The Reality Beneath Our Gathering
Introduction
There are many opportunities for us to gather together as the church during the week, but what happens on Sunday—well, there is nothing like it. On Sunday, we are surrounded by others who are tasting and seeing that the Lord is good. On Sunday, we have the joy of joining our voices with the sound of many praises being sung to God. On Sunday, we have the privilege of being uniquely positioned with the church under the Word of God that is preached. Sunday is a time we fellowship together, serve one another, edify the body. Don’t you love Sundays? I sure do.
And while I could list off many more reasons for why we love coming together as the church on Sunday, there is something that precedes our gathering and gives it meaning. There is an unshakable reality that engenders more anticipation and worship for our hearts than any other good thing. That reality is God Himself. Before we gather, God is. He is! And that changes everything.
The Reality Beneath Our Gathering
God did not happen. Like one day, ‘poof’ He showed up on the scene. No, God is. There is nothing before Him and nothing beyond Him. One of the most concise ways that God reveals this about Himself is in Exodus 3:13–14. Moses is encountering the living God on Mount Horeb, and a conversation ensues.
“Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
—Exodus 3:13–14
In saying, “I AM WHO I AM,” God is revealing to Moses and to us that there is no one or nothing like Him. God is, and that has incredible implications for us as we gather on Sunday. Here are three things that this declaration of God communicates so that our love and anticipation for being with the church on Sunday grows.
God is Eternal
God precedes everything. He never began. Nobody made God (Acts 17:24). He always was and always is and always will be (Psalm 45:6). There is no number or limit you can place on God as “the number of His years are unsearchable” (Job 36:26).
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
—Psalm 90:2
God will never end. He is absolute. He will never not be. And that means there is no reality outside of Him, unless He says so—unless He wills it or creates it.
God is eternal, and that matters for our gatherings with the church because it means He precedes everything we do and He is the aim of everything we do. We don’t gather for ourselves—we gather because of God who endures forever. We don’t hold up the gathering and make it happen. It doesn’t happen unless God is.
So when we gather together this Sunday, think on the reality that God eternal, in eternity past, thought this moment, and is speaking this moment into being, and is upholding this moment, with absolute freedom, and absolute joy—so we might praise Him forever.
God is Independent
For God to be independent means that no one is holding God up. He does not need a helping hand. No one is telling God what to do, whispering in His ear the real plan. Another way we could say it is that God is self-sufficient. He is not dependent on anything outside of Himself.
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
—Romans 11:33–36
Think on all the things that make you dependent. You need food and friends. God has never been lonely because He is always enjoying full fellowship in the Trinity (John 17:24). He has no needs because He is fully satisfied in Himself (Psalm 36:8). We need sleep or we die, He is the One who never sleeps nor slumbers (Psalm 121:3-4). There are no obstacles in front of Him that cause Him to pause and worry (Isaiah 46:9-10). Everything that isn’t God is dependent upon God (Acts 17:25). He is independent, self-sufficient, and all-sufficient.
And that is significant for our gatherings because first, He does not need us. He is not served by human hands as though He needed anything. We’re not doing God a favor when we gather together. We aren’t the ones who keep the flame burning.
So when we gather together on Sunday and you are keenly mindful of so many things you need, think on the reality that God is independent, and there is nothing standing in His way to meet your many needs in His sufficiency. And what’s more staggering is that, though He does not need us, He has called us and redeemed us so that we can please Him with faith that is expressed in constant need for Him.
God is Righteous
God is the source of all that is good, and for what is beautiful and right (James 1:17). And all He does is good and beautiful and right (Psalm 25:8). He is the ultimate standard for truth and so all He does is in accordance with who He is.
“Righteous are you, O LORD, and right are your rules.”
—Psalm 119:137
Because God is infinitely pure and right and good, that means He is the most important reality we could ever know. Nothing outweighs God, nothing outshines God, nothing out-satisfies God. He is THE Worthy One.
This is significant for our gatherings because He determines when we meet, what we should do, and why it all matters. We not only get our cues for how to live from Him, but He reveals what we should do and why it’s important—what is worth our affection and what’s not. We would not know that what we’re doing is a really good thing unless God was not who He is and did not do what He does.
So this Sunday when we gather together as the church and you come preoccupied with a bunch of things you think are important, think on the reality that God is righteous and He is more worthy than the best things. He is more impressive than the greatest landscape you’ve ever seen on a vacation, more true than what we might be tempted to think up on our own, and worship begins and ends with Him.
Unless God is, gathering together doesn’t make much sense. There are no songs of praise. There is no unity, or joy, or satisfying fellowship. Something precedes our worship of God, and that is God Himself. Before we gather, God is. Would that this unshakable reality that is beneath our gathering together as the church spark steady confidence and eager anticipation in us week after week.