Six Steps to Glory
February 26, 2007
Paul Harvey tells the story of a flight attendant working a flight who was being hit on by a couple of really annoying men on the plane. One was sitting near the front, the other in the back. She was hating having to walk that aisle and deal with these jerks.
Finally, as the flight was getting ready to land, she went back up to the front where they guy gave her a key to his apartment with a note listing the address. He said to her “I’ll see you tonight.”
So, she took the key.
She walked back to the rear of the plane to the other guy flirting with her and handed him the key and said “I’ll see you tonight.”
Can you imagine how these guys felt when they met each other at the apartment?
You see, sometimes the fact is that the invitation given is not appreciated nor accepted.
There are churches all around our nation that meet on Sunday mornings to “do worship” again. Each weekend service is so scripted that everyone in the building knows exactly what’s going to happen. This leads to a familiarity that is comfortable, but also a routine that is empty.
How can we allow this to happen? How can groups of people who have been rescued, ransomed, saved and given true life find themselves just going through the motions?
How is it that some can sing and worship God while others in the same room just sit there?
It’s not that ever intend to get there, but we do. We allow church to become so routine that regardless how much we invite God to be here and fill this place with his presence, he’s not impressed with our invitation – just like the flight attendant.
This message is the final one in our series of six degrees. This is a variation on a message I’ve heard before (thanks to Louie Giglio) and even shared before, but I believe God desires it to be shared again today as a timely reminder of something we so often take for granted – the presence of His glory.