Mike Atkinson tells the story of a man, who was stranded on a deserted island in the Pacific for years. One day a boat came sailing into view. The man frantically waved and got the skipper's attention. The boat landed on the beach, and the skipper got out to greet the stranded man.
After a while the rescuing sailor asked the castaway, “What are those three huts you've built?”
The stranded man replied, “That first hut is my house.”
“What's that next hut?” asked the sailor.
“I built that for my church.”
“What about the third hut?”
“Oh,” the castaway answered solemnly, “that's where I used to go to church” (Mikey's Funnies, 8-20-02; www.PreachingToday.com).
I guess he couldn’t stand himself, so he started another church. It seems that wherever you go (even on a deserted island), believers separate themselves from one another, which the world sees and laughs.
If another church is preaching the gospel, we must come together for the sake of the gospel. We may have different preferences. We may be from different denominations or nationalities, but we serve the same Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Jesus prayed for the unity of the church (John 17:20-21), and what we’re doing this morning is part of the answer to His prayer. We’re two churches from different denominations and nationalities, expressing the unity we have in Christ. It is a beautiful thing! May the community of Lyons see it and come to believe in Jesus, as a result.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Psalm 133, Psalm 133, where the Bible describes the benefit of God’s people dwelling in unity with each other.
Psalm 133:title A song of ascents. Of David.
This title sets the context for the entire psalm. First, there is the liturgical context – i.e., the context of the Psalm in Israel’s worship. It is called “a song of ascents,” because it was one of the songs the people of Israel sang when they ASCENDED the hill to Jerusalem. Three (3) times a year, all Israel gathered together on Mount Zion, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, to worship the Lord as an entire nation (Exodus 23:14-17). And as they were walking up that mountain, they often sang songs together – these “songs of ascents.” They start at Psalm 120 and go right through to Psalm 134. Psalm 133 is one of these “songs of ascents,” sung as the people of God came together to worship. Even today, God still calls His people to...
COME TOGETHER FOR WORSHIP.
Come together to celebrate His goodness. Come together to praise the Lord.
Israel came together in the Spring (March-April) at Passover to celebrate their redemption – God delivering them from the Egyptians. Then Israel came together in the Summer (May-June) at Pentecost to celebrate God’s provision at harvest time. And Israel came together in the Fall (September-October) at the Feast of Tabernacles to celebrate God’s protection during their wilderness wanderings. Three times a year, all Israel came together to celebrate their redemption, God’s provision and God’s protection.
We too can come together for the same reasons. We can come together to praise God for our redemption, because He saved us from our sins (Romans 5:8-9). We can come together to praise God for His provision, because “He supplies all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). And we can come together to praise God for His protection, because He protects us from the Evil One (John 17:15).
So come together to worship the Lord. Come together to celebrate His goodness.
The late columnist Mike Royko once wrote about a conversation he had with Slats Grobnik, a man who sold Christmas trees in Chicago. Slats remembered one couple on the hunt for a Christmas tree. The guy was skinny with a big Adam's apple and small chin, and she was kind of pretty. But both wore clothes from the bottom of the bin of the Salvation Army store.
After finding only trees that were too expensive, they found a Scotch pine that was okay on one side, but pretty bare on the other. Then they picked up another tree that was not much better – full on one side, scraggly on the other. She whispered something, and he asked if $3 would be okay. Slats figured both trees would not be sold, so he agreed.
A few days later Slats was walking down the street and saw a beautiful tree in the couple's apartment. It was thick and well rounded. He knocked on their door and they told him how they worked the two trees close together where the branches were thin. Then they tied the trunks together. The branches overlapped and formed a tree so thick you couldn't see the wire. Slats described it as “a tiny forest of its own.”
Then Slats commented, “So that's the secret. You take two trees that aren't perfect, that have flaws, that might even be homely, that maybe nobody else would want. If you put them together just right, you can come up with something really beautiful” (Mike Royko, One More Time, University of Chicago Press, 1999, pp. 85-87; www.PreachingToday.com).
In the same way, when we come together, though each has its flaws, we can make God’s praise “really beautiful!”
A.W. Tozer wrote: Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow (A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God, Simon & Brown, reprint 2018, p. 63; www.PreachingToday.com).
In the same way, when we focus on Christ, it brings us closer together than when we strive for unity by focusing on each other. Jesus unifies us! So let’s focus on Him this morning. Come together for worship. Then...
COME TOGETHER FOR WAR.
Come together to fight the enemy. Come together to do battle with the evil one.
