Church Camp 2024, Sermon 1 | Psalm 133

Father, we thank you for this camp, we thank you for this church, we thank you for the

incredible thing that you are doing in this world. Father, we do not think highly enough

of the body of Jesus Christ. This is an incredible miracle. You have brought together people

from all walks of life and you're doing something incredible through us and all over the world

this is taking place and I just pray that as we look at the psalm that you would impress

upon us just how awesome you are and how mysterious and inscrutable and brilliant your ways are.

Amen. So you might be wondering, you know, what possible relevance do these strange three

verses in Psalm 133 have for us this morning and what are we to make of the oil that runs

down Aaron's beard and the dew of hermen that falls on the mountains of Zion? If these things

sound strange to you then I'd suggest you're probably in good company and we have about

20 minutes to think about why God gave us such a strange psalm. So the first thing I

want us to notice here is how this psalm begins and ends because it begins with a statement,

Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity and it ends with life forevermore.

These two things are related and I believe that we can say from the way that the psalm

begins and ends it's a psalm that tells us about community and life. Two things, community

and life. And I want us to think about each of these things in turn. Why should we care

about community? Well, more specifically, upon what basis can we find the unity that

makes community possible? Because if we think about the world we find ourselves in, what

do we notice? What do we see? We see that at every level human beings are against each

other. You think that if we were going to be united anywhere it would be in our families.

And yet how sad to see that so many of our families are not united. According to the

Australian Bureau of Statistics 30% of marriages on this continent end in divorce. And I doubt

that there's anyone here in this room who has remained untouched by divorce in some

way. We have all been to some extent in families that have either been through a divorce or

have friends who've had to face it. And even though we live in a country that has so much

going for it, here we are in Australia, arguably the best country to be in in the world. We're

in this beautiful land. We have everything going for us. And yet, according to the Australian

Institute of Health and Welfare from 2021 to 2022, in one year, four million Australian

adults reported experiencing physical or sexual, family and domestic violence from the age

of 15. Four million. There's something desperately rotten with us that we would resort to such

hatred against members of our own families whilst living in a country where there's hardly

any poverty, there's no famine, no pestilence, no civil wars being fought. You think that

families that share the same parents, the same home, the same common DNA, that this

would be a place where we'd find love, peace. And of course, often this isn't the case.

And if families are divided against each other on a continent like Australia, where we have

so much going for us, how much more so the rest of the world? So do we live in a united

world? We do not. What state is the world in right now? Well, we picked that great country,

the United States. Surely the United States is united. Are they in a state of unity? No,

they're not. And arguably the most powerful person on the planet at the helm of the most

powerful nation is in a state of severe cognitive decline. And whilst the US continues to self-destruct,

tensions between China and Taiwan silently escalate. Japan has been beefing up its military

arsenal in the surrounding islands. Meanwhile, Russia and Ukraine are still at each other's

throats, threatening to reopen more European countries. And the Middle East, as you know,

tensions between Israel and Iran continue to escalate as Lebanon and Israel get stuck

into each other, which is now a conflict that involves Israel, the Palestinians, Egypt,

Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Lebanon. And then there's the rest of

the world. The war in Myanmar continues. Just this year, almost 10,000 people have been

killed there. In Africa, the Islamist insurgency in the Sahel region has brought conflict to

Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Algeria, Tunisia, Chad, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Ghana,

Nigeria, Cameroon, Morocco, and Libya. In Sudan, the Sudanese civil war, which broke

out last year, has already taken out 150,000 people. In South America, Colombia and Venezuela

have been at each other since 1964. And there are ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan,

Somalia, Kenya, Nigeria, the DRC, Mexico, Brazil, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Turkey,

India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mozambique. I mean, this list goes on and on and on. And

I want to belabor the point to make the case that what we have here in Australia is actually

rather unusual. Our world is in a bad place. And we haven't even considered countries like

North Korea that has the fifth largest standing army in the world just bristling for a fight

as Rocket Man Kim seeks world domination. This is our world today, 6,000 years of human

history and we're still killing each other. So we call it for what it is. Brothers dwelling

in unity is not something that we see often in our world. And we consider, for example,

the first brothers. Who were the first brothers that this world ever knew? Kane and Abel.

