Series: The Tie That Binds
Title: Anointed
Colossians 3:12-14, Psalm 133
November 18, 2018
Rev. Sandy Johnson
Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the gift of your Word and as we think on these things, open our hearts and our minds to hear you. Amen.
We have ventured together, you and I, over the course of the past five weeks into the realm of the tie that binds. It is relationships that form us. Relationships that give life meaning. Relationships with one another and most importantly, our relationship with God.
These past few weeks we have considered how our relationships with the Divine and with each, forms and transforms us. We have affirmed the power of God’s presence in our worshipping community which has allowed us to inspire one another to go and do likewise, sharing God’s love in the world today.
“We affirmed the first week that God is the Tie That Binds. We have been created by God, gifted by God, given life by God’s hand like clay by the potter. We opened ourselves to be re-shaped when necessary and we celebrated our own common connection as God’s children.”
The following week we explored the “beautiful Hebrew poem of Genesis 1 in which God created the world and invited us to be stewards of it. We learned that we are woven together with all of creation and God desires harmony for all. When difficult things happen for anyone or anything of creation, we are all affected. Remember the weaving we did? How we pulled it back and forth? The tie that binds calls us to care for all.”
Next we learned that “Jesus was God’s love poured out for us. Jesus forgave again and again, modeling kindness and love in unmeasurable amounts–even before folks admitted they needed it! We opened ourselves to Christ’s presence and answered the call to be his compassion poured out in the world, again creating ties that bind us to one another in love.”
Two weeks ago, we saw how “Jesus modeled a new kind of relationship in this world–one that put no one above another. Indeed, he always lifted up those who were put down. As Jesus “own,” are we are called to do likewise in the world, by lifting those whose path we cross.” That week we were inspired to share random acts of kindness that created a tie that binds.
Last week Rev. Ida got us dancing!! We learned that “relationships are a dance! To be connected is to find a rhythm with those around you. And when we are in step with the rhythm of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit will make the ties that bind us to each other, ever more secure. We danced the dance of love, joy and peace!”
That brings us to today, our final tie that binds us. We come today to understand the blessing of our unity, the blessing “that covers us from top to bottom, from head to toe! As if the oil is poured out upon us. No one is excluded from this grace. No one is excluded from the tie that binds us together and that binds us to God!”
Our lesson from Psalm 133 is a “Psalm of Assents.” In Jerusalem a variety of festivals took place where the Israelites from all over the region would come with their families, bringing animals for sacrifice and come into the Holy City to worship at the Temple.
“No matter where you were in Israel, when you traveled to Jerusalem you had to head uphill because the city was on top of Mt. Zion. As they traveled, they would often pray and sing. These traveling songs were called “songs of ascents” as they ascended the hill of the Lord. Psalm 133 is one of these songs. The words show how these pilgrims anticipated the joy of gathering together with fellow believers at the festival.[1]”
Here the words again: “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! 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. It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore.”
How pleasant it is when we live in unity. It seems that unity is a commodity that has grown scarce. Maybe it just seems so as the climate in our world seems to be one where disunity is rampant, where we are forced to take sides, and forget that Christ calls us to be unified in love for one another. The unity that David speaks about is not some national unity or organization accord. The unity he wrote about is our unity with one another, through our common faith in God.
“David compares “living together in unity” with “oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard…” Aaron, Moses brother, was the beginning of the priestly tribe in Israel. He was the first. When a priest was installed into his position, he would be anointed with oil. Exodus 30 gives specific instructions about this oil — a mixture of olive oil, myrrh, cinnamon, and other spices. The oil itself symbolized the unity of these ingredients, but it also was a symbol of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.
“When Jesus was anointed as Prophet, Priest, and King at his Baptism in the Jordan, it was not with oil, but with the Holy Spirit himself. Psalm 133’s picture is that this unity we enjoy as believers is a holy unity, a God-given, God-created unity. Think of how Joel in the Old Testament prophesied about the future Christian church. In Joel 2:29 we read, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people…I will pour out my Spirit in those days…” He uses the picture of pouring out, the anointing of the Spirit — and the action is all God’s.
“In the New Testament Paul wrote, in Titus 3:5-6 that “[God] saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior”
“God the Holy Spirit, poured out on us, is the source of our faith and therefore, the source of our unity. It is also the Holy Spirit who moved men to write the Holy Scriptures, the solid foundation on which we stand together.
“Perhaps we can picture it this way. God, the Holy Trinity, a perfect unity of Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, draws near to us so we can draw near to each other. He creates in each of us faith in Jesus, so that faith can be our glue of unity. This unity grows stronger as we hear the Word.[2]”
In Colossians Paul tells us that we are “God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved.” Paul says to “clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.[3]”
Bear with one another. What does that mean? It means having compassion for another person, even if their attitudes and actions may be different than yours. It means in spite of our differences I will see you as God sees you. “I can bear a person who is annoying, troublesome, dishonest, or even disobedient, just as God bears me.”
You see, once clothed with the Christ-like qualities of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, we are called to bear with one another, and Paul then says that we must forgive one another, just as God has forgiven us. I will offer you grace as God has offered the grace of forgiveness to me. Through this forgiveness of one another, we can live together in unity.
Unity is impossible to maintain if there is unforgiveness, if we are unable or unwilling to bear one another. As the Body of Christ, we join in unity, bearing one another with love and grace. Bearing our grievances, bringing them to light eliminates the possibility that they can fester and turn into grudges. “Bearing with one another is an active practice of the Christian life.”[4]
And finally Paul says that we are “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.[5]” When we surround ourselves with love, when we put on a big, warm winter jacket and feel the warmth of God’s love from one another, then we are bound together in perfect harmony.
“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” This is how Christ asks us to live and to be with one another. Christ calls us to feel his anointing, to receive the love that is poured out for us, through the Holy Spirit, just as the oil was poured upon the priest’s head.
This anointing, this unity is a gift from God through Jesus Christ. It is the tie that binds us together.
Amen
[1]http://www.stpaulslutherannfdl.com/home/3921/3921/docs/September%203%202017%20sermon%20.pdf?sec_id=3921 Accessed November 17, 2018
[2]http://www.stpaulslutherannfdl.com/home/3921/3921/docs/September%203%202017%20sermon%20.pdf?sec_id=3921 Accessed November 17, 2018
[3] Colossians 13:12-13
[4] http://drulogion.blogspot.com/2007/09/bearing-with-one-another-col-313.html
[5] Colossians 13:14
