Where Two or Three are Gathered

St. Peter's, Purcellville:
decorated for Christmas

During Advent, I was leading a Morning Prayer service on Wednesday mornings.  At first it was just me, then one person joined me, then another, but this past week (the last service for the time being) it was back to just me again.  And whether I was the only one present, or whether there were others, I read through the service, aloud, each time I was there.  I noticed that even though the number of worshipers was small every time, there was a distinct difference in the feel of the service as soon as it was more than just me alone. 

That’s because something special happens when God’s people gather in His name, even if the number is quite small.  St. John Chrysostom puts his finger on it in the prayer attributed to him that comes at the end of the MP service.  “you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his Name you will be in the midst of them”   (from Matthew 18:20) 

When we are alone, God is in us: as faithful believers, we have been given the Holy Spirit (John 14:17), and more than that, we have Jesus abiding in us, and through him the Father also. (John 14:20).  So when we are alone and speak to God, we speak to God as dwelling within us.  That is personal prayer and relationship with God, and an important part of our lives as Christians.

But what happens when “two or three gather in His name”?  There He is, in the midst of us!  God is no longer only within, but also among and between!  God “with” us.  And the presence of God in the midst of us will change everything.  The presence of God among us converts our private prayer into corporate worship – even if the time and place and form and everything else is the same (as it was for my variously attended Morning Prayer services). 

And we need to participate in corporate worship.  It is the joyful duty of God’s people to come together with God in their midst to worship.  Anyone who thinks they can “worship on the golf course” instead of attending corporate worship, doesn’t know what they are talking about.  Gathering regularly with others for worship is a cornerstone of faith and one of the simple ancient disciplines of living the Christian life.  We worship weekly, joining with God’s people in God’s presence to offer Father, Son and Holy Spirit all the glory, awe and love they inspire in us.  

If you consider yourself a Christian, yet don’t feel any need to gather with others to offer loving praise to God, then perhaps you need to reconsider your faith.  Perhaps you need to reexamine the nature of the god you believe in.  Because if the god you believe in does not inspire such love and awe in you that you want to gather with others to shout it out, then perhaps it is not God himself that you believe in, but some shadowy imposter - a mere idol.  

Find a church and go find out who God really is.  God will be there with those who gather - you can count on it!

I AM with You Always!

While meditating on scripture, the Lord granted me images of His tender and loving care of us during the course of our lives.  I pray that it fills you with peace and joy, and feeds your hungry soul!

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The LORD your God is with you, 

   he is mighty to save. 

He will take great delight in you, 

   he will quiet you with his love, 

   he will rejoice over you with singing. 

                        Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV 1984) 

"I AM the Lord your God, and I AM with you always!

"I AM with you as a mother with a newborn babe.  I hold you and delight in your existence, rejoicing over you for no other reason than that you “are.”  Nothing, no action on your part, is needed to inspire My love!

"I AM with you as a parent with a young child, delighting in your childish exuberance to learn and discover My creation, quieting your fears, singing at the joy in your being.

"I AM with you as the father of a young woman preparing to wed – delighting to see you love and to transform from child to adult, quieting your unease at the changes that loom before you with the sure knowledge of My own love of you, and rejoicing for the person you have become.

"I AM with you as the bridegroom with his bride.  The beauty of your spirit and the depth of your love for Me are My great delight .  In your uncertainty at how to love in this new way, I sooth you with strength of My own love.  I rejoice at our union.

"I AM with you as a friend of your heart.  I delight when you trust to share with Me both the trials and joys of your life.  I take your hand to ease your sorrows with My quiet presence, I take your hand and sing with you in your joy.

"I AM with you as a comrade, to encourage you in times of failure.  I delight in your desire to press on, to try, to hope – even against all odds.  I am with you to supply the quiet confidence of My loving support, even in the face of your great distress and sorrow.  I rejoice that even in failure, you shall learn and grow.

"I AM with you as a loving care-giver at the end of life.  Each line and wrinkle, each scar and healed wound, remind Me of the whole of your life and the person you have become.  I quiet your heart with the sure knowledge of the time soon to come, and rejoice that you will soon be with Me more fully.

"I AM with you as one who mourns.  In quiet love, I tenderly prepare and anoint your body for the grave.  My great delight is that you were.  My greater rejoicing is that you will yet be…

"I AM with you as both Judge and Advocate, calling for a reckoning of your sins and short-comings, even as I show you how all those deficiencies shall be made right in My eyes.  I delight that you have chosen My Way, My Truth, My Life, so that  My loving sacrifice may be the quiet confidence of your soul.  Your salvation is My joy and My song!

"I AM the Lord your God, and I AM with you!"

Advent: Not Christmas "Lite"

Last night, St. Peter’s church had their annual service of Advent Lessons and Carols.  The choir did a phenomenal job, and I was glad I made the effort to venture back out into the cold, dark evening for a second church service.  As I was appreciating the choir’s anthems, pondering the readings, and singing the selected hymns with great pleasure, I was struck by how much rich content is missed by Christians who celebrate Advent as merely the season of “Christmas Lite.”

