Unity Descending

Welcome back. Many of you weren't here last week, and it's really beautiful and sweet to reunite again in order to worship.

There's a unity that happens when we do that, and it's really great.

We've kind of gathered from all corners of the earth, really.

We've come from all the way around the globe back this Sunday.

It's really wonderful to be with you again.

And this evening, we'll be looking at Psalm 133 and the subject of Christian unity.

For those of us in this room who have grown up in a church, the phrase Christian unity can cause very different reactions.

For some of you who have come from situations so bad that you're tempted to think Christian unity is an oxymoron.

Because you've come from churches that have gossiped, backstabbed, argued, and split over any number of issues.

For those of you who are skeptics of Christianity, the phrase is troubling for the opposite reason.

Because you've seen how Christians have united for some pretty wrong and frightening causes.

If you're not familiar with the Bible, you may be surprised that the Bible doesn't gloss over the failings of his people.

That the Bible doesn't present God's people as unified, it seems, hardly ever.

It's brutally honest about how dysfunctional the family of God has been.

A big chunk of the New Testament is made up of letters written to churches that were really, really screwed up.

Dealing with sexual immorality in a way that would make our modern culture blush.

Getting drunk as they came to the Lord's table.

Showing blatant favoritism to the rich.

And shunning the poor, making them sit on the ground.

And that's nothing compared to stuff that you find in the Old Testament.

For what it's worth, you might be wondering, am I preaching on this issue

because Church of the Advent is dealing with unity issues?

No. Not at all.

If I could grade the Church of the Advent on the issue of unity, I would give you a solid A+.

Now, I know that's disappointing to you overachievers who are always looking for the A++,

the star and the circle around it.

But a solid A+.

You guys love each other so well and are committed to worshiping God

and are solidly committed to the good of the city of Washington, D.C.

So would this meditation on this psalm, Psalm 133, be an encouragement to you, as it has been for me,

this psalm, that's more of a painting than it is a song.

It paints for us a picture of what precedes unity,

how unity comes, and then where we perceive it most clearly.

What precedes it, how it comes, and where we perceive it.

The psalm is a poem.

It's a song.

So it's art, right?

And by its very nature, art is elusive, and it requires work to understand it.

The psalm was also inspired by the very Spirit of God.

So let's ask His help to understand it.

Okay?

Let's pray.

God, yeah, we would seek to understand Your Word,

not just to gain some knowledge or to know more than we did, Lord,

but we want to receive Your Word.

We want to be changed.

We want to be transformed.

God, would this Word work in our hearts?

Would You open our hearts to Your Word?

Open Your Word to our hearts.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

I'm going to read the psalm once again.

This is Psalm 133.

It is a song of ascents.

The psalmist here,

as a typical artist,

he wants to tell us about unity.

But instead of telling us what it is,

he tells us what it's like.

But in doing so,

he hopes we get a deeper understanding of it.

With one word,

he shows us what precedes unity.

He says,

Behold.

Okay?

Unity is partly defined by what was in its place.

Discord,

disharmony,

enmity.

This is why the psalmist says,

Behold,

as if he had been awake through the dark hours of the night,

and then suddenly and dramatically,

the sun rises on the eastern horizon.

No one lies on the beach for hours getting a suntan,

and then says,

Behold,

the sun is bright.

The word signals a big change, right?

So what was it like before the sun appeared to the psalmist,

before brothers lived together in unity?

Well,

the person who would have been singing this song originally would have been an Israelite,

right?

The psalms were Israel's songbook.

They're hymnal.

And this Israelite would be thoroughly aware of how infamously brothers got along in Israel's history.

Cain,

the firstborn son of humanity's parents,

Adam and Eve,

he murdered his brother Abel.

Jacob,

the father of the nation of Israel,

deceived his father to steal his brother's inheritance and blessing.

Jacob's sons sold their brother Joseph into slavery.

And when Israel became a nation with its own land,

its tribes didn't get along and eventually split into two nations.

So if there was peace and unity in the land,

when the Israelites sang this,

he would know that it's not always been the case.

And we too,

as members of God's family,

should know how unity hasn't always been a part of our story or our stories.

Paul writes in Titus chapter 3,

Titus 3:3–5

verses 3 to 5,

at one time,

we too were foolish,

disobedient,

deceived,

and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.

