Ecclesiastes 4:7-12; Mt. 18:15-20  “Band of Brothers and Sisters- Fellowship as a Means of Grace”  2/24/08

                The bulletin says that we had 240 in church Sunday, but we really had 325 because we had 85 worshipping at the all church retreat in Montreat.  It was a great retreat, and the theme of the retreat was being God’s people- a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a company of saints.  In my mind this all came together at the last two events of the retreat- the square dance and worship.  The square dance had people from 2.5 years old like Saylor Harrell to about 80 years old dancing together.  In worship we all blended our voices together- young and old, male and female to the glory of God and all took part in communion.  Where else does this happen- when the whole group/community of young, old, youth and children gathers together?  Where else can we learn to grow in love for each other?  Where else in the Chapin community do we hear that the young should care for those who are older and the older for those who are younger?  Where else do we hear that those who are poor should care for those who are wealthy, and likewise the wealthy should care for the poor?  Where else are people told they should support and pray for each other? 

In my mind, there is no question that what Jesus prophesied has come true- where two or three are gathered together in his name- there he is in the midst of them!

                It is where two or three are gathered together.  It is not a numbers game.  Jesus is no slave to numbers.  Jesus can be in the very small church and also in the very large church.  I have felt the Spirit of God in my first church which had 51 members, and I have felt the Spirit of God in the largest Presbyterian Church in the world in South Korea- which has 50,000 members.  There are people who will put down small churches but size is a worldly, often prideful, and relative thing.  The largest Presbyterian Church would be small by Southern Baptist standards, and American churches are small compared to South Korean churches.  In my more proud moments I have told people- Lake Murray Presbyterian is the largest rural PCUSA church in South Carolina.  In a few years we will be suburban and I can’t say that.  But saying we are so large is a proud and unimportant statement.  Jesus could have said where one or two thousand are gathered together- there I am- but he did not, affirming two things- that church is not about a numbers game, and that yet it is important to be together.  I don’t know that we can purposefully stop growing.  Our task given to us by the head of the church- Jesus Christ- is to always welcome, always reach out- always be inviting and telling.  If you do that right, you will grow even if you don’t want to.  Humans look at size- Jesus looks at whether His Spirit is there.

                Yet it is important to be together.  I hear people cut down the church all the time.  Some cut it down because it is an institution- like being organized is a sin.  History has seen this a bunch- people are critical of what is- and then they go out and form something that is just as organized, just as institutionalized.  When more than two or three are gathered together there is organization!  Organization in some ways is an effort to try to keep the Holy Spirit in our midst.  Many of you remember when our church was being formed and we were meeting at different places- Lowman Home, Community Church, Restaurants- it was an exciting time and the Holy Spirit was moving.  But everyone felt it would be better and we could concentrate on God better if we didn’t have to move things in and out- so we bought property and put up buildings with heat and air conditioning.  This was not an effort to become an institution, it was an effort to be a witness to God by having a consistently nice place, and an effort to keep the Holy Spirit.  But everyone knew it was better to be a Presbyterian together than to be a Presbyterian apart. 

                It is important to be together.  Yet there is a price to be paid.  We pay the same price when we gather together with our families at Christmas or birthdays.  It is a great time, but sometimes even people you love can say the wrong thing- hurt someone, or go storming off.  There are many who just refuse to get together with families.  I will bet that many of those people also have a hard time getting together with churches.   A family is a place where we learn to love one another.  It is a gift of God- to support each other, encourage each other.  Yet today families are falling apart.  Domestic abuse- child abuse, spouse abuse is rampant.  I will never forget preaching in a town in Virginia, and I stayed with the clerk of session that Saturday night who also happened to be chief of police.  I rode around with him that Saturday night- and he said, “If we have a domestic abuse situation you stay in the car- because that’s when there will be violence or even shooting.”  Jesus said that not everyone is meant to be in a family.  But if we are called to have a family- surely we are called to not be violent in the midst of our families.  Jesus said, “If anyone does any harm to these little ones, it is better that a stone be wrapped around their neck and they were drowned.  On the other hand, Jesus says, “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because they are my disciple, they will certainly not lose their reward.  Jesus cares for those who are little as well as those who are big.  Families are a way that God cares for children.  One of the earliest Christian interpretations of this verse is that Jesus is there when father, mother, and child (two or three) are together in Him.  Jesus is the unseen guest at every home that bears his name.  Places like Thornwell Home for Children is another way to care for children.  But churches are also another way of caring for the least of these.  The churches are the conscience that tells the world to care for each other- but especially those who are left out.  It takes grace to forgive each other, grow in love together, and stay together. 

