Word of Salvation – Vol.46 No.18 – May 2001

 

Living In Unity And Community

 

Sermon by Rev B Aldridge on Psalm 133

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:11-18, Psalm 133

Suggested Singing:

Bow 100; 187; 489:1,4,5; 133; 477; 240

 

Beloved people of God.

One of the fables of Aesop goes something like this: There was a father who was sick and tired of his sons fighting and quarrelling.  One day he called them all together and asked the eldest to bring him five sticks tied together in a bundle.  Handing the sticks to the youngest, he ordered him to try and break the sticks.  The youngest failed and so did each of the brothers.  Then the old man untied the bundle and handed each son a single stick each.  He told each one to try and break the sticks.  Of course each one quickly did so.  Then he said: “My sons, if you remain together and help one another, you will be strong.  But if you are divided among yourselves, you will easily be overcome and broken.”

The wise man in Ecclesiastes 4:12 wrote: “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.”

Hugh Mackay, in his book, Reinventing Australia, has this to say about our unity and community: “The story of Australia in the past 20 years has been a story of a declining emphasis upon personal relationships; a declining importance being attached to being part of the family or a neighbourhood or a community…!”

And finally the Psalmist brings it all together in Psalm 133.  So let us hear it… (read Psalm 133]

All of these bring together the one point:
The absolute importance and blessing of unity in community.

There are few institutions left in the world that are capable of providing unity in community.  The local church is one of the very few.  Think how many differences there are among the people in this church (the reader may like to point out a few that are relevant to his congregation), yet we are all one in Jesus.  But maybe you are thinking that that is not what I experience.  What about the times I have been hurt by others?  What about the times I have not been supported?  What about the times that I need someone and no one came?

It is because these things are sometimes true, that we need to hear Psalm 133.  Psalm 133 is a pilgrim psalm.  Pilgrims sang it as they made their way to the temple for the sacrifices.  It was a time when they came together from all parts of the world, and united by a common purpose, they strode up to Jerusalem.  Remember they were Jews of all different races and came from many different parts of the Roman Empire.  Listen to the list of all those who were there on the day of Pentecost (read Acts 2: 9-12).

So this psalm speaks of excitement and joy and community.  They came together to celebrate God’s goodness and it was good and pleasant.

1.  Statement About Unity in Community (vs 1)

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.”

Now that is hard to argue with isn’t it?  Unity in community is God’s design for his people.   When Adam was alone in the Garden, God said: “It is not good for man to be alone.”

God made us to live in community.  Unity in community is not an optional extra for us, it is essential.  The church is not a collection of individuals, it is a community.  God created us to live in relationships… to be a united community.

And best of all, it is good and pleasant to live this way.  This, says the Holy Spirit, is the best way to live… united in community.  It is the best way to live for three reasons:

1.  No work or activity can prosper without unity in community.  Listen to Jesus: Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand”.  And the whole weight of human history confirms what Jesus says.

2.  To bring about Unity in Community is one of the reasons why Jesus died on the cross.  What was one of the first effects of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God?  The rivalry between Cain and Abel… disunity in community.  So what is God’s answer?  Listen to the Word of God in Ephesians 2:14-16: For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.   His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.   If only the world realised that the one thing that they most desire, peace, is God’s free gift in Jesus.

3.  It is the focus of Jesus’ prayers for us – John 17.   By the way, John 17 is the true “Lord’s Prayer”.   Listen to John 17:20-23: “My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: l in them and you in me.  May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”  This is not just for our benefit.  It has an evangelistic purpose, that: “The world might know”.  People will not want to join a church where they see that the people do not practice what they preach.

2.  Maintaining Unity in Community

But we do not always live in this best and most pleasant of ways.  So how do we maintain unity in community?  Notice I said “maintain”, not create or achieve.  Unity in community is impossible for you and I to achieve or create.  Only Jesus did that on the cross.  He alone is our hope.  What we must do is to maintain it.  There are many ways and I just want to mention a few:

a.  Walk in the light and not grieve the Holy Spirit.  Ephesians 4:30-32: And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.   Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.   Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

b.  Do not mistake differences for disunity.  This is one of the things that has done much harm.  People are so afraid of disunity that they try and stifle distinctions.  So if you do something in a different way you could be accused of promoting disunity.  So there is a demand that everyone must be and do the same or you are promoting disunity.  Not so.  Unity in community with distinctions is built into the very fabric of creation.

