Grace Lutheran Church Seventh Sunday of Easter, May 28, 2006

The Rev. Evan Gaertner

Seventh Sunday of Easter “United in Christ”

May 28, 2006 Psalm 133

Poetry can sometimes be tough to work through and understand. Today I don’t want to confuse you but in fact open up a piece of poetry in the psalms so that you will rejoice with me in the good news of being united together in the blessings of God in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 133 is only three verses long. But in these three verses we find a voice of praise centered on the blessings of the Lord.

The opening of Psalm 133 states that it is a “song of ascent.” The book of psalms is full of different collections of hymns used by the people of God. Some psalms had a personal purpose and other psalms had a gathering purpose. The song of ascents would have been sung by God’s people approaching Jerusalem for one of the major worship festivals. Picture in your mind a large crowd of people walking up from the valley surrounding Jerusalem towards the temple. They were united in their destination but more importantly they walked together because of the blessings of God flowing to them from Jerusalem.

The psalm opens with a very basic statement, “How very good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity.” A simple and true statement which frustratingly is hard to find. Regularly we find ourselves divided from one another by family conflicts, economic stratification, political views, and so many other reasons to be divided.

As we look at the history of the people of Israel we find that they truly understand the frustration of divisions. In the book of Genesis we can read about the sons of Jacob. He had many sons, but his son Joseph he especially favored. Joseph had dreams and he told his brothers about these dreams. For instance Joseph told his brothers, “I dreamed we were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” Later on he told them, “I had another dream and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

Joseph’s dreams made his brothers jealous and so they sold him into slavery and went back to their father Jacob carrying Joseph’s coat covered in blood. They told Jacob that Joseph had been killed. The brothers out of jealousy had divided themselves.

In the book of Judges we read about how after Joshua and his generation had died the next generation forgot the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshipped the various gods of the people around them. The people of God became divided from one another in their worship. The people no longer united in their common worship of God were handed over by the Lord to their enemies to be raided and plundered and were no longer able to resist their enemies.

The twelve tribes became divided. The generations that followed after the sons of Jacob each looked after their own interests. King David was such a memorable king because he brought together the ten tribes of the north and the two tribes of the south. King David united the tribes and they were together again. Maybe David wrote this psalm in a moment of rejoicing that God had worked to bring the people together.

This is a psalm of praise as the people went up to Jerusalem. They rejoiced in the beauty of being united by the Lord.

The second verse of Psalm 133 carries a lot of imagery. “It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on a beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes.”

I don’t suppose nowadays having oil poured over your head sounds all that beautiful. But in that culture oil was a symbol of refreshment. Aaron, the brother of Moses was the first high priest for the people as they left the slavery of Egypt. When he was placed into the office of High Priest, oil was poured over his head. As the oil flowed down from his head through his beard and down past his collar it was a symbol that he was completely set aside for holy service.

The next verse continues the imagery of refreshment and unity. “It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.” Mount Hermon is the tallest mountain in the Middle East. Mount Hermon is often snow covered and green with growth. It is in the north. Mount Zion is another way to describe Jerusalem. Jerusalem is dry. The dew of Mount Hermon flowing into Jerusalem would make Jerusalem richly fruitful.

Consider how brotherly unity would as well bring refreshment to a people that are used to divisions. Just as the waters of Hermon flowing into Jerusalem would make the land green and fruitful, so Israel would become fruitful if brotherly unity flowed throughout her land.

The Psalm ends with a causal statement. The brothers living in unity and the precious oil flowing from head to toe and the dew of Hermon flowing to Jerusalem are all the effects. What is the cause of all these effects? “For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore.”

This psalm is not describing the beauty of man-made unity or superficial unity. This psalm describes the beauty and refreshment of the true unity that is found in the Lord.

The organizing principle for God’s people on their pilgrimage to Jerusalem was not tribe, wealth, or unity just for the sake of unity. They were organized, they were a community, they were brothers and sisters, based on the blessings that the Lord was giving to the people in the promises of Jerusalem. God’s blessings flowed to the people through the ministry of the sanctuary of the Lord in Jerusalem. The mercy of God flowed upon the people and set them aside for holy purposes. The mercy of God flowed upon the people and richly blessed them with fruitful good works.

Today we gather together united in Christ. We humbly repent of our sins and stand before the altar of God’s mercy. We repent of false unity that is not based on unity in belief and practice. We can look around and witness so many different denominations. The church here on earth is broken with conflicts of ego, politics, and most dangerously false doctrine. In the midst of division we eagerly seek unity in the church today. We do not have an option of remaining settled in disunity and conflict. We know that the psalm is true, “How very good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!”

We are united by Christ as his blood flows out for us from the cross bringing refreshment to our dried up hope. If you want to work for unity in our congregation, then be united by Christ. If you want to work for unity in the greater Christian community, you will find the refreshing unity of the Lord through supporting and encouraging true doctrine and knowledge of Jesus Christ. He is hub and we are the spokes. The spokes of the wheel do not function if they are not united to the hub. When Christ is absent we are divided, when Christ is present we are brought together.

United in Christ we go forward. United by the blessings of the Lord flowing to us from the cross of Christ we rejoice and give thanks. Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria

Grace Lutheran Church

Sermons