There’s an old Jewish folk tale of the two brothers who were in the flour milling business together. One of the brothers was single, while the other had a wife and children. But they were partners in the business, and so at the end of every day, they would take the surplus flour and divide it between them. Each brother would take an equal share and place it in his storehouse.

One day the brother who was single said to himself, “This arrangement really isn’t fair. After all, my brother has a wife and children to feed and take care of, while I have no one. It is not right for us to divide the surplus fifty-fifty.” And so, not wanting to embarrass his brother, he began that night to take some flour out of his own storehouse, and under the cover of darkness, secretly place it into his brother’s storehouse.

Ironically, around this same time, the married brother said to himself, “This arrangement really isn’t fair. I have the blessings of a wife and children to take care of me when I am old, while my brother has no one.” And so, he also began to take flour out of his own storehouse, and under the cover of darkness, secretly place it in his brother’s storehouse.

Each night they did this. And each morning they were amazed that the level of flour never seemed to go down in their respective storehouses. Of course, one night the inevitable happened—they met up in the darkness. Seeing the bags of flour that each was carrying, they immediately realized what had been taking place. Overwhelmed with joy and love, they embraced each other.

According to the story, it was at this very moment that God looked down from the heavens and said, “Here is where my house of worship shall be established, for my house shall always be a place of joy and love.” And the same is true for us today. Whenever two or more are gathered in Christ’s name … whenever we reach out to our brother or sister with acts of compassion … whenever we embrace one another in joy and love … you have a church!