Take plants: There are enormous differences and distinctions between the various types of plant life, between a tree and a blade of grass, but they form a unity.  They belong together because God has created them to belong together, but they are very different.

Take animals: There are enormous differences between a mouse and a camel, but they are still animals.  Just because they look different and do different things does not mean they are not animals.

Take humans beings: We are all different, in spite of the fact that God created us all.  A friend of mine is fond of saying that “when two people think exactly alike, one of them is unnecessary.”  God has put this group of people in this place at this time to do his work and while we are different, that is no cause for disunity.  We should be very careful of tearing the body of Christ apart.  God hates anything that tears his creation apart but he loves differences.  He must, for He created so many of them.

Rather than differences creating disunity, it is the failure to recognise and accommodate legitimate differences, that creates disunity.  What happens when you allow only unity with few differences?  You create a circle of those who agree and put everyone else outside.

You may ask: Am I saying that disunity is always bad?  If you are a political party, yes.  But if you are a Christian, no.  If the disunity is caused by lack of agreement on the fundamentals of the faith, then so be it.  But though that is often claimed to be the case, in my experience it rarely is.

But here is a list of things that have divided Christians in the past: dancing, wearing lipstick, going to the movies, watching television, buying insurance, long hair, skinheads, wearing miniskirts, organ music only, no organ music, drinking grog, smoking.  Some have even left church over them but few can show that they are the fundamentals of the faith.

3   The Comparisons of Unity in Community (vss.2-3)

Here we come to the heart of this Psalm.  Unity in community is not just a good idea.   It is a wonderful thing.  David uses two interesting metaphors to describe how wonderful it is:

a.  Like oil running down Aaron’s beard.

Oil was used for many religious purposes in the Hebrew religion, but its special use was in the consecration of the priests.  This oil symbolised the Holy Spirit who set them apart for the service of God.

In the New Testament every Christian is consecrated a priest.  Every Christian has been anointed by the Holy Spirit.  There are no especially anointed priests.  So living unity in community is like being anointed with the Holy Spirit.

And if that is not enough…

b.  Like the dew of Mt Hermon falling on Mt Zion.

The Psalms in particular extol the virtues of Jerusalem and Mt. Zion, but it was not a pretty place.  It was not a nice place to live.  It was built on the top of a dry, dusty mountain top.  No water supply; not wooded or grassy.  Bare, bleak and barren.

Mt. Hermon to the north is different.  It is wooded and forested with a regular rainfall.  Heavy dew falls because of its height and proximity to the sea.

Now occasionally a strong wind would blow the dew south to Mt Zion.  And it felt great… reviving, cooling, refreshing, restoring and revitalising.

That is what living unity in community is like.  It revives you.  It refreshes you.  It restores your hope.  It energises you.  It’s wonderful.  And best of all, God bestows his “shalom”, peace, life, harmony.

Conclusion:

So, my friends, two things, in conclusion:

1.  Living together in unity in community is absolutely worth striving for.  Under the leadership of Jesus and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, we must seek to become a community that lives together in unity while accepting all our differences.

We must seek deep and meaningful fellowship together.  We must be aware of others’ needs and be there for them.  We listen to each other and share each other’s burdens.  Our relationship must be warm and loving.  We must show compassion for the lost and fallen.  This will make us a place where people will want to come.

2.  Only by joining hands will we accomplish our mission.  A small child wandered off in the tall grass near an African village.  It was some hours before it was noticed that he had disappeared.  When it was noticed, search parties were sent out in all directions but they all returned at sunset unsuccessful.  There was great fear held for his safety.  The next morning, one wise old fellow said, “We have been doing this all wrong.  Let us form a line, hold hands, and move in a line in one direction.  So they did.  It was not long before they found him, not very well but alive.  They said: “If only we had joined hands sooner.”

The mission that God has given us is tough.  It needs the cooperative effort of us all to accomplish it.  Let us join hands and move together in the direction that God is calling us.

Amen.