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Let us continue in worship by giving attention to the reading of God's Word as it is recorded in the first book of Chronicles, the twelfth chapter. I begin the reading at verse number 23. "And these are the numbers of the Baans that were ready armed to the war, and came to David to Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul to him according to the word of the Lord.

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The children of Judah that bear shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred ready armed to the war; of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valor for the war, seven thousand and one hundred; of the children of Levi, four thousand and six hundred; and Jehoiada was the leader of the Aaronites, and with him were three thousand and seven

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hundred; and Zadok, a young man mighty of valor, and of his father's house, twenty and two captains; and of the children of Benjamin, the kindred of Saul, three thousand, for hitherto the greatest part of them had kept the ward of the house of Saul; and of the children of Ephraim, twenty thousand and eight hundred, mighty men of valor, famous throughout the

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house of their fathers; and of the Hat tribe of Manasseh, eighteen thousand, which were expressed by name to come and make David king; and of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, the heads of them were two hundred, and all their brethren were at their commandment.

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Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, thirty thousand, which could keep rank; they were not of double heart; and of Naphtali, a thousand captains, and with them, with shield and spear, thirty and seven thousand; and of the Danites, expert in war, twenty and eight thousand and six hundred; and of Asher,

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such as went forth to battle, expert in war, forty thousand. And on the other side of Jordan, of the Reubenites and the Gadites and the Hat tribe of Manasseh, with all manner of instruments of war for the battle, and hundred and twenty thousand. All these men of war that could keep rank came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make

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David king over all Israel. And may God bless to us and to our understanding this reading from his word. Pray with me. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

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About twenty-two years ago now, a man named Thomas von Beck, who lived in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, decided he needed a secretary. So he interviewed widely to find someone who would be suitable to his needs, and he found a girl whose name was Miss Neef.

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She had only been with him a few weeks when he came to recognize that she was the perfect girl Friday, excellent dictation, fine shorthand, wonderful telephone manner, able to handle all of the many crises that come up in an administrative office, and most amazing at all, she seemed never to run out of energy.

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She was as effervescent and as full of strength at the end of the day as she was at the beginning. So she worked for Mr. von Beck for twelve years, and at the end of twelve years she announced that she was going to retire. No one was offering her more money, she was not going to go to some other place of employment,

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she just thought she would retire. And he was so grateful to her for all that she had done that he organized a great party in her honor. Some parts of the party were to be surprises, but the greatest surprise was the one that

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occurred when the guest of honor arrived and the guest of honor arrived. Yes, you heard me, I said it twice. I told you that this girl had great energy. Many times Mr. von Beck had said that she did the work of two.

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He discovered at the party that she was two, that in fact he had been employing identical twins. One came in every morning, one came in every afternoon, and he never in twelve years had noticed any difference.

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They just split the salary. I like that story because just think about the teamwork and the unity there had to be between those sisters. Their writing styles had to be similar.

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The message that came in in the morning had to be known by the girl in the afternoon. Their dictation had to be identical. It took a lot of walking in step with one another to pull that thing off. And I always enjoy seeing people move in harmony and in unity.

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I'm thrilled by a great high school band as it gets out there and moves through its coordinated paces on the field. I like to see a group of cheerleaders or a ballet company or a symphony orchestra where everyone does his or her task at just the right time when everyone is in step.

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And I think that's the reason that I am drawn to the passage of Scripture which I would like to think with you about this morning. Notice what it says here in 1 Chronicles. All these men of war that could keep rank, which means literally who could stay in step,

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came with a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel. Now you've got to understand the scene here. David was assuming the throne and it was very important that he had the allegiance of all of the tribes.

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Now as I went through that long list of tribes and the number of men that they sent, that was not too fascinating or interesting, I will admit. But the point I would like to make is that each and every one of those groups had something special to offer.

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The Benjamites, for example, were the first ones to recognize David as king. The Gadites were the ones who had hidden David when Saul was chasing him to kill him. Judah's men were the great fortress builders. Manasseh, they were the first tribe that assisted David in his pursuit of the throne.

