Psalm 133

But Psalm 133, which says, How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity. It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes, says the NIV. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion, for there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life evermore. He wrote the book in 1938. It was in the midst of a time of great turmoil in his country.

a time when Nazism was, not only had arisen, but was really thriving in his country. It was a time when many Christians in his country became part of what was known as the German Christian movement.

That movement went along with Adolf Hitler's views about Christianity. Hitler said, the heaviest blow that ever struck humanity was the coming of Christianity. And German Christians bought into Nazism and really began to have a cult of Hitler. The head of the Ministry of Church Affairs under Hitler's reign said this about doing God's will and about true Christianity. Hans Karel, head of the Ministry of Church Affairs, said, quote, quote, National Socialism is the doing of God's will.

God's will reveals itself in German blood. True Christianity is represented by the party. And Hermann Gruner, a real leader in the, quote, German Christian movement, said, The time is fulfilled for the German people in Hitler. It is because of Hitler that Christ, God the Helper and Redeemer, has become effective among us. Socialism is positive Christianity in action.

Hitler is the way of the Spirit and the will of God for the German people to enter the Church of Christ. And unfortunately, too many who went by the name of Christian bought into that German Christian movement, but not Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who formed an underground seminary, and during his time with that underground seminary where he wrote against the Nazi party and what it was doing, he wrote a little book that has become a real classic called Life Together where he explores this issue of the Christian life

and how important it is for those of us who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to be in a community that loves one another cares for one another, and is united in Jesus Christ and in the purpose of lifting his name up among people around the world. It was something that Dietrich Bonhoeffer treasured, that genuine community with that small community he formed in this underground seminary when so many in the world were buying into a philosophy of life that was so destructive. So today I want us to turn to think about God's desire for his people this day. And in our community, I want us to think about God's desire for us here at First Baptist Church. But then we'll think also about the wider church.

What is God's desire for his people? It's stated in the first verse how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.

so God's desire for his people is unity unity if you notice at the top of this psalm you should have a little inscription that says this is a psalm of David there's a debate about when David wrote this psalm but many believe the occasion for the writing was the occasion that's recorded than 2 Samuel 5, when all the tribes of Israel came together, united, and there was a public anointing of David as king over all of Israel. And many believe it was that unified moment that caused David to write this psalm about how good and pleasant it is for brothers, God's people to live in unity. The verse 1 of Psalm 133 begins with a word that you don't see in your NIV translations. In the Hebrew, there is a word that most English translations translate, Behold. The NIV doesn't have that word there.

The NIV puts an exclamation point at the end of verse 1 to show how important this first verse is. It's really there in the Hebrew text. And when you see the word behold in Scripture, it's like there's a big flashing sign that says, pay attention. This is important. Look at what I'm about to say.

Don't miss this point. Behold. So when you see that in Psalm 133 verse 1, when you see behold, you need to stop. You need to be careful. Don't just skim through this and miss it.

This is important stuff. Very important stuff. And what is important is for us to learn how important unity is for God's people. It is good, it is pleasant, it is delightful, the psalmist tells us, but he's going to start to amplify on why unity is so important. Now you remember where we are.

This is one of the Song of Ascents. pilgrims, Jewish pilgrims are traveling from wherever they lived to Jerusalem to celebrate. And this is one of the songs that they sang on the journey. You've got to remember what's happening here. You've got Jews from many nations, different tribes, different socioeconomic groups, different educational levels, and suddenly they're all thrown together in this pilgrimage on the way to Mount Zion.

And there's something to really celebrate when that diverse group of people on this trip to Mount Zion can travel in unity, be of one mind, one heart, one purpose. Now lest we miss the point, are we not on a journey to Mount Zion? we're on the pilgrimage, folks. We are on the journey. And this life is the journey to Mount Zion.

