01/08/2018
Matthew 18:20 NKJV - For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
In a culture where we feel two or three hundred, even thousands, are necessary to say we’ve been to church, Jesus says meetings of His people, meetings full of power and authority connected to heaven, do not need to be large gatherings. He shows up where only two or three of His followers gather at a time. Jesus is just as much present in the community living room as He is in the mega auditorium. He doesn’t need or require numbers.
A meeting of two or three is easy to gather. Someone is always close at hand, and it isn’t hard to find a place to meet. It also emphasizes how much Jesus loves community over isolation — agreement over independence. Two or three are mentioned, not to encourage absence, but to cheer the faithful few who do not forget the power of community.
But it’s not just meeting, it’s meeting in Jesus’ name that is most essential. Gathering together in His name means that we are known by Him and by His name and that He is our point of gathering.It also means we gather in a manner that Jesus would endorse. And here is the great reward of this gathering — Jesus isn’t up front, and He isn’t the back — He is right in the middle of it all. When we are in a gathering where He is in the midst, no one talks about how good the music or worship was or wasn’t; no one comments on the depth or shallowness of the teaching — all they know or care about is that Jesus showed up and He planted Himself right in the center of it. And here’s the best part — Jesus is not among us to point out our sins; or to mark down the imperfections of our worship; but to enlighten, strengthen, comfort and most of all love us.