That’s the historical context of this psalm. Notice, the caption says, “this is a Psalm of David.” In other words, David wrote this psalm. And no doubt, David wrote this psalm to commemorate the nation of Israel coming together after a time of internal conflict.
You see, when David first became king, Israel was divided. Some tribes were loyal to the previous king’s son. Some were loyal to David, and for 7 ½ years, they fought each other in a terrible civil war.
Then, finally, there was peace. All the tribes came together under David’s leadership (2 Sam 5). And the first thing they did was take Jerusalem from the Jebusites and make it their capital city. In other words, they began to fight their real enemies—not each other, but those who had occupied their land.
And that’s exactly what God calls us to do. Like Israel, He wants us to stop fighting each other, and unite to fight the real enemy.
The Bible says, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood [i.e., we’re not fighting against each other] but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Our real enemy is Satan himself, and we must come together, often, to fight him.
Stephen Mansfield tells a true story about a church that had an incredible ministry to men. For years the driving force behind that ministry was a man named Taylor. His ministry changed lives and impacted the community for years. But in the midst of a major transition within the church, his own community hurt him deeply and he left the church. He refused to talk to anybody. People figured he'd come back eventually, but he didn't.
Finally, some of the men in the church took it upon themselves to reach out to Brother Taylor. After some discussion with the other guys at church they came up with a bold plan: they would set up camp in Taylor's yard—150 men! So they set up rotating shifts and said they wouldn't leave until Taylor came out. They had electric lines running from neighboring houses to power televisions. About twenty smokers and grills worked up some great barbeque food. They were in for the long haul! They even had big signs all over the place: “Taylor, come out.” “We love you.” “Taylor, we know you're in there.”
It made Taylor mad, so he called the police on his former friends. As a matter of fact, the police showed up twice a day for almost a week. And every time they came, Taylor would come to the door to explain the situation. The men camping in his yard would explode with cheers until Taylor finished his chat with the police and went back inside.
Then on the sixth day, when Taylor opened the door for the police and the men exploded with cheers, Taylor finally broke down and started to cry his eyes out. He sputtered how sorry he was, and then he came out from his porch and greeted the guys who had refused to go away (Stephen Mansfield, Mansfields's Book of Manly Men, Nelson Books, 2013, pp. 241-244; www.PreachingToday.com)
They came together to fight the enemy, not Taylor, but the devil himself, whose favorite tactic is to get Christians fighting each other.
So when there’s tension in your relationship with another believer, don’t withdraw from each other; come together first for worship, then for war against the enemy of our souls. Come together and...
BE SATISFIED.
Be refreshed. Be renewed.
Psalm 133:1-3 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! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore (ESV).
When we come together in unity, when we unite as one body, it’s like putting a soothing lotion on dry, chapped skin. It’s like a cool morning, wet with dew, after days of dry, hot weather.
Let’s look at it a different way. Take a look at this Ad for Google’s Android (play video: “Android Monotune”).
An ad campaign for Google's Android has a young musician playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 3rd movement. As his hands fly over the keys, a statement is projected, "A piano has 88 keys" then, "Each one is different." After a few moments, we see "But what if they were all the same?" With that the pianist switches to an identical piano and continues to play. However regardless of what key he strikes, every note on the reengineered piano is the same—a middle C. He alternates between the two pianos until the final frame where we read "Be together, not the same” (“Android Monotune,” Youtube, www.youtube.com/ watch?v=3gIlY1h1Edk).
Unity is not unanimity. It’s different people coming together, each with their unique contribution, to make satisfying, beautiful music. So come together and be satisfied. More than that, come together and...
BE SPECIAL.
Be unique. Be set-apart for God’s exceptional purposes.
The oil poured on the head, running down Aaron’s beard (vs.2), was no ordinary oil. It was a special, perfumed oil that Moses poured on Aaron’s head at his ordination. Aaron was the first high priest of Israel. So his ordination required a special, perfumed oil, which the perfumers made with cinnamon, myrrh, and other spices.
The recipe is found in Exodus 30, and there God makes it very clear that no one else could use this oil, or else they would be “cut off” (Exodus 30:22-33). Only the priests could use this oil, which set them apart for special service to God.
Now, that’s what happens when God’s people dwell in unity. It sets us apart for special service to God. It allows God to use us in some unique and powerful ways.
Ten years ago (September 12, 2011), Brandon Wright, a 21-year-old Utah State University student, was driving his motorcycle to the school's computer lab when a BMW pulling out of a parking lot collided with him. Both vehicles burst into flames. The BMW driver quickly escaped from the car, but Wright was trapped under the 4,000-pound sedan.