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All of these people had something different to offer. And what does the chronicler say of them? He says, "All of these men of war that could keep rank, that is, who could stay in step, came with a perfect heart to make David king over all of Israel."

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It's a grand thing to be in step. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that half the art of living lies in learning to be in rank. You know, each and every one of us enters the world kind of believing that the whole

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cosmos exists only for us. We even think that our mothers are extensions of ourselves. But it doesn't take very long before we find a footprint on our island, just like Robinson Crusoe did.

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About the time when we're cutting our teeth, we are recognizing the fact that other people have as much right to be here as we do. And if things go well, by the time we're working on our wisdom teeth, well, we've discovered or been taught that the variety of people in our society and in the world adds much

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to the interest and the flavor of living. But there are only a certain number of people, it seems to me, who go on to learn an even greater lesson. For some, this comes early, for some late, for some not at all.

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But that greater lesson is to learn how to cooperate with those who are part of the life experience with us. This is to be basic to our experience as Christians. You remember how Paul wrote, he said, "For as in one body we have many members, and all

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of the members do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another." What he's saying is that though we have different talents and gifts, we are to move in a coordinated and a harmonious fashion.

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Cooperation is to be basic to the experience of the Christian Church. It is of the very essence. We are to be walking in step as we seek to lift up Jesus to be King over all the earth. Sergei Rachmaninoff was one of the great composers of the 20th century.

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He was a rather melancholy man, much of his music is sad and doleful. It was noted once that there was only one person, however, who had ever been able to make Rachmaninoff cry. It was not some great artist like Kreisler or Segeti or Esai or Heifetz or Horowitz.

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No, it was a violinist whose name was Benjamin Kubelski. You probably never heard of him by that name. He really only played one tune, but he played it over and over again. That tune was "Love in Bloom."

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Every Sunday night, Benjamin Kubelski, whose stage name was Jack Benny, would play on the Jello program his screechy, scratchy rendition of "Love in Bloom." And Rachmaninoff would listen on the radio and would laugh so hard that he would break into tears.

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Well, some of us are artists and some of us are clowns. Some of us can create beauty and others of us can appreciate it. Some are melancholy and some are filled with effervescent good humor. We are different, but we are to be marching together as one body.

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Paul says, "I appeal to you by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all agree and that there be no dissensions among you." Half the art of living lies in learning to be instead. And if that's true, then one can also say that half the tragedy in life lies in the

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failure to stay in step. I think every group of whatever kind or sort or location has at least one person in it, and probably many more, who simply will not walk in step with others. In fact, they believe that everybody in the group is out of step but them.

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Did you hear about the man who was arrested in a hotel room? He was drunk and he had been smoking in bed and lighted the bed afire. Well, he was rescued, but he was charged not only with drunkenness but also with endangering the health and the welfare of other people.

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And when he appeared before the judge, he said this, "Your Honor, I want you to know that I did have a little bit to drink, but that bed was already burning when I got into it." See, there are some people who just cannot admit that they're at fault.

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I remember a man in the church I served in California who almost founded his mission in life to criticize and attack other people whom he found to be out of step. Yet, when that man himself was found involved in an affair with another man's wife, he didn't see that that in any way limited his participation in the body of Christ.

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And speaking about wives and husbands, this is so often the case in marriages that get into trouble. Here's a young couple and they start out together on the path of romance and they adjust their strides to one another.

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They learn to move in harmony one with the other and they become married. And then, perhaps one of them goes on for additional education, the kids come into the home and require more time. Maybe one of them is particularly successful in business and begins to move in a different

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circle. Slowly but surely, they get out of step. I had a man who was divorcing his wife tell me on one occasion, "She was all right when we were younger, but she's no longer in my league."

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And I said to him, "Have you helped her be in your league? I mean, have you sought to adjust your stride at all to her? If she has some defects, have you also focused on those things in her which are superlative and beautiful?

