You Are Not Your Own
At church, we are creatures of habit. Sit in someone’s pew, and you may find out just how far we’ve come since the crucifixion. But every now and then, someone walks in alone, looks down the row, and a person who has sat in the same spot for thirty years slides over. “Here,” they say. “Sit with me.”
I think that’s one way Jesus cares for us when life hurts. Sometimes he does it through the person who knows how hard it was just to walk into church that morning. They know why you picked a seat near the aisle. They’ve had Sundays when they needed to step out during the second verse, too.
Paul says, “Ye are not your own.” Then he tells us why. “Ye are bought with a price.” Jesus gave his life for you. You belong to him on the Sunday you sing every verse, and on the Sunday you can barely get through the first one. The same Jesus who wept at Lazarus’s grave knows how much it costs you to come back to a place you used to go together.
And then one day, you spot somebody standing at the end of your pew. You know that look. Maybe you remember how strange it felt to hear everybody talking about the weather when your own world had just fallen apart. So you slide over. You hand them a bulletin. After worship, you ask if they’d like a cup of coffee, and you wait long enough to hear their answer.
Would you take back what broke your heart if you could? Of course you would. Jesus himself stood at a grave and cried. And yet, here you are, sitting next to somebody on a Sunday morning, giving them a little of the care Jesus gave you. You may never know what it meant for them to hear those three words, “Sit with me.”
Maybe this Sunday you’ll need someone to slide over for you. Maybe you’ll be the one who moves. Either way, you belong to Jesus. And it’s worth looking up from the bulletin long enough to see who’s standing at the end of the pew.
Have a great week!
Pastor Corey
