Garry spoke this morning on the subject of encouragement, looking at how we respond to others, especially when they fall. The famous scene from ‘Only Fools And Horses’ where Del Boy falls through the open bar door makes us laugh because of the comic timing it involves (and Trigger’s astonished response), but so often, we do laugh at other people’s misfortunes – a response known in German as ‘Schadenfreude.’ Such a response has no place in the Christian life.
In Gen 9:20-23 we see the response of Noah’s sons when he sins through drunkenness. Ham saw his naked father and effectively laughed at him, telling his brothers about this. The response of Shem and Japheth was to show respect and cover their father’s nakedness. In this response, we see how we can either help others or hinder them when they fall.
Gal 6:1-6 gives us further advice about what to do if our brothers and sisters are caught in sin. The word means ‘overtaken’ or ‘blindsided’, and so often sin can be like this. Those who are spiritual are urged to warn people gently, doing our best to guide them away from the edge. We should not be like the Pharisee who boasted to God of his superiority (Luke 18:9-14); we should not gossip and gloat when others fail. Instead, we need to watch each other’s backs, helping each other and watching out for each other where possible, showing love and compassion.
Peter made many mistakes and was adamant that he would not deny Jesus, but did so three times (John 18:15-17, 25-27). Jesus had reassured him of His prayers before this and gave him the opportunity to be restored to service (John 21:15-19). We need to pray for people and seek their restoration, being careful to watch ourselves, for whilst we may not be tempted in the same way as another, we have to be sure we are keeping watch over our own spiritual progress. We should follow Christ’s example and look to the interests of others (Phil 2:1-4), for when we look down on others, all this does is reveal our own insecurities and frailty. God sees our hearts and is not deceived by our blustering or posturing. We are fully accepted by God as we are, no matter how insecure we may feel, and because of God’s acceptance and love, we are secure in Him. This gives us the grace to carry each other’s burdens (which are overweighted like the fishermen’s nets in Luke 5:6-7) and to aid, support, value and love those in God’s family. Jesus gave His people a new command: the command to love one another. (John 13:34-35) Love is the standard and measure of our response in all situations.