This week we began our series called “Encouraged.” We’re going to be looking at a few doxologies of the New Testament. Doxology may sound like a big, complicated word. It may kind of sound like a dry, boring word too. But it’s really not either of those things.

A doxology is simply a way to shift your perspective from discouraged to encouraged by focusing on God. It’s just that easy!

I think encouragement is a lost art in the world today. The headlines seem to focus exclusively on discouraging news. I guess that’s what sells. Social media videos that go viral with encouraging info seem to be rare. Maybe we need to change that.

Encouragement – or really discouragement for that matter – is cultivated by what we allow to inhabit our mind. What we think about, occupy ourselves with, mull over in our head will in many ways determine what we become. What we pay attention to is what we will get out of life.

So, shouldn’t we pay attention to good things?

That’s what a doxology does. It allows us to go beyond what is already in our minds to give us something better to focus on. And the very first doxology we read gets right to the heart of it.

Ephesians 3:20

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…”

In other words, the God who is able to more than what you can keep right there in your head. He is able to more than anything you could come up with on your own. No one could think it would be this good!

I’m talking about the Milwaukee Bucks now. Did you ever imagine this could happen? That they would be just a couple of wins from going to the NBA finals? They’ve already topped their best season result since 2000. And very few of us can think back to the last time they were on top of the world, in 1970 when they won it all.

Of course their record in recent years have given us all small expectations. It’s kept us from imagining anything great from them. It’s left us discouraged.

But what we’re seeing now is encouraging. It’s great! In fact, we could even use the word miracle.

I know the word miracle gets used a lot. And when we apply it to God, some theologians get nervous. “Wait a minute. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Does God really work miracles today?” And that’s probably because of our view on miracles. God parting the Red Sea, making it rain down manna, multiplying a few fish and loaves to feed thousands. These are miracles. And when was the last time we saw anything on that scale?

But maybe we need to rethink this whole idea of miracle. In two ways. First of all, what if we just used Ephesians 3:20 as our definition. In other words, what if we just said that a miracle was when God does something beyond what we could ask or imagine. That means that when you just got the worst news and you don’t think you could ever feel joy again, but God shows up and reassures you – that’s a miracle. When you get that encouraging call from an old friend that you hadn’t though about in years – that’s a miracle. Any time it’s dark and God shines light when you least expect it – that’s a miracle.

The other way we need to rethink a miracle is in what it does for us. It’s not about multiplying some financial investment, breaking the laws of physics for our convenience, or supernaturally stirring people. Let’s look at the reason that God does miracles. He does them to share his glory with us, first of all. But he also does it to encourage us.

So anything that happens to you today that brings you encouragement, could that be a miracle? Why not! If it’s also bringing God glory, then it would be hard not to call it a miracle. And here is where it gets real practical. Because you can be a miracle. You can be the one to share an encouraging word with another person, help them when they are down, brighten up their darkest day. And when you do that, you are glorifying God while also encouraging those around you. You’re a miracle. Going beyond what others are asking and thinking. And that’s the best kind of doxology there is.

 Each day we wake up and look in the mirror. Let’s admit it, we all don’t love what we see first thing. For us men, it’s an unshaven beard, bags under our eyes, hair going in every direction – if we still do have hair. For women…well, I’ll let you fill in the blanks. I’m not going to.

But when you look in that mirror, what do you tell yourself? Before you’ve showered, shaved, had your coffee…what state of mind are you in? What’s going through your mind?

Do you celebrate what you see? Do you praise God for what he’s made?

Or do you feel overwhelmed with regrets? Wish you were someone else? Get stuck in a game of comparisons?

It’s so easy to fall into that second category. I get it. Over and over again in the Scriptures God tells us he loves us. Unconditionally. With that flab you’ve always promised you’d work on but is still hanging around. With those gray hairs. With that crippling self-doubt. With that bank account that doesn’t match your neighbor’s. With that job you feel like is a dead-end.

In all of that, God loves you. He loves what you are and what you’ve made of yourself. He’s happy!

But many times, we aren’t.

This weekend we looked at what it means to welcome ourselves. That’s tough. We are around ourselves 24/7. We can’t escape it! We know every mistake we’ve made, every thought that’s gone astray, every decision we wish we could take back. How can we really welcome ourselves in that atmosphere?

To answer that, we took a deep dive into Psalm 139. It’s a great psalm. Go read it for yourself right now if you want to get acquainted with how amazing God thinks you are.

You are awe-inspiring and amazing!

You are ordained to do something great!

You are known by him!

You are all of those things and more. But we don’t always feel that way. In fact, some of us get so down that we feel hopeless and helpless. We start to think that there’s only one way out – a path through self-harm that leads to suicide. That’s a tough word, but for those of us who face this type of depression we need to face it.