We lived in malice,

envy,

being hated and hating one another.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,

he saved us,

not because of righteous things we had done,

but because of his mercy.

Malice,

envy,

hated,

hating.

Then,

God intervenes.

God shows up.

Behold,

he saves us from those things,

and he saves us together.

God rescues his family.

And that's our second point,

that unity is not something we achieve.

It's bestowed.

It's given.

Unity has a given-ness to it.

We read in verse 3 of Psalm 133,

that unity is like the dew of Hermon,

which falls on the mountains of Zion.

Now,

dew was important in ancient Near Eastern agriculture.

The climate was so hot and dry,

that often,

only the dew kept vegetation alive during drought and heat.

And so,

all throughout the Old Testament,

dew symbolizes the blessings of God given to his people,

the gifts the king gives to his subjects.

What's Mount Hermon?

The Toss Peak in Israel

was Mount Hermon.

It was,

it's 9,000 feet.

It lies in the north of the country,

in what is today modern Lebanon.

There's actually a ski mountain,

now on Mount Hermon.

The psalmist asks us to imagine

the sun heating the snow on Mount Hermon,

causing a mist to rise from the pines

that surrounded the mountain,

and a cool air carrying it

all the way down to Jerusalem.

Not only does this dew sustain life,

but it's pristine and refreshing.

The writer is saying what John Calvin would later say on,

that the life of man would be sapless,

unprofitable,

and wretched,

and less sustained by brotherly harmony.

See how the psalmist

is drawing the worshiper's attention

to the descending movement of the dew.

We know this because the downward mention has been,

the downward motion has been mentioned before in verse 2.

Oil running down on the beard,

running down on the collar,

and now dew falls on the mountain.

Hear that?

Descending,

descending,

descending.

Unity on earth

descends from heaven.

It's a gift of God

to his people.

We see this

descending motion in the New Testament as well,

don't we?

When Jesus is baptized in the Jordan,

the Holy Spirit descends

from the Father

on Jesus

in the form of a dove.

And then later,

in the book of Acts,

God bestows himself,

his very self,

upon his church

as the Holy Spirit

descends on his disciples

and flames of fire

come to rest

on them

in that dark room.

God gives us

himself.

God descends.

The Apostle Paul writes

in Ephesians 4,

we heard this earlier,

be completely humble

and gentle,

be patient,

bearing with one another

in love.

Make every effort

to keep the unity

of the Spirit

through the bond of peace.

There is one body

and one Spirit,

just as you were called

to one hope

when you were called.

One Lord,

one faith,

one baptism,

one God

and Father of all,

who is over all

and through all

and in all.

Now,

how does the Spirit

keep us in unity?

Right?

Like,

what's going on

in our minds,

in our hearts,

when the Spirit

is at work

making us unified?

I think

that in the Spirit

of the Psalm we read,

the Holy Spirit

reminds us

of our need,

right?

Jerusalem

needs the dew

for life

to flourish.

church.

So what do we need?

What do we need

as the church?

What do we need

as children of God?

We need to have

our debt canceled.

That's what we need.

That's why Jesus,

the Son of God,

descended to earth

this Christmas season

2,000 years ago

to live the life

of full obedience

to God's law

that we could not live,

to die the death

on the cross

that we deserve to die.

And He paid

what we owed

and we were raised

to life in Him.

We were made

new creations.

And when the Spirit

reminds us

of that

unfathomable need,

we forgive others.

We forgive each other.

Think of the parable

of the,

the parable

that Jesus taught

of the ungrateful servant,

right?

The servant

didn't understand

how much

he had been forgiven,

which was an insane amount,

unfathomable.

Because he didn't understand

when a fellow servant

owed him money,

he had him punished

and thrown into jail.

When we understand

how much we've been forgiven,

we can be,

as Ephesians said,

completely humble,

gentle,

patient,

bearing with one another

in love.

Unity in the here

and now doesn't mean

we will always get along

nicely with each other.

We will wrong each other.

Because though we are saved,

we are still being saved.

We have been made whole,

but we're still being perfected,

right?

We've been healed,

but we're still very broken.

Does this sound familiar?

We talk a lot about

living in the tension

of the already,

but the not yet.

So what does unity look like

in this tension

between the already

and the not yet?

Well, that's repentance

and forgiveness.

