And Jesus said, ”For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them. -Matthew 18:20
Dear Disciple of Christ,
Do you have any idea what a “critical mass” is? What might first come to mind for you is that it is “the amount of fissile material needed to sustain nuclear fission.” That is true but I expect some of you didn’t know that or care even now that I’ve told you. But there are other usages of the phrase. In the religious sphere you might think it relates to a worship service that goes pretty poorly and everyone criticizes it once it’s over. According to Merriam-Webster “critical mass” is “a size, number, or amount large enough to produce a particular result.” That leads to the actual church usage I’ve read about. It is the minimum number of worshipers you need before worshipers don’t feel as if there are too few worshipers, where they notice more of who is not there than who is there. This often guides communities in goals and numbers of services. We want worshipers to feel comfortable in the service and not be distracted by empty seats. That is what church studies suggest a “critical mass” is (actually about 50 people).
I wonder if there is any Biblical consideration of this question. For the Jews, there is actually a minimum number of (male) Jews (at least 13years old) needed in order to hold a public worship service. As I sometimes mentioned in sermons sometimes, “I’ll give you 53 points if you can tell me what that ‘quorum’ is called.” Ok, if that’s too tough, I’ll give you a hint. It sounds like the little yellow guys who wear goggles (in cartoons)…. But it’s a “minyan” (not a minion). I doubt you’ll forget that in the future.
But what about for Christians? Are there any guidelines for worship in the Christian church? Did the early church just use the previous practice of Jews? I’m not thinking about the church studies that talk about what’s needed for people to feel comfortable these days in the worship setting but what God describes for His presence. Worship (like prayer) requires an awareness of God’s presence. If the gathering is done for show or presentation or habit but is not focused on God, we might really wonder if worship has taken place.
So, back to the introductory verse from Matthew. There it is. It’s an answer to my question about required minimums – if two or three gather, Christ promised to be there with them. The actual context for that verse has to do with confession and forgiveness with the goal that forgiveness can and should take place. If we want forgiveness of sin to take place, God must be involved. “Whatever you bind on earth (as a Christian’s request) will be bound in heaven and whatever we forgive on earth will be forgiven in heaven.” Thus, when someone sins against us it can be resolved in the presence of Christ. As one disciple goes to another, shares the offense and confession and forgiveness is shared and empowered by Christ who is present.
What a great and powerful experience when brothers and sisters in Christ worship and pray and sing and confess and forgive and share the peace. Now that sounds like worship to me. Does it to you? So would that mean it would be OK (and even a blessing) to hold worship with just a few people? Hmmm… I remember a midweek service at my church in Queens. It was a cold night (Advent midweek service) and that night I was preaching. My organist was there, her son came to serve as acolyte and her husband, a pastor was going to read the lessons. The worship leaders gathered in the sacristy before worship, vesting and preparing for the service. Finally, we noticed it was just about a minute or two before worship start time. I looked around the corner into the sanctuary only to realize that the entire church was empty.
What would you have suggested we do? I said to Pastor Stone, “There isn’t anyone.” With wisdom that came from decades of pastoring he said, “I don’t know about you but I came to worship.” My response was simply, “Me too.” So on that cold night in Queens, Meredith played the organ, Pr Stone read the lessons, Rolf lit the candles and (then fell asleep in the first pew) and I preached! It was worship with Christ present. Oh yes, and Ruth, Ruth Horbert. Midway through my sermon Ruth, coming straight from work, peaked her head briefly into church from the side entrance. I stopped preaching and called, “Ruth. Ruth. Come on in, we’ve been expecting you.” And quietly, shyly and silently, Ruth came in and sat down. We prayed and sang and preached and worshiped the good Lord who made His presence known.
So it is true. When two (Christ and His worshiper) or three (or more) gather to worship, there is just the right number, enough to have Christ present in our midst. And Christ invited the little children to come to Him and they are models for us trusting our heavenly Father. And women were welcome to receive Christ’s grace – only those who were without sin could throw a stone at her and cast her out. That generous mercy He gives us our entire lives and, I personally, as a pastor and preacher and, as a disciple of Christ, I am thankful for that grace and it’s power to build His Church..
Peace in His service,
Pastor Johnson