Sermon for 15th after Pentecost, 6th August 2026

Welcome brothers and sisters and peace be with you. MAY the words on my lips and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. <Amen>

There was once a small community where the local church had recently closed. It had been there for generations. Its little bell had called people to worship, to weddings and funerals, to Christmas carols and harvest thanksgiving. Children had been baptised there; couples had promised their lives to one another there; and generations had gathered around the same communion table.

However the congregation had grown smaller and smaller. Eventually there were no longer enough people, or resources, to keep the church open and so, one Sunday morning, the doors remained locked.

A few weeks later, a small group of villagers happened to meet outside the closed church. They stood there talking about how strange it felt. One said, “It’s so quiet now.” Another replied, “Yes. I miss hearing people singing.” Then an elderly woman said something that changed the conversation. She said, “Perhaps we have been thinking about church in the wrong way.”

They looked at her. She continued: “The building has closed, but the Church has not closed.” So they began meeting together - not in a church building, but in one another’s homes. Sometimes there were only three or four of them. They prayed together. They read the Scriptures. They shared their joys and worries. They remembered those who were sick. They encouraged one another.

Slowly they discovered something profound - - - God had not left when the church building closed. In fact, they began to discover the truth of Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel, Matthew 18:15-20 :

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

That is an extraordinary promise. Jesus does not say, “Where hundreds are gathered, I am there.” He does not say, “Where there is a magnificent building, I am there.” He does not say, “Where everything is perfectly organised, I am there.”

He says:

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

Two or three. That is all. This is one of the most comforting promises Jesus ever made to His disciples, because there are times when we may feel that we are too few.

Perhaps we look around our faith communities and remember what they used to be like. Perhaps there were once hundreds where now there are dozens. Perhaps the community that once seemed strong is now struggling to survive - and we can be tempted to think:“We are too small.”
“We are not important enough.”
“There aren’t enough of us.”

Jesus says something completely different to us:

Do not measure my presence by your numbers.
Do not measure my presence by the size of your congregation.
Do not measure my presence by the grandeur of your building.

If two or three gather in my name … I am there … and make no mistake … That changes everything. <pause>

Now there is another important phrase in Jesus’ promise. He doesn’t simply say, “Where two or three are gathered, I am there.” He says: “Where two or three are gathered in my name.”

That little phrase matters. We can gather for all sorts of reasons. We can gather because we are friends. We can gather because we share the same interests.We can gather because we want to complain about something!

Yet, gathering in Jesus’ name means that Jesus is at the centre. It means that we come not to try and get our own way, but to seek God’s way. We come not simply to try to win an argument, but to find truth. We come not try to defend ourselves, but to discover how we might love one another.

We come carrying our differences, our weaknesses, our disappointments - and we place them before Christ, and when Christ is at the centre, even a very small gathering can become something powerful. <PAUSE>

Perhaps that is one of the great challenges facing “organised religion” today. We live in a world obsessed with numbers. How many people attended? How many followers do we have? How many views? How many subscribers? How many people joined us?

Jesus never said that numbers were the measure of faithfulness.

Sometimes the most important work of God’s kingdom happens quietly.

A grandmother praying for her children and grandchildren.
Two friends sitting together beside someone who is grieving.
Three people gathering in a living room to read the Bible.
A small congregation praying for its community.
A handful of people visiting someone who is lonely.
A couple forgiving one another after years of hurt.

No cameras. No applause. No headlines. Just a few people trying to live in the name of Jesus, and Jesus says, “I am there among them.” <PAUSE>Perhaps there is something else Jesus wants us to hear. Sometimes we underestimate what a small number of faithful people can do.

Two or three people can pray.
Two or three can encourage someone who is struggling.
Two or three can visit the lonely.
Two or three can begin a new ministry.
Two or three can reconcile a broken relationship.
Two or three can bring hope into a community.
Two or three can keep the light of faith burning.

So, if you ever find yourself concerned about the size or growth of your faith community remember - - - your strength does not depend upon how many people you have.

It depends upon whose presence you have and Jesus promises you, “I am there among them.” <PAUSE>

I urge you to remember - if Christ is among us, we are never truly alone.

Two people can be enough to pray. Three people can be enough to begin again. A small congregation can be enough to serve a community. A handful of faithful Christians can be enough to make a difference.

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

So let us gather. Let us pray. Let us love. Let us listen. Let us encourage. Let us serve. Let us refuse to allow our differences to divide us … and whether we are two or three, twenty or thirty, two hundred or two thousand, let us remember:

We are not gathered alone.

Christ is among us.

Christ is with us.

Christ is at the centre.

And wherever Christ is present, there is always hope.

I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu. <AMINE>