Day 32 - Others On the Journey

I am by nature an introvert.  I find that I gain most of my energy in being alone.  It’s a strange thing to be in such a public role as a pastor, and deal with people all of the time, and still find that I’m by nature pretty comfortable being alone.  

I should add I’m married to an extrovert.  My wife gets her energy from being with others, and after a few days of being locked up with me I can see her need for interaction with others.

Being an introvert is ok…there’s lots of us.  Yet the truth is that all of us need others.  We’re better off having others around us. 

This is where the Psalmist comes to as he nears the end of his journey.  He probably arrives in Jerusalem and the celebrations have begun and he looks around and realizes that he needs these others to be with him.  Brothers, Sisters…it’s fitting words to describe relationships with others also on the journey with us.

Psalm 133:1-3

¹  Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
²  It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!
³  It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.

The Psalmist makes a simple statement:  “how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.”

I have been a pastor for over 40 years, and I can tell you that “dwelling in unity” is not a given.  It takes work to live in unity with anyone.  There has to be truth in love, grace with truth, mercy with honesty, forgiveness with accountability. 

It’s increasingly got popular for people to avoid commitments.  Marriage is delayed for a more popular “living together”.  Membership is downplayed and gathering together is set aside for an individualistic approach:  “I love God, but hate the church”.  I’ve seen it all, and I can understand some of it – but ultimately the non-commitment lifestyle is sadly missing the truth – we need to be committed to others, warts and all.  

Not everyone we meet in our fellowship together is lovely.  They are not always nice people.  They come together with us and we have one Father, our God, and we are therefore one family – like it or not.  The question isn’t whether or not we are going to live in community – the question is what do we do with the community we have. 

The Psalmist says the ideal is to live in the joy of unity.  This kind of unity can’t be described…therefore, “it’s like” this and that.

#1, It’s like precious oil.  We’re not talking about motor oil.  This is the kind of oil that was used by the priests for the anointing of things that were given as an offering to God.  It is priestly which means it is sacred and belongs to God.

When I see the people in fellowship with me, I’m seeing the sacred – the relationships that God has put into my life to help transform me and make me into the person that God wants me to become.  

Back in the 1930’s the Pastor, Theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer who did his work of ministry during the Nazi rise to power, wrote on the idea of community:

“Not what a man is in himself as a Christian, his spirituality and piety, (that) constitutes the basis of our community.  What determines our brotherhood is what that man is by reason of Christ.  Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done for both of us.”

What Christ has done is redemption, forgiveness, adoption into the family of God.  He has given all of us His Spirit and made us sacred…setting us apart for His purposes.

#2, It’s like dew on Mt. Hermon falling on the slopes of Zion.  Mt. Hermon is the highest spot in Israel.  It is far north in Israel and at 9000+ feet it is an anomaly in the Mediterranean climate of the Middle East.  The mountains produce their own wonder, and their own life.  The climate is arid and yet here on the mountain there is freshness and newness morning by morning.

Living in unity means we face our brothers and sisters with a daily, weekly newness.  Old tapes, grudges, stereotypes, have no place in our relationships.  Everyone one of us are stamped with God’s spirit and therefore we have something to bring to our fellowship with one another that brings freshness and life.

Oil and dew…two things that in their own unique way bring a quality of something that is fresh and enjoyable…that’s what our community means to us.

The last line of the Psalm speaks the beauty of the truth:  “For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.”  

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are not making this thing of fellowship and unity up…we have the pattern from the Trinity itself.  God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, live in perfect harmony, with honor and dignity that demonstrates an expectancy of life.

When Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote Life Together, he was creating a manual for fellow pilgrims to live and work together for the sake of God’s Kingdom.  The Nazis were seeking a 1000 year dynasty; but Bonhoeffer knew that the Kingdom of God would last forever.

Bonhoeffer would eventually be imprisoned by the Nazis and later on in the war, martyred for his faith and opposition to the Fascism that was anything other than Christ. 

As his life seemed destined for imprisonment and the walls seemed to separate him from his community of faith…but it was not so.  He wrote about how God commanded his blessings and ordained eternal life through his family of faith.

The time was April 9, 1945 (69 years yesterday).  The prison doctor at Flossenburg wrote a report:  ‘On the morning of the day, some time between five and six o’clock the prisoners…were led out of their cells and their verdicts read to them.  Through the half-open door of a room…I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, still in his prison clothes, kneeling in fervent prayer to the Lord his God. ..the prisoners were ordered to strip.  They were led down a flight of steps under the trees…of execution.  Bonhoeffer knelt and prayed again…five minutes later his life was ended.  Three weeks later Hitler committed suicide.  All of Germany was in chaos and communication was impossible.  No one knew what had happened to Bonhoeffer.  His family waited in anxious anguish.  His death was first reported in Geneva and then telegraphed to London.  On July 27, Bonhoeffer’s parents turned on the radio to listen to the broadcast from London.  A memorial service was in progress.  Vaughn Williams’ “For all the Saints” rolled out loud.  Then a voice in German spoke: ‘We are gathered here to in the presence of God to make thankful remembrance of the life and work of his servant, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who gave his life in faith and obedience to His holy word.’ “

It humbles me to read those words.  In what way am I willing to give up my life for the sake of God’s Kingdom and his people – my brothers and sisters in Christ?  

How pleasant…how good…God ordains life eternal.

Peace