How good it is to dwell in unity; a meditation on Psalm 133

                The Psalmist notes something that should sound natural to us—that unity is a good and pleasant way to live.  We find this in our families, our communities, our nations; we find it in our groups of friends, our associations, and our pubs.  We know that it is far more pleasing to live together with those we share a common unity, than to strive with those who are divided from us.  Further, we know that division is often painful, resulting in conflict and strife.  Anyone who has ever seen the scourges of war, knows that no one wants to live that way forever—we only fight wars when they are most necessary, and always with the intent to return to peace.  No one wants to invade the beaches of Normandy every day forever, anymore than we would want to fight the battles of Gettysburg again, and again, and again.  War and bloodshed, conflict and strife, are awful things, even when they are most necessary.

                If this sounds intuitive in other spheres of life, we should not be surprised by the preference of peace and unity over discord and strife in the Church.  Anyone who has spent time in a Christian congregation that is rent asunder by conflicts and contention, can tell you what a draining and unpleasant experience it is.  While there is a time and place for conflict, when truth must triumph over error, or good over evil, living in a constant state of contention is withering to both body and soul.  This is not the way Christ intends His congregations to live, as noted in His High Priestly Prayer (John 17.)  Jesus prays for His people to remain one, in the way that He and the Father are One, bound together in a unity of those hear and believe His Word, with a common love, and a common hope, born of a common baptismal grace.  It is this unity St. Paul would mention later, as he reflects on the reality of there being only one faith, one baptism, and one Father of us all.  For there is only One Church, with One Head, who is Jesus Christ—a Church which is composed of those who are truly the disciples of Jesus, hearing His Word and keeping it.

                So if the peaceful unity of the Church is such a good and precious thing, why is it so hard to find?  Why do we find Christians verbally eviscerating each other all over the internet, and in print publications ad nauseum, all to the delight of a growing secular atheistic public who would like nothing more than the Church of Jesus Christ to consume itself and leave them be?  What is it that really divides Christian brothers and sisters, one from another?  The answer, is evil.

                Evil plays itself out in the Church, because the Church is entirely populated in this world by sinners.  We, who have been baptized into Christ and are born from above by Water and Spirit, have most certainly been raised up into a new life in Christ—but so long as we are in this world, that new life struggles against the old life, both locked in mortal combat, knowing that in the end, only one of them will endure.  The old life, or what St. Paul called the Old Adam, seeks to glorify the self, and is hopelessly twisted toward evil desires, away from the Word of God.  The new life, or the New Adam created by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, is one that lives by the Spirit and seeks to produce the fruits of the Spirit—a love which fulfils the whole of the Divine Law, oriented toward the Word of God.  St. Paul tells us that if we live according to the old, fleshly Adam, we will die, condemned to eternity in hell, with the devil and the evil angels, where all evil will eventually be contained forever.  If we live according to the Spirit, the new Adam who is conformed to the image of Christ, we will live forever in Him.  While we struggle in this world between our two natures, the one fallen and the other enlivened, we often yield to our darker nature and fail to keep the Word of the Lord.  Whenever we fail to keep the Word of the Lord, we fail to maintain that godly unity between ourselves, which forever exists between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

                And so, what is the Church to do?  We return to the source of our life and our hope, which is the very Word of Christ.  When there is conflict between Christian brothers and sisters, we seat ourselves under the Word of God, and let our old Adamic nature be submitted to it.  Do I feel a need to glorify myself, to worship my own “felt needs,” or prefer myself over my neighbor?  Then I need to hear the Law of God which calls me to repent, and believe the Gospel, that my sins may be forgiven, and I may live again unto Christ.  Have I been wounded by my neighbor’s sin?  Rather than seeking vengeance or justice, I must hear the Word of God, which has forgiven me my every trespass, and commands that I also forgive my neighbor.  If there are those who are ignorant of the Word of Christ, in whole or in part, then those with knowledge must teach them, patiently and kindly, in all humility and compassion, loving every sinner as Christ loves them, with all longsuffering and endurance.    If there is one in the Body of Christ who refuses to hear the Word of the Lord, refuses to believe and repent, then he is put out of the Body until his time of repentance comes—and if he does return in faith and repentance, he is received with joy and gladness.  It is a simple unity of the faithful around the Word of Christ, and it is the way the Church remains One, as the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are One.

                The call of Christ to every Christian, is to repent and believe the Gospel.  Thus every Christian throughout the world, regardless of the organizational divisions we have created for ourselves, is called to hear the Word of Christ, turn from our own selfish evil, and believe together what Christ has taught us.  There is nothing of Holy Scripture that we leave behind, explain away, or disregard.  There is nothing we add to the Word of Christ, so that doctrines of men might be taught as if they were doctrines of God.  We sit at the Master’s feet, receiving His free gifts of grace, life, forgiveness, and salvation through His Eternal Word—and alive in His Word, we love each other, extending to each other the love of God in Christ Jesus.  We are patient with each other, bearing one another’s burdens, preferring rather to be abused and afflicted than to wound or retaliate against our neighbor.  We are conformed into the image of our Savior, who suffered all things at the hands of sinful men, that He might win salvation for sinners like us.  May the Lord grant that we begin again to hear His Word and keep it, together in the unity He has called us to maintain, living into our baptismal grace—together in Faith, Hope, and Love.  Amen.