As I was prepping the message, and praying, I got to thinking about some of Jesus' other teachings. "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there". Why is two or three better than one? When Jesus goes on the mountain for the transfiguration, He takes three with Him. When He goes to Gethsemane to pray, He takes all the disciples, but then He calls three further on. Over and over, He points to this idea of two or three in prayer. Why?
I think it goes back to the idea of a robust Trinity (a phrase I stole from LeRon Shultz, a seminary prof of mine.) God exists forever as a three in one community. Father loves and serves the Son and Spirit, Son loves and serves Father and Spirit, and Spirit loves and serves Father and Son. Forever. Always has. Always will. It's the definition of what it means to be alive.
So when Jesus prays that we will be one they way He, the Father, and the Spirit are One, it means much more than we think. When He tells us that His death forgives us for our sins, but His resurrection leads to a new life, He means it. We get invited to live inside of this eternal, ridiculously beautiful, frighteningly powerful love relationship the Three have. We get placed right in the middle of it and it flows in and through us, all because of the resurrection.
So is it possible that when we pray with one or two others, that at that point we are most like God? Could it be that when we abandon our selfish, autonomous fears and open our lives up to others, we most become like Jesus? Is it that in that moment, we are truly, at our best, Christians?
It's something to think about. I surely am.
If you'd like to hear the sermon, you can find it here.
I'd love to know what you think.
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