A Family Thing
Lectionary passage for this Sunday: John 14:15-21
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."
Matthew 18:18-20
“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
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While we may be few in number today, that in no way hinders God’s presence among us. No quorum is required. Jesus promised to be present with us through the Holy Spirit, whether individually or as a group. But he made special promises to us as a group gathering in his name.
Most of us have experienced the power of the group. That can be a negative when the group becomes a mob or a riot. But it can also be for good. We know from first hand experience that collective action can accomplish what an individual cannot. For example, I am a member of the Tennessee Education Association. As a teacher, being part of the organization has enabled me to have a political voice that would not be possible as an individual. Collectively, we have been able to positively impact educational issues locally, at the state level and on the national stage. I am very concerned about loosing that collective voice. Collectively, seniors exercise a powerful voice through AARP. There are any number of organizations that have an impact on society...on political issues, community service, the environment and others.
Two wonderful examples of group action in our community are the Boys’ and Girls’ Club and Good Samaritan Center. Maybe one or two of you would have the energy and resources to pick up a child or two after school, take them into you home, give them a nutritious snack, help them with their homework, provide some positive physical activity and at the same time teach them important life lessons. That is what Boys’ and Girls’ Club does every day. I couldn’t do that individually, but if I support Boys’ and Girl’s Club, I help make it possible. Two or three of you in this congregation (maybe more, I don’t know) had the vision and passion to be part of bringing this valuable organization to Lenoir City and continue to sustain its work.
Maybe one or two of you in the congregation have the compassion to seek out a family in our community who is in need and provide them with food. Maybe you can even help with their utility bill and other needs until they get back on their feet. Two or three of you (maybe more, I don’t know) in this congregation had the vision and passion to help organize and sustain the Good Samaritan Center, which does all this and more. As a church family we collectively support this ministry.
Likewise in our Christian life, we as individuals can have an impact on the people we know and encounter. But as part of a church family, our impact is multiplied.
From the very beginning, God made covenants with people - plural - not persons. Wait a minute, you might say. What about Noah? Didn’t call call an individual to action? But if you look back to Genesis 6 and 7 you will be reminded that it was not just Noah who was called, but all his family, his wife, his 3 sons and their wives, were part of God’s covenant.
The same with Abraham. God called Abraham along with his whole household . In Gen 12:3 God promised Abraham that through him ALL the families of the earth would be blessed. So it seems that from the beginning God intended our relationship with him to be plural, a family relationship, not just an individual relationship.
Is our church family essentially different from other organizations to which we belong? I think we are different when we gather, even 2 or 3 of us, to ask and act in Jesus name. I would like to examine what it means to gather in Jesus name?
Jesus constantly emphasized the connection between believers and the power that flowed from relationships. If two agree, it will be done. If 2 or 3 gather in my name, I will be there. As a Christian family we have power.
When we gather “in Jesus name” we are consciously aligning ourselves with His will, His mission and His ministry. We can then tap into a power even more profound that the collective power of secular organizations. Read that passage from Matthew again. We can do anything if it is in His name! If we align ourselves with His will, we are also putting ourselves in accord with one another. If we agree on it, we can do anything! When we gather “in Jesus name” our focus shifts to the big picture of God’s work in the world, rather than the narrow view of our individual differences. Instead of focusing on logistics and programs, we can ask “what would Jesus do?” and search for the answer. When we pray together the Lord’s Prayer, when together we affirm our faith and ing praise, we are consciously bringing ourselves into agreement with one another and with God.
If you are hearing my voice today, I guess you missed the Rapture. There are a lot of crazies out there who represent themselves as speaking “in Jesus name.” They claim to have an inside track on the Truth. I am very skeptical of people who claim to have a special hold on the Truth. To me, a mathematical equation is the only objectively verifiable truth. If you tell me anything else, I want to see the evidence. When we traditional mainline protestant (translate boring, conservative) Methodists gather or pray in Jesus name, how do we know that we are tapping into the real deal. What gives us confidence in our truth? What is the evidence that he is indeed among us?
Hear again what Jesus said to his disciples in today’s passage from John. "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth....
Jesus promised to send us the Spirit of Truth, the Holy Spirit, to be among us and be our Advocate. This passage gives us a couple of Truth tests. The first is “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” What are those commandments? Love God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself were the greatest commandments. So we can ask if our desires, our actions and our truths are compatible and consistent with Jesus commandments and with his life and teaching. Or in other words, “what would Jesus do.” The letter to the editor in the News-Sentinel a few weeks ago that claimed that Jesus would not oppose firearms in public places failed this test!
A second test is that the Spirit of Truth abides in us. The Holy Spirit is part of our being. If we earnestly and honestly seek God’s will, the Truth just feels right. We know the truth by loving God.
This evidence may still be too subjective to pass our tests. In the Wesleyan tradition there are very specific ways, what John Wesley called the means of grace, through which we have evidence of Jesus among us. Through these means of grace we grow in our knowledge and love of God. They are prayer, Bible study, worship, fasting and conversations with other Christians. If you notice, they have a group dimension. Both worship and conversation require at least 2 or 3 to gather. Bible study and prayer have greater depth and power when we do them in conversation with other Christians rather than individually. Maybe we should even take up collective fasting instead of feasting as we usually do.
If through our collective prayer, Bible study, worship and conversations with other Christians we find consistent agreement, we can be confident of that as truth. If we are acting in Jesus name, we will be affirmed in each and every of these means of grace. Then we can be confident that we are in touch with the real deal.
“Where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name , I will be there among them.” As a family of believers, gathered with the intention to be in accord with God’s will, we have access to amazing grace and amazing power, because we have Jesus with us.
Benediction: Isaiah 55:12
For you shall go out in joy and be lead back in peace;
The mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Go forth to love and serve your family.
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