1436AFC090514 – Gathered Together
Read it online here, please. (And please take advantage of the links in this message.)
Matthew 18:18-20 – “Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, [amen,] I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.“ 1
If you clicked on the link in the title, you heard a hymn that is usually sung around Thanksgiving time. It is an image we can easily recall – the family gathered together at table to share a meal and remember the bounty of God’s Love. Perhaps we call to mind a community of graciously generous people getting together to feed the homeless and hungry – not just around Thanksgiving, but often. We have often stated here that God is a Holy Community, and we are blessed to be like that aspect of him; we, too, are to be a Holy Community here on Earth.
There is a lot of comfort in the highlighted words above – “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.“ That has become the inspiration for many prayer meetings, intercessions, and for inspiring hope among us. When we gather together to pray a prayer of petition to God for his protection, we have this verse in mind as we unite our hearts and minds in prayer to seek his will or to encourage him to favor our petition. We have faith in those prayers because of what this verse says. We feel that if two or more of us are in agreement and praying about one certain thing, then Jesus is there with us – praying with us to his Father and ours – and we are uplifted by the thought of his presence.
Knowing that Jesus is present with us as we worship him through confident prayer gives us a wonderful feeling. We know that when we worship, praise, and petition together we are carrying out the intent of this verse. We find great comfort in sharing the Divine Love of Christ with our fellow believers, and this is as it should be. Scripture often encourages us to depend on each other as an outward sign of our inward commitment to obey the law laid down by God. In fact, if we look for the Old Testament roots of this passage, we can learn more about why Jesus was using this phrasing when teaching his disciples. Let’s look back, then to Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 19:15 – One witness alone shall not stand against someone in regard to any crime or any offense that may have been committed; a charge shall stand only on the testimony of two or three witnesses. There we see that familiar term, “two or three witnesses.” But take a look at the context of that phrase. This passage is talking about a legal proceeding, a time of judgment and discipline. In verses 15-21 of this chapter, God is describing how to deal with someone accused of any crime or offense. One witness against him is not enough. There must be at least two or three witnesses, and they must all agree. They must meet together before the Priests and the Judges who must listen carefully to the case presented, and judgment is rendered based only on the verifiable testimony of the plaintiff and the witnesses. A false witness is condemned to receive whatever punishment the plaintiff was seeking for the accused. This is also the passage that ends stating “Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” Now, if you look at the context of this passage – rules for dealing with discipline in a community – we have better chance of gaining insight into what Jesus’ statement is all about: Community discipline.
If you will go back to the context of these verses, you can see that Jesus is actually giving his disciples rules for Church discipline – how to make decisions when there is controversy in the Church, and how to conduct a fact-finding mission when accusations are made. I’m going to give you the link to the full passage (and I really do hope you’ll take two minutes to read it): Matthew 18:15-22
If you elected not to use the link, this passage is about restoring consideration, understanding, and acceptance among believers in the Church. This passage begins with this statement: “If your brother sins [against you], go and show him his fault when the two of you are alone.” The words in brackets there are left out of some translations, but they are there in the original Greek. The “you” pronoun is singular – it applies to just one person. You and the person who has wronged you need to meet one-on-one to discuss the contention between you. Next Jesus makes the connection to that passage in Deuteronomy involving two or three witnesses; he is reiterating that it is important to follow the pathway to justice laid down through Moses and carried forward by tradition for millennia. Look for arbitration with the one who has give offense, and try to get the matter resolved through contrition and reparation on one side with forgiveness and leniency on the other side. If that still doesn’t work, then the matter should be taken to the Church (ekklhsia ekklesia {ek-klay-see’-ah}. This is the same word used previously in Matthew in which Jesus told Peter he would be the Rock (Petra or Cephas) on which his Church would be built). Finally Jesus says that if even the Church cannot convince the defendant to make amends, he should be cast out of the fellowship of the Church and treated “like a Gentile or a tax collector.” Next, Jesus emphatically restates the parameters of this process – and this is where it gets a little confusing.
Jesus says, “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.” In the context of Deuteronomy as applied to restoring Church relationships, this is where Jesus refers to the offender and offended working things out together privately. In the presence of God, when two people seek to be reconciled, God will bless that work. And in that same context, if the falling-out cannot be resolved by the two, then arbitration through two or three witnesses should be the next step. In that regard, if two or three agree about anything they (the litigants) ask for, God will ensure that it is carried out. We can be assured of this because Jesus himself will participate in the reconciliation to ensure justice is done in the kindness and mercy of God. That’s one way to look at it based on the context in which it is given. In going to scripture for answers, context reigns supreme.
The times and situations surrounding an event are important even in the context of our prayers. What if two or more of us are gathered together in Jesus’ name to pray about something that is not related to a disagreement between to Christians? What if we are gathered together in the faith that praying as a community is God’s will and that God listens to the prayers of the faithful? Can God just ignore that? No, of course not. But what does he tell us about prayer and answers. We can get some insight by reading 1 John 3:21-22 – Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. When we are well-reconciled with God, our confidence in God’s response is increased because we are asking in the context of his commandments. We also have 1 John 5:14-15 – Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Have you ever heard that famous Bible verse, Hezekiah 9:9 that says, “God helps those that help themselves?” Or how about 1 Simon 4:1 “This too shall pass.” These two popular sayings are not in the Bible! There are no books in the Bible named Hezekiah or 1 Simon, so those verses can’t be there either. “Where two or three are gathered, I am there with them” is in the Bible – sort of – but not in the context we usually ascribe to it. Does that mean Jesus is present only when there is a conflict in the Church? No. Remember that he said Behold, I am with you always even to the end of the world. (Matthew 28:20) He also said Matthew 7:7 – “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Jesus is always with us even when no one else is with us. When we meet together in community, resolve to pray in agreement toward one goal, and are unified in our obedience to God, he certainly hears our prayers; and experience has shown he often answers those prayers in the spirit in which they are offered.
Never hesitate to call on him – alone or in community – because he alone can hear everything you think or say. He “chastens and hastens, his will to make known.” Next time you hear someone say, “You know what the Bible says; where two or three are gathered,” you will know the context of that phrase, but you will also know that we should humbly seek to help one another for we are to [b]ear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he is deluding himself. Galatians 6:2-3
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
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