Posted by Bigfish69 on 10:48 am
I
have heard it taught that when two or three people gather together in
the name of Jesus, he will be also present (Matthew 18:20). This has
come to my ears in three ways:- Jesus has asked all who have faith in him to gather and when we do he will turn up. This is why we gather for Sunday church services
- Jesus says he will be present even if there are two people of faith gathered together for his purposes. This means we can be the church anywhere and anytime. Large gatherings are not essential.
- Jesus is the second person and so we can operate missional purposes individually, but still in partnership with him.
We could analyse these points, but I choose to start with the surround text this scripture is pulled from Matthew 18:15-35)
If brother sins against you, privately talk to them about it. If they listen and acknowledge it, great. But if not, take one or two other people with you and go back again, so they can witness what you are saying.[i] If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. If they still won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or corrupt tax collector.
Whatever you forbidden earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. Also whenever at least two people agree on earth about anything you ask, God will do it for you. Why” Because whenever two or three gather together in Jesus’ name, he will be there among them (agree).
Then Peter asks: “But how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
To which Jesus replies: “No! 490 times! Then the Kingdom of Heaven requires you to forgive others from your heart because not to do so is like you are rejecting God’s forgiveness for you.”
We need to have mercy on those who sin against us, just as God had mercy on us. The consequence of not doing so is to be sent to prison to be tortured until your debt for God has been entirely repaid.
Jesus is speaking about forgiveness and restoration of relationships. About the numerous opportunities a person needs to be given to accept their behaviour. Talk with them in private, take a person or two to observe, take it before the broader church (not just leaders). Failing all this, the person is viewed as having no faith. They are unrepentant, having no faith in Jesus, and need to be treated as such.
One of the examples Jesus gives is “treat them as a tax collector” who at the time were considered some of the most vile people within the community. Traitors even. But hang on a moment. Wasn’t Matthew a tax collector? Why is this important? Because Matthew is the one writing this! In other words … “if the person continues to refuse what they have done, treat them as Jesus treated me.” Wow!
While the consequences of this settles in, let us continue … when two or three are gathered. Look at what is written again:
After speaking with the person in private, if they have not listened, take one or two people to say it again.
Therefore, with you added into the equation, this adds up to whenever two or three gather together in Jesus’ name …
In addition, if the person who had sinned against you had indeed listened and been restored to you then there would have been two (you and them) gather together in Jesus’ name
This is important because when we read the next bit, we understand gathering together in Jesus’ name means coming into agreement about the things that are important to him and thus God.
Whatever you forbidden earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. Also whenever at least two people agree on earth about anything you ask, God will do it for you. Why” Because whenever two or three gather together in Jesus’ name, he will be there among them (agree).
Forbid something or permit it. What is important is God will make happen ANYTHING we agree to. Why? Because Jesus is also in the agreement. God will do anything Jesus, his son, has signed off on.
So when Peter then asks how often to forgive someone who has done you wrong, he asks in such a way that suggests: “Surely there is a limit to how often I need to forgive someone before I can treat it as a lost cause.” But Jesus response was “Nope! There is no end to how many times you need to forgive them. You need to show mercy in the same manner God has you. Not to do so is to reject his mercy.”
This is not saying that God’s mercy is dependent upon yours. Rather, it is saying that you have no concept of what mercy is and therefore need to continue being taught about it until you do. That is, you have chosen to step out of the covenant made through Jesus and need to be treated as such.
***
So are the ways suggested of how we should gather accurate? Not sure. But upon reading this passage again I see this scripture is not about meeting together but rather God’s desire for us to forgive people, show unconditional mercy, and to make reconciliatory measure to achieve it which includes involving them so they may change. I also see that even if they reject all these efforts, we need to keep showing them mercy as Jesus did Matthew the tax collector. For how long? There are no time constraints. Remembering that we need to do this in the name of Jesus and as such God will commit to its success.
And yet again this leaves me with asking how to show mercy to someone who refuses to accept they have done wrong by me? This is a discussion for another time. But for now I just remember Jesus’ call for us to love our enemies.
[i]
NOT about only taking people who previously know about this or have
supporting examples. They are there to listen to the conversation.
