Scripture Text (NRSV)

Psalm 133

 

133:1 How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!

133:2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes.

133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the LORD ordained his blessing, life forevermore.

 

Comments:

Remember we are called the desperate preachers, so all of you out there on Saturday night, and we know who we are, always are looking for one more thought before the sermon.

I am also amazed that this wonderful Psalm has gone without response.

With the Joseph story, this Psalm fits in perfectly. Without recognizing our human frailities and our resistance to repentence, there will be no unity.

I learned that social isolationism only permits harmony for a short time. True unity come from dynamic interaction with others who are different from us.

A W-G rocky coast of Me.

I have seen how difficult it is for brothers to overcome the past. First time I preached on the Joseph story one man came up after church and glared at me, "You preached that to me." "Yes, when are you going to put it into practice?" I asked. "Not in your life time." He replied as he stalked off. Several months later this man came up to me in Hardees. "I want to talk to you," he said, "you've been preaching on forgiveness again." "Yes, it comes up regularly in scripture."

"Well, then I have a question. How do I forgive those people and not get hurt again?" Who were the people he was so angry with? His father, his mother, his older brothers. His 96 mother said, "I know my sons will never be buddies, but I would like them to be courteous to each other." Over the three years I was his pastor I talked from time to time with him about these issues. His brother said, "I have offered him the right hand of Christian fellowship. What else can I do?"

I believe because I loved him enough to acknowledge his concerns and challenge him he was able to forgive his family. His mother called to report, that he had come to her apartment and spoke to his older brother pleasantly. There was a time he would have turned on his heel and left. Praise the Lord. How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! How difficult it is. Sue in Cuba, KS

The fact that this passage refers to unity, is quite vague and ambiguous. What does it mean? Do we unite with those that stand against us? Do we unite with those that do not share our faith and our mission in life? What truly does it mean, "when brothers live together in unity..."? I am an African-American male, who can only hope to understand what this passage means, fully. In my community, we are taught that in order to survive, one must be "selfish," securing those things (material and non-material) that would give one immediate and long-term gratification. We all, in this society, learn on some level that this society operates on a zero-sum mentality.

The fact is that if I get mines, you cannot have yours or vice-versa. However, without urging socialism or communism, through the spirit of God and the faith in the Almighty, we can transcend some of these negative forces that bind us to these "worldly" beliefs of self fulfillment. Through the spirit of Christ, we should learn to bond together in "unity," as brothers. For truly, kinship and fellowship are the ways to "life forevermore." Although I believe that sprituality can be attained in one's own solitude, communion with one's peers is required to practice the ideals of faith. This is analogous to knowledge. One can learn great things in the seclusion of a library or classroom, but the real "test" of one's knowledge comes from the way it is applied in the world. As such, the Lord has blessed us all with the power of intuition and infinite personal choice, it is through these faculties that we must learn to come together for the sake of this one principle, in Christ, to practice our faith in communion with our "brethren."

The fact that this passage refers to unity, is quite vague and ambiguous. What does it mean? Do we unite with those that stand against us? Do we unite with those that do not share our faith and our mission in life? What truly does it mean, "when brothers live together in unity..."? I am an African-American male, who can only hope to understand what this passage means, fully. In my community, we are taught that in order to survive, one must be "selfish," securing those things (material and non-material) that would give one immediate and long-term gratification. We all, in this society, learn on some level that this society operates on a zero-sum mentality. The fact is that if I get mines, you cannot have yours or vice-versa. However, without urging socialism or communism, through the spirit of God and the faith in the Almighty, we can transcend some of these negative forces that bind us to these "worldly" beliefs of self fulfillment.

Through the spirit of Christ, we should learn to bond together in "unity," as brothers. For truly, kinship and fellowship are the ways to "life forevermore." Although I believe that sprituality can be attained in one's own solitude, communion with one's peers is required to practice the ideals of faith. This is analogous to knowledge. One can learn great things in the seclusion of a library or classroom, but the real "test" of one's knowledge comes from the way it is applied in the world. As such, the Lord has blessed us all with the power of intuition and infinite personal choice, it is through these faculties that we must learn to come together for the sake of this one principle, in Christ, to practice our faith in communion with our "brethren."