Our biblical examples are Joshua in the Old Testament, Mary and Martha in the New Testament.

From these biblical examples, I want to get us started with this proposition:

To be an encourager you must have faith in God, you must have dutiful obedience to the Word of God and you must be growing toward spiritual maturity. Let’s simplify the definition and just say that faith, duty and maturity are the qualities of an encourager.

We talk about discipleship, a lot, at Living Faith in terms of joining a Life Group as well as in one-to-one relationships and both of these avenues of discipleship are creating a church culture of encouragement. I would go out on a limb and say that being an encourager is a model of discipleship that everybody can fit into.

If you are in a position of leadership it is because you have a good balance of faith and duty and your spiritual growth is moving toward a high level of personal consecration. Joshua is our example of this.

Joshua our Old Testament example of God calling an Audible on Encouragement.

Joshua 1:1-9

1. After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: (2) Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them – to the Israelites. (3) I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. (4) Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates – all the Hittite country – to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. (5) As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

(6) “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. (7) Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. (8) Do not let this Book off the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (9) Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

The audible of encouragement that God gives to Joshua is not about what God has promised to do – a promise that God gave to Abraham and is now fulfilling, a land for Israel to dwell in. The audible of encouragement that God gives to Joshua is about how God is going to use Joshua to accomplish it. Many things in the Christian life come down to this simple equation: It’s not what I can do for God that counts. It is what God wants to do through me that makes all the difference.

The Background

Joshua is identified as “Moses’s aid.” By definition, Joshua is “one who serves” and he has been serving as Moses’s personal assistant. Joshua is called Moses’s aid three previous times:

Exodus 24:13 – Joshua was with Moses on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights.

Exodus 33:11 – Joshua was present when the LORD would speak with Moses face to face in the tent of meeting.

Numbers 11:28 – Joshua was jealous to protect Moses’ reputation as the prophet of the LORD.

See the connection: Moses is the LORD’s servant; and, Joshua is Moses’s servant. How has Joshua learned to serve the LORD? By serving Moses!

The Audible

Moses is dead. How is Joshua being called to serve the LORD? He is to lead the people in the conquest and settlement of Canaan! How is he going to do that?

Three times in verses 6-9 God commands him to “be strong and courageous”

This word pair tells us that there will be times when Joshua will need to be “strong” and there will be times when he will need to be “courageous.”

Why is this encouragement so important to Joshua?

Two times, he needs the reminder that people will oppose him, verse 5, and that he will face terrifying things and discouragement, verse 9, none the less, God will be with him every step of the way, no matter what!

The third reminder in verses 7 and 8 is the most important of the three – “be strong and very courageous” [some translations include “above all” to convey the importance of this reminder].

Here the command to Joshua has to do with his resolve to observe and obey the commands that God had already given to Moses. If Joshua is careless with this command, it really doesn’t make a whole lot of difference whether they conquer and settle the land of Canaan or not.

Notice how detailed this command of God to Joshua is:

1. be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you, v.7a.

2. do not turn from it to the right or to the left, 7b.

3. do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth, 8a.

4. mediate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it, 8b

5. then you will be prosperous and successful, 8c.

There is a life principle that comes out of this word of encouragement to Joshua. This life principle is found in the words about being prosperous and successful.

The life principle is this. Prosperity and success is not found in what we are trained to do and how well we accomplish the work we have been given to do. Prosperity and success is found in how well we focus on God and obey His Word.

This is how God encouraged Joshua. Joshua writes a book giving personal testimony of God’s faithfulness to His promises and a personal testimony defining what success and prosperity in his life looks like.

“As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

Mary and Martha our New Testament example of God calling an Audible on Encouragement.

Let’s carry this proposition forward to the New Testament and the examples of Mary and Martha.

Luke 10:38-42

38. As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. (39) She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. (40) But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’”

41. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, (42) but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Martha and Mary - what is the encouragement that they get from Jesus?

I think it is a mistake to assume that Martha was not interested in leaning from Jesus. After all, she invited Jesus into her home. The encouragement that they both get from Jesus, Martha by way of correction and Mary by way of affirmation, is that the best decision we will make, daily, is to give attention, loving attention, to learning the Word of God.

Martha – “welcomed Jesus into her home,” that is, she for the moment is being controlled by the “tyranny of the urgent.” Martha is a good hostess and she is very concerned about doing all the right things. When she speaks to Jesus about Mary not helping her, she obviously expects Jesus to agree with her.

Mary - “sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said.” Mary is not unaware of social custom and the responsibilities of hospitality but she is more interested in listening to what Jesus has to say. She doesn’t speak to Jesus about Martha and whether she should help her.

Jesus affirms Mary. Why? Her posture – “sitting at the Lord’s feet listening” – means that she is giving attention to God’s Word out of love for Jesus.

Does our motivation for serving and learning in the church make a difference in how we live out our faith in God?

Luke doesn’t pick up the story of Martha and Mary later on in his gospel but he does build upon it with Jesus teaching about discipleship in the context of faith and duty, Luke 10:38-19:27. The gospel of John does bring us back to two very special occasions where Jesus has further interactions with Martha and Mary – the death of Lazarus, Martha and Mary’s brother and, Jesus’ subsequent anointing at Bethany, John 11:1-12:9.

There is some scholarly debate about whether John 12:1-9 and Matthew 26:6-16 are recording the same event but one thing is sure: the anointing of Jesus in Bethany is an act of extraordinary, sacrificial love for Jesus. Matthew’s account is worth reading here.

Matthew 26:6-13

6. While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, (7) a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. (8) When the disciples saw it, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. (9) “This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.”

10. Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for me. (11) You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. (12) By pouring this perfume on my body, she has prepared me for burial. (13) Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

Is God calling you with an Audible on Encouragement? What do people need to hear and see from you that will point them to saving faith in Jesus?