have lived in a number of places in South America, the United States, and now in Europe. Whenever I visited a new Seventh-day Adventist church not as pastor or speaker on a Sabbath morning, I was sometimes happy to receive a friendly welcome; but many times I felt sad because of a cold or indifferent reception. I have entered and left churches without someone approaching me to say, “Hello,” or initiating a conversation. You may wonder if I ever visited your congregation!

As a worldwide church we hold to the biblical teaching of the unity of the body of Christ. This belief highlights the concept that we are equal in Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Spirit are one in faith, hope, witness, and fellowship. We encourage this unity in faith and hope by studying God’s Word together as a worldwide community, and the Sabbath school Bible study guides go a long way in accomplishing this. Similarly, our unity in witness is encouraged by the inside story included in each weekly lesson. However, our unity in fellowship does not receive too much attention in our worship services. It may require a more conscious effort. Research suggests that it is the lack of warm fellowship that causes some of our new members to leave the church.

As I study Scripture I notice that fellowship is the starting point and a fundamental matrix to strengthen our unity in faith, hope, and witness. In what follows I invite you to read with me Psalm 133 in order to explore the nature of biblical fellowship and its implications for today.

Psalm 133 shows us the delight and sweetness that brothers and sisters enjoy when coming together or being connected in times of joy, trouble, or worship.¹ Its historical milieu is unknown; but, I suspect, it is linked to the Jewish pilgrimages to Jerusalem, possibly during one of the three major annual feasts, such as the Passover, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost), or the Feast of Tabernacles.²

Fellowship Leads to Worship
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is that brothers dwell together!” (Ps. 133:1).³

It is fellowship, not a snug atmosphere, that creates real worship. Given the context of pilgrimage, the psalm mirrors a great feast full of camaraderie. Who were these brothers (and sisters)? Some of them were family members—spouses, uncles, brothers—or friends and colleagues. Others were strangers, people who had journeyed to meet in Jerusalem for the purpose of worshipping the Lord as one family-community.

The Hebrew word translated as “dwell” is ya¯shab and literally means “to remain for a time, dwell, sit down.” It is frequently used when a group of people gather to create a brotherly relationship and may involve other activities such as praying, mourning, weeping, fasting, or searching for God (cf. Judges 20:26; Isa. 47:5; Ezra 9:3, 4; 10:9; Ps. 68:10; 84:4; 137:1). Besides, the term yahad, “together,” appears in the Old Testament to depict a group of people working as a team, resisting the enemy, as well as personified mountains, rivers, heavens, and earth in unison to praise God and bring victory (Ezra 4:3; Job 19:12; Ps. 98:8; Isa. 45:8; 50:8; Micah 2:12). Imagine the delightful atmosphere of those working together and praising God with one voice! By the rituals of the three annual feasts—such as eating special meals, presenting offerings, feeding the poor, celebrating, dwelling in booths (Lev. 23:4-8; 15-22; 33-44)—these brothers and sisters were able to experience community, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Coldness, hostility, indifference, or any racial prejudice had no place there.

Fellowship Creates a Sense of Belonging
“It is like the fine oil on the head, coming down upon the beard, Aaron’s beard that comes down over the collar of his robes” (Ps. 133:2).

Did you ever have to deal with spilled oil on a tie? Oil seems to cover everything and gets into the last nook. As oil covers, so fellowship engulfs a group of well-disposed people. As the fragrance of oil penetrates space and surrounds it, unity saturates a religious community. We enter a forest of eucalyptus trees; the aroma enwraps us; it is a pleasure to breathe deeply. The smell affects not only our nostrils but also our lungs, along with the entire body. This is just how a united church family is.⁴

In the ancient Near East (and, it seems, also today), odor was an extension of one’s personality.⁵ So when Aaron is anointed with the special God-designed oil mix, he is “marked” by God’s personality. The purpose of the anointment is to consecrate him for worship and affirm publicly that he belongs to God. In this way, the community joined in Jerusalem is also consecrated to the Lord as one people, marked by His personality, and thus becomes a possession of God.

Fellowship Restores Spiritual Vigor and Vitality
“It is like the dew of Hermon that comes down upon the mountains of Zion” (Ps. 133:3a).

Imagine that we’re climbing a mountain on a hot day. Because of our strong perspiration we soon feel thirsty and dehydrated. However, when we reach the mountaintop, wind and the rest of the morning dew refresh us. All our pores open and the whole body enjoys the freshness of the remainder of the early-morning dew and wind.
Moisture restores strength, relieves tension, and tones the muscles, resulting in general well-being. This is how a family of spiritual brothers and sisters is. The experience of the pilgrims is like the refreshing dew of Mount Hermon.

Fellowship Brings Blessings
“For there the Lord commands the blessing, life forever” (Ps. 133:3b).
In the Old Testament a “blessing” is a divine habilitation to succeed in all we do; further, “life” is considered as the experience of longevity, wisdom, welfare, integrity, and security—a gift from God.⁶ This last verse suggests that the Lord sends blessings and life to every lived space of communal fellowship (“there”)—church service, family worship, any place where people celebrate the family of God.

What do I mean by unity in fellowship? It is an effort to show warm interest and goodwill to our neighbor, especially the visitor (or stranger) or the quiet, unnoticed parishioner in a church setting. This concept challenges us to develop creative practices that can build such a warm fellowship among church members that visitors feel part of a community of faith. Fellowship nurtures our unity in faith, hope, and witness. It creates, or re-creates, a family-oriented church and an inspiring atmosphere for worship. It not only brings spiritual revival, care, and support, but also constitutes a public affirmation that we—the other, you, and I—belong to a triune God. I would like to be part of such a community.

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¹ A detailed study of this psalm can be found in Richard W. Medina, “La unidad de la iglesia según el Salmo 133,” in G. A. Klingbeil et al., eds. Pensar la iglesia hoy: hacia un eclesiología adventista. Estudios teológicos presentados durante el IV Simposio Bíblico-Teológico Sudamericano en honor a Raoul Dederen, (Libertador San Martín, Argentina: Editorial Universidad Adventista del Plata, 2002), pp. 57-69.
² See W. A. VanGemeren, “Psalms,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 12 vols. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1991), vol. 5, p. 815; L. Ryken, Words of Delight: A Literary Introduction to the Bible, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1992), p. 231; F. Delitzsch, Psalms, Commentary on the Old Testament, J. Martin, transl. (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1978), p. 317.
³ All translations from Scripture in this article are the author’s own.
⁴ L. A. Schökel and C. Carniti, Salmos II, Nueva Biblia Española (Navarra: Verbo Divino, 1993), p. 1542.
⁵ C. Houtman argues that between odor and its carrier there is a firm bond; the odor is an extension of the personality. For an Israelite odors were not only pleasant or unpleasant, but also carriers of either life or death. C. Houtman, “On the Function of the Holy Incense (Exodus xxx 34-38) and the Sacred Anointing Oil (Exodus xxx 22-33),” Vetus Testamentum 42 (1992): 460, 461.
⁶ See Richard W. Medina, “Life and Death Viewed as Physical and Lived Spaces: Some Preliminary Thoughts From Proverbs,” Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 122 (2010), forthcoming.

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Richard W. Medina is a graduate student of Semitic languages at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, Italy. This article was published March 11, 2010.