Matthew 18: 20. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there with them.”
I have several bird feeders outside my kitchen window, with various forms of bird food (and squirrel food, apparently!) that invites a wide variety of birds to flock to my yard. I know less about birds in general than you would suspect, but when I observe their feeding frenzies I can see an assortment of eating styles. Sparrows are mannerless opportunists. Nuthatches have style and defy gravity. Chickadees are hit and run. Red Bellied woodpeckers are aggressive and insist on clearing out other diners from the seed cake before eating. I heard nuthatches chirp. “Dude! Why you gotta be that way!?” as they graciously move to the other side of the suet. I don’t actually speak with a beak, so can’t be for certain what was shared, other than observing that some don’t share well.
Jesus speaks to us reminding all creation that wherever and whenever two or three gather in the ways of Christ, Christ is present as well. We know that there is a wide variety of beings needing to be fed. No matter what we eat or how we are nourished, we must always know that Christ joins us in the hospitable hope of figuring out how to be nurtured, together. Try as the red bellied woodpecker might, there is no need for a suet police when all who gather at the block just want nourishment and there appears to be plenty. With Christ present, encounters with others is less about letting red-bellied bullies get what they want and more about illustrating another way to be together for as many who gather to be nurtured. With Christ in our midst, we need not pick our battles, but follow where Jesus leads us to our needed nourishment. May we experience how blessed we all can be together in Christ’s presence.
In the hope of sharing Christ better,
Jeff
Jeff Hagaman
Associate Conference Minister