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What role does affection and patience play in all of this?" I was thinking of the man who said to his wife, "I don't know how anybody so beautiful could be so dumb." And she said, "It's God's will.

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If I wasn't beautiful, you wouldn't have married me. And if I weren't so stupid, I wouldn't have married you." Well, it's funny, but it's also sad when it's a picture of life. And one half of the troubles that arise, it seems to me, one half of the tragedies that

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occur in life in churches and in clubs and in marriages, in relationships of whatever kind you choose to describe, are when the people get out of step. Now make no mistake, keeping in step does not mean that you surrender your personality. It means that you give up your angularities.

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I mean, these men who were marching behind David had their different skills and abilities. They did not surrender them. They did not all try to be exactly the same. We're not supposed to be conformed to one another's image.

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There is a variety of gifts, and we all have our separate talents. What we are to give up is the offensive attitude, those sharp angularities which tear and rip at other people. Here's the person, for example, who's very much for foreign missions but doesn't care

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much about the church's ministry at home. Here's the person who pushes for evangelism and never is involved in any way in Christian education. Here's the individual who believes that the great function of the church is to bring people

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to personal salvation. And here's another person who believes that the primary function of the church is to speak to the whole society. Here's one who thinks that theology is the most important thing in the church, and here's

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another who thinks that bricks and mortar are mostly concerned about the buildings and the property of the church. There are differences of opinion on a thousand subjects, on what to do with homosexuals, on the abortion question, on the capital punishment question.

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There are a variety of opinions. What creates problems is when some individual develops a vested interest in one of these positions and insists on having her own way. Haven't you ever heard someone say, "Too many of the people in our church don't read the

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Bible?" Now, that may very well be true, but it doesn't have to be said in such a way that the implication is that you're the only person in the congregation who ever sits down and studies the Word of God written.

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Or here's someone who says, "We need more of our members to pray." And it may be absolutely essential that we have a call to prayer in the life of the church, but that can be said in such a way that the implication is not that you're the only person who seeks the throne of grace in prayer.

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Paul says we are to be fellow workmen. Now that doesn't mean we surrender our different talents, the contributions we can make to the building, but it does mean that we give up forever arrogant attitudes. We're not supposed to put our lights under bushels, but on light lampstands where they

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can illumine the whole house. But we must always remember when we're shining that light that it is not to be shined upon other people to reveal their weaknesses. It is to be shining upon ourselves so that we can look at our own lives, discover our

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own weaknesses, and correct them. You remember what John says in his first epistle? If we walk in the light as Christ is in the light, then we will have fellowship with one another.

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Not shining the light on others. If we walk in the light with Jesus as our goal and model, then we will amend our behavior, we will eliminate our angularities, and be marching in step. The essence of the matter, you see, is walking with God.

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That's the key to being part of the ranks of the righteous, walking with God. You know, when an army is formed, it draws people from a variety of different circumstances and situations. There are some there who never graduated from high school, there are some there who are

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high school graduates, there are some who are college graduates, there are men and women, there are those who come from the north of the country and the south of the country, there are the rich and the poor, there are people who are black and people who are yellow and people who are red and people who are white.

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But gradually this army becomes a group that moves in coordination and in harmony. And why? Because they all pay attention to the drillmaster. It may very well be that one person has to make his stride a little longer in order to

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match the group. Another may have to make it a bit shorter. Maybe the cadence is too fast for one or too slow for another. But each surrenders that kind of angularity and instead focuses on the commands of the

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chief. And we walk in the ranks of righteousness when our principal concern is to listen to Jesus Christ and to follow him with enthusiasm and with perfect hearts. My friends, we are now at the very center of our Christian conviction.

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For you see, faith is the fire that we build on the altar of our souls. And if that faith is made weak and impure, if it is not fueled so that the fire burns low, then no one else is going to be able to warm themselves by it. Our marching will become weak and inconsistent.

