What Does an Empty Seat Mean?
One of my hobbies is watching sports, both collegiate and professional. On occasion, I enjoy watching an event in person. One thing that I have always noticed is that at times there are empty seats. If a team is not playing well their fans do not fill the stadium or arena. If their team is winning by a large margin they may leave early to try and beat the traffic. Regardless, empty seats teach us one thing, the person who should be occupying it is missing.
An Empty Seat At Home
This time of year when families gather, there might be an empty seat because a family member has died. We are comforted, if our loved one was in Christ, that we can see them again (cf. 2 Sam 12:22-23). When a loved one passes away, we can remember the assurance that Christ is victorious over death. Paul recorded, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).
An empty seat at home may persist throughout the year for good reasons. Our children grow and they marry and leave the home. This was God’s intent as revealed in the beginning. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Gen.2:24). However, we know, not all are good reasons. Some seats are empty because a child has gone the route of the prodigal (cf. Luke 15:11ff). There are other empty seats because of the desertion of marriages and families.
How do we respond to empty seats at home? Some we can rejoice over (those in paradise, married children). Others require work, including discipline to call them and welcome them back into that seat. Those who should sit in that seat at home should do everything they can to fill their proper place. Which in the case of sin requires repentance.
An Empty Seat At Work
Each society is dependent on the workforce. It is troubling to see the lack of willingness of men to go out and earn a living for their families. I know there are occasions in people's lives when making ends meet is difficult. I am not talking about those scenarios. What is glaring is when an able-bodied man would rather sit on the couch and wait on a handout rather than go out and earn. This is antithetical to the teaching of God’s Word. Man’s responsibility from the beginning was to work. “And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it “ (Gen 2:15).
So what does the Bible say for Christians and our responsibility in industry? Romans 12:11 tells us that the NT Christian must not be slothful in business. and throughout the NT this is reaffirmed. The Spirit confirms, “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have whereof to give to him that hath need.” (Eph. 4:28) Let him labor, how? He can work with his hands and it is a good thing as Paul records later, “and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you” (1 Thess 4:11). Just as it was Noah's job to build a seaworthy vessel according to the divine pattern, all men must work according to the divine pattern. “For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, If any will not work, neither let him eat.” (2 Thess 3:10) . God teaches that we are to work rather than be idle.
There are empty seats in the workplace. New Testament Christians are to be workers, this includes keepers of the home. We must do everything in our power to model this example to the entire world. If we are not being industrious in some form or fashion, we must repent.
An Empty Seat In Worship
Once again there are some good reasons for empty seats, some are empty because of death. It is written, “and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.” (Rev 14:13). However, there are also bad reasons for empty seats. Peter describes this,
“For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first. For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them. It has happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire”
2 Peter 2:20-22
It is worse to leave the Lord's church and go back into sin than it was to be lost in the first place.
We know that this would include those who have been withdrawn from as well. Their empty seats remind us how we hope and wish they would repent and return to the Lord. Other seats are empty because of lukewarmness and neglect. Why are there empty seats that should be filled with brethren? Many are content because of preoccupation with the stuff they possess and feel as if they have no need.
An empty seat is not cloth and wood. It is not a space. The empty seat is a sign of a missing faithful brother or sister, and it affects more than just that person. An empty seat says to the elders, I do not value your service. It says to the preacher your sermon is irrelevant. It says to the visitor that even the members of the Lord's church do not value the assembly. It says to the members that they may as well stay home, too. It says to the devil we surrender. It says to the Lord we will not obey your commands in all things, you are not worthy of our praise.
There are empty seats in the worship assembly. We must worship the Lord Almighty. We must do everything in our power to model this example to our brethren, and the entire world, that God is worthy of worship and service in His Kingdom.
Grace and Peace,
R.D. Beavers
