Growing up people told me all kinds of things that it takes to have a church.
it takes a building
it takes a pastor
it takes a priest
it takes music
it takes an organ
it takes a band
as an kid growing up in a Catholic Church I was told that it takes the official approval of the Pope in Rome and the local Roman Catholic Bishop in order to have a legitimate church. But then I here Jesus say something so bold as,
It only takes 2 or 3.
That's all the people you need, 2or 3 people gathered in Jesus name and he's there in the middle of the meeting. He's there in the middle.
He's right there at the supper table or the breakfast table when people say, “Come Lord Jesus be our guest and let these gifts to us be blessed. I was sitting at breakfast a few weeks ago with our girls and I asked them to imagine this prayer and who we are inviting in to sit with us right there at the breakfast table. Gracia asked where his plate and fork were. Faith said doesn't Jesus need a waffle. Jesus says he's there. Jesus the risen one. Jesus the one with holes in his hands and feet from where the spikes pierced him and a whole in his side where the sword went in. Jesus the risen one is right there in the middle of our everyday lives. Where two are three are gathered in his name he's right there.
Human beings, over the centuries, have made some enormous lists of the people and things they believe are required in order to have church and be church. But when I hear Jesus words at the end of our Gospel today and everything that I'd ever heard about all the people required to have a church or the special things that people were supposed to do went out the window.
On my internship I was 30 miles form a town devastated by a tornado. Two church buildings were destroyed. Another had only one standing wall and another was damaged, but still usable. The things we humans might look to and thing of that define a church were gone, but these two congregations were still church. The music was gone, the organ, the altar, the pews, the stained glass, the art. All of it was gone. But they were still church. They were still church a body of people gathered in Jesus name around the Word of God, bread, wine, and the water of Baptism.
We think that we need all kinds of extra things; but for those two congregations what mattered was being alive together. They were grateful to know that the other members of the church were still there. Homes were gone, farms were gone, the school was wiped off the map, businesses were destroyed; but they were still church together gathering in Jesus name.
Today, Rally Sunday, when we rededicate ourselves to worship and to children's ministry is a great day to remember that the church, at its core, starts small, with 2 or 3 gathered in Jesus name.
Church life starts with relationships. (Matthew 22:35-40 NIV)
an expert in the law, tested [Jesus] with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: ”‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
In the first commandment God invites us into relationship with himself. Jesus taught that the second most important thing in this life are relationships with other people. Now the church is one place in our culture where people deal with one another. We live in a world of personal space and cocoons. We live in a world where we can be alone right in the middle of a big city. The church is uniquwe in our world because everyone regardless of age or status can be present in a church. Everyone—young or old—rich or poor—can be part of the church.
The TV lately has been full of election year rhetoric. One group tries to talk about another. One group labels another. There's no conversation. There's just opinion verses opinion. But if you watch Hardball or any other political talk show you aren't seeing Christian community. Jesus doesn't want us to search for ups or downs ins or outs. Jesus invites to think like family. He doesn't want us just to win arguments. He wants us to be church.
Jesus words in Matthew 18:15-17 are instructions for human beings trying to relate to one another in the church that we see on this earth. Some times we do well listening to one another. We live side by side as brothers and sisters. Other times we do terribly. We all have had times when we had a failure to communicate with one another.
Jesus invites us to meet each other face to face. He calls us to name the times we've been wronged. We are not to seek revenge; rather we should seek the ear of the neighbor who has wronged us. It's a painful time in ministry and fellowship when you turn to a brother or sister and tell them they've hurt you or let you down.
Jesus invites his followers not to seek a way to kick another out of fellowship but to restore them to fellowship first. Some will seek forgiveness. Some will grow enraged that they would be confronted. Some will just walk away facing the painful truth of what they have done. Its deeply painful, if you're the one who has been asked to sit down and listen as another shares their grievance with you. It's hard to listen but it your chance to be restored.
Bound together.
Jesus' words about casting someone out of fellowship are haunting. We are to treat the former member as a tax collector and sinner. We are to bind and lose them as members not only of a local church; but as part of the unseen mystical body of Christ. These words are not only about binding and releasing sin, they are about binding and releasing brothers and sisters.
We underestimate the organic and relational nature of the church. The church is Christ's body made up of living breathing believers called together by the Holy Spirit. We gather around the Word of God, water, bread, and wine. The Holy Spirit, people, and these 4 basic elements make up the true church. The church is not buildings or budgets. Pastors serving in established congregations might have buildings or budgets; but they are not and will never be the truly constitutive elements of the church.
The church will never be constrained by physical or monetary limits. Jesus is present when a few, maybe 2 or 3 people, gather in His name. We need no building or money. We need faith, hope, love: Gifts of the Spirit binding us together around the Word and Sacraments.
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