By “Christmas Lite,” I mean a time that focuses solely on the coming celebration of Jesus’ birthday, accompanied by the rapid unfurling of all things Christmas.  There seems to be so much pressure to deliver so much Christmas-centered content that it’s too much to fit it all in on, or even close to,  Christmas Eve. Christmas carols and anthems show up right after Thanksgiving and full-blown Christmas decorations appear in the worship space.  I’ve even heard of parishioners complaining to the pastor if the Christmas carols aren’t trotted out at the beginning of Advent.  Sadly, it’s simply a reflection of sentimental secular Christmas preparations creeping into the Church.

But that sort of Advent observance misses the whole point of the season.  Advent is not about preparing for your Christmas observances – it’s not about figuring out the best way to honor Jesus’ birthday.  Advent is about remembering who we are as the people of God, remembering the promises God made to comfort and care for His people, promises to reconcile us to Himself and make right all the things between us where we’ve gone wrong.  It’s remembering God’s promises to send a Savior, a Messiah, an Anointed One. 

And with the vision of a promised Savior freshly in mind, the birth of a baby to unremarkable parents in humble circumstances in a backwater of the Roman Empire doesn’t at first seem to fit our expectations.  Our Advent ponderings add so much depth and significance to what might otherwise become merely a poignant remembrance of a poor baby born in a stable.  Advent sets the stage for our Christmas joy at finding God work, yet again, in startling ways that fulfill our needs beyond what we could ask or imagine ourselves. 

See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
   and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
   and his recompense accompanies him. -Isaiah 40:10

May your Advent preparations serve to fill your heart with overflowing joy and wonder at the loving care and provision so unexpectedly  provided to us by our Creator, the One God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen!

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Gordon Conwell Seminary is providing daily emailed Advent devotional prepared by their faculty.  It's just one of many great ways to keep yourself oriented to appropriate preparations during Advent.  Click here to go to their website and sign up.

Never Give Up (Pray Continually!)

In January it will be two years since my maternal grandmother died.  She was the only grandmother I really knew, and she had an important place in my childhood and youth.  All I have left to remind me of her (besides my fond memories) are a handful of old snapshots and a rather large jade ring.

The ring doesn’t look like it was expensive, just a ¾-inch oval of unremarkable jade, in a 4-prong setting with some cutout swirls and leaf appliqués decorating the sides.  While charming in its simple way, it’s not a piece of jewelry that speaks pure beauty and pleasure to my soul in the way some other jewelry can.  When it was offered to me, I took it as something to remember my grandmother by, not because of the ring’s inherent appeal.

Granny's ring on my ring finger!

That changed last week.  The ring didn’t used to fit my ring finger, and I had to use a thick guard to keep it on my pinky.  I wore it like that a few times, and then set it aside.  Tuesday morning, though, I was inspired to wear it and to my great pleasure, found that (because I had lost some weight) I could wear it on my ring finger!  Being able to slide that ring onto my now slimmer finger was a gift in and of itself.  But as I looked at the ring on my hand, I remembered my grandmother and heard in my mind the words “never give up.” 

“Never give up.”  The last time I saw my grandmother, she’d had a stroke or attack of some sort, and was in the hospital, unable to speak.  So I spoke for both of us, chatting on about family and circumstances.  I watched her eyes as I spoke to her.  I don’t think I’d ever looked at them as intently as I did during that visit.  Even though she obviously couldn’t speak, I could see in her eyes that she was still “in there,” still present, still understanding my presence if not my words.  She had not given up.

“Never give up.”  Those were certainly words I need to hear these days.  It’s been a tempestuous couple of months, filled with a wide range of challenging circumstances, difficult people, and reminders that God has called me to do something which I haven’t fully responded to yet. 

“Never give up.”  During the day, each time I happened to catch sight of my hand and that ring, “never give up” came to mind.  It felt like God’s Spirit whispering to my heart in the guise of my grandmother:  “Never give up.  Remember how she held on, even to the end, even when she couldn’t speak!  You are strong and in the prime of life – how can you do less than she?  There are things only you can do.  Never give up!”

When I first came to faith, I decided that washing my hands was a good reminder to turn my heart to the Lord in prayer.  The warm water on my fingers reminded me of the warm love of our Lord, and I made it my habit to pray at least briefly.  Now I find that I have a new reminder to turn to God: my grandmother’s jade ring.  I expect to be wearing it more often, and I intend to let it be a reminder to me of the simple, ancient discipline of prayer, a reminder of turning my heart and mind to Jesus and remembering the abundant goodness that God grants us at all times and in even the most difficult circumstances.  A reminder as well to never give up...

I encourage you be on the lookout for the reminders God is providing to you to help remember to turn to Him in prayer.

 "Pray Continually"

   -1 Thessalonians 5:17