We Need Each Other
We need each other!
On a cool morning in the beginning of September, we built a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed the warmth, smells, and all-around coziness of that first autumn fire. We love big, crackling fires and this one was a beauty. The yellow/orange flames were dancing high and the heat could be felt from across the room. As we finished up our last cups of coffee and cleared up the breakfast dishes we didn’t pay much attention to the fire and it began to die down to a little flicker. When we finally noticed that we were about to lose our fire, someone took the irons and pushed the hot pieces of smoldering wood together, stirred them up a bit, used the bellows, and sure enough the flames sprang back to life and the fire started burning and crackling again. It was lovely. We went through this routine throughout the morning until it began to warm up outside and we wanted to go out for one last boat ride. Before we left, we needed to put out the fire. And so, instead of pushing the burning coals together, this time the iron was used to push the burning pieces of the fire further and further apart. When they were finally far enough apart that they weren’t touching and we closed the fireplace door, the flames quickly died down and the fire went out. Burning coals close together and stirred up create a flaming fire. Scattered apart, not touching, the coals grow cold and lose all potential for a flame. This stirring up and scattering apart is a principle applied to the flame of fire. It is also a principle we can apply to the flame of faith.
Paul reminds Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5-6 of his faith which he has had since a little boy with his mother and grandmother, and he encourages Timothy now, as a young man, to “fan into flame” this gift of faith that God gave him. To fan the gift of faith into a flame of faith Paul reminds Timothy of his Savior Jesus Christ and how Jesus suffered for him. Remembering this, Paul exhorts Timothy to not be fearful, but be powerful, loving, self-controlled, and above all, not to be ashamed of the gospel. In other words, get to work Timothy! Be all God has called you to be.
The author of Hebrews speaks to us today with these challenging words, “… let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:24-25)
Never in my lifetime has it been more difficult to put these words from Hebrews into practice. And never, in my opinion, has it been more urgent to figure out how to do this. We need each other! When we are meeting together, up close, personal, sharing our hearts, encouraging one another, pointing one another to Jesus, encouraging one another in the Word, we are fanning into flame our faith. When we are together, our faith becomes crackling and warm, generating light and giving comfort to the cold world around us. We are kidding ourselves if we think we’re the exception to this rule. You cannot keep the flame of your faith going alone. You just can’t.
We have an enemy and he is having a heyday right now. He is using every tool in his toolbox to spread us apart, keep us from touching one another, and cutting off the oxygen in order to extinguish the flame of our faith. And, frankly, he’s having quite a bit of success. We must fight back. Further on in Hebrews 10 it says we have “need of endurance”. And we are reminded that, “… we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
Yes, let’s consider how we can stir one another up to love and good works. Let’s figure out ways to encourage one another. Let’s not shrink back. Let’s not neglect meeting together which can so quickly become a habit.
It’s not easy! It’s not easy to get to church, especially when you have little children that can’t sit still. It’s not easy to figure out a way to get together for Bible study when there isn’t childcare. It’s getting harder as the winter months arrive to meet together in the park or take a walk. It’s unsettling when we’re in a COVID “high risk” category. It’s not easy! But we must help one another to consider how to stir one another up. Let’s pray for creativity. We have a big God and he is not caught by surprise at the situation we’re in. Surely He’ll give us ideas!
Why do we need to do this? Because Jesus is real. Because we can’t do it on our own. Because the Day is drawing near.