs, then and now, Paul encourages them, and us, to learn to be human from God and each other. Paul focusses on love, and fruit, and good works. We do not grow by living for ourselves in isolation, but for God and others in a community of love and mutual encouragement. It’s the opposite of the individualism of both the Roman Empire and our culture today.

We are not self-made. God has given us life with one another, so we can live open-handed, sharing responsibility for one another and ensuring everyone’s needs are met.

This way of living is not easy, and not popular, but it is possible for those who belong to a community of people who encourage one another in love.

Paul is encouraging the Collosians to learn from good practice. He starts by praising what is going well. He is encouraging them with his words. We may find them inspiring for our own faith, but they are also showing us how to be encouraging of others.

So, as I reflected on that graveside service, I wondered:

• Do we wait until someone has died to show how much we appreciate them?
• Do we wait until someone is leaving to let them know how much we value their presence and their gifts?
• Do we regret times when we haven’t taken the opportunity to show how much we appreciate someone while they were still with us?

Paul shows us we don’t need to wait – we can start by encouraging others with our words today.