Recently, I shared with both the vestry and the staff an incident that had taken place when I was in England.

We happened to be having dinner one night with two very prominent evangelical leaders in England.

And as I was asked to pray and give thanks for the food, I began by saying,

Lord, your word said how beautiful it is when the brethren dwell together.

One of the two interrupted my prayer and said, in unity.

Well, I got thrown off a little bit just for a few seconds, and then I kind of repeated the words in unity and continued in my prayer.

Now, after I got over my irritation with myself for not using the whole text of the scripture, I began to reflect on this incident. I began to think about it.

In fact, how true it is that any two people can dwell together, but not in unity. Any two roommates can

dwell together, but not in unity. Any two co-workers in an office can dwell together, but not in unity. Any two people

can be in a church sitting behind each other or next to each other, but not in unity. Then I

realize that the very Psalm that I'm quoting, Psalm 133, is not focusing on the dwelling, but on the unity. In fact, if you go on and read a little further,

you see that there is a special blessing that is invoked in that Psalm for not dwelling together,

but for the unity in the dwelling together. And then I began to think of the entire scripture

in the whole theme of unity.

And I realized that when the Lord Jesus Christ made that statement in Matthew 18, 19,

which I still don't understand everything about it,

that when two come in agreement together, there is a special blessing, there's an answer to prayer.

And then I realized what the Apostle Peter meant when he, in 1. Peter chapter 3, verse 7,

said that when a husband and wife dwell together in unity, there is a blessing, there's an answer to prayer.

The opposite is true, the prayer will be hindered.

And then I began to realize that when the Lord Jesus Christ prayed his high priestly

prayer in the gospel of John chapter 17, he prayed for the unity so that they were blessed

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