It is easy to overlook minor details but details are often not minor—they only appear to be minor. Consider the Passover story in Exodus 12 where we read what initially appears to be a minor detail about sharing.

God had sent nine plagues against Pharaoh and Egypt for Pharaoh’s obstinacy in refusing to let Israel go. Then God warned a tenth and final plague was coming. To prepare for this final plague the people of Israel were to take a year-old male lamb or goat and kill the animal at twilight. They were to place some of the blood on their doorposts and on their lintels (the top cross beam of the doorway). They were to roast the meat and eat it with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. God was very specific: it had to be roasted and neither boiled nor raw. They had to eat the meat in its entirety. They had to burn anything that remained. They were to eat while dressed and ready to leave. God promised that he would pass over the houses protected by the lamb’s blood when he struck down the firstborn of Egypt.

What is very striking to me is God’s instruction regarding the amount of meat they were to eat—and who they were to eat with.

Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.

Exodus 12:3–4 ESV

The Passover meal was intended to be eaten in households. In that day households were typically larger than the nuclear family, often including parents and grandparents, along with a host of children and perhaps other relatives. God is very specific in his instructions. They were to determine the amount of meat based on the number of persons eating. This was important because all of the meat was to be consumed.

It is very interesting that God instructs them to include other households in order to meet this requirement. It seems a minor detail. A typical grass-fed lamb yields approximately 40–70 pounds of meat. While there were certainly times I thought my children could eat that much, that’s a lot of meat. This is why God instructs them to calculate the amount of meat that would be consumed and if a household were not large enough to consume it, they were to include other households. This ensured that very small households, whether a younger or older couple or a family with very young children or even single people, would never eat alone. The meal was always consumed in community. The meat had to be consumed in its entirety because it was symbolizing the unity the people of Israel had in being the people rescued by God. Scraps and leftovers would not represent the oneness of the nation. In short, everyone had to eat meat, and all the meat had to be eaten.

But why? What’s the big deal? The Passover meal was a celebration of God’s rescue. They were to use this time as a teaching tool for their children (see Exodus 12:24–27). This shows us the importance of community. As this story was being retold to the children, the adults were also being reminded of God’s mercy and grace poured out on them when he passed over their homes (this is also a great reason we have a childrens’ story in our services!).

This is the meal Jesus shared with his disciples on the night he was betrayed. He was demonstrating that this Passover meal—and the sacrificial lamb—had always been intended to point the people to the one who would truly cause God to pass over them in judgment. Jesus transformed this meal by telling his disciples its true meaning: this is my body which is for you, and this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Paul tells us that as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

These words of institution, which we repeat each week when we share this meal, are only possible in light of his resurrection. This is implicit in Paul’s words “until he comes” for he can only come back because he is risen. Notice that each time we share this meal we proclaim the Lord’s death. That is, we demonstrate with our actions and proclaim with our mouths the gospel of the Lord Jesus, that he died in accordance with the Scriptures, was buried, and was raised from the dead in accordance with the Scriptures.

This is why we share this meal. Communion is not a meal that is intended to be consumed alone or in a small group. Instead, it is to be shared together as a visible and tangible demonstration of our unity in Christ. We are, after all, one body. While we do not have the same level of specificity as to how we are to eat this meal that Israel had for the Passover meal, the central truths of the meal are essential. Through it we demonstrate our unity through the body and blood of our Lord.

This seemingly minor detail of making sure they chose a lamb whose size corresponded to their households or their households combined with other households serves a significant purpose: it ties the lamb to the people. God told Moses to “tell all the congregation of Israel” to participate. The connection between the lamb and people was vitally important for only the blood of the lamb would spare them as an entire congregation. By sharing this meal together they were made holy—they were set apart—for their journey out of Egypt and into the promised land.

When we come together as the gathered assembly—as a household—of Jesus, we, too, are set apart. The Lord’s Supper is a meal shared by his people. Through it we are made holy, set apart for our journey out of Egypt and into our promised land. Though we remain aliens and strangers in this world, our shared identity as the people of God is reinforced and repeated each week as celebrate our Passover Lamb and proclaim his death.

Let’s remember our true identity as we navigate the wilderness of the world, thinking back to our Passover Lamb and looking forward to his return.