And I think David, if he could be here today, would want to press upon our hearts and minds how important it is on this journey that we be united as God's people. Now, the unity about which we speak is a specific type of unity. it's not a unity of political parties affiliation it is not a unity of civic organizations it is not a unity about how we do things of a secular nature this is a unity that is a unity of faith and a unity of purpose and that unity of faith and that unity of purpose is central to the life of God's people. This plea and prayer for unity is not found only in the Psalms. If you read other scriptures, you will see how the scriptures press us on this idea and notion that we need to have unity in the body. Jesus himself said, prayed for his disciples in his last prayer on earth before he was crucified he said john 17 22 and 23 i have given them the glory that you lord gave me that they may be one as we are one i in them and you and 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. The Apostle Paul writing to the Ephesians will urge them, make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. And he will write to the Philippian church, make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Does that sound like the church today? Are we one in spirit?

Are we one in purpose? Well, let me ask this question. Why is unity so important to the church? Why is it that the psalmist David is pressing us to find and have unity within God's people? Why does Jesus urge and pray that his disciples will be in complete unity?

Why did Paul want to see unity in the churches to which he ministered? Well, let's answer that question by first looking at two pictures that are given us in the text. The two pictures are the pictures in verses 2 and 3. What is unity like? Read these two verses with me.

It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. So we've got two pictures here that help us understand unity. The first picture is anointing oil being poured on Aaron's head. If you go back to Exodus 30, and you can go back later and read this, you will see that God gave specific instructions about how Aaron and priest were to be anointed.

And God directed that there would be a special sacred anointing oil that would be used only for the priest. And it was an oil that had a special formula or special ingredients in any other oil in the same combination. This anointing oil, according to Scripture, was a costly mixture of liquid myrrh, fragrant cinnamon, fragrant cane, and cassia. So it would be an oil that would have a fragrant aroma to it. It was oil that when it was poured on Aaron's head in his anointing, it wasn't just a couple of drops.

poured so that it literally ran down Aaron off of his head onto his beard and then it dripped off of his beard onto his clothing. And I think the text of scripture, the better translation there at the end of verse 2, the NIV says down upon the collar of his robes. I think the better translation would be that it ran down to the edge of his garments. So you see this picture, this anointing oil is poured out in abundance, this fragrant oil running down. just flowing down his beard and then down to his clothes, literally going down to his feet.

That's one picture. And it's going to teach us something about unity. We're going to see what that is in a moment. The other picture is the picture of the dew of Mount Hermon. But the psalmist says it's as if unity is like the dew of Mount Hermon falling on Mount Zion.

So let me explain that picture. what it teaches us about unity. Mount Hermon was the tallest mountain in the region. It was about 9,100 feet tall and because of its great height it got regular dew on it and rain and that dew and that rain that fell on Mount Hermon on a regular basis made it a lush and beautiful place. And when you spoke of Mount Hermon to the Jews, they knew you were talking about that place that was lush and beautiful because of the dew and the rain that fell on it.

Many believe this is where the Mount of Transfiguration was when Jesus was transfigured, this lush, beautiful, high mountain. But then Mount Zion, by comparison, where Jerusalem was built and where the temple was built, is a much lower mountain. It's just a little over 2,000 feet in elevation. So Mount Hermon's way up here. Mount Zion's much lower.

And Mount Zion, for much of the year, was a very dry place. Not much rain, not much dew, parched, dry, needing watering.

and the psalmist tells us that unity is as if the dew from Mount Hermon is falling on this dry and parched mountain, Mount Zion. So everybody got the two pictures. Anointing oil on Aaron's head, the dew from Mount Hermon as if it's falling on Mount Zion, this dry and parched place. So, what do these teach us about the importance of unity? the lessons from these two pictures.

There may be others, but I think these lessons are critical lessons about why unity among God's people is so important. It is important because it prepares and consecrates us for service. Just like the anointing oil was put on Aaron's head to set him aside and consecrate him for service, when we are united as God's people, we are prepared and consecrated for God's service. Can we not serve most effectively when we serve together? When we are united in a common bond of faith but with a common purpose.

