Irreconcilable Differences
Psalm 133:1-3
I have a confession to make this morning. I am really not sure how to say this to you. I am embarrassed, ashamed, and really fearful of what you might think of me once you know the truth. I must confess to you this morning that my wife, Ronda, and I have irreconcilable differences. After more than 30 years of marriage, I am sure that these differences cannot be resolved. While the differences between us have rarely caused heated arguments, they are often dealt with on a daily basis. These differences can bring a sigh to the voice and sometimes frustration to one or both of us.
It has come to the point that I must get this off my chest. As your pastor, I need to let you know what we are dealing with. Please allow me to continue my confession of these irreconcilable differences. And I beg your understanding and forgiveness.
First of all, I confess to you that my seat buckling habits can drive Ronda up the wall. She is religious about buckling her seat belt BEFORE starting the car. I mean she does it FIRST thing, as soon as she closes the door. Sometimes she even does it BEFORE the door closes. I’m sorry, but I rarely buckle that belt before starting the car. I can’t help it. I guess I like the chime and the little red light flashing at me. Please forgive me, but I have even been known to put the car in gear and, yes, even round the corner before getting my seat belt fastened. I don’t believe that my wife and I will ever agree on this!
The other irreconcilable difference between Ronda and I is far more drastic and daily than the seat belt problem. I’ve just noticed this recently but my wife is a bottom-of –the tube squeezer when it comes to toothpaste. I squeeze mine right in the middle. I know she thinks I’m crazy, but I don’t want to waste time pushing the toothpaste up from the bottom. I have to tell you how bad it is: she has now placed one of those clamps at the bottom of the tube, forcing me to take extra time pushing the paste up to the top! How many of you squeeze your toothpaste tube from the bottom up? See, knowing that makes you and I have an irreconcilable difference!
Now Ronda and I have no intention of separating or divorcing over these irreconcilable differences. Our commitment to each other before God is much more valuable than methods of seat belt buckling and toothpaste tube squeezing.
Prior to their wedding, David and Susan met with the minister to discuss their marriage ceremony and various traditions, such as lighting the unity candle from two individual candles. Couples usually blow out the two candles as a sign of becoming one. Their minister said that many people were now leaving their individual candles lit to signify independence and personal freedom. He asked if they wanted to extinguish the candles or leave them burning. After thinking about it, David replied, "How about if we leave mine lit and blow hers out?"
How sad when husbands and wives have irreconcilable differences that tear homes apart!
How interesting it is that we allow little differences between members of the Family of God to become irreconcilable!
I seen personal preferences turn into raging wars that pitted people against each other and caused folks who at one time loved each other to act very unlovely. Churches have been torn apart over whether or not we should have drums in our worship service. People have bared their claws over whether we should sing only out of the Hymnal or off the wall! When differences draw dividing lines, we really should ask:
Does God really care about this?
Speaking of Hymnals, King David recorded a song in the Hymnal of the Bible, the Book of Psalms, celebrating unity among the people of God:
Psalm 133:1-3
1 How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
(NIV)
Psalm 133:1-3
How wonderful, how beautiful,
when brothers and sisters get along!
[2] It’s like costly anointing oil
flowing down head and beard,
Flowing down Aaron’s beard,
flowing down the collar of his priestly robes.
[3] It’s like the dew on Mount Hermon
flowing down the slopes of Zion.
Yes, that’s where God commands the blessing,
ordains eternal life.
(The Message)
Dr. Eugene Petersen, the paraphaser of The Message points out: “The first story in the Bible about brothers living together is the story of Cain and Abel. And it’s a murder story…..their fight was a religious fight, a quarrel over which of them God loved best.”
Picture yourself in a rowboat, gliding down the river with your family. Suddenly, an argument erupts. You see a hammer, and to make your point, you grab the hammer and start punching holes in the bottom of your boat.
You might get your point across—but what happens to the boat? It sinks. And who’s in the boat? Your family … and you. What a fine time you’ll have, celebrating your "victory" all the way to the bottom of the river!
No matter what kind of conflict happens in your family interactions, you can’t win unless everyone wins. Why? Because you’re a family. Your goal should be unity and a commitment to love one another. In your effort to be "right," punching holes in the boat may help you feel better, but your family is stuck bailing water and struggling for the shore.
The same thing happens when we let our “rights” become more important than our relationships with brothers and sisters in the Lord.
The ground is level at the foot of the cross.
All we are equal in His sight when we obey His Word!
Unity requires humility.
It doesn’t matter who gets the credit as long as the job gets done. It has been said that
EGO could stand for Edging God Out!
In order for us to know unity, egos must be checked at the door!
Unity does not mean uniformity!
Some Lessons from Legos:
Life might be less complicated for all of us if we each received our own Lego kit at birth.
Yes, I realize there is a choking hazard for children under three. But when you are old enough, you can learn a lot from Legos. I have learned that:
• There is strength in numbers.
When the bricks stick together, great things can be accomplished.
• Playtime is important.
Sometimes it doesn’t matter what you are building, as long as you’re having fun.
• Disaster happens.
But the pieces can be put back together again.
• Every brick has a purpose.
Some are made for a specific spot - most can adapt almost anywhere - but every one will fit somewhere.
• Color doesn’t matter.
A blue brick will fit in the same space as a red brick.
• Size doesn’t matter.
When stepped on in the dark, a 2 x 2 Lego brick causes the same amount of pain as a 2 x 8 brick.
• No one is indispensable.
If one brick is unavailable, another can take its place.
• All Lego men are created equal (1.5625 inches tall).
What they become is limited only by imagination.
• It doesn’t always turn out as planned.
Sometimes it turns out better. If it doesn’t, you can always try again.
• When Christians stick together, great things can be accomplished.
And it is an important biblical truth that every Christian has a purpose. As Paul describes it in 1Corinthians 12 using the analogy of a human body, some of us are eyes, some are hands, still others are feet, but we all have a purpose and a role.
But while it is technically true that "no one is indispensable", the teaching of scripture is that each one of us is needed and the body suffers greatly if we don’t do our part.
1 Corinthians 12:20-25
20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don’t need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don’t need you!"
22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,
23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty,
24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it,
25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.
(NIV)
The greatest comparison between Legos and Christianity, though, is that we are indeed a building shaped by God’s own hand. And every Christian is a part of that building -- not a plastic building block, but a "living stone":
1 Peter 2:4-5
4 As you come to him, the living Stone-- rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
(NIV)
We are blood-bought brothers of every blood-bought brother and every blood-washed soul in the universe!
Unity among brothers and sisters in the Lord is not automatic! It is Democratic (not referring to the political party. I am referring to that fact that it takes a majority of people casting their votes toward getting along. Lest you give up, keep in mind that6 every majority begins with one contagious person!
Today, with whom do you have differences which you have written off as irreconcilable?
Today is World Communion Sunday, a day when Christians all over the world lay aside their differences to celebrate our unity in Christ through the Lord’s Supper. The Bible says that we must examine how we treat each other before partaking of these symbols representing our ONE Lord:
1 Corinthians 11:28-29
28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
(NIV)
In this time of reflection, would you make sure that not only your relationship with God is right, but also your relationship with God’s people?
