Life Together

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!

It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. Psalm 133:1-2 (NIV)

Living together in unity…what would that be like? Let’s be honest, we haven’t exactly been a model of unity and togetherness for a while, but this crisis has blown away any pretense that we might have been holding to.

We see the problem and we know at least some of the reasons for it. I could spend some time on that side of the equation, but I think that side is already well represented. Instead, I want to think, maybe even dream, a little about how it might be to come together. (And yes, I am aware that this may sound a bit like a fantasy.)

I have read the words from Psalm 133 countless times through my life, and probably have used them numerous times to call a church or some other gathering to live in unity. But I rarely move past the first verse. I mean the idea of oil running down our heads and into our beards and onto our robes is just so ancient and outside of our experience that it is easy to ignore.

But as I reflected on that part of the Psalm today and did some reading about the traditions to which it refers, the whole Psalm took on a deeper meaning for me. The image of the oil seems to be referring to two things.

The first is the way that guests were welcomed into homes in those times.

When a traveler would arrive, a good host would do two things. Wash the guests’ feet and pour some precious oil over their heads. The oil would have been olive oil mixed with sweet-smelling spices that were used for hair and skin care. It was something precious to the owner and perhaps a costly commodity. Yet, they understood that being a good host meant recognizing and honoring the other, even if it cost you something. And if the oil was running down all over the person, the giver was not holding back, but lavishly sharing.

The other connection that this image of oil running down the beard makes is to the anointing of Aaron being anointed for the priesthood. (The story is in Leviticus 8). The oil is used lavishly here as well, and the result is that the one anointed is being set apart for something special, something holy even.

So here is what all that says to me about how we might be able to come together and live in something resembling unity, something good and pleasant and mutually uplifting.

First, we have to recognize that doing so is going to cost us something. It may be a comfort, it may be a deeply held ideal, or it may be an actual material thing, but unity costs us all something. If it only costs the other, then it is not real. It also means recognizing that the other person has value just in being human, which requires something of us as well. What price are you and I willing to pay?

But also, we need to recognize that living together in unity is not just good and pleasant…it can be a holy thing, blessed lavishly by a generous God, if we can just see the beauty of it and set ourselves to the work it asks of us.