Getting out of the cheap seats
My sons and I enjoyed a Washingon Nationals game tonight. Being the cheap guy that I am, I got us the cheapest tickets in the upper atmosphere. We climbed to the top of RFK and we were so high up, there wasn't a person behind us. My first thought was how dead the game felt. Crowd was hardly into it. I could see so many empty seats up there where we were. I wondered how it was that anyone could really be a Nationals fan with this kind of setting.A few innings later, the boys needed to go to the bathroom, and I dreaded the long climb back into the upper atmosphere. So we hunted for seats down low. We ended up sitting very close right where all the action was. All of a sudden, the crowd was so into it. The noise was deafening. Every swing of the bat seemed like the biggest event in DC history.
Then I realized what my problem had been. I was too far from the action. And from the cheap seats, the experience seemed dead. But down where the crowd was, all that changed. The place was alive and electric with enthusiasm.
Maybe this explains the vastly different attitudes I see in the church. Some think it's dead, only see the negative, and complain that nothing's getting done. Then there are those who live and breath the church, live and breath Christ, live and breath his presence. What's the difference? Some look in on Christ's goings-on a few hours a month. Others saturate themselves in all that Christ is.
Once again, I'm compelled by the difference between observing religion and experiencing Christ.
posted by RevDave at 11:34 PM
1 Comments:
Today in Bible study we discussed the story of Jesus' first public miracle, the water into wine at Cana. Boice made a strong arguement for the symbolism of the six empty water pots. Six being the number of incompleteness or unfinishedness and the pots themselves the vessels of the traditional Jewish ceremonial cleansing of the feet upon entering the house as well as the specific way in which hands were washed and at what frequency (before a meal and in between courses). Christ came among a people filled with religion, and offered them grace. The empty pots (Jewish tradition) was replaced with wine to the brim (grace in abundance). Never thought of it that way before. Barclay spoke of a legend that told of the people of Nazareth who found themselves hurting, struggling, grieving etc. who said to themselves, "let us go look upon Mary's child", and were comforted just by gazing at him. Aren't we also? When we are faced with troubles, do we not run to our Savior with our pain and are we not comforted as we spend time in his presence. Are we not filled with the joy that he offers, the more we dwell with and abide in Christ. He never leaves us wanting. It was an excellent lesson. Lots of ideas I had never considered. Are we in church for religious traditions or the Christ encounter on a corporate level? Do we really want a group experience with the Holy Spirit or will that look like Satanism to some of us. Joy is definitely exuberent, but there must be some cohesiveness as to what that looks like so as not to hinder the experience for others. That works both ways I think. So, if I like to raise my hands during corporate worship, and it is distracting to my brother, then I can refrain from boisterous body movements that might accompany the hands in the air thing. There can be compromise. When my brother is standing with good posture and humming along with the music, then I must not be critical of his choice of less physical praise. There's a balance to be had here. I pray we find it and massage it soon. There's a great opportunity for us to have our cake and eat it too with these two services. May the Spirit bless and move us to a deeper relationship with Him as we grow as a church family.
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