How very good and pleasant it is

when kindred live together in unity!

It is like the precious oil on the head,

running down upon the beard,

on the beard of Aaron,

running down over the collar of his robes.

It is like the dew of Hermon,

which falls on the mountains of Zion.

For there the Lord ordained his blessing,

life for evermore.  Psalm 133 (NRSV)

***

 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.’ And he said to them, ‘What is it you want me to do for you?’ And they said to him, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’ They replied, ‘We are able.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.’

 When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’

Mark 10:35-45 (NRSV)

This is the second sermon in a four-week Lenten series on the theme of Life Together …we journey through life… together.

Life Together is the title of a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (February 4, 1906 – April 9, 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, participant in the German Resistance movement against the Nazis, and a founding member of the Confessing Church. He was involved in plots to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He was arrested in March 1943, imprisoned, and eventually hanged just before the end of the World War II. Bonhoeffer made difficult decisions in the context of community….in the context of relationships with other Christians who were struggling like he was.

Last week the sermon was “Life Together: Weird, Wacky & Wonderful People.”

We all have those weird, wacky and wonderful parts of our personalities. The challenge is to live together in unity of purpose, realizing that there will be differences of ideas and opinions about various matters in the life of the church.

Next week the sermon is “Life Together: Conflict, Communication & Reconciliation” and the 4th sermon is, “Life Together: How Much is 70 x 7?”

This week the sermon is, “Life Together: Porcupines and People.”

One of my favorite Far Side cartoons is the one with the three porcupines sitting in easy chairs in a living room.

Two of the porcupines are “normal” – covered with quills.

The third porcupine is naked – no quills - and the smooth little porcupine says, “I had them all removed last week and, boy, do I feel great.” I love that cartoon. May God continue to remove our quills!

Henri Nouwen said, “Community is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives.” !!!!!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about the necessity of being disillusioned with the reality of our relationships before we can make real progress in living together.

And the eminent philosopher, Charlie Brown, said, “I love the human race, it’s just people I can’t stand.”

Jesus’ disciples had difficulty in getting along with each other….I find this very encouraging and amusing!

In Mark 9 it is recorded that the disciples were arguing with each other about who was the greatest.

In Mark 10 James and John want to have special privileges from Jesus and when the other 10 hear about their request they are ANGRY!

John Ortberg, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, notes that humans are afflicted with the “porcupine’s dilemma.” Each porcupine has about 30,000 quills attached to its body…with the exception of its face, legs & paws and little porcupine belly. The “porcupine’s dilemma” is how do you get close without getting hurt?  (See John Ortberg’s book, Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them, for a good discussion of the porcupine’s dilemma).

What is the answer????? LOVE is the answer! Love makes it possible for porcupines to get together!

When a little boy porcupine falls in love with a little girl porcupine he will follow his ladylove around for hours singing his love song to her in a high falsetto voice until she accepts his attentions….kind of like the Bee Gees singing……!

And then the prickly pair, the two porcupine lovers, begin the "love dance of the porcupines!” They stand up on their hind legs and rub their front paws together and then their noses!

They can’t hug! They have to be very careful!

They become vulnerable to each other.

Their desire for love makes them vulnerable.

Love results in the blessing of vulnerability.

Now one definition of vulnerability is “the state of being susceptible to wounding or physical hurt.” We don’t really want to be susceptible to wounding. A more positive definition of vulnerability might be, “Allowing someone who loves us to really know us.” The key is love. The result is a vulnerable, transformative relationship based on mutual trust – we can allow someone else to know our weaknesses. It results in “blessing” – see Psalm 133.

Now our Pastor Nominating Committee is almost finished with the Church Information Form. Maybe it’s not too late to add, “Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church – where we practice the LOVE DANCE OF THE PORCUPINES! People would call just to find out what it means!

Listen to the words that Charles C. Finn wrote in 1966 in Please Hear What I'm Not Saying:

My surface may seem smooth but my surface is my mask,

ever-varying and ever-concealing…

Beneath lies confusion, and fear, and aloneness.

But I hide this.  I don't want anybody to know it.

I panic at the thought of my weakness exposed.

That's why I frantically create a mask to hide behind,

a nonchalant sophisticated facade,

to help me pretend,

to shield me from the glance that knows.

But such a glance is precisely my salvation, my only hope,

and I know it.

That is, if it's followed by acceptance,

if it's followed by love.

It's the only thing that can liberate me from myself…

The porcupine’s dilemma is resolved by love. Our human dilemma of how to get close is resolved by love. We open ourselves to each other. We become vulnerable. We serve others. The Christian life is about fellowship, relationships – Life Together – and also about serving others….

“… whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  Amen.