The horrific accident drew an immediate crowd of students and construction workers, who worked together to lift the car and pull Wright to safety. Take a look (show video: Crowd Rescuing a Biker; www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts4s4KKQXmE).
One passerby walked around the burning vehicles to survey the situation and saw a motionless body, apparently dead, beneath the BMW. Another individual, testing his strength, attempted to lift the car, but without success. A handful of others joined the effort but could not budge the car. A young woman lay on the ground to peer under the car and saw evidence that the trapped victim was still alive.
The flames were intense at the front of the car, where the motorcycle also lay on the ground burning. Nevertheless, at this point a dozen members of the growing crowd joined shoulder to shoulder at the side of the car, lifted in unison, and tilted it high enough to allow another rescuer to pull Wright to safety (John Gonzalez, Associated Press, 9-13-11; Jennifer Dobner, Chicago Sun-Times, 9-13-11; Chris Graff captured the rescue on video from the 9th floor of a nearby building, taking a break from producing a promotional film for Utah State University; www.PreachingToday.com).
At that point, the city's emergency responders appeared on the scene, doused the flames, and transported Wright to the Intermountain Medical Center, where he was treated for two broken legs and a fractured pelvis.
It’s amazing what people can do when they come together. Here, they saved a man’s life. In the church, God can use us to do even more amazing things! He can use us to save people for all eternity. So come together and be satisfied. Come together and be special. And finally, come together and...
BE SUCCESSFUL.
Be productive. Bear fruit to the glory of God.
When all Israel came to Jerusalem to worship God, they could look way up north and see Mt. Herman, with its peak sometimes in the clouds. Mt. Herman was lush and green from all the cool moisture, unlike the hot, dry Mt. Zion they were climbing into Jerusalem – at least during the summer and fall festivals. But that didn’t bother them, because their unity, their coming together, made it feel (vs.3) “as if the dew of Mt. Herman was falling on [their hot climb up] Mt. Zion.
It was refreshing, but more than that, such moisture brought abundant vegetation and growth. It made the mountain richly fruitful. And that’s what unity does for us, as well. It makes us richly fruitful. It makes us abundantly productive.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used to have a famous office building simply called Building 20. It was located at the intersection of Main and Vassar Streets in East Cambridge. In 1998, MIT finally demolished the building, which they threw together as a temporary shelter during World War II. MIT used it to house the overflow from the school's bustling Radiation Laboratory, but it was poorly constructed. According to a 2012 New Yorker article, “Ventilation was poor and hallways were dim. The walls were thin, the roof leaked, and the building was broiling in the summer and freezing in the winter.”
Even so, after the war, MIT needed space to house the influx of scientists to Cambridge. So instead of demolishing Building 20, they continued to use it as overflow space. As a result, a mismatch of different departments—from nuclear science to linguistics to electronics—shared the low-slung building with a machine shop and a piano repair facility.
According to MIT lore, this haphazard combination of different disciplines... led to chance encounters and a spirit of inventiveness that generated breakthroughs at a fast pace. When the building was finally demolished to make way for a new $300 million office space, many at MIT mourned the loss of Building 20 (Cal Newport, Deep Work, Grand Central Publishing, 2016, pages 128-129; www.PreachingToday.com).
Building 20 reminds me of the church, where God throws people together from different backgrounds and walks of life. She seems poorly constructed with lots of problems, but God uses her to change lives for eternity.
So come together. Come together for worship and for war, and be satisfied, be special, and be successful for the glory of God!
When Brian Buhler was pastor of the North Shore Alliance Church in North Vancouver, British Columbia, an Anglican priest came to visit him. Brian was out of the office, so the priest asked the secretary if he could go into the sanctuary and pray for Pastor Brian and their church. She said, “By all means,” and she led him into the sanctuary, where she watched as he knelt down by the pulpit and prayed there for twenty minutes.
He prayed that those in the North Shore Alliance Church would not lose the vision of A.B. Simpson. When Pastor Brian told his congregation about what the priest had done, their hearts were warmed, and they began to love Anglicans. After that, when the Alliance church members drove by St. Simon's church, they blessed the congregation at St. Simon's (Brian Buhler, “The Ultimate Community,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 146; www.PreachingToday.com).
There are a lot of things we can do together as two churches in the Lyons community. But at the very least, let’s pray for each other as God brings the other to mind. Ask God to use each church to make and multiply disciples of Christ for His glory. Then, let’s see what God does in answer to our prayers.
