By Rev. Dr. Melinda Contreras-Byrd, Contributing Writer
When we Gather: A Vision for 2022
By Rev. Dr. Melinda Contreras-Byrd, Contributing Writer
We gather for the holidays. We do so with detailed and thought-out preparation: (a) invitations to family (even to those for whom it takes all the Jesus in us to tolerate even once a year!), (b) checklists of who will bring what family-famous dish (secretly keeping Aunt Bessie’s potato salad out of the reach of innocent diners), (c) orchestration of extravagant assortments of traditional, cultural delicacies covering dining room tables, buffets, card tables, and kitchen counters: turkey, candied sweets, greens, and baked macaroni and cheese will be present. There will be maduros, pasteles, puerco asado, moros y cristianos, and the aroma of yuca con mojo—a sense of comfort for those at the table. Other tables offer long-awaited fried Emperor Moth caterpillars, pheasant, and redcurrant jelly. Elsewhere there must be Jollof rice, curried goat, and fufu. We gather, celebrating and giving thanks for the mathri, the biryani, the paneer tikka, and joyfully send the consoada tray of foods to special neighbors.
We gather for holidays with the set goals of serving the best meal and seeing those we count as family. However, when we gather—as members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, we gather in families not connected by blood—local-church family ties that reach across oceans, languages, and cultures. We gather as a community of generations removed from the early church. We gather in communion with a “cult” whose victimization rendered them a secretive community—living and worshipping in catacombs/graveyards, beside the bodies of the martyred members of The Church Triumphant. Can you see them lighting candles in the darkness, surrounded by both the dead and the yet living Church Militant? They gathered to encourage, to empower, and to be empowered because they lived among the living memories of “the mighty cloud of witnesses,” whom God-ordained to enable to run with patience, the race set before them.
Realize the significance of the words that you have so often repeated as your truth:
“I believe in the Holy Spirit, The Church Universal, The communion of saints.” We are part of this communion of saints. Part of this far-reaching intimate, spiritual, past and present blessed community—of ancestors who have overcome. This is who we are!
In dark catacombs, fearing for their lives; the first Christians gathered to follow the solemn instructions given by their murdered leader, repeating, “the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes (I Corinthians 11:23b-26). Perhaps it is time to meditate on “the communion of saints” and to understand why it is cause to give praise. Perhaps this is the time to reconsider the importance of “gathering.”
We are AMEs, and we have occasion to gather often. The Bible says we should gather. Clearly, there is something in the gathering—something important in the coming together holds a special, powerful significance for followers of Jesus. Is it that when two of us gather, God is there? Is there significance in the church having been inaugurated by a mighty uproar of power on Pentecost when they were, all together in one place? As Acts 2:42-4 illustates, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” As the Church grew, gathering became an organizing vehicle for kingdom growth.
In 2022 let us pledge that whenever we gather, it will follow the example of the first church. Let us gather in singleness of mind and determined purpose to show the world our God by how we gather. May we come with a spirit to only encourage, “to provoke one another to love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 20:24) This time may our gathering reflect only the kingdom of God.
It will soon be time to gather. Whether it is for a holiday dinner, Convocation, Annual Conference, or a general meeting. However, please do not miss the point. When any of us gather—we always gather as a child of God, and it is as important how we gather as to why we gather. Perhaps this pandemic will encourage us to take a new approach to when and how we gather.
