When Two or Three Eat in His Name

Some of you may be familiar with a prayer in our Book of Common Prayer called “The Prayer of St. Chrysostom.” Or even if you don’t know its name or how to pronounce ChrysSOStom (sometimes it is pronounced CHRYSostom) you’ve heard one phrase from it. “Lord, you have promised through your well-beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in his name, you will be in the midst of them.” When two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ name, God will be in the midst of them. In Greek, the word chrysostomos means “golden mouthed.” It was a nickname applied to John, like we give nicknames to athletes… William “The Refrigerator” Perry. But this nickname referred, not to John’s physical stature or athletic skills, but to John’s preaching prowess. St. John, the “golden mouthed.” But in this prayer, the eloquence is not John Chrysostom’s; he is quoting Jesus in Matthew 18:20.

I remember one of the first times I became aware of this prayer. When I was in Junior High and High School we attended St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Edwardsville, Illinois. I was an acolyte, pretty much the only one for a while. There certainly weren’t any boys or I know I would not have been so welcome to participate. One time, we were between priests, and on some Sundays lay people were leading Morning Prayer for parish worship. One Sunday only the Colonel and I showed up. He was the lay reader and I was the acolyte. (And he really was a retired colonel.) I remember his tone as rather patronizing when he spoke to me, but his intention was good. He knew his Prayer Book, and he showed me this prayer. He assured me that God was there with the two of us who gathered that Sunday to pray in Jesus’ name.

In the church we often use Chrysostom’s prayer that way, as a sort of palliative when attendance is poor at a worship service.

But in Matthew Jesus wasn’t talking primarily about worship, and he certainly wasn’t giving a pep talk to people who were worried about worship attendance. Jesus does not say, “Cheer up, even if only two or three are gathered for worship, I’ll still be there.” Jesus is speaking much more broadly and positively about the nature of life for the group of people who would become the Body of Christ and about the role of relationships within the community of faith. Jesus says: whenever two or three disciples are gathered in Jesus name, then the presence, the authority, the power, the love of God will be with them. He’s talking about action and decision making within the church. And he says: it takes relationships; it takes conversation, to live as the church alive with the presence of God. It takes at least two or three. You have to gather. Gather with others. And gather in Jesus’ name. And when you do, Jesus promises that the living God will be among you.

Last week, the Second Sunday of Easter, we observed that even after all of the church’s Easter Day hoopla was done, the risen Christ was/is still present with his followers, appearing in the midst of the community gathered. All of the substantive post-resurrection appearances of Jesus recounted in Scripture take place when at least two or three are gathered together.

And quite a few of those post-resurrection appearances with the disciples involve food. We focus on those this Third Sunday of Easter. Last year on the third Sunday of Easter, we heard the Gospel story about the travelers on the road to Emmaus. The travelers, plural. The story about how Jesus came among them in the midst of their conversation, and about how they knew and recognized Jesus’ presence with them when they broke bread together. Next year on the third Sunday of Easter, we’ll hear the Gospel story from John about the risen Christ grilling fish for breakfast with his disciples by the Sea of Galilee. And this year, we heard a story from Luke. The disciples were gathered together, reflecting on their experiences with Jesus, and he came among them and said, more or less, “I’m hungry, what’s for dinner?” Luke tells this particular story because in the ancient world ghosts did not eat. In that world ghosts did drop in unannounced, but they did not and could not eat, so the fact that Jesus ate broiled fish proved that he was not just a ghost, not an apparition. It was the real, living presence of Jesus there with the disciples eating broiled fish.

These images of eating together are good. A casual snack of broiled fish with friends. Or the image of sitting down together for breakfast by the lake, or of travelers joining in a simple meal of bread and maybe cheese after a long day on the road. Whenever two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ name, God is there. And somehow it is special when that gathering is a meal. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because a shared meal is a powerful experience of relationship, of active, interactive relationships. Maybe it is just us. Maybe we are better at recognizing God’s presence with us when we are gathered to share a meal.

Listen again to this morning’s collect. “O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith that we may behold him in all his redeeming work…” Open the eyes of our faith that we may behold Jesus in all his redeeming work. Jesus makes himself known. Open our eyes to behold, to see, to recognize Jesus with us in all his works.

Open our eyes to behold God in Christ with us whenever two or three are gathered together in his Name. Jesus promises that the living God will be there. Open our eyes to recognize God with us.

We do gather together in worship in Jesus’ name. Pray that our eyes may be open to behold and recognize the living God present with us today as we gather in worship in his name.

But worship is not the only time two or three gather in Jesus’ name. Think about all shared meals. A family gathered for dinner. A great celebration for a wedding or holiday. A quiet lunch between friends. Gathered together. And gather in Jesus’ name. Whether or not grace is said out loud, be intentional about gathering in Jesus’ name. Open our eyes, O Lord, to behold and recognize the living God present with us whenever two or three gather together to eat in his name.

Or every time we gather together to undertake the regular tasks of life. Whether those tasks are the tasks or running a household, running a business, or just gathering for fun… Gather in Jesus’ name. And pray that God will open our eyes to recognize the living God with us whenever two or three are gathered together to act in Jesus’ name.

Think about meetings. And not just church meetings. Not just the meetings of the vestry or the Daughters of the King or the Brotherhood. Any time two or three meet together in Jesus name, the living God will be present.

Every conversation involves at least two people. Open our eyes, O Lord, to know and recognize the living God present with us whenever two or three are gathered together to talk in Jesus’ name.

In today’s psalm, the psalmist writes, “Many are saying, ‘Oh, that we might see better times!’ Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O Lord.” In difficult times the psalmist prays that God will look upon him. Jesus promises that the living God will, not just look, but be present with us when whenever we gather together in his name. Many of us right now would undoubtedly join with the psalmist in prayer, “Oh, that we might see better times.” These are difficult times for many people. Many peoples’ lives are threatened by violence and war. Many peoples’ livelihoods are threatened by economic uncertainty.

But even now, especially now, remember that we have Jesus’ promise. Whenever two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ name, the living God will be there among us. The living God is with us as we gather in Jesus’ worship this morning. But remember that there are so many other times that two or three gather together in Jesus’ name. Family meals, conversations among friends, planning meetings, support meetings, the shared tasks of everyday life.

Open the eyes of our faith, O Lord, to behold the living God present with us. Whenever we gather… Whenever two or three gather together in Jesus’ name, the living God will be among us.