You've Got VIP Seating with God
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Dear Friends,
"Why was he looking the other way?" That was my thought at a recent conference I attended with a group of men from the church. The speaker seemed to be focused on one segment of the audience. It was distracting. He'd glance our way every so often but he kept pivoting back to his left. I confess that I became obsessed with this apparent slight. Instead of hearing him preach about Christ, I was stuck in my own head.
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Later that day I returned to the auditorium to hear him speak again. This time he was more focused on the area where I was sitting. I wondered what had changed. He'd glance off to the sides on occasion, but he was engaging the people sitting in front of him as well as those on one side or the other. It was so much better. I felt like he was speaking directly to me. The difference was so great that I believed someone must have talked to him between his sessions.
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I couldn't let this go and I ruminated on it all afternoon. Then I had an epiphany on the way home. I had misread the whole situation. It wasn't the speaker who adjusted his focus. It was me. I got there late in the morning and had chosen a seat to the far right of the speaker. I was on the periphery of the auditorium. Those glances in my direction were actually the speaker's attempts to bring those of us on the edges into the conversation.
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When I moved to the center of the hall for the later session, everything changed. He was engaging and drew us into his remarks. Of course, I was right in his line of sight. As he faced the audience, he was looking right at us. I noticed his glances to the sides but his focus was mostly on those in his field of vision. The difference between the two experiences was palpable. I wished I had sat front and center right from the start.
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You often get the same sentiment from people who come to faith later in life. They wish that they had that life affirming relationship with Christ much earlier. They'll tell you that they always felt on the fringes of church and faith life. They'd never had an encounter like Moses did with the burning bush. Religion was just another thing to do. They'd plug in now and then but their relationship with God never felt personal.
It usually takes some event in one's life to change that. A perfect example was a couple who attended my former church. They showed up one Easter. During the sermon, I noticed them giggling. They seemed to be mocking me. I let it go. I later found out that they were only there to please her mother. Even though I didn't see them in church again, a year later Jamie called, introduced himself. He wanted to meet with me.
His sister had died. She loved Jesus. He could never understand why. It didn't make sense. She shared her faith with him many times but she may as well have been talking to a wall. After a short battle with cancer, she died. He couldn't understand how she could still believe in a God who let cancer ravage his followers. In going through her things, he came upon her Bible. Passages were highlighted and notes were written in the margins. He read it hoping to find the answers to his questions.
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He said, "I loved my sister. I was angry at God. How could God abandon one of his most ardent followers?" As he read what she wrote, as he looked at the passages she highlighted, he told me that he felt that he came front and center with God. The God his sister loved was speaking directly to him. He was no longer sitting on the sidelines but had moved into the direct line of God's compassionate care and love. For the first time in his life, he understood what his sister was trying to tell him.
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A few months later I baptized Jamie and his wife. Jamie's story has a lesson for everyone who feels disconnected from God. Although God is always speaking to us, sometimes, like the prodigal son, we have to make the move and get situated where we can hear him more clearly. It is a life changing message. So, if you've been away from church, maybe it's time to come home. There is a place for you up front and in the center. There is a seat with your name on it in God's VIP section. So, come.
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See You In Church.
Pastor Cal