“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

— Matthew 18:20

This past Sunday as I walked into our 2nd service, I was running behind. I expected to have to work my way through the people gathering to get to the huddle our worship team has before service to do one last mental walk-through of the service. You know how it goes. Trying to get from one place to the next on Sunday morning can be a bit of an obstacle course of conversations. Imagine my surprise when I walked through the doors of the gym 15 minutes before worship begins, only see … many empty chairs and not many people. It was an easy, unencumbered walk from the door to the huddle space. Where is everyone, I thought and asked. The worship team looked at me, shoulders raised with questions. Hmm … is it raining? Did they all go to the first service? And then someone said it. “Well, where two or three are gathered …, right pastor?” Yeah, but do you remember the context in which Jesus says this? It’s when you’ve had a disagreement within the body, when someone has caused harm and you set out to show your sibling their harm and hope they will repent. And if that doesn’t happen, you go with another member to show your sibling the harm they have caused, hoping that the harm can cease and the body can reconcile. Twice in my ministry I have had to go to someone alone and then with another member of the congregation to show someone the harm they were causing. It didn’t go well. It was horribly painful, both times. In one case, a member felt the need to stand up on Sunday morning and apologize to the church. He wore his shame like heavy mantle. He also failed at apologizing, didn’t see the harm he caused, and made the congregation even more angry with him. I’m not sure I want to quote a verse that reminds us that Jesus is in the midst of church conflict. That seems not a good verse to say with shrugged shoulders as if it justifies low attendance. But having lived through a good deal of church conflict, I have to ask, where else would Jesus be? Of course he is standing right in the middle of two or three people disagreeing. Of course he is where hearts are broken and shame flies too freely. Of course he is. Jesus holds the conflict, the agreement, the hurt, the harm, the painful conversations and the reconciliation too. Where there are two or three, Jesus is three, wondering where the fourth and fifth people are.

Incidentally, after the pre-worship huddle, I went to take my place behind the worship stage, so I could come out and greet the people between the first and second song. It turns out my people weren’t absent. They were tardy.