Words of Encouragement

Jeremiah 33:14-16

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

It wasn’t until quite recently that I realized how much I take for granted my ability to effectively communicate my needs and wants. As you know by now, I work as a teaching assistant at the Faison Center for Autism. One of the defining characteristics of autism is a difficulty in communicating and using language to express abstract concepts. Many of the students with whom I work can’t effectively communicate their needs or concerns. Often times, this lack of effective communication leads to the development of behaviors to compensate. Some of these behaviors are off-putting, perhaps, but harmless. For example: if a person with autism doesn’t like noises in their environment, they might start loudly vocalizing to produce a noise that they feel in control of. Some behaviors, however, are dangerous and unhealthy. For example: if a person with autism can’t communicate that they’re frustrated with a task you’re asking them to do, they may just hit you to make you stop asking it of them, or they may try to run away from you to escape the demand. And this presents one of the primary questions undergirding the work we do at Faison: how do you teach someone to change potentially dangerous/unhealthy behaviors if you can’t effectively communicate with them?

At Faison, we use tactics of Applied Behavior Analysis to address that question. I have very limited knowledge of ABA Sciences, but I am fascinated by what I have learned about it, and I beg your forgiveness while I nerd-out for a moment.

ABA understands that many behaviors are influenced by their outcomes. If my behavior achieves a desired outcome, I’m more likely to produce that behavior again in the future. If my behavior produces an undesired outcome, I’m less likely to repeat it. The challenge comes when desired outcomes are achieved by dangerous or unhealthy behaviors. If I want attention, all I need to do is repeatedly bang my head against a wall; or the example I gave earlier of hitting someone to make them stop doing something. And this introduces one of the most intriguing observations of ABA Sciences, which is that using pain or corporal punishment to deter dangerous behaviors is ineffective for creating short-term compliance and for helping children learn right from wrong in the long-term.[1] If an adult hits a child for behaving poorly, it demonstrates that dangerous/unhealthy behavior (hitting) is an effective way for the adult to get what they want.

The proven most effective way to modify behavior over time is by offering positive reinforcement for the desired behavior rather than offering punishment for the undesired behavior. The way we apply this at Faison is by trying to praise students when we notice them exhibiting good behavior. For example, we’re trying to teach one of our students to keep his hands to himself and not grab or scratch or hit others around him. So, while we’re working with him, we will periodically offer praise for sitting safely, “I love those good hands right now, man!” “I love how you’re being safe while you work with me, great job!” It can feel a bit forced, at times, but it becomes more natural the more I do it. We also offer this student opportunities to earn desired treats or breaks from work to play on the computer if he demonstrates safe behavior over a set period of time. We could punish bad behavior, which would teach: if I hit, then I will be hit. But that sends a confusing message to someone you’re trying to teach to not use hitting as a means for getting what they want. Instead of punishment for bad behavior we very intentionally praise good behavior, which teaches: if I’m safe, then I achieve a desired outcome.

Over time, this intentional praise and encouragement is shown to shape safer and healthier behavior and improve effective communication skills. But here's the thing...ABA doesn’t just apply to persons who have autism. In fact, what has intrigued me the most as I’ve learned these tactics for behavioral modification, is the similarities between the ways in which we shape our students' behavior at Faison and the ways in which God seeks to shape our behavior to become more Christ-like.

Jeremiah and Paul, as a prophet and an apostle, respectively, could both be called behavior counselors. They are seeking to modify the behaviors of members of communities with whom it is difficult to communicate. Not because these were communities of persons with autism, but because they were far away. Jeremiah was in the southern Kingdom of Judah prophesying to Jews who were exiled in Assyria and Babylon. Paul was writing to a new church in Thessalonica. Both the Jews in exile and the members of the Thessalonian church faced stressful situations with many temptations to engage in dangerous and unhealthy behaviors.

Perhaps the most dangerous behavior for both communities was this: to lose their faith and give up on hope that a better life was possible for them. This is the behavior that neither prophet nor apostle wish to see. Granted there are many warnings to be found in the words of Jeremiah and Paul that speak of God’s judgment of bad behavior, such as: worshiping idols, taking advantage of the poor, exploiting neighbors, losing faith. But I wanted to focus on today’s text from 1 Thessalonians precisely because of the way Paul herein uses words of encouragement to increase the likelihood that the good and faithful behavior of this community will continue.

