When my maternal grandparents, Ed and Emma Webber, were married in 1903, they rented a farm close to the East Fairview Church of the Brethren. They told of a couple in the church there who had a rather large family of eleven. When the twelfth child arrived, it was stillborn, and the mother would not be comforted. For days she mourned the loss of her infant. Finally, in desperation, the husband took his grief-stricken wife in his arms and said in Pennsylvania Dutch, “Ach, Mary, sei net draurich. Es gebt noch meh!” Which being interpreted is, “Oh, Mary, DON’T be discouraged. IT’LL give more!”
That mother of eleven wasn’t the only one to ever have been the recipient of encouragement. In first-century Christianity, the Apostle Paul also had his heart warmed. Rome. Prison. Depressingly dark and dank. And then the prison guard comes to the apostle’s cell and announces that Epaphroditus had come to see Paul. “Epaphroditus? Who’s EPAPHRODITUS? I don’t know who he is, but send him in anyway!” Paul’s eyes light up and he springs to his feet. Epaphroditus is ushered in.
Epaphroditus has been sent from the Philippian Church, which geographically is some 800 miles away. The believers there somehow hear of Paul’s plight in prison and want to encourage him. So they send gifts by the hand of Epaphroditus. And Paul’s heart is warmed immensely! Later the Philippian believers receive a thank-you letter in return. “I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18/NIV).
When was your heart last warmed? When the florist delivered a bouquet with a “Just-to-leave-you-know-we care” note attached? When many more people showed up for the viewing than you had anticipated? When a long-lost cousin calls from a distant state? When your supervisor says “Good job!” after a particularly difficult project? When a grown child acknowledges the fine job you’ve done at parenting? When a letter of appreciation arrives, telling that your efforts haven’t gone unnoticed? The Apostle, at another place, says that when we are encouraged, it inspires us to encourage others (2 Corinthians 1:4). If you have been the recipient of encouragement, why not warm someone else’s heart… TODAY!
March/April 1992