A Thought For The Week Of August 4

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." (Matthew 18:20) Here in Port Colborne, Sunday was a double whammy this past weekend, from a church perspective anyway. It's a holiday weekend, meaning lots of people are away, and it's Canal Days - our community's great annual festival, meaning some others may have been concerned about the traffic or getting parked and just decided to stay home. The end result was a pretty low (OK - a really low) attendance at our Sunday service. But it did get me thinking about this verse of Scripture, and what it tells us about ourselves. We do often obsess about church attendance. As if it's the one and only measure of health. And, yes, of course we'd like to see our churches filled with people joyfully praising God and being transformed into Jesus' image. Of course we'd like that. But - praise and transformation are the key, aren't they? Maybe it's not all about numbers after all. Maybe we worry about that too much, and put too much emphasis on getting people into the pews and not enough emphasis on the people who are already there. I often reflect on David running into trouble with God because before a major battle he took a census of Israel's fighting men. That seemed a reasonable thing to do, but it displeased God according to the story. Why? Because it showed David putting faith in numbers rather than God. Setting aside what are probably some moral concerns and even distaste about portraying God as one who wants to lead his people into battle - I think the point is that we're to trust God and not numbers. It should be the same on Sunday morning, I think. We should trust God to be present and to work in our midst, whether there are 2 people - or 200 or 2000. Being together as Christians and worshiping God - that's what it's about. Not counting the numbers and lamenting that they're too small or rejoicing that they're so big - because that puts our focus on the wrong thing. Remember God. Remember that no matter how many are there - when you gather with fellow Christians Christ is among you. That's all that really matters. Christ is with you today - and in all the days to come. So - have a great week!