The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Scoot Down the Pew, Please?

Episode Date: August 3, 2018

You're listening to the Jeff Kavana's show, Episode 75. Scoot down the pew, please. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven show.

And welcome back to the show this week. Good to have you. Good to have you here. enjoy talking to you about the faith, walking around as a disciple, what do we do, what do we believe, how do we act? And that's really what the preoccupation of this show is, is living as a modern-day disciple, an activated disciple, someone who is involved in really serving Jesus and his kingdom. And it seems like every week, without fail, something happens in my life that that suddenly I think, you know, that's good.

I need to know that. And if I need to know that, then I think, I'm going to share that with my friends. And consequently, here I am with you. And we've probably been getting a lot of email. We're going to dedicate, I think, the next show to answering a lot of questions that I've been receiving from your email. And I do appreciate that.

The email address is The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com. And I'm very grateful for all of your feedback on iTunes and Google Play. I really do appreciate your interaction there. It helps the show. Well, you know, this week, this past week, something happened to me in the middle of mass that the only way that I can describe it is it changed my whole perspective on mass, something that somebody said to me this last week. And it really had a profound impact on me. And so I want to share that with you because because what I'm going to talk about this week, there is no doubt in my mind that you have experienced exactly what I'm talking about. And I would say maybe more so if you are a male.

And I have shared this with a few people, and they said, oh, yeah, well, that's what men do. And I said, I don't know. I don't think so. I think women do this, too. But maybe men a little bit more? I don't know. But anyway, recently, I attended the farewell tour of Paul Simon, and it was at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul. My son-in-law had an extra ticket. I was over at their house with the grandkids, and really out of nowhere, he said, do you want to go see Paul Simon tonight? And I'm like, yeah, yeah. Why, do you have tickets? He said, yeah, he got an extra ticket because my daughter had just given birth to our third grandchild, Fiona, and she couldn't go. So suddenly this ticket was appeared. And I said, sure, sure. So I ended up going down there to meet

him. I was excited, excited to receive the free ticket from him. And upon arriving at the Excel Energy Center, I picked up some popcorn, picked up some water. And I walked down to about row 12 and noticed that my seat was about 10 seats to the middle. So I had a choice. Number one, ask everyone to stand while I tiptoed in front of them with my drink and my popcorn precariously perched in my raised hands. Number two, I could ask everyone to just move towards the center as I'm a little late and I'd really prefer the aisle seat. Well, now, since the tickets were purchased prior to the concert, which, by the way, it was a great concert. It was about three-hour concert. They were pre-purchased, and they were for a certain seat,

Section 101, row 12, seat 11. Well, I had to ask everyone to stand up while I tiptoed in front of them with my popcorn in my water, and I would have preferred everybody moved down so I could have the aisle seat. Now, this doesn't happen at church. It doesn't happen in church because we don't pre-buy seats, tickets at church. It's kind of a first-come, first-serve, but we have a way of kind of ending up in the same area, you know? It's like the Kavens box seats at the parish, or the Anderson's, Peterson's, or the, you know, the, in Minnesota, they're all Johnson, Anderson, Peterson, box seats for those families, and everybody kind of looks around, yeah, there they are. and they've got their seats.

But if you're like me, and I'm just, this is totally, I'm being transparent, and I'm going to get to what changed my life this week in Mass, if you're like me, I kind of like to sit on the aisle. And if you were to ask me, why do you like to sit on the aisle? My honest answer would be, I don't know. I just do. I like sitting on the aisle. and I don't like sitting in the middle and, you know, caught in the middle of the entire pew.

