“Life Together” (Psalm 133:1-3)

Where Should We Begin?
We are in such a divided world. We fear each other. We fear people who don’t look like us, don’t think like us, don’t talk like us. Republicans think Democrats are dangerous, and Democrats see the same threat in Republicans. We shoot each other in malls and schools. We threat each other in our places of worship. The list goes on and on.

Psalm 133 is about unity. “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!” Here the word translated good is tov. The same word is used in Genesis 1. When God created the heavens and the earth, he saw that it was good. Unity was a part of God’s design. We were meant to enjoy unity. But, since sin entered the world, all of our relationships have been broken and divided: between God and humanity, between husband and wife, between siblings, between tribes, between races. So today, as we look around the world, our divisiveness, our woundedness, and our brokenness seem too deep to overcome. We are tempted to just throw in the towel and give up. But psalm 133 tells us that there is hope. In fact, the whole of Scripture proclaims that it is possible to live together in unity because of what Jesus has done for us. The Bible says, “He is our peace. He has broken down the diving wall between God and humanity, and between us. He created one new humanity and reconciled both groups through the cross!” (Eph 2:14-16) Jesus already created unity for us, but the question is, “How can we have that unity in this divided world today?” “Where should we begin?” Actually, John Wesley asked the same question and provided the blueprint for a path to unity. It’s called “three simples rules.”

Do No Harm
The first simple rule is “Do no harm.” On the surface, this first rule looks easy and simple. And we think that we are already practicing it and doing a good job. But when this first rule is really practiced, it can change our world. For instance, if I am to do no harm, I can no longer gossip. Some people would say that gossip is when you spread rumors that aren’t true. But actually, gossip is more than that: If I talk bad about somebody who’s not present – that’s gossip. If I talk about somebody who’s not present and I share things without that person’s permission – that’s gossip. If I talk about somebody who’s not present and I say anything with a motive of tearing that person down – that’s gossip. What I’m saying might be true, but that doesn’t mean I ought to be saying it.

Therefore, one of the practical ways to live out the first simple rule, “Do no harm,” in our daily living is to examine ourselves and confront the sin of gossip in our own lives, and stop gossiping in any circumstances. This is the act of disarming, laying aside our weapons and desires to do harm. We all have desires to win other people to our side, especially when we think it is not fair. In this process we often gossip, manipulate facts, speak only half-truths. But when we resolve to do no harm, we can no longer gossip about the conflict. We can no longer manipulate the facts of the conflict. We can no longer speak badly about those involved in the conflict. It does demand self-denial and a radical trust in God’s character, intervention, and guidance. The Lord says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” (Rom 12:19). Only when we trust this promise of God, we are then able to disarm ourselves and leave it to God without bitterness. Let us trust God, examine ourselves, confront and repent our own sin of gossip, and stop gossiping. That’s the first step to unity.

Do Good
The second simple rule is, “Do good.” Again it sounds simple. But do good to whom? Where are the boundaries? Where do we start? Rueben P. Job expounds this way: “Doing good is not limited to those like me or those who like me. Doing good is directed at everyone, even those who do not fit my category of “worthy” to receive any good that I or others can direct their way.”[1] The parable of the Good Samaritan can be a good example. In Jesus’ time Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other. They were each other’s enemies. But when the Samaritan saw the man attacked by robbers and lying there, he was moved with compassion. And he reached out to him, bound up his wounds, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. At the end of this story, Jesus said to the lawyer, “Go and do the same (love and do good to your enemies), and you will live” (cf. Luke 10:28, 37). From this, we can learn at least two significant spiritual principles. First, the boundaries. We must do good and love our enemies as well as our friends. Second, by loving our enemies we will live. By loving our enemies, we overcome evil.

Then, what does loving our enemies look like in our divided, hostile, and wounded world? Our Lord Jesus tells us the first step to loving our enemies. It is to pray for them. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you!” (Matt 5:44) Not just once, twice, or occasionally, but day by day and on a regular basis. Not just pray in general, but pray specifically for their salvation, for their families, for their physical strength, for their spiritual health and growth, for their God-given vision and purpose of life. Also, another way of doing good and loving our enemies is to forgive them. Forgiveness is not easy. It’s a process. Bitterness keeps coming back. Forgiveness takes work. But as we come to the cross of Christ, we begin to see the depth of our own sins and the wonder of God’ grace. We begin to realize Christ loved me so much that He died on a cross to forgive me. If the Lord has forgiven me – even me, who am I to refuse to forgive others? I must forgive. You must forgive. We must forgive. Do you have any grudges you’ve been harboring? Identify them, and forgive the persons involved today. Doing good is a proactive way of living. We don’t need to wait to be asked to help, pray and forgive. Do good. That’s the second step to unity.

Stay in Love with God
These first two simple rules – “Do no harm” and “Do good” – are important. But without the third rule, they become the righteousness of a Pharisee. In other words, the external righteousness of the first two rules must be accompanied by an inward transformation of heart, which only comes from a vital relationship with God. That leads to the third rule, that is, “Stay in love with God.” It is a foundation to all of life. When we keep falling in love with God, we are enlivened, sustained, strengthened, and transformed.

John Wesley names some spiritual practices that help us to stay in love with God: private and family prayer, studying the Scriptures, fasting, public worship, the Lord’s Supper. Wesley always emphasized a balanced spiritual life – between personal and communal spiritual disciplines. For Wesley there is no religion but social religion, no holiness but social holiness. In this respect, staying in love with God means staying in love with God’s people, the church. The church is family. Being a Christian can sometimes feel like being in a family with a thousand drunk uncles to borrow the words of Justin McRoberts.[2] But these uncles are not our enemies. Like it or not, they are still family. We don’t get to choose our family. Our family is chosen for us. As a family, we are to stick together through thick and thin, for better or worse, in sickness and health. The local church is the classroom for us to learn how to get along in God’s family and how to grow from mere tolerance to love and unity. As we stay in love with the church, we also learn to stay in love with God. The Bible says, “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12).

Let Unity Begin with Me
Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God. The rules are simple, but the way is not easy. But as we choose to walk this costly way and keep choosing it, unity will come in the steps. So, let us walk in the path of unity.

As I close, I would like to read part of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which rings as true today as it did in 1963:

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day…

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

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[1] Rueben P. Job, Three Simple Rules: A Wesleyan Way of Living (Abingdon Press, 2007), 37.
[2] Scott Sauls, Jesus Outside the Lines (Tyndale, 2015), 49.