First Kings 4 tells us that Solomon wrote over 1,000 songs. Two of them are included in our book of Psalms (72 & 127). In Psalm 127 he writes something very interesting:

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Psalms 127:1 ESV

Solomon knew a little something about building. His father David had wanted to build a temple to replace the tabernacle, which was a glorified tent. In 2 Samuel 7:1–2 David lamented that he lived in “a house of cedar” while the ark of God was in a tent. God spoke to the prophet Nathan that night, however, to tell him that David would not build a temple for him. He made a covenant with David, promising to make his kingdom an everlasting kingdom by placing one of his offspring on an eternal throne. God also promised that David’s son Solomon would build the temple. And man, did he ever build.

In 1 Kings we read about some of the work force employed to build the temple. Solomon had conscripted “70,000 burden bearers and 80,000 stonecutters in the hill country, besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief officers who were over the work” (1 Kings 5:13–16). These were in addition to those who cut wood in Lebanon and those who did the actual construction on-site. It is clear this was a monumental undertaking. The sheer amount of logistical planning is staggering. Every stone was cut by hand from a quarry. Every stone was shaped to exact dimensions by hand. Every stone was dressed (given a fancy exterior) by hand. Every stone was hauled from the quarry / work site to the temple mount where it was put in place by hand. They did not have heavy machinery or cranes or even aliens to assist them. It took a full seven years to build the temple, even with hundreds of thousands of people involved in its construction in one way or another.

Solomon clearly knew something about building a house! Seven years to build the temple is quite a long time, yet 1 Kings 7:1 says it took Solomon thirteen years to build his own house! If anyone knew what it took to build a house, it was Solomon. This makes Psalm 127 even more profound:

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Psalms 127:1 ESV

Solomon knew that he built a truly magnificent temple. The Most Holy Place was shaped like a cube, with the length and width and height each being approximately 30′, and Solomon lined this Most Holy Place with gold—not gold paint. Gold. It was a wonder to behold. Hundreds of years later, however, this temple would be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army. Decades after this destruction the temple would be rebuilt and then a few centuries later King Herod would expand not only the temple proper, but would fill in the valley between the temple mount and the neighboring hill, making the temple mount absolutely massive. It could accommodate a couple hundred thousand visitors at a time. This is the temple mount we see in Jerusalem today. Many of the foundation stones from Herod’s builders are still in place as evidenced by their dressing in the Herodian style. Herod’s additions and incredible adornments of the temple complex made the temple far more luxurious than Solomon’s temple, yet Solomon’s words ring true. The temple complex was not finished until the mid-60s, only to be destroyed by Roman general Titus in AD 70—less than a decade later.

The importance of Solomon’s words in Psalm 127 cannot be understated. Whatever building effort we engage in, whether we’re building literally or figuratively, unless the Lord builds it, we labor in vain. Solomon could write those words knowing how much effort went into building. Whenever—whatever—we build for our own purposes or in our own strength is built in vain. All man-made monuments and ministries (and businesses and reputations, etc.) will always turn to dust, no matter how sturdy or opulent we make them. We are capable of building houses without the Lord (while understanding that even our very breath is a gift from him), yet unless he builds it, we labor in vain. Let’s not waste our time building things apart from the Lord. Instead, let’s build things for the Lord, knowing that what he builds will last forever.

This is our third—and final!—week online. That’s right: we’re back to the gathered assembly next Sunday, December 13! But today is not December 13. Today we are in our #scatteredassembly. We still worship a God who is worthy of worship, whether we can assemble together or we must stay home.

Today is also the second Sunday of Advent. Advent comes from the Latin word “adventus” which is used for the Greek word “parousia” which means “coming”. It is used to refer to the coming of our Lord, both the first time in ancient Bethlehem, and his return—whenever that may be. Advent is a season of longing, of waiting for the Lord’s advent.

If you’d like to give an offering to support the work of the church, you may scroll up and click on the green “GIVE” button. Don’t forget to join us at 10:30 on Zoom! (Details are sent to the church mailing list.)

Unity without diversity isn’t really unity—it’s sameness. Diversity, whether ethnic or socio-economic or simply diversity of thought will, inevitably, bring conflict. It is impossible for a group of people who spend significant time together to go very long without some form of conflict arising. Apart from the truly rare malevolent intent, such conflict is nearly always due to miscommunication. Our childhood traumas can distort how we interpret others’ tone or demeanor. Our life experiences can color our perception of others and how they act or speak toward us. Our sinfulness causes us to elevate self over all others, making us the most-offended person in any conflict.