Why? I don't know that either, really. You know, I haven't really thought that through. I got a couple of ideas. But when I get there early to sit on the aisle, I feel comfortable. And my wife is sitting next to me and the kids might be on the other side of her. But I have that aisle, that pole position, you know, in mass. And then, This is what happens, and this is what maybe you've experienced, as I have. Out of the peripheral vision to the left, you know that there is an usher coming, who is guiding a family who is coming late to Mass. And before you can do anything, the usher looks at you and says, with a little wave of his hand,

like move along, he says, could you move in? Or they'll use this one. Could you scoot in? Scoot in. It might as well say, could you skedaddle, you know? Even the word slide sounds better. It kind of reminds me of a Western dance or something. Could you slide in? But no, it's usually could you scoot. Could you scoot in? Now, I have a suggestion at the end of the show for ushers on how to how to lovingly move people along in the pews. Now, I'm thinking to myself when he says, could you scoot in? I'm thinking to myself. I'm being totally honest with you. All of this is going through my mind on a Sunday morning. I'm thinking to myself, you know what, I got here early. I got here early for this seat.

You, sir, came in late, and you asked me to move from this comfortable place. If you want this seat, you should come early. Now, I know that's not a good attitude, and I'm admitting I've had that attitude before. I'm quite confident that none of my listeners have really gone to that extent. that I have, that if you want these seats, sir, you should be coming early and you should get your family in order, like I did. Now, I also ask myself, would Jesus move in if an usher asked him to? And would he do it with a good attitude? Or would Jesus say, man, I got here early, you know, or what would be his attitude? I'd love to know your thoughts on that. That might be a whole new show.

And then sometimes here's what happens. You know, it might be Easter, it might be Christmas, it might be, you know, during Lent or something, the pastor asks everyone, he says, I got an announcement before we get going, I'd like to ask everyone to scoot to the middle for the late people. And so everyone kind of looks at each other and they all get up and they scoot to the middle. But I'm thinking about that, and I'm thinking, well, if nobody shows up and we all scooted to the middle, and there's like four seats now on all of the aisles, but nobody fills those seats. Are you allowed to de-scoot? And that is to go back to your previous pole position of comfort. And what about the poor guy that you just scooted towards the middle? Is he or she uncomfortable now?

Do they look at you like give space for the Holy Spirit? You know? And when we do scoot down, we typically, this is interesting. And I've done this before. I'd like to know if you've done it as. well, when we scoot down, we typically leave a safe seat. That is, I'm not going to scoot down all the way next to somebody. I'm going to leave a safe seat between us, you know, between me and the other person. It's kind of like saying, well, I respect your space, and even if I was contagious, you're okay, all right? So there's always that safe seat there. Now, you might be thinking to yourself as you scoot down. I'm with all of you here. But hey, I need my space. Now, space speaks a bit about our sense of autonomy. It doesn't in some ways we move

away from people? And actually, it reminds me of the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sin, what happened? Well, they created space between themselves and God. And they created space between themselves and one another, kind of a building a sense of autonomy in their life. And I'm wondering, when I go to Mass, do I have that attitude of autonomy that I need my space? I need this. I need the safe place. I got my seat. I don't like to be told to move. Well, is it wrong to place your keys, for example, or your iPhone, your wallet, your brochure from the lobby on the entire sixth row of seats in case your family or friends show up? Well, this week, something happened that changed all of that for me. And I'm serious. All these things I've been sharing with you,

sometimes I've experienced those over the years, but something happened this week that exploded all of it. It exploded all of it. I'm going to take a break, and when I come back here, I want to share that with you. It's something that someone said to me during Mass that changed everything. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. Reading the Bible is something we as Catholics know we should do, but let's be honest, it can be kind of complicated. Even though it's a complete Story, the Bible isn't really one book. It's more like a library, with dozens of books and dozens of genres. There's poetry, prophecy, and prose. There are apocalypses and revelations,

historical accounts, and allegories. No wonder it's difficult to keep a finger on the story of God's love and plan of salvation for his people, the thread that keeps all of it together. If you're wishing there was a simple guide to help you tie all of this together, then you're just like Jeff Kavins and Tim Gray. That's why they wrote the book, Walking with God. Walking with God is a single book that traces the story that ties the Bible together. It helps you to understand the big picture of the Bible.

