Matthew 18: 15-20 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 18: 15-20 on biblegateway.com
Verse 15"If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. Verse 16But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. Verse 17If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Verse 18Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Verse 19Again, 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. Verse 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
Devotion
Christ promised he’d be present whenever two or three were gathered. As an Army chaplain that was a comfort. In 1989 in Panama, under combat conditions, I could not worship with a congregation larger than one squad (9 men). But size did not matter, only the devotion of those gathered together in Christ’s name mattered. On Christmas Eve I communed ,ore than half the battalion (about 250 soldiers) 9 men at a time, as they were rotated back for the service. That was 27 services in one day! I caught the other half Christmas Day. Never in my life have I ever experienced Christ as close as I did at each of those small gatherings. The devotion of those soldiers and the comfort drawn from the words “Given for you,” and, “Shed for you,” made all the difference in the world. That and the promise, “Wherever two or more of you…”
Prayer
It is not a presence of numbers you require, O Lord, but a presence of heart. Amen.