Near the Back

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We are creatures and so we are necessarily affected by our surroundings. But we are responsible creatures, and this means that if our surroundings are distracting us from our duties, then we must fight those surroundings and overcome them.

This room where we are meeting is not conducive to worship in various respects, but one of them is an erroneous sensation presented to those in the back and up in the bleachers. That erroneous sensation is the feeling that somehow you are less of a participant and more of a spectator. This sensation is created by distance, difficult in hearing everything, and by poor acoustics. It can also be created by the reasons for sitting in the back, such as having young children who need ongoing attention through the course of the service.

But the temptation that comes with this is therefore to back away, and to neglect singing, or participating in the congregational responses such as saying amen. We know that full participation is much more difficult in some parts of this room than others, and we sympathize fully.

Part of this sympathy expresses itself in exhortation. If you are here worshipping with us, then you are as much in the heavenly places as anyone else, and the Lord is meeting with you as much as with anyone else. In the heavenly courts, you are nowhere near the back. The gates of heaven open and we all enter, and in that procession, there are no stragglers. Before the throne of the almighty God, the acoustics are tremendous, and your silence is noticed.

You would not refuse the bread and wine just because you were sitting in the back. In the same way, do not neglect any of your other privileges, which are tremendous.

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