22 January 2024
Reading From Genesis 30-31
“Laban also said to Jacob, ‘Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.’
So Jacob took an oath in the name of the Fear of his father Isaac. He offered a sacrifice there in the hill country and invited his relatives to a meal. After they had eaten, they spent the night there.
Early the next morning Laban kissed his grandchildren and his daughters and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.”
–Genesis 31:51-55
If the story of Jacob and his family was made into a television series, it would be rated “M” for mature audiences only. The backstabbing, jealousy, trickery, wage theft, greed, bizarre maneuvers, polygamy, swapping servants for sex, and Rachel whoring her husband out to a sister-wife would make any soap opera script writer blush. Jacob had cheated his brother out of his birthright and blessing and Laban had cheated Jacob in the situation with Leah and Rachel as well as his wages following those marriages. God told Jacob that it was time to leave and return to Canaan. Jacob and his household left without saying goodbye. Laban pursued them and confronted them. Jacob and Laban came to an agreement. They put up pillars and piles of stone as markers of a border so that they might go their separate ways and dwell in peace.
Sometimes in life we must agree to disagree. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.”[1] But there are times when it becomes necessary to live at peace elsewhere. Paul and Barnabas, two faithful servants of the Lord in the New Testament, came to a place in their partnership where they sharply disagreed and mutually decided to divide and conquer. Paul took Silas and Barnabas took John Mark and the work of God continued more effectively as they were able to cover more ground separately.[2] It wasn’t necessarily that one was wrong and the other right. Both continued in the faith and the work of the Lord.
Every human being is made in the image of God.[3] Each one, the billions of them who have been born since Adam and Eve, is unique. There has never been another one of you or I and there never will be after us. With so many personalities it is no wonder that there are so many different churches, so many philosophies, so many traditions even within the same faith as ours. As we focus on what we have in common with regard to the essentials of our faith, live and let live when it comes to non-essential beliefs and practices, in all things we should express the love of Jesus.[4]
Even then, branches of the family tree[5] grow too large to continue meeting together for holidays and begin to make their own plans. It isn’t that someone is in the wrong, it just becomes impractical to do everything together all the time. Healthy boundaries are helpful so that the branches of a family may grow and flourish apart from one another.[6] There are times when boundaries are necessary not because of such innocent endeavors as holiday celebration planning, but because there has been some hurt, abuse or disagreement.[7] To prevent further injury and promote peace, separation is needed. I believe that for the family of God, these boundaries are only temporary.[8] We must forgive, be concerned for each other’s safety and wellbeing, and strive to live at peace with one and another. We should be as united as possible in the work of spreading the love and message of Jesus. As we get to know one another, we often find that there is more that unites us than divides us. One day, in the New Eden, we will live together in perfect harmony.[9] Until then, we must invite the Holy Spirit to work among us and allow the will of the Father to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.[10]
“Lord Jesus, there is so much that divides Your family here on earth. Open our eyes to see that in the essentials we are united. Help us to focus on Your priorities rather than our own. Let us see passed politics, ethnicities, cultural differences, social classes and any other hindrance to love people as You love them. Every human is a bearer of Your divine image. Remind us of that and help us to treat each other with dignity and respect. Where healthy boundaries and temporary separations are needed, bring grace and mercy into the equation. Perhaps with humility we might live in peace.”
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
–Ephesians 4:3-6
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
–Philippians 2:1-4
[1] Psalm 133:1
[2] Acts 15:36-41
[3] Genesis 1:26
[4] a common quotation (georgetown.edu)
[5] John 15:5
[6] Psalm 147:14
[7] Proverbs 22:24-25, Proverbs 25:17
[8] Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
[9] Isaiah 2:4
[10] Matthew 6:10
Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God 
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