An example of God

showing up

and giving unity

in the form of repentance

and forgiveness

happened to two

former colleagues of mine

who were serving

as missionaries in Uganda.

They were driving

to a remote village

to share the gospel there

and riding with them

was a public health worker.

His name was,

or is,

Singamon.

Now this vehicle

got stuck in the mud

and the missionaries

got into

a very heated argument

about what to do next

because that's what missionaries do

is argue about,

you know,

from personal experience

stuff that really doesn't matter.

So they got into

a really heated argument

about it, though.

Eventually they were able

to get out of the ditch

and the two missionaries

after that

were convicted

of how they treated

one another

and how they responded

to the situation.

And so they repented

to each other

right there on the spot

and they were warmly

reconciled.

Now,

Singamon took this all in

and was completely stunned,

right?

Later,

Singamon

would become a believer

in Jesus Christ.

And at his baptism,

he shared

that witnessing

that argument

and the subsequent forgiveness

played a key role

in his conversion.

He said,

I had never seen

two people get into

an argument like that

and afterwards

be reconciled.

I know there had to be

something different

about this gospel

they were speaking of.

And if that gospel

had the power

to change sinners

like them,

then it had the power

to change me, too.

Singamon

had seen God show up

in the already,

in the not yet,

in the tension.

He had seen the spirit

of peace

supernaturally at work.

He had seen God

bestow his unity.

on his children,

on his family.

And then Singamon

became a member

of that family.

It changed his life.

So we see

there's a change.

There's a crossing over

from disunity

to unity.

We see that unity

is bestowed

in the gift

of his spirit.

And now third,

we see

the psalmist

tell us

in what context

we're to understand unity.

unity.

We understand unity

in the context

of worship.

We know this

for two reasons.

The first reason

we know this

is because of the purpose

for which this song

was written.

The song is called

A Song of Ascent.

There's a group of psalms

called Songs of Ascent.

They were sung

by Israelites,

Israelite pilgrims,

as they approached

the Temple Mount.

And as they ascended

the mountain

to the temple

in Jerusalem,

they would sing

these songs.

So what would an Israelite

be thinking of

when he was singing

about oil

running down

the beard

of Aaron?

Well, his imagination

would be transported

to the scene

of worship

that awaited him

at the top

of the mountain.

At the center

of Israel's worship

was sacrifice.

The sacrifice

for the whole nation

would be performed

by the high priest.

Aaron was Israel's

first high priest.

For the high priest

to do his job,

he needed to be

anointed with oil.

To be anointed

means to be set apart.

Being set apart

for what?

For God.

Being set apart

for worship.

The oil that Aaron

and all high priests

were anointed with

was a special oil

mixed with incense

and spices

that was only used

in the temple

of Jerusalem.

You may remember

hearing,

as Wes read

from Exodus,

that this is the only

place in Israel

this incense

was allowed

to be used.

Right?

The psalmist

is using imagery

but not just visual imagery.

He's using

olfactory imagery

to convey an idea.

He's really hammering

it home.

To be unified

is to worship God.

And to worship God

is to be unified.

Unity comes

through worship.

Through our

common declaration

that we love

and serve God

alone.

So integral

is worship

to our unity

that any unity

without worship

is vain.

John Calvin said,

any concord

it is thus insinuated

which may prevail

amongst men

is insipid

if not pervaded

by sweet savor

of God's worship.

Now that's a pretty

exclusive claim,

right?

I mean there's a lot

of things,

a lot of really good

things to be united

over and for.

I mean,

if you're a skeptic

you might be wondering

can't true unity

exist without

this?

Couldn't it exist

through uniting

around something else?

Something good?

Well,

there are many good things

to unite

around.

And I would agree

that there are

many good things

to come together

for,

but we must be

careful

not to make them

our ultimate good.

You see,

in declaring together

our allegiance

to God,

we turn our backs

on every other God

that demands

our loyalty.

Disharmony occurs,

discord occurs,

enmity accords,

envy accords,

occurs when we

worship other things.

If I make something

besides God

my chief purpose,

I will sow division.

for instance,

if money and success

are my main ambition,

I will begin to use others

and even trample on them.

I will withhold money

and charity

from those who are in need.

If my children

are my chief purpose,

and I know this

from experience,

I will react furiously

when I perceive

that they are being

not just harmed

but suffer

even the slightest

unfairness.

