Presence

from my sermon on 9/13/09 on Matthew 18:15-20

Some of you may be expecting me to say that you "have-to" be present in worship and Sunday School, but those of you who know me well know I will say we "get-to" meet the presence of Christ in the presence of some of His friends. I am in the midst of some of our UM foundation stones, our vows and what we believe. Today, we focus on what Jesus says, "Wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst."
The passage sounds strange to us, because we are so used to my rights, my privilges, my wants, my needs...in our individualistic culture. Especially, when we hear Jesus talk about confronting someone who has sinned. Where does that happen...I mean without someone bringing a lawsuit? I would have us slow down and see that this could be a gift, when someone cares enough about you to show you the real you in order to restore you to right relationship. Even the 2 or 3 witnesses were there as referees in order to protect the alleged and the agrieved. The whole point was to try to bring people back into community.
I know that in the early Methodist reform movement that this kind of behavior happened. In the classes that John Wesley set up, the questions were asked, "Do you want to be told of your sin, and that right plainly?" They held each other accountable.
Even today, it sometimes happens in the church. At one church I served, a Sunday School class was formed entirely of persons in 12 step groups. Every one there knew that they were only 1 drink away, 1 hit away, 1 binge away, 1 rescue attempt away at returning to a downward death spiral. They held each other accountable. As they say in 12 step programs, "We are as sick as our secrets, as healthy as our sharing." Christ shows up in confronting sin.
Secondly, the passage says that we pray together. When 2 or 3 agree together in prayer, the point is not to coerce God, but for God to form us into community. Again, in the early Methodist reform movement, the small groups would gather with the leader asking the question, "How does your soul prosper?" I love that question....how is with you and God...how are you praying? Where else in life does that question get asked? It doesn't happen at the grocery store...or with your neighbors. It is a church, small group question. Christ shows up in our praying together.
Thirdly, the passage talks about binding and loosing. This language comes from a Hebrew understanding; it meant to apply the law to new situations. John Wesley certainly wanted the early Methodists to apply the scriptures to their lives. He wrote his own translation of the NT and included study notes. He encouraged the Methodists to read the whole Bible and to read it in small groups. Today, we have given you 3rd graders you own Bible. There are going to be parts that you really like in the Bible, and parts you wish weren't in there. Guess which are the parts you need to deal with? The parts you don't like. A small group helps us to not avoid what we find in the Bible. I find that people are transformed when they read the Bible together. That's why Cathy and I have for the last 17 years taught Disciple Bible Study.
Friends, we sometimes forget that we are part of a peculiar, particular community called church. We are not necessarily therapeutic, and yet healing happens. We are not just a social club, yet fellowship happens. We are not a service group, yet good deeds happen. Church is the place where Jesus happens, and because of His presence all of these good things happen.
They especially happen in small groups. Jesus had a small group. It was always Jesus and the 12. They were diverse. Matthew was tax collector who worked for the government of Rome. Simon the zealot was trying to overthrow the government of Rome. Fishermen and learned ones, young and old. Jesus brought them together.
I know that there is a lot of sin in the world....I can measure it because there is a lot of loneliness in the world. You were not meant for loneliness. You were meant for right relationship with God and with others. Christ offers us His presence in the presence of His friends.
Teresa of Avila, a Spanish mystic of some centuries ago, said, "God has so ordained things that we grow in faith only through the instumentality of one another." We deal with Jesus in dealing with His friends. And the surest sign that Jesus comes among us is that we are transformed, made into new persons in small groups.
Today, you have the opportunity to sign up for small groups. If you take the yellow sheets, you get to find a place of believing and belonging. Life is hard enough; you don't have to do it alone. In fact, I think it is impossible to do this Christian walk alone. We are spiritually vulnerable when we don't have the comfort and challenge of a small group.
The passage toaday began with the quote from the NRSV that said, when a member of the church sins against you. The word in Greek is literally "brother." The early Christians were so close that they comsidered each other family, brother or sister in Christ.
I need to tell you a story from the time I was pastor at Laurel Heights in San Antonio. It was on a Sunday morning at the end of the early service. I was standing at the back door greeting folks as they left. One of the ushers came running up to me, "Pastor, there is an emergency phone call for you."
Are you the pastor?
Yes, I am. Who are you?
I live in the same apartment complex with George and Mary. This morning I found Mary sitting in the passenger side of the car. George wasn't behind the wheel. I said, Mary, where's George. She said, I don't know. I know that she has Alzheimer's. So I went to their apartment. I rang the bell. I knocked on the door. I called out, George, George. No answer, so I went in. I went back to their bedroom. I found George in bed, dead.
Parentheses---This is the prayer I have heard prayed so many times....I want to die peacefully in my sleep. God anwered this prayer for George. Only problem was George also prayed after Mary dies. Back to the story.
I said, How did you know to call me.
He said, I went back to Mary. Mary, every Sunday morning, I see you and George get up early. You put on nice clothes. I guess you go to church.
Mary said, We are members of Laurel Heights United Methodist Church. We are part of the Aldersgate Sunday School Class.
That's what I want for you. Even when the neurons aren't firing so well across the synapses of your brain, that you still know to whom you belong. I can't make up stories this good.
The Aldersgate Sunday School Class met that day, but not up in their 3rd floor classroom. No, they met at Mary's apartment. They brought in the food. They made the phone calls to the handful of blood relatives. They made the funeral plans. Because you see, they were her family.
You don't have to go through life alone. You get to experience the presence of Christ in the presence of some of His friends. That is the good news I have to share today. Amen.