What do we do when we start to feel that way? I am not a counselor, so I can’t give professional help. But if you are feeling like the only way out is death then here are some things to keep in mind.

1. Reach Out

Find someone to talk to who will listen. If that next person doesn’t seem to care, please find someone else. Pick up the phone, shoot out a text, call someone close. Let them know you are hurting.

2. Do What You Love

Get involved in a hobby or activity that feeds you. This isn’t to ignore the problem or hope it goes away. It’s to feed your soul. To give you life through what you love.

3. Put Around Others

These lies we tell ourselves only grow in isolation. I understand if you feel like you’re an introvert, but even those of us who are “homebodies” still need someone close.

4. Get Help

Call a help hotline. Sign up for counseling. Go to the hospital. Understand that the problem may be bigger than you, but that there are others who would love to help you. Seek that help and accept it.

You are more loved than you can ever imagine. Your life matters – to me, to us, and to God. Sometimes the first step in welcoming yourself is admitting you don’t have it all together. The next step is starting to get it together by getting help.

This week’s message was a tough one. Not from a theological or biblical studies stand point. Some times the text is difficult to translate, has meanings that are hard to interpret. Maybe there are even cultural disconnects that we have to learn in order to apply the text.

Those messages are difficult because they require a lot of study.

This message was difficult because of how it stared us in the face. The text was plain. The meaning was obvious. The application was hard.

It was also a difficult message because of how many of us could disagree with it, have difficulties with the other side’s opinion, or because it touched a nerve within us of injustice.

We come from different backgrounds, perspectives, and political persuasions. But we come together. That’s what family does. We have a rule in our house that no matter what is said, you don’t leave the table. You’ll always be part of the family. I hope that rule applies at Northbrook.

On the topic of immigration and loving the stranger, I shared with you a lot on the idea but left a lot on the table for you. If you want something more, I would recommend Welcoming the Stranger, a book you can find here: [Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/Welcoming-Stranger-Justice-Compassion-Immigration/dp/0830845399/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=welcoming+the+stranger&qid=1557240324&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1 – Mike, is this the book? It’s by Matthew Soerens, et al]

I don’t want to reopen the debate or rehash the ideas. You can go back and listen to my message again, or for the first time if you missed it. No, I want to talk about something else. Something in the vein of our idea of “Welcome.”

Do you welcome the opinions of others? Do you welcome debate and discussion? Do you welcome ideas that you may disagree with? If not, why not?

In this media-centric culture, it’s so easy to find a corner where everyone agrees with you and you agree with everyone else. And in that corner, your words bounce off the walls and come right back to you. We call it an echo chamber. It only works to reinforce whatever ideas you have.

But when we lock ourselves in an echo chamber, it can become increasingly difficult to hear God’s voice. You probably know you’re hearing God when what he says makes you feel uncomfortable, it uncovers that last 10% of truth, or it doesn’t lineup exactly with all of your preconceived ideas.

Instead, it pushes you to love more, to care more, to see more. It pushes you out of your comfort zone. It pushes you to lay your own life down – including your opinions – and see how you can serve others.

Living in the echo chamber is living for Jesus “on my terms.” Instead of listening and obeying, we tell Jesus “Shhh…I’ve got this.” And we live however we want. Echo chamber living can be dangerous!

But living for Jesus means we see culture around us differently. Not through the lens of CNN or Fox News, through right/left or Republican/Democrat lenses. But through the lens of scripture.

What does the Bible say? How does it want us to live?

The best way to encounter that better way is through community. And any community will involve a difference – a different set of backgrounds, viewpoints, and opinions.

Do we welcome those differences?

We need a more thoughtful informed understanding that is better than a screaming match by advocates of either side of the debate. We need a better conversation than the small percentage of loud voices on either side of the extremes. We need to welcome the discussion, not the destructive rhetoric.

What happens when we welcome the differences? Life and peace.

We are better for our differences. We are better when we work together. We are better when we can see things through other people’s point of view. We are better when we get in their shoes and walk around for a while.

Notice I didn’t way we are better when we agree? Sure, there are some things we should agree on – like Jesus’ death and resurrection, the supremacy of the scriptures, or the importance of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. But when it comes to almost everything else, we are better when we disagree.

Because it pushes us.

Because it shapes us.

Because it sharpens us.

Because it allows us to love what is not automatically loveable for us. You know, we weren’t always loveable to God. But he loved us anyway. And he put us in his family. So let’s start acting – and reacting – like family. Let’s love each other and honor the disagreement at the table. Then let’s get up together and go love a world who needs it more than ever.