On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ John 20:19 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/jhn.20.19.NIVUK
Gathering is important. It's exactly why the writer to the Hebrews penned these words: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:23-25 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/heb.10.23-25.NIVUK Meeting together is precious. We try and visit our family in the Philippines when we can. No meeting is more precious than meeting up with relatives you haven't seen for a long time. Even more so after the world's biggest storm ever to make landfall devastated their island. That was one sweet meeting. I believe that the next time we see them will be even sweeter. Now imagine how it will feel for us to meet together again in church. How happy we will be to see each other! I can imagine that being a really emotional time. This meeting, however, would have been completely different. The disciples gathered, but out of fear of arrest or even death. Their Lord had been murdered, their friend Judas had committed suicide. This was a beleaguered, terrified group, jumping at shadows, taking refuge in a locked room. I doubt if they followed an order of service. I don't think they would have been singing. I imagine nervous chatter in fearful, hushed tones, mulling over what on earth they could do next. This was church, but nowhere near how we know it now. And yet they had got something right. They had gathered, and at no little risk to themselves. They were identifying themselves as a group. They were together for encouragement (although I doubt if much of that was going on) and strengthening. These were the hardest of times. They needed to be together. As King Solomon said: Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no-one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/ecc.4.9-12.NIVUK There is strength in numbers. Jesus knew it, and the disciples knew it too. It should not be a surprise that the Early Church was characterised by the frequency with which they met together (Acts 2:46-47; Acts 5:42) Now we can't do this during a pandemic. I don't believe any of the foolish conspiracies which say that this is anything to do with the high and mighty denying us our fundamental rights. There is a killer pestilence out there. It is taking lives by the thousands every day. There is a huge risk of passing it on, specifically to the most vulnerable among us, if we meet together physically. But we are blessed with the technology to meet together electronically, and we must use it well. We can spur each other in love and good deeds through text messages, phone calls, video calls and conferences. We can use all the means at our disposal to encourage each other. There are many nations who could be affected by this deadly virus that don't have this. There are many believers who will lack fellowship while Covid-19 is striking their country. We have the means to stay together. We must use it and use it to the full. We cannot ignore the reality that mass or even group gatherings, against medical advice and in defiance of government orders, have been responsible for the spreading of this deadly disease. And some of these gatherings have taken place in churches. But neither can we ignore the fact that many of the most significant Resurrection appearances happened to groups of believers. Jesus Himself promised before He was arrested: For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.’ Matthew 18:20 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/mat.18.20.NIVUK We cannot gather in person. We can gather online. One of the main words used to describe a church in Romanian is 'adunare' - a gathering. They kept meeting together even under severe persecution from one of Europe's most vicious Communist regimes and at incredible risk. We too must gather. We must be together. When we are together, then Christ is there, as He was in the locked room. But we must be together electronically. I do not believe that these events we are passing through will destroy the church. No, they will make it stronger. For centuries we believed the church was a building. Then we believed it was the fellowship of believers. Now it has become so much more than that. It has become a community. A community just as vital when it cannot meet as when it can. A community that can spur each other on towards love and good deeds, that can encourage each other and strengthen each other even when we cannot be with each other. We are developing a dynamic group of people that will simply become unbreakable. You see, the Early Church was never a building. It was a body: a body made of co-dependent parts. As Paul put it: If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:26-27 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/1co.12.26-27.NIVUK From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Ephesians 4:16 NIVUK https://bible.com/bible/113/eph.4.16.NIVUK I believe the reason why Jesus appeared to this group at this time was because they were being 'church'. They were there for each other. Sure, they were not a church in the traditional sense. But maybe the traditional sense is not enough. Maybe this virus is teaching us the correct way of understanding what it means to be a church. We are not a social gathering or a group of 'holier-than-thous' gathering to 'out-holy' each other. That's what the world sees. No, fundamentally we are a gathering of people who serve each other and are there for each other. No matter what. In the midst of a serious external threat, we are gathering of people who have each others' backs. The next phase talks about what turns this gathering into a church. The first phase is that the disciples gathered, just as they had been taught and as they needed to do, at huge personal risk. The second phase, which should make the hairs on the back of our neck stand to attention, is that JESUS CAME.
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