And how did these first brothers treat each other? Kane killed Abel. You think of Jacob

and Esau. Jacob deceived Esau and Esau tried to kill Jacob. Joseph, he had 11 brothers

and what did they do to him? They sold him into slavery. Abimelek, he's not the kind

of brother you'd want to have in your family. Abimelek had 70 brothers and he killed a whole

lot of them. Slaughtered them. Absalom killed his brother Amnon. Solomon killed Adonija.

This is the story of humanity. Brothers seldom dwell in unity. Upon what basis therefore

can we build a loving community? And sure, they're fleeting glimpses of community at

sporting events, festivals, pubs, clubs, but this kind of community is weak and it doesn't

last. Perhaps you think of footy or rugby players who wear the same jersey or uni students

who are united by their common interest to get education in a specific field of expertise

or work colleagues who are united in their efforts to make and do things that earn them

money but when the basis of that community ends, well that's the end. For several years

I shared a classroom with girls and guys and I'm not in touch with them anymore. That unity

we had is over. You see, community depends upon common unity. It's kind of a Kamala Harris

way of putting things. Community, which means to have real lasting unity that isn't just

superficial or skin deep, we need to have something far more potent. We need something

that binds and unites us from within, from our hearts. We need a unifying force that

just isn't just here today and then gone tomorrow. And that's why our Psalm ends in the way that

it does. What is the Lord's blessing? What is He commanded from Zion? Life. And not just

life, life forevermore. To be united in any sustainable way we need eternal life. Why?

Because even in cases where there is a community of people founded on love and truth, there's

a big problem. People die. Brothers may be dwelling in unity today but there comes a

time for brothers to die. Sons will bury their fathers. Brothers will bury their sisters.

Mothers will bury their sons. Children die. Friends die. Lovers die. Husbands and wives

die. What's the point of love and truth with no life to sustain it? But this Psalm speaks

of an incredible blessing. Life forevermore. And to understand this life we need to look

at the nuts and bolts in the middle. So here it is again from verse 1. Behold, how good

and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. 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. Brothers dwelling in unity is like the precious oil on Aaron's head. That's a

very interesting comparison. And we won't be able to make any sense of it unless we

can see why Aaron gets singled out and what this oil represents. Because by itself an

oily beard is hardly an inspiration for brothers to dwell in unity. And if you're thinking

of cooking oil or crude oil or palm oil, this Psalm is going to remain mystifying. And if

you conjure up in your minds a picture of Ross with his stately beard and oil dripping

down to the floor, I'm not going to lie, you're probably going to find this a very tricky

Psalm to understand. So the key here really is who it is with the beard. And the man of

course is Aaron. Why? Because Aaron is set apart from everyone else in that he is the

first high priest appointed by God. And the oil which pours down his head and his beard

onto the collar of his robes is no ordinary oil. It is the oil of his anointing, the oil

that consecrates him as the high priest. Here are the relevant details from Exodus 29 verse

four where we read, You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of

meeting and wash them with water. Then you shall take the garments and put on Aaron the

coat and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breast piece and gird him with the

skillfully woven band of the ephod. And you shall set the turban on his head and put the

holy crown on the turban. You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and

anoint him. And so we ask, well, what kind of oil was this anointing oil? And Exodus

Exodus 30:22

30 verse 22 tells us, here's the recipe. The Lord said to Moses, take the finest spices

of liquid myrrh, 500 shekels and of sweet smelling cinnamon, half as much, that is 250

and 250 of aromatic cane and 500 of cassia according to the shekel of the sanctuary and

a hen of olive oil. And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by

the perfumer. It shall be a holy anointing oil. You shall anoint Aaron and his sons and

consecrate them that they may serve me as priests. And you shall say to the people of

Israel, this shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It shall not

be poured on the body of an ordinary person. And you shall make no other like it in composition.

It is holy and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any

of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people. So who is this special anointing

oil for? Who's the only one allowed to receive this oil made according to this recipe? Aaron

and his sons, only Aaron. And of course, only Aaron has the oil poured directly onto his

head to run down his beard and onto his robe. Because there is only one man who can enter

the holy of holies. Only one man who can atone for the sins of the people, the anointed priest.