If you're looking to read more of the Bible, walking with God will help you do it with confidence, peace, and clarity. You can find out more and order Walking With God on ascensionpress.com or on Amazon. Welcome back. Okay, we're talking about scoot down the pew, please. And we're talking about being displaced from the pole position or the aisle seat in church and made to sit in the middle. And we had actually come to Mass early so we wouldn't have to be squished into the middle because that is very, very uncomfortable. It's ungodly. And it is just not what the Lord intended for us, right? Now, you know I'm kidding there, so don't write me and say, wow, I never knew you were like this, Jeff. Well, here's what happened this last week. I was sitting in the pole position. I was on the aisle and I was comfortable. And there was even a little bit of a safe seat between my wife and myself.

You know, I could put my arm around her. Life was good. And then it happened again. I sensed someone coming up from the left. In my peripheral vision, there was a pause because I'm thinking, that's not that same usher that usually says to me, can you scoot in? And I looked over and there was standing a mother, a young mother, maybe 25 years old, and she had a baby in a car seat, she had about a one-year-old, one-and-a-half-year-old in one arm, and about a three-year-old walking behind her. And she had her hands full. And she looked at me, and I made the mistake, I made eye contact. And she looked at me. with just a sweet smile, and she said four words to me. She looked at me, she said,

may we join you? I was stunned. I said, excuse me? And she said, may we join you in your family? And I had never had that asked of me before. I've always been told to scoot. I've always been told to slide, move. But nobody's ever said, can I join you? Can I join you? It blew my mind. And I said, you know, automatically, of course, yes, please. And I voluntarily scooted right to the middle of the pew. Yeah, I didn't have to be told. I didn't have to be, you know, coerced. I just scooted into the middle of the aisle. And I sat there thinking, That was the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me as far as usher etiquette. May we join you? And then I started thinking during the Mass after that, which I must admit, I probably blew the part about being attentive to the readings because I was thinking about what she said, and I'm thinking, okay, what happens at Mass?

Well, at Mass, I am loved by God. At Mass, we come together as a community. We are family. In the Mass, I hear the voice of God in the readings. In Mass, I eat the body and blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. In Mass, I am forgiven. I am forgiven. And I get to entrust myself to the Lord in the creed. In the Mass, I receive a blessing and peace. Shalom. And so I started thinking to myself, I'm receiving all of this in the next hour here at Mass, and this young lady with her hands full of children simply said, may we join you? Oh, yeah.

Yes, yes, yes, you may join us. You may join us in receiving the love of God and hearing his voice and eating the body and blood of Christ. And yes, you can join us in having your sins forgiven and entrusting yourself to the Lord and receiving peace. Why, yes, yes, please, join us. And it really had an impact on me. You know what's so interesting about this is that Jesus actually taught, and I'll put this in the show notes for you. I got a few scriptures I want to share with you. Jesus actually has a parable about this. And I just am not paying attention to it. You know, all of these years, I'm honest with you.

haven't paid that much attention to this parable in light of Mass. Now, we all know that the mass is the marriage supper of the Lamb. You know, this is the feast of the bridegroom and the bride, the marriage. And in Luke chapter 14, listen to what Jesus says. He says, now he told a parable to those who were invited. When he marked how they chose the places of honor saying to them, when you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, aka Mass, do not sit down in a place of honor, a.k.a. Ile pole position, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him. Turns out it was a young lady with three kids. And he who invited you will come and say to you, give place to this man. And then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited,

go and sit in the lowest place, middle of the pew, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, friend, go up higher, to the aisle, then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. Now, you know, I'm kind of joking with you there a little bit, but then he goes on and says, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Isn't that true? What a great parable for the marriage feast. When you go in, it's not about where you sit. it's not about your comfort. It isn't about relaxing. You're coming together with people who are part of the body of Christ, people who need Jesus, people who have had a tough week like this young lady. My guess is that Luke 14 is the usher's favorite verse. It's their key life verse for ushers,

