To Live As One

Genesis 13:8-18; Psalm 7:8-17; Matthew 5:17-26

Rev. Chris Harbin, Rocks Baptist Church—Pamplin, VA

09 January 2005

We are commanded by God “to strive to live as one,” but all too often the striving seems easier than the living. Unity, strife, harmony, and discord are all parts of most relationships—they are part of life in community. Disagreements, arguments, and discussions are as much a part of a marriage or long-standing friendship as are consensus, sharing, accord, and harmony. We would hope that our relationships are filled with the positives much more than the negative, but life is not so simple and carefree as to exclude them. How do we live as one, in unity and in harmony in the face of the many forces that would drive us apart? Can we set self aside long enough and far enough to really walk in another’s shoes and keep their best interests at heart?

Abraham took his nephew with him when he left his father in Haran. They had traveled several hundred miles together already, but they journeyed on together into Canaan, Egypt, and back into Canaan. Along the way, they had grown prosperous—the both of them. They had cared for their herds and seen them increase in number such that they recognized that they would be forced to make a difficult decision. They had to decide between unity and harmony, togetherness and peace.

Abraham and Lot seemingly had no quarrel with each other. They did not desire evil or malice toward one another. They had no desire to inflict pain or gain superiority over the other. They recognized, however, that the size of their herds made it difficult to share the same grazing lands and water supplies, without causing conflict among their herdsmen who would continue clashing over supply for the flocks under their charge.

In response to the growing crisis among their herdsmen and to ward off crisis between Abraham and Lot, Abraham proposed that they part company. It was a decision born of a desire to maintain peace, unity, love, and harmony, though I am sure it brought about its own share of pain as well. As always when details of a story are scarce, we are wont to fill in too much and make too many suppositions. We do not know all the story of the strife, nor how to gauge Lot’s responsibility in the circumstances. We find, however, that Abraham takes action to resolve the conflict that has begun among the herders, approaching Lot with a gracious offer of resolution.

While Lot’s attitude seems somewhat selfish in response to Abraham’s offer, the rest of the story establishes Abraham’s integrity in doing all possible to seek after Lot’s best interest. Abraham offers Lot his choice of direction. Lot seems all too willing to choose the best for himself, while his uncle gives him the freedom to choose unselfishly. Even after Lot has chosen and separated himself from Abraham, it is this uncle who comes to his aid, rescuing Lot when he has been taken captive in raids upon the cities of the plain. In seeking resolution to the conflict between them, Abraham chose not to think of himself, but of Lot. He placed Lot first and willingly offered him the choice pick of the lands. Then he kept in contact, continuing to stay connected and maintain his care.

Abraham could work for reconciliation and harmony, even giving up his own best interests, because of his trust that God would care for his needs. He accepted God’s care and provision. He accepted the price of letting go in order to receive what God had in store. It was unselfishness that would allow him to work for peace, trusting God to meet his needs.

Jesus’ words in Matthew speak to the same issue of peace and harmony. On the surface, they are words about anger and law and adultery and the like. At heart, however, they are about the principle of unselfishness and trusting God rather than our own devices. It is the gospel of doing for others, rather than for self.

The concern of the scribes and Pharisees with observing the law and finding ways to circumvent the Torah’s intent while following its letter had little to do with God’s will. Their concern was with self. They worried after their own pleasure, their own will, and their own desires. They looked for ways to ignore the commandments and hold themselves above recrimination. If the law instructed them not to walk over a mile on the Sabbath, they could send a servant ahead of them with a household item, in order that they might travel on and be within the prescribed distance from home. If there were too much chametz in their possession to get rid of before Passover, they might sell it to a Gentile for a symbolic amount, but never deliver the goods. If the law required that they honor their parents, they might claim the care of others as their own in order to fulfill the prescription and ignore the commandment.

Jesus classifies this manner of life as selfish and unworthy of the good news of God’s reign. He preached that we are to give up self in deference to others. It was in these terms that Jesus spoke about anger. Jesus classed anger as the equivalent to murder. It is the equivalent in that anger elevates one’s own interests to the point of excluding those of another. Jesus counsels that we give up on anger, pettiness, the pursuit of rights and privilege, as being unworthy pursuits. Anger and lawsuit and insults are destructive means to attempt to elevate ourselves by putting the needs and cares of others beneath our own.

The Torah was never so much about the rights of the people, but about their responsibilities. They were to put God first, then hold others as their equals. Anger is most often the byproduct of putting self ahead of others. When we act to push forward our own agendas, issues, and desires, we are acting under the same impulse of anger. We place ourselves ahead of the line, distrusting God and stepping on any in our way. Jesus called that kind of anger the equivalent of murder. On the inside, it has accomplished the same result. We obliterate the other person along with their desires, needs, and worth in order to elevate ourselves with our own agendas.

Love, unity, and harmony are about giving, not taking. To live as one requires that we lay aside our own agendas, goals, ambitions, and desires to protect the best interests of others. For Abraham, it became necessary to part company with Lot. Lot’s decision seems to have backfired as regards his choice of company, but Abraham gave anyway, and he kept on giving. That was the key to the harmony Abraham sought. He gave with no strings attached. If only Lot had learned to do the same.

Perhaps that is why unity is so hard, after all. In the final analysis, it is easy to seek unity and harmony when I get my own way. I like unity, harmony, and peace as long as I get to call the shots. The problem comes when I have to give someone else an option that is not be in my own best interest. How will I respond then? Jesus responded to anger regarding Himself in grace. He gave. He fed. He healed. He warned. Then He lay down His life for others. He confronted injustice and the errors of the Pharisees and scribes, and yet He welcomed them. He called the disciples, but gave them the option to decide their own course. Will we strive to live as one? It might cost more than we bargained for. What are we willing to give?

—©Copyright 2005 Christopher B. Harbin

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