May the mumbling commence!
Where do you sit when you worship? Where do you sit in a classroom setting? Where do you sit on a bus? I have noticed a definite pattern. The back of the sanctuary and the classroom and bus fill up first. Why do we distance ourselves? There are a number of reasons. Here is a top ten in no certain order:
1) We want to goof off.
2) We want to sleep.
3) We want to stay connected through our phones and I-pads.
4) We want to play video games without being noticed.
5) We want to follow the coverage of our favorite sporting events.
6) We want to associate with the other people who populate the back.
7) We want to stay at an arm’s length from anything that may change our life.
8) We want to be able to sneak off without having to talk to anyone – let alone the pastor.
9) We don’t want to stick out.
10) We are creatures of habit.
There are these reasons and many more. Jesus once told people not to covet seats of honor but to take the lowliest seat and be honored rather than dishonored. Talk about sticking out! And that would change our habits, too! We like goofing off just fine. And we might miss the few extra winks that we can get during the lulls in the worship service.
But there is an inherent danger at keeping ourselves at arm’s length from relationship with the Lord and our brothers and sisters in Christ. Relationship is key to the Christian walk. Why avoid it? It will only cause harm and grief.
Lack of relationship building will atrophy commitment and responsibility and accountability. When these things atrophy, we become more susceptible to the devil’s wiles. In the spiritual sense, we fall asleep. Read from Acts chapter twenty:
On the first day of the week, when we were assembled for the breaking of bread, Paul, since he intended to leave on the following day, began to speak to them and prolonged his address until almost midnight. There were a great many lamps burning in the upper room where we met, and a young man called Eutychus who was sitting on the window-sill fell asleep as Paul's address became longer and longer. Finally, completely overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground from the third storey and was picked up as dead. But Paul went down, bent over him and holding him gently in his arms, said, "Don't be alarmed; he is still alive."
Then he went upstairs again and, when they had broken bread and eaten, continued a long earnest talk with them until daybreak, and so finally departed.
As for the boy, they took him home alive, feeling immeasurably relieved. (Verses 7-12)
Yes, it was a marathon sermon. Eutychus was sitting in the back on a window sill. Eutychus’ eyelids were getting heavy. He fell deeply asleep and had a very realistic dream of falling. Some people picked Eutychus from below the third story window and thought he was dead.
Paul revived him and sent him home. There was great relief. I wonder who felt most relieved? Paul, Eutychus, or were the people who picked Eutychus off the ground most relieved?
I would think that the relief was universal. I think that some good fellowship may have been begun between Eutychus and the rest of the Christian body. Because I do not think that human nature has changed much. I would guess that Eutychus always sat in the back of the sanctuary and snuck off before greeting anyone.
Are we ready to change where we sit? Are we ready to engage the Christian life and family in all its fullness? Are we ready to open the back of the sanctuary for new seekers? It is high time that we do so.
Let us change the attitudes that guide where we park our rears on Sunday morning.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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