Not A Bad Seat

‘Long as I know I’ve got a seat in your kingdom, Lord, that’s all right with me.  It’s all right.  Mahalia Jackson

A while ago I was attending a performance with some friends.  We arrived early, got our seats, and settled in to enjoy the show.  I had a great view of the stage, and I was excited to know that I could see everything from my vantage point.  Just before the show began, a man who must have been six feet five and wide, sat down right in front of me.  Suddenly, my great seat turned into a bad seat because my view of the stage was obstructed.  I spent the night leaning from side to side depending upon which way he was not leaning in order to see.

It’s interesting to me how much people are willing to pay to get the best seats in the house with the best vantage point both of sight and sound.  I think which seat is the best seat is a personal preference and not necessarily the same for everyone.

Most sports fans consider the 50 yard line seats, the half court seats, or the seats closest to the event to be the best seat.  Conversely, I’ve had some great seats in the end zone, under the goal, and even in the nose bleed section.  The view was unobstructed and scoring happened to take place right in front of me!  The best seats!

When I was growing up in our church,we three girls sat with my Daddy near the front of the church.  Mama was in the choir.  As soon as the sermon began, our Daddy would nod off to sleep.  My middle sister, Cissy, loved to chew on ribbons for some reason, so as soon as Daddy nodded off on that particular Sunday, she reached over and begin to pull the ribbons from my little sister, Kathy’s hair and put it in her mouth to chew.  We watched in awe as the ribbon went from Kathy’s hair into Cissy’s mouth and no one missed a beat. The best seats that day were all the ones behind us and unfortunately, the pulpit area and choir loft.  This only happened once!!

I usually choose to sit in the back of the church.  My family says it was so I could get out quickly if Randy embarrassed me from the pulpit.  That’s not entirely it.  I am more comfortable sitting in the back.  I like to see the service from a wide perspective, plus I don’t miss anything!

People will fight you for their favorite or best seat in church on Sunday.  It doesn’t really matter where that is, because to them, their seat is the best seat.  The feeling of not missing anything goes with those seats. A sign outside a planetarium declares, All seats provide equal viewing of the universe.  No matter your seat, you won’t miss any part of the show.

I’m excited to know that in God’s heavenly kingdom, all seats are the best seats.  I’ve heard it said that there is not a bad seat in the house.  All seats in God’s house provide equal access to God’s power, provision and presence.  We don’t need to spend a lot of money for the seats, the price has been paid!  Jesus paid it all and got us the best seats!