The Wonder of the Gathering (Part 2)
(This article is part two of a three-part series)
For 20 years, my father donned the uniform of the United States Armed Forces as a military chaplain. During those two decades, he was deployed twice to the harsh deserts of Iraq, once to the murky swamps of the Philippines, and once to the looming mountains of Afghanistan. Never one to cower behind the shelter of a desk, he frequently travelled to the unsheltered frontlines where the action was. The best flesh-and-blood ministry happened out in those badlands, and my father’s calm resolve was well fitted for such an environment of uncertainty. He was highly decorated for his service to the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines whom he deployed with.
He’s retired now, and the uniforms hang neatly in his closet. I suppose that after a couple more years, he may forget those uniforms are there until he stumbles upon them by accident while looking for a pair of jeans; but one thing he will not forget after 20 years in the chaplaincy, is that being a citizen of the United States is not a paltry commodity to be taken for granted. He knows, firsthand, that citizenship in the United States is only possible because men and women have shed their blood in the cause of freedom. Our ability to belong to this country was purchased at the cost of human lives, willingly self-sacrificed for us - a terrible, breathtaking wonder.
Citizenship in the United States is not the only blood-bought wonder that’s been made available to us; it is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ that we can be brought into the fold of God’s people, adopted as his beloved children, made citizens of his everlasting kingdom. (John 1:12, Hebrews 13:12-14). One of the primary ways that we affirm this incredible reality is by gathering together with a local church - which means that even our ability to belong to a church is a blood-bought wonder, not a paltry consumer commodity.
Sacrifice
The author of Hebrews draws this out distinctively. He takes us into the depths of why Christ’s sacrifice changed everything for us, and in doing so, unearths some of the wonder of physically gathering with a local church. But, in order for our eyes to fully behold this wonder, we must first look back at the unique position of the Israelites before Christ’s death and resurrection.
Israel was the chosen nation in which God dwelt with his people, specifically through two buildings: first the tabernacle, then later the temple (Exodus 25:8-9, 1 Kings 6:11-13). Within these two structures, his presence was most manifest in a place called the holy of holies. Now, in order for the Israelites to remain part of the community that the good and holy God called his own, their sins had to be dealt with; and the method for dealing with sin, set out in the Mosaic Law, was the sacrifice of animals. The blood of bulls and goats paid the penalty incurred by sin, and thus the Israelites could continue to live in the midst of God’s presence.
But in Hebrews 10, the author tells his listeners that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins - meaning that all of the sacrifices stipulated in the Mosaic Law could only temporarily cover sin, not remove sin entirely. Because of this, the Israelites had to continually make sacrifices in order to remain part of the community. What’s more, the “common” Israelite could not enter the holy of holies into the manifest presence of God. All of this, because their sins against God and one another had not been fully dealt with.
But when Christ was crucified, he offered himself up as a once-and-for-all sacrifice that removed sins and gave us his perfect standing before the Father, so that we could enter into the holy of holies, enjoy fellowship with God, and even become a temple in which the Holy Spirit himself dwells (John 1:29, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 10:19-22, 1 Corinthians 3:16)!
Encouraging One Another
It is definitively the work and sacrifice of Jesus and Jesus alone that makes it possible for us to join the throngs of God’s people - not just as individuals living in our own corners of the world, but as a community of believers who physically gather together! That’s how the author concludes his foray:
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24–25).
In light of all that Jesus secured for us through his suffering, death, and resurrection, the last thing we should do is turn completely “self-feeder” and neglect the gathering of the local church. Indeed, God has designed it so that his people spur one another on toward love and good deeds befitting of his name, so that we receive much needed encouragement in the presence of one another; and that can only happen in the fullness that God intended if we meet together, assembled as local church.
Consider: if Jesus Christ truly shed his own blood and endured suffering beyond our ability to imagine, in order that our sins could be removed through faith in his name and so that that we would be welcomed into the kingdom of God as a result, then gathering together with a local church is no small thing. When we gather together and look into one another’s eyes, shake hands, share hugs, sing songs, hear the Bible preached, take communion, observe baptism, we are not just participating in some fancy religious event - we are telling each other, over and over again, “We are God’s people because Jesus Christ willingly sacrificed himself and shed his blood for us; so let us live in faithful and grateful obedience to him until the Day of his return, when he sets all things right forever.