May 04, 2015
The Need For Assembly
A few weeks ago I attempted a
visit to a Baptist church, but when I walked in the small congregation was
holding a business meeting. They were in turmoil because their pastor had
either abruptly resigned, or had been fired. Last Sunday I went back for a re-visit,
knowing they were still most likely in pastor-search mode. However, when I
arrived at the church I was greeted by a sign on the door that said, “Sorry No
Services Today.” There is no way of knowing what is happening in
congregation. However, the lack of any type of simple service, either a Bible
study, Sunday school, or prayer meeting, speaks volumes about their leadership
overlooking the need for assembly in spite of their loss. After the crucifixion
Jesus appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus and once the Lord
revealed himself to them they went immediately to Jerusalem. The disciples had abruptly
lost their Rabbi and yet, “…There they found the Eleven and those with them,
assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared
to Simon” (Luke 24:33b-34 NIV).
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----The participation making our lives comfortable and secure goes mostly unnoticed. Barrack Obama was a little bit right, “If you’ve got a business - you didn’t build that.” Of course you built it! You planned it. Nobody else did. You set its goals. Nobody else did. You worked hard pulling together the resources and making the first product; nobody else did. But unless all those initially invested resources came from your own bank account, somebody else lent it to you. And once those resources were made into product, you certainly did not sell it all to yourself. Somebody else bought it. Had you needed to buy it all yourself, your business would have ended with its first sale. Certainly, you assembled the business, but it must operate in the economy like a body must breath air. No man is an island unto himself. And yes, somebody else said that.
-----Our new life in the Lord is similar. Its start up process is not as work intensive. Actually, it is quite easy: you surrender then we all rejoice. But once it’s fired up and working “…you didn’t build that” applies much more to it. Don’t doubt there is a lot of your working in that new life‘s growth. Scripture must be learned, and how it applies to your affairs must be reckoned. And that reckoning must be vetted for its proximity to the truth, since we worship Truth. Then, for the reckoning to be sincere, even having been found approximately true, you must go do what the scriptures reckoned about your affairs. You must do work so you can eat. You must do generosity to the neighbor. You must do kindness. You must be gentleness. You must hold unto perseverance. You must have faith.
-----But I didn’t make the shirt I’m wearing. Someone else did. I didn’t make the pepperoni I just had for breakfast. Someone else who made it didn’t make the plastic bag I bought it in. Whenever I walk into a supermarket or a clothing store or anywhere I need to get something I need, I see far more than a store. I see a community of participation. I see more people of various duties performing more tasks than I can imagine to make and haul and put onto the store shelf the cap screw I need for my roller-skate truck. The economy is the continuous participation of countless souls doing what fulfills needs.
-----Church is a continuous participation of souls in an economy one large step higher than the needs of our bodies alone. Through it flows the edifications and encouragements and acknowledgments opening our vision to see and awakening our senses to feel the mechanism critical to our new lives. We can only imagine the whole mechanism, but what of it we actually do see and feel are those who know the Lord, too, in our immediate proximity. That we hang with those regularly doesn’t make us a church. That we participate in the economy of His body, the love and joy, the peace, patience, and kindness, the goodness, the faithfulness and gentleness growing in our trails blazed by self-control makes us church whenever and wherever we meet another of the same. Sometimes its in City Market. Some very real brothers and sisters work there. Often little flurries of praise break loose when we all momentarily happen upon each other. Its church.
-----I reckon those people of that little Baptist church took their own advice given you and went on to be church with others. I hope all they did was close up a meeting place that wasn’t being popular.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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