When conflict arises, we are faced with a choice: we can remain angry and resentful and perhaps even withdraw from the offender or we do what the Lord Jesus himself would do. The former is much easier than the latter.

In August Dan preached a three-week series on being the body of Christ. One particularly strong point from that series was that when a member of a body hurts, it isn’t just that member that hurts; the entire body hurts. The pain may well be localized (“I stubbed my toe!”) yet the pain affects the hands as well, for they are all connected as a unified whole.

Then we had a four-week series called “Politics & Christian Unity” in which we stressed that political differences must not divide us. Since a political party or political ideology is not our primary identity—who we are in Christ is—that cannot be a thing that divides us. As mentioned above, however, our unique life experiences and diversity of thought will inevitably lead to conflict. Someone’s toes will be stepped on, and that means the whole body hurts, even though the pain may be localized.

In the “Upper Room Discourse” in the Gospel of John we’ve seen Jesus place a tremendous emphasis on unity among his disciples. When he took on a role reserved either for one’s self or for a slave, that of washing dirty, stinking feet, he followed up this truly servile act with these words:

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

John 13:14–15 ESV

The word Jesus used for “ought” carries the idea of debt owed to one another. We are obligated to wash one another’s feet. We are constrained to do this. To say it another way, Jesus leaves us with no room to wiggle out of this responsibility. There is no “if” attached. Our Lord and Master condescended to wash their feet. For us it is no condescension for we are all truly servants. Such service to one another includes the service of washing the crud off each other’s feet, and I don’t mean literal feet.

As mentioned above, it is impossible for a group of people to spend meaningful time together without offending one another at some point. Feelings will be hurt, and sometimes deeply. Let me give you a personal example.

Recently I shared a deeply personal struggle with a friend. I confided in him, believing he was trustworthy with my pain. He later shared this with others—others I trust—yet I became angry for I felt both exposed and betrayed. I knew in my head that his intent was not to betray my trust, yet the feeling of betrayal was there. I lashed out in anger. Since he did not know he was betraying my trust all he knew was my seemingly unfounded anger. This anger directed toward him hurt him deeply. So there we were, each of us hurting, angry, and confused.

We met a few days later to talk about this. It became obvious that if he had known how sharing this would affect me he would not have done so and if I had known how my reaction would affect him I would have curtailed it. Neither of us wanted to hurt the other, yet hurt each other we did.

In any group of people who share life in any meaningful way, pain and hurt feelings and conflict is inevitable. Unless the group maintains a very superficial bond, conflict will arise. As followers of Jesus, however, we owe a debt to one another and that debt consists of washing one another’s feet. In this case, we both “stepped in it” even if we did so unintentionally.

The apostle Peter has some timely words for us.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8 ESV

Conflict is not a sign of disunity. If anything, conflict is a sign that people are engaging in meaningful ways. Betrayal can only happen when there’s trust. Feelings can only be hurt by those we care for. Again, we are faced with a choice when hurt or offended. We can either stew in our anger and rage against the offender or we can do what Jesus did. Jesus washed his disciples feet. To say it with Peter’s words, Jesus’ love covers a multitude of sins.

These sins Peter refers to are clearly inner-communal sins. They are sins committed against one another in a given community. In this case, Peter is speaking of the local church. Notice he says “above all”. Take this as most important in the local church! What is most important? We must continue loving one another, and not casually. We must love one another earnestly. This is because love covers a multitude of sins. The only way a group of people can walk in true unity is by loving one another, which means they will wash one another’s dirty feet. That is, a group can only be united if they love another earnestly and thereby gladly and willingly forgive the deep hurts and wounds that come with being human, by covering even a multitude of sins.

Pursuing this love for one another is an act of obedience to our Lord and Master who repeatedly tells us to do this. As the Spirit of God leads us and guides us he leads us into unity. We must pursue this with great purpose and with great intentionality.

New City, our Lord says we owe this to one another. We are indebted to one another. We must pursue unity and this pursuit is impossible without the forgiveness that love produces.