right? Paul said to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 10, let no one seek his own good but the good of his neighbor. That's the attitude we should have when we go to Mass. He also said to the Philippians, something beautiful, he said, do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility, count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. That's what we need to do. When somebody wants to sit down next to us, let's look to their interests. Let's prefer them. Let's walk in humility. You know that that young lady, I'll get her name someday. I'll see her again. She might have had a really rough week. You know, maybe your husband's working the night shift and couldn't make it with her,

and she just has her hands full. She didn't need an attitude from me. You know, she didn't need me to get up with my family and stand in the aisle and say, yeah, we're going to get up. You go sit in the middle. No, you take this seat of convenience yourself. You go ahead and do that, right? That's the attitude that we should have. Jesus was asked, teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? And he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind. This is the great in First Commandment. And a second is like it.

Now this is in Jewish teaching, Hebrew teaching. This is called a parallelism. The second is like it. So how do you love God with all of your heart? You shall love your neighbor as yourself. That's how you do it. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. Paul also said to the Romans, I'm just going to saturate you with some scripture here,

so you can think about this next time you go to Mass. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Isn't that a beautiful thought? Outdo one another in showing honor. Now that doesn't mean that I have to give up my aisle seat and then stand up. up and say to that whole section, I hope y'all saw what I did there. You know, I'm out doing y'all. That's not what we're talking about. Paul says to the Philippians, do nothing from rivalry or

conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. You know what's interesting what happened after that? Came time for communion. And she had her hands full, and I looked at her like, are you going to go? And she kind of shook her head, like, I can't right now with, you know, all the kids and everything. And I said, well, how about this? How about if I watch your children while you go to communion? And then we'll go afterwards. And she said, oh, no, that's okay. And I said, okay, how about this? We'll go to communion first and we're done. Then you go to communion. My wife, we'll watch your child. So she said, okay. So we went to communion, came back and sat down, and there I was taking care of the children while she went to communion. How many times do we don't even want children

sitting around us because of the cheerios and the noise and the crying and everything else. Come on, we got to become a family. We've got to love one another and prefer one another. I took care of her infant when she went to communion and she came back and she was just blessed and smiling. Now a word to ushers, you can make a difference to people, particularly visitors. Don't just say to people, could you move in? Ask them, Could this family join you? What a beautiful invitation that's hard to turn down. Could this man and his wife join you?

Could this woman or children join you? Well, sure. It's one thing to be told, move this way, move that way. It's another thing to have an invitation to love and to be a blessing to others. If you feel put out because you had to go into the middle of the aisle, just sit there and say, Lord, thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to walk in humility. You know how much I like those aisle seats, Lord, first world problem. But thank you for allowing me to serve. Pastors, educate your people about Pew Courtesy because currently your Pew Policy may stink. You need to educate them about how we

treat other people. C.S. Lewis put it this way, and I'll conclude with this, he said, there are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit. And so this Sunday, humble yourself and look forward to sitting with an immortal, someone who's going to live forever and Jesus died for. It's just a little thought this week that happened to me four words from a lady may we join you the answer yes and i hope your family will sit by us next week as well let's pray in the name of the father and the son and the holy spirit lord i thank you that you are the one that set the example by humbling yourself and serving for you did not come to serve but to be served and we are your your disciples we are your

followers, and we are to walk in your footsteps. Lord, give us a servant's heart, even in the small things we do when we go to church. Help us to love one another, and help us to have the attitude and the mind that you have towards other people. Lord, we repent of our stinking pew attitude. We repent, and Lord, give us a heart of love and a heart of a servant. We pray this in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. God bless you, my friend. I really do hope you have a great week,

and I want to hear your stories from Sunday morning about Pew Courtesy. Email the Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com.