And we know that there was only one day in the year when this took place, on the day

of atonement. So why does David conjure up this picture of Aaron being anointed? He does

it to remind us of a profound relationship, a relationship between God and man. Why does

Aaron and Aaron alone go into the holy of holies? Why all this fiasco with a special

oil, robes? What would happen if anyone else decided I'm going into that holy of holies

to meet with God? I want to speak with God. Well, we know in other cases, like in the

case of Nadab and Abihu, like in the case of Uzzah, those who treated the ark casually,

those who decided to offer their own version of incense, they were struck down dead. It's

an incredible privilege to be able to know God, to speak to Him, to enter into that place.

And so God sets up for us this incredible picture that we should know the cost. Only

Aaron gets to go in there and only once a year. He is the only one who receives this

anointing oil on his head. And so our relationship between God and man is what comes to mind

when we read Psalm 133. David wants us to have this picture in front of us. And it's

fascinating to see that come right after we brothers dwell in unity. Why? Well, I believe

it's because he wants us to see where this unity truly lies. How is it possible in our

world, a world filled with sinners, filled with people who will be at each other's throats,

even though there's no reason to be at each other's throats, that we're the kinds of people

who can take paradise and burn it to the ground, that we've been doing this for the last 6,000

years and will continue to do this. We can take beautiful things and ruin them. That

that destruction just pumps through our veins every day, that we are the blights in this

universe. How are we to find unity unless God does something profound and incredible

for us? Which is why right after announcing this, it is good and pleasant when brothers

dwell in unity, we get to see what makes that possible. Our unity is dependent upon something

far more profound. And that is our relationship with our Creator. That has to be put right

first, that vertical relationship. So what is it that really unites us? Ephesians 4 verse

Ephesians 4:3

3 tells us this, it is the unity of the Spirit. And that oil that runs down upon Aaron depicts

something incredible. It's a picture of the Holy Spirit being poured out on man. There's

nothing fancy about that oil. It's not as if the oil itself makes Aaron holy. We read

in the New Testament that there's no amount of bulls and goats and sheep that you can

slaughter. You could spill their blood in the streets and that blood would not take

away sin. There is only one whose blood can take away sin. There's only one who can bind

us together and bring unity to this world. And it's from Him that we receive His Spirit

that can transform our hearts to make us the kind of people who love, thereby setting us

apart from every other community that this world knows. Friends, the church is a miracle.

It is an incredible thing. What we have this weekend is very special. If you are a Christian,

if you believe in Jesus Christ, if the people in this room have the Spirit in them, these

are your brothers and sisters. These are people that you will be with forever and ever and

ever. The family of God. What an incredible privilege. And so who are the anointed? In

Psalm 133 we have Aaron being anointed. But if you're a child of God, if you've been born

again, if you are in Christ, then you have been anointed. Not by oil, but by something

far more precious. The Holy One. And to prove that I'm not just making this up, here's 1

1 John 2:20

John chapter 2 verse 20. 1 John chapter 2 verse 20. But you have been anointed by the

1 John 2:20

Holy One and you all have knowledge. Which means fundamentally true community arises

from an anointed relationship with God. And that's what sets the church apart from every

other community. We are a community of anointed people. People filled with the Holy Spirit.

We ask, well what difference would it make if God took His Holy Spirit away from us?

Well we'd be like a bunch of empty pipes. The moment I've been commissioned by my good

wife to lay out some reticulation on our property before the heat kills everything. And it's

all very well laying out the pipes. You can have this beautiful network of pipes. They're

all interconnected. And you can stare at them all day. But if they're not plumbed into the

mains, your God's going to die. They're good for nothing. The Holy Spirit has to be in

us. If we're going to be united and bound together in love, you can't fake church. Can't

fake it. Which is why the church is a work of the Lord. It's His gift to us. Our treat

to be part of this incredible thing. So there is no community without grace. There is no

community without the Holy Spirit. There is no community without God. All communities

not built on Jesus Christ are destined for extinction. But throughout the ages, the church

remains. Jesus tells us that the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church.

Friends, the church lives forever. And this is the difference that the Holy Spirit makes.

Which brings us to the title of the song. Small detail we've looked over so far, overlooked.

Notice that Psalm 133 is a song of ascent. Do you see that? In fact, there are 15 of

them. All the way from Psalm 120 through to Psalm 134. So we're coming right to the end

of the songs of ascent. And what are these songs of ascent about? It's a bit of debate

here, but it seems that these were the songs.

