The Best Seat in the House (Pent.21B)

 Once upon a time, ‘the best seat in the house,” referred to a private box seat located above the stage in Elizabethan playhouses.  The seat allowed nobles to see more of the audience than the play itself.  They could hear the play and see the tops of the actors’ heads. The seat also kept the person in it from being plastered with vegetables or other projectiles thrown by the audience at the performers.

Today when going to the theatre, a show, or a sporting event, people opt to sit in seats with the best view of the show within a price range they can afford.

The ‘best seat in the house’ – this reversal of meaning – from what it was in Elizabethan time to what it is today; describes what is going on in the Gospel text.

 

James and John are requesting ‘the best seat in the house.’ They are competing for who will sit closest to Jesus.  Jesus, however, focuses on a reversal of values in God’s kindom and in God’s vision.  Power, dominance, and importance are seen by the dominant culture as the ‘best seats in the house.’ Jesus says this is not so.

 

This morning I would like us to think about the ‘seats’ that we sit in.

Consider where you sit: at church, at school, at work, and at play. Do you sit on a board of directors, as a member of a community, or in a volunteer position?  Do you have seats – seasons tickets- for the theatre or sports games?

Are the ‘seats’ you sit in privileged? Do the seats bring prestige? Do the seats come with expectations and responsibilities?

 

 Pastors are often asked to name what ministry is happening out of the church where they serve. Pastors make a list: rhyming off the groups using the church building, participation in collection projects for community organizations, food or shelter services, refugee resettlement sponsorships, and so on. My understanding of ministry happening from a church is much bigger. I take into account each and every ‘seat’ in God’s house.

 Each of you come to church and choose a seat – those of you tuning in from home likely have a softer seat than your siblings sitting in the church pews. Each seat – has a person – you. And as a sitting member of the congregation, or of God's family, you are in ministry; your seat comes with responsibilities. 

If you turn and take a look at the upper seats in the house, you will note that each week we sit under the words of our working mission statement: “God is on a mission and we want to be part of it.” These words rest on us and they give us direction as we get up from our seats and move into the seats we sit in in the world.

When asked what ministry happens through this church... the best response - is follow everyone and see where they take their seats in the world: parent advisory committees, board members of non-profit organizations, advocacy group members, donors to a wider-range of causes, coaches, Guide/Scout leaders, tutors, meditation teachers, caregivers, Lifeline installers, petition and letter writers, Kid’s helpline counselors, volunteer firefighters ...

I’m not saying that one has to have a seat here to participate in the short list just given, but, I do believe that faith and living in faith community encourages us not to loss hope, and compels us to offer what we have in sharing God’s grace in the world.

German poet Novalis wrote that “the seat of the soul is where the inner world and the outer world meet.”

 

Where is it that we choose to sit?  Where is the seat of the soul – the piece of soul inside of you – where does your inner world and the outer world meet?

For me my inner world and the outer world meet in two ways: one in comfortable seats – pleasant interactions, giving without much risk, providing aid, offering prayers and blessings, being kind, hospitable, and grateful; the other seat is uncomfortable, the places in the world where my heart breaks, where relationship is costly, when sitting down means getting dirty, being scared, not knowing what to do, and being overwhelmed by the magnitude of the worlds’ uncharitable and injustice systems.

 

I wonder if James and John felt like their seats were uncomfortable and getting too hot. I wonder if they were afraid on the day that the Gospel captured their conversation.  I say this because Jesus has been having hard conversations with the disciples, the crowds, and the leaders of the day. Finally the disciples are walking from one place to another with Jesus and have a moment to breath. It sounds to me like the two brothers are letting off steam – letting their nervous minds rest and their fear of Jesus’ talk of death to subside – so they start yacking, joking, and getting carried away.  They say things without thinking and get into questions that come out of left field, annoying the other disciples, who are also getting uncomfortable in the seat of discipleship. 

Do James and John really care about who sits where in the next life? Is the question about seating in a future time a distraction to relieve pressure about considering the seats in which they currently find themselves? After all the seat that Jesus is pointing to is  - a cross – not the hope of a Messiah seated on an earthly throne. If Jesus dies seated on a cross, what seat is left or chosen for the disciples?

 

I came across a helpful practice this week – perhaps it is even a description, a new meaning for the term ‘best seat in the house.’ Entrepreneur and founder of Amazon, Jeffrey Bezos, frequently places an empty chair in the room, at the table, during company meetings.  The chair represents the presence of the customer. The customer is always in the room.

 

God is on a mission and we want to be part of it. To be part of it, we need to think about, who sits in the empty chair? Who isn’t sitting in the chair and could be? Who has not been invited to come and sit, and should be?  Who has left the seat or has no interest in sitting here... and entices us to follow to seats out there?

 

Jesus’ ‘best seat in the house’ was a cross.

For the disciples the ‘best seat in the house’ was uncomfortable.

For us – the best seat in the house- is wherever the cross takes us, as we participate in what God is doing in the world.