Meeting together: God's support system

Introduction

Today we’re starting a new sermon series on Church Practices. These are the habits that we have as a church, which are designed to help us love God and love one another. Each week we’re going to look at a practice, explore why we do it, why it’s important, and how we can do it better. The goal of this series is to draw us closer to God and to bind us together in these practices, appreciating what we are doing and why.

This week we’re starting with perhaps the most basic practice of all: meeting together.

Meeting together is foundational in Scripture, starting with God meeting with Adam and Eve in the Garden in Genesis 3, continuing with the assembly or congregation of Israel often referenced in the books of Moses. The Hebrew word for assembly was translated into Greek as synagogue, which from Jesus time to today refers to the meeting of Jews together. And finally we find ekklesia—the Greek word that refers to the church, and literally means “called out people.”

Given this variety of meeting, where to start?

I’d like to start with Psalm 1. This Psalm is beautiful and familiar, but also gives us deep insight into what it means to gather together with others.

Let’s read.

Bible

Psalm 1 ESV

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Reflections on Psalm 1

Did you notice how Psalm 1 uses physical location as a metaphor for joining an activity? It uses the image of sitting in the seat of scoffers to describe someone who has chosen to habitually do evil. It talks about trees planted by streams of water to indicate those who worship God and live fruitful lives. And it contrasts the good, who can stand in the assembly or congregation of the righteous, with the wicked who are simply blown away and perish.

While all these images are metaphors, we must ask ourselves: why does this Psalm that forms the model for all wisdom Psalms use gathering as a metaphor? Metaphors are only helpful when they make sense, when they convey an idea by pointing to the similarity between the metaphorical situation and the actual situation.

Here the Psalmist is pointing out that righteousness is like belonging in a place of security and permanence, whereas wickedness is like never having a place to belong in.

There is something so profound about coming into someone’s presence, that the first Psalm relies entirely on this type of imagery.

We meet together to encounter God together

Let’s move into the New Testament. The apostle Paul has a very strong idea of what the church is. This is powerfully expressed in the book of Ephesians. Unfortunately, we don’t have time to read the whole book, so let’s just choose some very relevant verses. Such as:

Ephesians 4:15–16 NLT

15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

This is incredibly information dense, like all of Ephesians. But notice what Paul is talking about: speaking the truth to one another in love; fitting together perfectly; helping one another grow. These activities do not merely involve transfers of information. If you’ve ever tried, you would be well aware that you cannot speak the truth over text, Messenger, DM, or even Zoom or Facetime. No, to achieve that precise balance of speaking the truth in love requires doing life together and face-to-face encounters. We must be meeting together and sharing deep parts of ourselves with one another.

This takes time and opportunity.

And yes, we need to see the whole person, not just their upper body or their face.

The classic image of the newsreader or Zoomer who is wearing business clothes on top,

but underwear underneath warns us against how easy it is to pretend unless we meet in person. Ideally we would even see each other’s homes, because that would reveal so much more of ourselves.

Jesus is making the whole body, the church, fit together.

You can’t solve a jigsaw puzzle by scattering the pieces around the house, never letting them come into contact with one another. Equally, the church will never grow into the integrated body of Christ it is meant to be if we never have to come into contact with one another.

We’ll never rub each other’s rough edges down if we self-isolate. The church is inherently physical because it’s made up of physical human beings. And the church is inherently unified, because it is one body. Put those two together and it becomes clear that the church is inherently a place where you must physically meet together with one another.

Which brings me to a question for all of you:

Question:

How have you encountered God in meeting with fellow Christians in ways you haven’t alone?

We meet together to encounter one another

The reality is that we meet together in order to genuinely and fully encounter one another as full human beings. The new commandment is to love one another, just as Jesus loved us. And, as the apostle John asks us, “if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?” 1 Jn 4:20.

The famous exhortation in Hebrews exhorts us to not give up meeting together, but also explains why.

Hebrews 10:24–25 NLT

24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

You see, the church is built so that we might motivate one another to acts of love and good works! The church is not about brain-washing or guilt-removing ritual. It’s about urging one another on to becoming more and more Christlike.

Imagine that you decided to run a half-marathon. Some will find this harder to imagine than others, but still, try to imagine it. Now imagine that you are in those middle kilometres where you’re getting tired, but still have a long way to go. If you see a bunch of strangers and they yell out “keep going 294!” Is that going to give you much energy, much encouragement? Of course not!

But imagine if a family member or a close friend, who has been a part of your life, and therefore your training, is there, and they yell out encouragement. That makes a difference, right?

It’s the same for us—we can’t encourage one another unless we’ve done life together!

Question:

Share a time when your life has been changed by meeting with a fellow Christian

Takeaway: Christianity IRL

So what implications does this have for us IRL—in the real world?

Does this mean, for example, that we shouldn’t have Zoom? Or shouldn’t post our sermons online?

Clearly it doesn’t mean that. Zoom and online sermons are wonderful resources. But we should never mistake them for the real thing—for the genuine Christian fellowship found in meeting together.

I found a great quote in Jay Kim’s book, Analog Church. He quotes Ed Stetzer who said, “A church should be online, but I don’t think it should be an online church.” That may seem like a fine distinction, but it is actually the difference between a church grounded in genuine human experience, which includes a recognition of our physical nature, and a church that takes an almost gnostic view of humanity, imagining that we can have fellowship merely through our intellects.

Even this sermon, for example—though we are recording it and you can listen to it wherever and whenever, and even though I have previously written these words while sitting in my study at home—even this sermon is a physical act of fellowship. Not just in the answers that you’ve given to the questions, but in the way you listen, or don’t, and the way that I respond to your responses.

You can get much better preaching online, believe me. But those online sermons won’t be yours. This sermon is yours—it was written for you, it’s being presented to you, and you are listening to it and responding to it. I hope and pray that it is, in some small way, transforming you into a closer image of Jesus. It’s not just information. It’s not just content. It is an experience that we share together. Even something as easy to digitise as a sermon really needs to be experienced in person.

If experiences were so easy to gain remotely, why do we pay hundreds of dollars to go to a football game or a concert? Why do we pay thousands of dollars to travel somewhere? It’s because we cannot gain the experience without actually being there. And church is the same.

There are so many other aspects to why meeting together is critical to our spiritual, emotional, intellectual and even physical health, but I have to draw the line somewhere.

And, anyway, the rest of this sermon series will touch on this general topic in many ways as we talk about aspects of meeting together, such as Singing Together, which Graham will speak on next week, and Eating Together, Serving Together, Communion, and Baptism.

To summarise, let me say this: our Christian faith is real and it involves our entire being. It is also huge—too big for one person to live out on their own. And so our faith must be lived out together IRL (in the real world).

Our prayer

I want to leave the last word to Paul, who literally wrote much of the book on how we, as Christians should live our lives together. This is Paul’s exhortation to the Roman Christians, after twelve chapters of incredibly sophisticated theology. Let’s make this our prayer. Let’s read this—together!

Romans 12:9–18 NLT

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. 15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

Amen.