“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Question: What is our experience of this, of Christ being in our midst, and why is it so important?
This verse reminds me of two things I had read.
Warnings
In the first few chapters of Revelation, Jesus states that he walks in the midst of the seven churches (verse 2:1, and 1:20). But his walking in their midst has not prevented them turning from his path, and he gives various warnings – about loving doctrine more than Him and His people, of allowing false teaching and teachers to lead people into sin, and of becoming lukewarm in their faith through wealth. He promises to discipline the churches in various ways, and to punish church people who do not repent and change their ways.
Church invisible
Anglican doctrine (Article 19 of 39, and Lutheran (Article 7 of the Augsburg Confession) outline the distinction between the visible church as an organisation of this earth, and the church invisible, which is the congregation of believers or saints in all places and all times who truly believe in Christ.
So, any visible church we can see will be imperfect; it may have music styles that don’t inspire us; it will likely include some people who are harder to put up with than others; and all churches need to scrupulously guard against any people who are there for criminal purposes.
Out of our comfort zone
In most areas of life, such as sport, recreation, and even work, personality filtering tends to occur — we tend to associate with people who are similar to us, who confirm our own opinions and ways, and encourage us further along our chosen path. And that occurs in the visible church as well, we feel comfortable worshipping with people who have similar ways and ideas.
But in God’s invisible church, He sends all sorts of people we would not otherwise meet.
Jesus is in our midst, not to encourage us by making us comfortable, but to discipline us, to warn, correct, and change us, so we may become the people He can use in His kingdom.
We find ourselves being humbled like John in Revelation 1:17, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead”. We need to forget self, and come before our Lord with open hearts to learn what He wants us to know, to become the people He wants us to be. We can expect to have our opinions refined by fire, and our personalities changed and reconstructed.
His Holy Spirit may speak to us and guide us through the preaching of his Word, or it may occur in a personal way, when he sends individuals or small groups of believers to us. I praise God for guiding and correcting me through the many people he has sent into my life, who have been willing to speak and do what He has directed them!
And I pray for His guidance, and being given the means and the words to share with the people he brings into my life.
Note: The image is “The Potato Eaters” by Vincent Van Gogh, from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. See also the Communion reflection on Vincent Van Gogh
“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Question: What is our experience of this, of Christ being in our midst, and why is it so important?
This verse reminds me of two things I had read.
Warnings
In the first few chapters of Revelation, Jesus states that he walks in the midst of the seven churches (verse 2:1, and 1:20). But his walking in their midst has not prevented them turning from his path, and he gives various warnings – about loving doctrine more than Him and His people, of allowing false teaching and teachers to lead people into sin, and of becoming lukewarm in their faith through wealth. He promises to discipline the churches in various ways, and to punish church people who do not repent and change their ways.
Church invisible
Anglican doctrine (Article 19 of 39, and Lutheran (Article 7 of the Augsburg Confession) outline the distinction between the visible church as an organisation of this earth, and the church invisible, which is the congregation of believers or saints in all places and all times who truly believe in Christ.
So, any visible church we can see will be imperfect; it may have music styles that don’t inspire us; it will likely include some people who are harder to put up with than others; and all churches need to scrupulously guard against any people who are there for criminal purposes.
Out of our comfort zone
In most areas of life, such as sport, recreation, and even work, personality filtering tends to occur — we tend to associate with people who are similar to us, who confirm our own opinions and ways, and encourage us further along our chosen path. And that occurs in the visible church as well, we feel comfortable worshipping with people who have similar ways and ideas.
But in God’s invisible church, He sends all sorts of people we would not otherwise meet.
Jesus is in our midst, not to encourage us by making us comfortable, but to discipline us, to warn, correct, and change us, so we may become the people He can use in His kingdom.
We find ourselves being humbled like John in Revelation 1:17, “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead”. We need to forget self, and come before our Lord with open hearts to learn what He wants us to know, to become the people He wants us to be. We can expect to have our opinions refined by fire, and our personalities changed and reconstructed.
His Holy Spirit may speak to us and guide us through the preaching of his Word, or it may occur in a personal way, when he sends individuals or small groups of believers to us. I praise God for guiding and correcting me through the many people he has sent into my life, who have been willing to speak and do what He has directed them!
And I pray for His guidance, and being given the means and the words to share with the people he brings into my life.
Note: The image is “The Potato Eaters” by Vincent Van Gogh, from the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
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