Christ's Presence In Our Gathering

Is there a person, famous or otherwise, that would be on your bucket list to meet? If you got a chance to meet that person and they offered to spend time with you and answer any questions you had, what would you do to make sure that meeting happened?

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is a promise Jesus makes to his church, a promise repeated by the apostles. Jesus tells us in Matthew 18 that as the church gathers to execute the keys of the kingdom and discipline the unrepentant believer that he is with us, even if only two or three of us are there. This gives the church confidence to do what Jesus calls us to even when it might be very costly.

But that’s not the only time Jesus said this. Before he ascended to heaven Jesus gathered his disciples and told them that he would be with them, even to the ends of the earth. And this is particularly true when the church is going into the world to make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them. Paul also tells the Thessalonian church that the Lord of peace, Jesus himself, was with them and would give them peace at all times and in every way.

Over and over, throughout the New Testament, we see that Jesus gathers with his body, especially when they are gathered together in worship and under the Word. So this leads to one simple question we should all ask ourselves: Do you realize Jesus is present in a special way with his church when they gather for worship on the Lord’s Day? Jesus is present with you in a powerful, gracious way when you gather with God’s people to worship.

What does this mean? It means, first, that Jesus is there spiritually with us to give us his peace. The first thing Jesus did after his resurrection was gather with his disciples in the upper room and declare his peace to them. Then he met with them the next Sunday and said, again, “peace be to you.” Jesus is our Emmanuel, God with us, and he is our peace. He made peace between us and God on the cross and reconciled us to himself. He makes peace between us as he forgives our sins and we forgive one another. The peace of God is and should be powerfully present in the body of Christ as we worship because Jesus is there. This is one of the ways we receive the grace of God in communion because Jesus has made us one body by his broken body.

Second, it means Jesus is there to give us his grace. God has told us how we are to approach him — in spirit and in truth. We’re to worship him the way he’s called us to, so that we might receive grace from him and not glorify man or any other pragmatic means. We glorify God as we come to him as he commands. And he’s designed it so that we receive grace through those means. We’re transformed as we sit under the word and receive it with humble hearts. We’re transformed as we ask God in prayer to forgive us and make us more like Jesus. We’re changed from one degree of glory to the next as we lift up voices straight from our hearts in joyful singing as we teach one another through the songs we sing. We find refreshing streams of mercy as the Word of God rains down on the people of God because Jesus is there with us!

Third, it means Jesus is there to see his Name glorified and proclaim his Name to us and then through us to the world around us. We don’t gather to receive an emotional high and then get stirred up to share the gospel on Monday. We gather to receive Christ and then give Christ to others, both inside the church and outside in the world.

We preach Christ and him crucified and Jesus blesses this preaching by giving us more and more of himself. How should this affect how we view worship on Sunday morning?

1. It should give us a heart that longs to be there more than anywhere else on earth. Where else could we find the words of eternal life? Where else could we go to be near our Lord in the most powerful way? What other means of discipleship could ever top this?
2. It should lead us to approach Sunday with preparation and expectation. We prepare our hearts through prayer and then we expect God to meet with us and feed us because he promised to. He’s our faithful God and he gives us good things!
3. It should lead us to take what we’ve heard and experienced on Sunday and carry that through the week. How did we hear the Word on Sunday? How can I apply this to my life on Monday? Meditate richly on the things we’ve heard and pray for God to make them applicable in our lives.
4. It should lead us to gather frequently with other believers outside of the gathering so we can continue to build each other up, speak words of life to one another, reflect on what God has done and is teaching us through the Word we’ve heard, and urge one another to press on and keep gathering even though all the world and every attack of Satan is aimed at keeping us from the gathering or destroying it’s efficacy in our lives.
5. Lastly, it should lead us to joy that Jesus is so gracious to us that he would give us himself despite our sin and weakness and frailty. We’ve all sinned and we all come into the Lord’s Day worship full of dread, shame, apathy, etc. But Jesus says “come” and invites you to partake of his grace so you can be strengthened, established, uplifted, and know the infinitely immense love of God in Christ Jesus for you.