Sung by the people of Israel as they gathered together in Zion. As they gathered together

to worship. As they gathered together to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. As they gathered

together as one people, as the family of God to worship Him. Just like the church gathers

today, right here in worship. And that's why it gives David occasion to rejoice in what

he sees. Brothers dwelling together in unity. As God's people gather, David sees something

profound. He sees God's plan to unite all things in Him. And that's His big plan. We're

told in Ephesians 1 verse 7, in Him we have redemption through His blood. The forgiveness

Ephesians 1:7

of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in

all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will according to His purpose,

which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in

Him. Things in heaven and things on earth. That's why the oil of Aaron is so important

to understand. But what about the Jew of Hermon? How's the Jew of Hermon falling on the mountains

of Zion like brothers dwelling in unity? Well this is what we know about Mount Hermon. Mount

Hermon is located in Lebanon on the northern border of Israel. In fact it's the highest

mountain in Syria and Israel today. It's so tall that it remains snow capped for most

of the year. In fact there's a ski resort there. Wouldn't recommend going skiing in

Israel at the moment, but there it is. But besides offering rich biodiversity across

its verdant slopes, it also serves a critical role in supplying fresh water for the Jordan

River. Because of its height, it captures all of this precipitation in an area which

would otherwise be incredibly dry and arid, and it turns that little pocket of the world

into this green lush landscape. By comparison, the mountains in Zion are a lot lower and

a lot drier. Jerusalem typically receives about 20 inches of rain per year, but Mount

Hermon receives twice as much as that. Now Mount Hermon is about 190 kilometers north

of Zion as the crow flies. So what does it mean for the Jew of Hermon to fall on the

mountains of Zion? Well if this happens it means life for Zion. The Jew of Hermon brings

life. What happens when it rains in desert? That desert's transformed. Flowers grow, everything

turns green. Water makes all the difference. And so what we have in this psalm is a picture

of God bringing life to a dead world. And in fact there's a fascinating passage in

Hosea 14 that also looks at this region around Mount Hermon, the region in Lebanon. And I

want you to listen to what the Jew represents in this prophecy. So it's Hosea 14 verse 4.

Hosea 14:4

Here we read, I will heal their apostasy. I will love them freely for my anger has turned

from them. And hear the words of the Lord here. I will be like the Jew to Israel. He

shall blossom like the lily. He shall take roots like the trees of Lebanon. His roots

shall spread out. His beauty shall be like the olive and his fragrance like Lebanon.

They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow. They shall flourish like the grain. They shall

blossom like the vine. Their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon. So what is this

Jew that falls on Zion? It is an astonishing work of God, an incredible work of the Holy

Spirit. It is how God brings life. What comes to Zion? Who is this Jew? And of course it's

Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ and his spirit. A work that comes to Zion a thousand years

after the psalm was written. David sees brothers dwelling together in unity and he knows that

something profound will happen in Zion. The Lord has commanded his blessing. Life forever

more. And so here we are. Three thousand years after the psalm. The Jew has fallen on Zion.

Christ has come. He has sent his spirit. And his church grows exponentially across the

world. A community that will outlive the grave. By the power of the Holy Spirit we will dwell

as brothers and sisters in unity forever. And that is an incredible thought. That the

people sitting around us here today will be with us a hundred years from today. Two hundred

years from today. Three hundred years from today. That we will look back on this camp.

That we'll look back on friendships formed in the church. And that these people will

be our brothers and sisters forever and ever and ever. Friends we cannot think too highly

of the church. This is a family that outlasts and outlives the grave. Life forever more.

So as we think about unity this weekend I want us to really ponder the concept of life

forever more as the church. And how Christ changes everything for it. Let me pray. Father

we thank you for the church. We thank you for this incredible miracle that we can be

a part of. We thank you that in a world divided, a world at war, a world filled with so much

misery that there can be hope. We thank you for Jesus Christ and his spirit that fills

us and changes us and gives us life. That we can love and thrive. That we can build

relationships at last. That we do not have to fear death. That we can look forward to

a world to come. A new heavens and a new earth. Where this community will be part of that

community forever and ever. Father help us to have some inkling this weekend of what

that means for how we live today. Amen.