Paul has recently received a report on this community from Timothy, one of his mission co-workers who has just returned from spending time in Thessalonica. It’s evident from his writing that he wants the Thessalonian church to have more faith. Particularly interesting is the line of his prayer in which he expresses the desire to be with these people face-to-face so that he might “restore whatever is lacking” in their faith. Paul wants to be with them face-to-face to model and inspire and increase their faith. Paul could have tried to increase faithfulness of the Thessalonians by threatening punishment if they don’t get their act together and start being more faithful. But he didn’t use that tactic. Instead, Paul offered praise, giving thanks to God for the joy he felt because of the faith they did have, and words of encouragement to shape their behavior towards greater love for one another.

This leads me to believe that Paul understood the tactics of ABA long before it was a defined science. This makes since, given Paul’s close relationship to and communication with God through prayer. Paul was in tune with God’s will for all of the communities with whom he corresponded. As our Creator, God understands the behaviors of creatures. God knows that sometimes we behave in ways that are dangerous and unhealthy and wants to teach us a better way to live. God understands how we respond to threats and how we respond to words of encouragement and knows what is best to guide us and shape us into citizens of God’s community.

But God, it could be said, has had trouble communicating with us. Or better yet, humanity has a proven track record of not paying very good attention. God knew what was best for us and warned us not to behave a certain way, but we didn’t listen, we ate the forbidden fruit, and now we think we know what’s best for us when in reality, most of the time, we’re participating in behaviors which are dangerous and unhealthy to ourselves and to others. So how does God teach humanity to change potentially dangerous and unhealthy behavior if God can’t effectively communicate with us? Emmanuel. God comes to be with us, face-to-face, to model what safe and healthy behavior looks like. It is by that model that our faith and hope for a better life are restored.

I mentioned how I sometimes feel awkward using words of encouragement with my students at Faison, but how the more I do it the more natural it becomes. I feel like the same is true for us as we seek to emulate the model of Christ in our daily living. Intentionally loving our neighbors can feel a little bit awkward in a world that’s used to people who only care about themselves, a world that encourages and reinforces our selfishness. But the more we practice it, the better we get at it. So, I’ll take this opportunity to practice and offer a few words of encouragement of my own to you, this morning. When I tell people about the church I serve, one of the things I love to brag on is how automatic doing good works is for you. I could offer a dozen examples, but I’ll just stick to one, for now: you’ve been faithfully supporting a Christmas Family for decades. Guess how much work I did, as your pastor, to cover that table in the fellowship hall with wonderful gifts? Zero. You organized it, you announced it, you supported it, and you will make sure it gets delivered. Now I know how Paul felt when he wrote, “How can I thank God enough for you in return for all of the joy I feel before God because of you?”

Being the pastor of a healthy church is a true joy, and I hope I offer enough words of encouragement for you to continue and increase in faithful and joyful living. I’ve seen pastors use guilt to try and shame “bad” congregational behavior. And, historically, I think the church has sometimes focused a bit too much on fear tactics and threats of punishment to modify the behavior of its constituents towards the model of Christ. It just seems ineffectual to use non-Christlike behavior to inspire Christlike behavior.

Guilt and shame and fear have never been God’s tactics, either. Guilt and shame and threats are the tactics of the world God sought to transform. Fear and punishment and violence are the dangerous and unhealthy behaviors of the world Jesus came to redeem. God transforms and redeems the world by confronting our sin with amazing grace. In God’s grace we find the ultimate words of encouragement that continually reshape us in God’s image. This is why we are not punished for confessing our sins, God wants to increase the likelihood that we will be self-aware of our behaviors which are “dangerous” to ourselves and others and “dangerous” to the continuing growth of the Kingdom of God.

Through prayer and confession, God teaches us to more effectively communicate our desires and concerns. Through grace and forgiveness, God reinforces us for choosing to behave in loving and compassionate ways towards ourselves and others. Through scripture, God offers us words of encouragement to invest our faith in the hope of a new and better life—the life modeled for us by Jesus Christ.

Come fill our lives with hope.

Come fill our lives with hope.

Jesus our Lord, Emmanuel,

Come fill our lives with hope.

Amen.

[1]Laird, Lorelei, “Defining the line between corporal punishment and child abuse can be tricky, say speakers” from ABA Journal. Published, February 6, 2015. Accessed December 2, 2018.<http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/defining_the_line_between_corporal_punishment_and_child_abuse_can_be_tricky>