Two or More (Friday Devotional)

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

- Matthew 18:20

This past Sunday was a special one for me, both as a pastor and a dad, because my daughter Katherine came forward professing faith in Jesus and presenting herself to the church for baptism. In a little over a week I get to baptize my little girl, and I couldn’t be prouder.

There was a moment that morning that’s been on my mind ever since. During the time of response following the sermon, she came to the back of the sanctuary to talk and pray with me. As I typically do when talking with children, I knelt down so I’d be at eye level with her. But since we were about to pray, she misunderstood what I was doing down there and she got down on her knees too. And so the two of us knelt down on the floor together, talking and praying.

When you think about what the church looks like, different images probably flash before your mind’s eye. A preacher boldly proclaiming God’s Word from the pulpit. A robed choir singing praises from the loft. A crowded foyer of smiling people exchanging pleasantries. And I can’t help but think I may have stumbled onto another one this past Sunday: two believers kneeling before the Lord together.

That doesn’t sound like much in a worldly sense, I’ll grant you. We prefer images of thousands of people, not just a pair. People want to see maximum impact, not small moments. Nobody’s fundraising campaign ever hinged on two people praying.

But Jesus sees value where the world sees weakness, and he says that where two or three are gathered in his name, he shows up too. He’s less concerned with the numbers than with the sincerity, less worried about how it looks than about what it is.

A girl and her dad kneeling together at the back of the sanctuary might just seem like a sweet moment, a sentimental snapshot for the family photo album. But Jesus says it’s more than that, that it’s so important to him that he comes alongside them. In a world that says only maximum impact is worthy of celebration, Jesus redefines what’s valuable.