I tell a story

about my son

but it's really

about me.

He was playing

right field

in Little League

and the field

was a complete disaster

and it just rained

but they decided

to play the game anyway

and he was playing

right field

and it was completely

muddy.

It was a swamp

and the ball

was hit into right field

and it got by my son.

This happens inevitably

in Little League

and right as it went by him

it got stuck in the mud

and it was the same color

as the mud

so he didn't see it.

He turned around

and just kept running

and running and running

and so like the coaches

and the,

yeah,

there wasn't an umpire

so the coaches

got together

and decided what to do

and I mean,

if you know anything

about baseball,

right,

it's a ground rule double.

The ball gets stuck

but the coach decided

it would be a home run

and I felt like

my son was being punished

for,

um,

for like the,

the field being muddy.

Um,

he's,

he's colorblind

so he can't really

distinguish like

the different tones

of brown.

Um,

it,

it could have been

just a ground rule double

and everyone

was saved face

and my son

wouldn't have been

like persecuted

so I got so angry

I started yelling

at the coaches

both sides

but my,

my own team's coaches

and the other team's coaches

and then I just kept it going

like after,

um,

um,

it's Little League

in Vienna,

Austria

so,

so the parents bring

beer and wine

I don't think

you can do that here

but that probably

wasn't a good idea

in this particular

situation either

and like,

so afterwards

like with all the kids

around with my son

I was just laying

into the other team's

coach

it's like

you're doing anything

even trampling

on my son

to,

to make sure

your team lost

and you know

he was like

dumbfounded

um,

I was being cheered

by our team's

uh,

parents

but I was completely

completely in the wrong

completely in the wrong

and what was happening

it was like

I had made an idol

out of my son

right

I was trying

to live life

vicariously

through him

to experience

his success

and to avoid

um,

failure

it wasn't even failure

it was just

you know

it's a mistake

but um

it's really embarrassing

showing that story

but that's what happens

right

when we make

something even as good

as our own children

our chief purpose

in life

our chief good

we end up idolizing them

and it just

it was uh

discord

enmity

division

um

and you know

if

if that doesn't happen

even if they succeed

in everything in life

I uh

you know

parents can place

too much pressure on them

uh

to succeed

and when they become

adults

they become

resentful of us

um

I mean

history tells us

that even the noblest

things that when

idolized

can cause

disharmony

even to

a violent

degree

as the French

revolutionist

Madame Roland

reminds us

having fallen out

of favor with other

revolutionists

she's sentenced

to death

right

do you know this story

before placing her head

on the guillotine block

she kneels

before the clay statue

of liberty

and says

liberty

what crimes

are committed

in thy name

even the

noblest things

when made

our chief purpose

when worship

can cause

discord

enmity

so what should be

our chief purpose

it's the chief purpose

of human beings

to glorify God

and enjoy him

forever

in doing so

we will experience

a holy

unity

you know

I had in mind

to

as I was

praying

and reading the psalm

and studying

I had in mind

a still

from one of my favorite

films

I thought

oh maybe I should

I should show you guys

and talk about it

this photograph

and then I realized

that the perfect

illustration

of all of this

is the drama

that we participate

in every week

we're reminded

of the debt

we owe to God

when we confess

how we ascend

against him

in thought

word and deed

we are reminded

how we've been forgiven

of our sins

and given new life

in Christ

when we eat the bread

and drink the wine

together

we will be reminded

later

of the peace

that exists

among us

when we speak

the peace

to each other

the peace of the Lord

be with you

and also with you

and in just a moment

when two of our children

are baptized

and we see

the water poured

and flowing down

down their heads

down their robes

we'll be reminded

of our own baptism

that we've been given

his Holy Spirit

who's brought us

from death

to life

from enmity

and discord

to peace

and unity

that he has made us

his children

we'll be reminded

that we are members

of his family

let's pray

God we know

that every good

and perfect gifts

every good

and perfect gift

comes down

from you

oh Lord

Father of heavenly lights

who does not change

like the shifting shadows

so bestow

your blessing

on us

make us one

Holy Spirit

make us humble

gracious

and affectionate

let us know

how much the Father

loves us

so that we can show

that love to each other

and to the world

we pray all of this

in Jesus name

Amen