My New Year resolution was a simple one: Pray more. Stress less. I have already reneged. Multiple times. The fact that it’s January 8^th hasn’t escaped me. Not off to a good start. My spiritual resolutions at a new year, or during Lent, or in my private thoughts all tend to revolve around the same general areas. Let go.

            But I don’t. And I find this part of my nature terribly frustrating.

            I think we could open a museum of failed resolutions. It would exhibit all the terrible attempts we’ve made to better ourselves, our health, our finances, or our relationships, many lost and unknown to the public life. It could make for some riveting Reality Television.

            Today is not only the Sunday in which we commemorate the baptism of our Lord in the River Jordan, but also one in which we consider our own. But, today, I’m taking a slightly different trek. A Post Script path.

            The theology of baptism is a beautiful picture. By it, you and I have been saved… connected to Jesus through blood, cross, death, burial, and resurrection. It’s incredible. A gift… sometimes beyond words. But here I am, a baptized child of God, still falling, still failing, still frustrated.

            When I read about the baptism of Jesus, and I keep reading, do know what I see? I see Jesus walking from the Jordan River straight into the wilderness, led by the Spirit, right into the hands of Satan. (Mark 1:12- “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness”). The theology of baptism is often unpacked at its beginning… with Word and water, and at its end… with a heavenly home, but everything in between is wilderness. Your wilderness. Mine. And a heaping helping of Satan, stirring up the still waters and muddying the green pastures.

            The Bible pulls no punches showing us our Museum of Failed Discipleship. Over and over again, Scripture records the false starts and spiritual failures of disciples, floundering in the wilderness. Not just average Joes or Jehoshaphats, but heroes of faith. Men and women of renown. Called by name. Baptized. Redeemed. Still falling. Still failing. Still frustrated.

            We praise God for opening the way and clearing the path. It is through Jesus and through Him alone that we can call heaven our home, but the journey through the wilderness to our promised land is no easy task. It requires not only spiritual strength and discipleship, not only a God-sized compass, but it requires the kinship of believers, fellow travelers to mountain of God.

            St. Paul talks at length in his epistles about our need for encouragement along the way, because not only can’t we do it on our own, we shouldn’t.  In speaking of this journey, Paul concludes a thought with words that should not only begin this new year, but follow us throughout. In fact, this will be our theme for the year 2012. 1 Thessalonians 5:11- “Encourage one another and build one another up”.

            It is a common theme to the church in Scripture. And in a world that grows more cynical, more suspect, more hostile, encouraging one another in faith and in life is a must. And if I may be so bold, we are falling out of the practice. It’s an epidemic… and it has left its mark upon this body of believers too. And we need to right that ship.

            Business researchers call it "the missing ingredient" or "the hidden accelerator." Most managers could transform their workplaces with this missing ingredient: showing appreciation. Demonstrating encouragement. That's the focus of a recent book entitled The Carrot Principle. Based on a ten-year study that interviewed 200,000 people, researchers Gostick and Elton conclude that encouragement tops the list of things employees say they want from their bosses. Some of the statistics to back up this claim include:

                   Of the people who report high morale at work, 94 percent agree that their

managers show appreciation. 79 percent of employees who quit their jobs cite a lack of appreciation as the key reason for leaving.

            This research, in my mind, taps into a fundamental need in all of our relationships: the need to give and receive encouragement and blessing. The authors of The Carrot Principle conclude this: "The simple … act of a leader or a spouse, parent, coach, mentor, or friend expressing appreciation to a person in a meaningful … way is the missing accelerator that can do so much, but is used so sparingly."

            Hebrews puts it this way… “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works… encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

            Our struggle is not against flesh and blood (Eph 6:12). This wilderness warfare is not against one another, but powers of darkness in matters of the spirit. And it’s that spirit that needs to be built up. Encouraged. Cheered on (Ps 94:19- “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul”).

            Even the best of us suffer the cares of the heart. Even heroes of faith are weighed down. Even Jesus was strengthened by another in a time of great anguish (Lk 22:43). It is a basic need that is routinely unmet. And it is our focus for 2012. Encourage one another and build each other up.

            I never thought I would ever do this. Not in a million years worth of sermons. In a moment, I am going to show you an interview of possibly the last person I would ever wish to show in church, in worship. He is no friend of the church, and there are no fish scale conversions here. But there is a powerful testimony to this very basic human need to be encouraged, and cheered on. Brothers and sisters, I present Howard Stern. <show video>

            I, for one, find myself frustrated by my failures (Romans 7:15ff). I am harder on myself than anyone else could possibly be. One certainty in this life is that if you try, you will fail. And if you love, you will hurt. And if you believe, if you cling to the goodness of Jesus, you will be attacked. Assailed. By “cosmic powers over this present darkness”, by “spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”. That’s a given. That’s the wilderness. Where I find it debilitating, where it is absolutely demoralizing is when that attack and assault comes from flesh and blood. From you. From brothers and sisters in faith. This is not the battle. This is not the war. There is enough wilderness and enough warfare to fight the fight without defending ourselves from each other.

            That- I believe- is why Scripture repeatedly inspires us to encourage one other, and build each other up.

            And at least for the next year of our congregational lives… so we shall. Can I get an amen?