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Some will rapidly fall aside and be easily attacked and destroyed by the armies of the enemy. It's a sad thing when people lose the rhythm of faith because the fire in their souls has weakened and is dying.

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You know, on Friday afternoon I sat in my office and I thought of some of the people who have touched and influenced my life for Jesus Christ across the years. I speak now only of some who have already gone to be with Christ in the kingdom of heaven. But there was a man named Bill McGann, who was the first Sunday school superintendent

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I can recall, and how he touched my life at that time. I think of a college professor, John Forey, who taught me that education and religion are hand-made. I think of Orrin Barnum, who was a youth sponsor and who was the one who taught me the lesson

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that you can't push a piece of string, you have to pull it. I think of Joe Johnston, who was a florist and who taught me deep lessons about stewardship. I think of an 83-year-old lady named Carrie McClure, who was so filled with the Spirit of God that to be in her presence was to experience radiance.

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I think of a physician, Dr. David McCune, a urologist, who taught me what it is to rest in the Lord and to build a patience that moves in accord with the Lord's will. I think of my most honored professor, Dr. James Leon Kelso, who led me into the scriptures more than any other person who has ever touched my life.

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Now as I thought of all of these people, the one thing that was immediately obvious about every one of them was this. None of them tried to be my drillmaster. None of them tried to be anything more than a platoon leader.

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Each and every one of them sought with everything they had to keep my eyes focused on Jesus, to march to the cadence which the Christ had set. I don't know if you as the members of this Church are aware of it or not, but the fine men and women who constitute the session of this Church, when they come up against some

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question, some problem, some decision in a meeting, after it has been discussed and debated and everyone has heard, then the vote is taken. And if that vote is not virtually unanimous, if that vote is a split vote, half on one side, half on the other, or two-thirds on one side and one-third on the other, the session

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takes no action. It stands still. You know why? Because we are seeking to discern the mind of Christ.

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And it's obvious if you've got a group deeply split that the mind of Jesus has not yet been discovered by that group. Some at least have not yet been illumined. There are those who may complain that that's a radical violation from parliamentary procedure,

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and I'd agree. But you see, we're not in a Parliament. We're in an army, and there's a commander, and we seek his will. And in those moments when we can't discern it, we stand still until we can see it, and

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then we march. You know, there's a legend that comes out of the Black Church about a man who one night dreamed a dream, and in this dream he went to both heaven and hell. When he got to hell, he found a great banquet room, long tables laden with food, and people

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sitting about those tables and fastened to their wrists were long pointed swords. And in stabbing the food and trying to get it to their mouths, they kept cutting themselves and cutting the people to the right and the left and across the table. It was a bloody mess.

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And then he was shown heaven. And heaven was a large banquet hall, and there were long tables, and they were laden with food, and there were many people sitting about those tables, and they all had swords fastened to their hands, just as the people in hell did.

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But the people in heaven had learned how to steer the food and gently feed it to one another. And the result was they were all filled, not only with food, but with joy and with happiness. My sisters and brothers in Christ, the difference between heaven and hell, anywhere, is whether you're in it only for yourself, or whether you're in it with others, keeping step with

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them, at rank, with perfect heart. All these men of war that could keep rank came with a perfect heart to make David king over all Israel. On this day of new pastoral beginnings, on this day which is the beginning of a new church

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year, let us resolve, women and men, to come with every talent and gift we have to offer, to keep rank, to be in step with one another, and to lift up Jesus as the king of all the earth. I believe our Commander is speaking to us, and I believe he is saying, "Forward, march!"

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Let us pray. As we enter into a new phase of our history before thee, O God our Father, we pray for the presence of thy Holy Spirit. Remove from us our angularity.

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Fill us with a love for thee and a love for one another. Let there be that blessed unity of the Spirit which is the bond of peace. And out of this may we be strong like an army, winning battles to the honor and glory of thy Son, whom we acknowledge joyfully as the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords.

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We pray it in his name. Amen. [MUSIC] [MUSIC]

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