                I sometimes hear  some say, “Your Jesus I love, your church I can’t stand.”  But if you kill the church, how would you hear about the loving Jesus?  To kill the church is to kill the message—for the church is the messenger.  We hold this treasure of the gospel in jars of clay.  At the retreat Sara Juengst held up a clay lamp that she got from a trip to Ephesus Turkey- it was a tiny clay lamp easily broken, but it held the precious treasure of light at a time when there were no street lamps, car lights, electricity.  Light was precious, but it was held by breakable, imperfect lamps.  The church is the imperfect holder of the light.  The old motto of the Presbyterian Church was lux lucet in tenebris- hold the light in the darkness.  That is our task, but it is a task we fulfill while we are still somewhat in the dark.  We do not have to wait to be perfect to be bold enough to point to the light.  To not love the people of God is to not love those Jesus loves- despite our imperfections.  All those who believe are not called to be hermits- except in very rare situations.  Rather we are called to be together. 

You can play baseball all by yourself- but baseball is more fun and is designed to have more than one.  The Christian faith is a faith of love- and it is impossible to love by yourself- you need to be around other people.  To really grow in love- we should be around people who are not perfect and who are different in age and viewpoint from us.  It is frankly easy to love those who are like us- the same age, the same party, the same view points.  It shows God’s grace and love when we are able to love those who are different from us. 

                We come together in Jesus name- and we pray in Jesus name.  We forgive in Jesus name and for his sake.  The stories before and after this are about forgiveness in the church.  What makes the church different from a Lion’s Club, a Rotary Club, a Red Hat Club?  What does the church say that no one else can say?  What makes the Christian church distinct from other religions?  What gives us identity but also hope, strength, and energy?  It is the name and power of Jesus Christ.  The Greek in this passage literally means we are gathered together into his name.  We are into Jesus here.  We believe and put our faith in the Jesus of scripture.  We believe God graciously reveals Himself in Jesus.  We believe if you want to find out about God- look to and look at Jesus.  We believe that the eyewitnesses that wrote the gospels and those who first heard them and confirmed the message while they were alive are trustworthy and believable witnesses.  We are here in His name and for his name and namesake.  The Jews had a saying, “If two sit together and words of the Law are spoken between them the shekinah glory (Divine Presence) rests between them.”  Jesus was saying that he is replacing the divine presence with his presence.

                In the end, the church both a human and divine institution.  If it were only a human institution (as the world believes it is), it is as good as any human institution- but it might not be worth your time, effort, toil and tithe.  But if we believe that God calls us together- at least two or three of us- to pray, to agree, to gather to worship then our perspective changes.  God’s call and God’s Spirit and Jesus name- make us more than just another human institution.  

                Miss Betsy was ill with flu.  Her husband had died ten years before, and she had no living relatives nearby.  The women of the church heard about her, brought her some chicken soup, checked on her, and told their husbands about her leaky roof which the Men of the church then fixed.  Her words were words I have heard many times, and I wish you could hear them too, “I don’t know what I would have done without my church.”  There was a seminary student who was barely making ends meet, and he received a check from the church.  He said, “I don’t know what I would have done without the church.”  The people at the local foodbank were running out of food, and the lines were long.  One of the elders brought a car load of bags from the church people.  One woman standing in line that Wednesday morning said, “I don’t know what we would do without the church!”  One person was about to give up on life- they lost their job, were going through a divorce, were steering toward alcohol.  An elder in the church kept contact with him and encouraged him through his tough time.  Years later he looked back and said, “I don’t know what I would have done without the church.” 

                The church is not about the minister.  It is not about the buildings.  It is not about the committees.  It is not about the children.  It is not about the senior citizens group.  It is not about the circles.  It is not about the Sunday School classes, or mission trips, or the groups we enable to exist like We Care, GOoDWorks, Christgate.  It is not about the youth.  It is not about the preschool.  It is not about the Bible study groups.  It is about all these things and more!  But it is really about what this passage says, two or three gathering together in his name- finding him in their midst.  Amen.