So this picture of the oil on Aaron's head setting him aside for service and consecrating him for service tells us something about unity. When we're unified, we are consecrated and prepared to serve God in the most effective way. The second thing I think we are taught from these pictures is that unity is a delightful and attractive fragrance for the world. Just like that anointing oil when it was poured on Aaron's head, it had these fragrant scents. People could smell it.

They liked it. We're drawn to it to see what's that beautiful smell, that beautiful aroma. There's something about unity among God's people that is attractive. You know, the church should be attractive to people. It should be, we should draw people to us because of our unique unity.

you know what the early church was like in the early church there were more women than men among the early converts there were more women than men which caused many to sort of despise Christianity because it was a religion of women and slaves there were a lot of slaves in the early church as well so you have men and women in this unique body of Christ. You have people who are free, but people who are slaves. You have people who are rich. You have people who are poor. You have people who are educated. You have people who are uneducated. You have people of different colors, who speak different languages, of different nationalities. And yet with all those differences, there was a remarkable unity.

In the church, God wants us, wants the world to see a picture of how humanity should be. Beautifully diverse, yet united in Christ. Yet united in Christ. We're told in Acts 4 that all believers were one in heart and mind. that any of his possessions was his own, they shared everything they had.

There were no needy persons among them. And that kind of unity of heart and mind to the point that they would care for one another so that if I had something but somebody else needed something, I'd go sell it so I could help the one in need. The church was a safe haven in those early days for those who were on the edges of society, the outcast, the downtrodden. They could come to the church and they were saved. And they were suddenly part of a body that cared about them and loved them and helped them and looked after them in a way that the outside world never would.

Pretty remarkable, right? That diversity, yet that kind of care. The third thing I think we learn from these pictures is that unity involves and benefits the entire body. The oil ran down from Aaron's head all the way down to his feet.

If we're going to be united, it takes us all, right? means we all have to work on it. From the greatest of us to the least of us. But you know when we had that unity, we all benefit from it. We have a family.

We have friends. When we're sick, there are people who will care for us. When we've lost our jobs, there are people who will help us get through. When someone dies that we love, there are people there with meals. real unity in the body, not only does it involve everyone, but it benefits everyone as well.

The fourth thing I think we learn is that this kind of unity is refreshing, like the dew on Mount Hermon refreshed the land. When there's unity among God's people, there's something refreshing about it. And that refreshing dew, that refreshing unity, makes us fruitful and productive as God's people. It was the dew that fell on Mount Hermon that made it fruitful and productive. And unity makes the church fruitful and productive.

Have you ever been in a church that was not united? Where there was dissension? where there was difficulty,

that disunity, that dissension saps our strength, makes us unfruitful and unproductive. It takes our time. It takes our resources. It takes our effort.

I had the, at that time, unfortunate distinction of being chair of the deacons of this church a number of years ago.

it was not a delightful year because as chair at that time I was dealing with all of the wrangling

some people liked what the pastor was doing some didn't some wanted services to be one way some another I spent more time with the body trying to mend fences while people were dying, going to hell, people were starving to death in the world, and we were wrangling within our own midst. Satan loves us to be divided because he knows when we're divided, we are not fruitful and we are not productive. But when we are united in Christ, watch out. Because through Christ's spirit, we can change the world when we are united. You all, I've mentioned the book of the Screwtape Letters S. Lewis where Wormwood the senior demon is writing to no Screwtape the senior demon is writing to Wormwood an apprentice demon who was supposed to be tripping up a new Christian and Screwtape makes something abundantly clear in that letter do anything you can do to bring dissension and disunity within the body of Christ anything when this new Christian goes to church have him listen to how his neighbors are singing Let him hear their off-tune voices.

Let him see their faces. And help him to find fault any way you can within the body.

Because even in those little fault findings, he can't sing very well, can he? I wish he'd be quiet.

Can God really use somebody that looks like that?

Satan wanted factions. Screwtape wanted factions. And he wanted people to be people who were always searching for the perfect church. Screwtape tells Wormwood, have them looking for the perfect church. All the time searching, searching, searching.

never satisfied with any church they find because that way you make them critics, constant critics of the church instead of pupils who are there to learn and serve.

One of our problems sometimes is we're looking for the dream church.

And therefore we criticize and we become unfruitful and unproductive. unity makes us fruitful and productive we must have it to do God's work sixly unity is a gift from above and indicates the presence of God's spirit some of our English translations miss it but I think you can see it in the NIV look at verse 2 the second half the oil is running down on the beard down upon the robes. And then you go to verse 3, the dew of Hermon is falling down or coming down on Mount Zion. And I think this repeated reference to coming down is helping us to look up to see from whence this stuff is coming down. And this unity of God's people comes down from heaven.

It's a gift from God. I think we get this picture of unity being a gift from God also from the use of the oil. Oil in scripture is often symbolic of the presence of God's spirit. And the oil on Aaron's head was symbolic of the spirit's presence. And where unity is present in God's church, it is good evidence that the spirit of God is at work in the church.

because the Spirit of God produces that kind of unity of heart and mind. The last thing I will say about unity is it brings blessings from God. God blesses His church that is unified. In fact, that's made it explicitly clear in the very next verse where it talks about God's gift to His people. the end of verse 3 says for there the Lord bestows his blessing even life evermore one question we have to ask in that second half of verse 3 where is there it says for there for there the Lord bestows his blessing some have argued that it's Mount Zion that there is where the blessing is that God's word of life will come from Mount Zion.

Mount Zion representing God's presence there in the temple. God's people are at Mount Zion. But I think most commentators believe that there is wherever God's people are united. That's where God sends his blessing. That's where you can find life forevermore because those united people are declaring with a united voice life forevermore.

living the kind of life that we will experience forevermore. You know, that unity we enjoy now is but a shadow of what we will one day enjoy in heaven.

So there, wherever God's people are united, He bestows His blessings. Life evermore.

Well, I think the lesson is pretty straightforward, but let me give you some lessons for life. That I hope you will find helpful.

If we want to have unity in the church. Which is so important. I would submit that we must strive to be selfless servants. Rather than constant critics. It's almost a sport in the church.

To criticize. To find fault. Many of us will go home today. as we sit across the dinner table, we'll say, well, why did they do that? Well, why didn't they do it that way?

You know, I really didn't like the sermon. If he had just said it that way, I'd have liked it. And if they had sung this song of this genre, of this type, if it had been a little more contemporary and a little less traditional, we will criticize and we will criticize. And I know that because I've done it myself.

I don't suggest that we don't need to strive to be better, which means we do need to analyze how we do things and we need to have good reasoning and good thought processes to help us be a better church. But if we're always critical, if that's just our constant mode of finding the church always falling short, I would suggest maybe the fault begins with me, not with the church.

So let's strive to be selfless servants first, rather than constant critics. The second thing I will say is we need to live in the real world, rather than the dream world of church life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his little book, Life Together, says this, He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter. And he says that people who always want to find the dream church become the constant critic. Because in their mind they've put together this church that is perfect, with perfect people that sing perfect music.

And they're always perfect sermons. And they're perfect programs. And so this dream becomes the source of their constant criticism of the real church. Bonhoeffer says we've got to learn to love the real church and recognize we are part of the real church, and it's not perfect if we are part of it. So let's start to learn to love God's people, even with their imperfections, even with their difficulties, even with their problems.

Let's live in the real world. Christ loves us with all our imperfections. Can we not love one another with our imperfections? Thirdly, we need to ask ourselves, do I love all God's children? Red and yellow, black and white, are they precious in my sight?

They're precious in God's sight. Are they precious in ours? We're awfully white this morning.

Oh, I know. Churches seem to function better when homogeneous groups of people meet. Churches grow more quickly when homogeneous people meet. That means people who look alike, talk alike, act alike, think alike.

There may be some truth to that. we're sinful people and we like to be with people just like us and there's something about our hearts that when people look a little different their skin color is different, they talk different come from different nations or languages or tribes we tend not to be quite as loving toward them God's church will never be what God intended to the seed of racial prejudice it's white clean from our hearts and minds I stood in this church years ago with a gentleman who was telling me a joke, a joke that was making fun of somebody of a particular ethnic variety. I was so angry. He wanted me to laugh. I couldn't speak.

I just turned and walked away. If we don't have that kind of deep-seated opposition to and hatred of views and prejudices that divide us in ways that God hates, be united as we should be. It's going to be interesting to see what color people get the biggest mansions in heaven. I wonder if the Lord may not make up for some of the injustice of this life, sometimes perpetrated and perpetuated by God's people. Fourthly, those of us who Christians must live more simply for at least two reasons.

So that we can contribute more to evangelism and relief of poverty and so that the simple, that is poor Christians, will feel welcome among us.

I think the Apostle Paul might have something to say to us about modest dress today. He did back, remember he wrote to the church at Ephesus. He said, don't be wearing all that gold and finery to church. Part of the reason was the church had a lot of poor people in it. He didn't want them to feel out of place.

I wonder if sometimes we don't, sometimes with good intentions come in all our finery,

but in ways it would make those with less finery not feel welcome. I will tell you one reason I don't usually wear a coat and tie to church, which has been the subject of some comments in various areas of our church, not about me personally, but how we should dress in church. One reason I don't is back when I first started teaching this class years ago, there were some in our class who really couldn't afford a coat and tie and, in fact, didn't have one. So I wanted them to feel comfortable. And so the teacher didn't wear a coat and tie.

Plus, I like it better. Who wants to wear that thing around your neck?

Not to be a legalist. If you want to wear a coat and tie, that's wonderful. But let's be careful that we don't let our lifestyles and so forth hinder the unity of the body. Fifthly, let's major on the majors of the Christian life and not allow minor issues to divide or divert us. Thousands of people are starving.

Millions of people do not know Christ. Yet some churches are spending all their time trying to figure out how big their next gymnasium will be. I would say we need to refocus on that which is most important in the Christian life and seek after that which is most important. We must seek to live in peace with all people, particularly brothers and sisters of the faith. That means that we will care for one another.

We will speak kind words to one another. We won't be harshly critical of one another. We will give each other the benefit of the doubt. When there is conflict, we will go and seek to resolve it with the people with whom we are in conflict. And lastly, we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ.

He is the center point of our faith. He is the one that binds me with my Ethiopian brother in Christ and sister in Christ. He is the one that binds me and holds me together with my Venezuelan brother and sister in Christ. He's the one that makes me have a close relationship with my black brother in Christ, my Hispanic brother in Christ. Let's keep him at the center.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed in April 1945, the man who wrote the book Life Together. He had opposed Hitler so vehemently he was finally imprisoned. His last words that were recorded or heard by someone before he was hanged by the order of Heinrich Himmler were these, This is the end. For me, the beginning of life. Bonhoeffer, when he was hanged, was ushered in to that place of perfect unity where we will one day be to rejoice and praise our Lord, people from different languages, nations, races, tongues, and tribes.

It is my prayer that God's church today will mirror more closely that great unity we will one day enjoy in heaven. Let's pray. Lord, this day we thank you for the gift in Christ, I pray it will be a gift that we will not take lightly.

Where there is the seed of dissension or the seed of division, I pray that you will prick the hearts and minds of those involved to seek after peace and unity within the body. I pray that those who are outside the church of Jesus Christ will see the lighthouse of unity that is inside the church of Jesus Christ. Help us to exemplify and be all that you want us to be. For it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.