Buying All the Chairs

In the movie, Phenomenon, George, played by John Travolta, is attracted to Lace (Keira Sedgwick) who makes rocking chairs out of branches and twigs and tries to sell them at the local store.  The chairs are uncomfortable and don’t sell.  So George, unbeknownst to Lace, goes to the store once a week to buy a chair.  Soon he has bought ALL her chairs.  And soon he has her heart as well.

 

Later in a wonderfully crafted bar scene, the Robert Duvall character asks a local man critical of George, “How’s your lady love?”

The man admits that they broke up.

Duvall asks, “Did you buy her chairs?”

The man shrugs.

Duvall pauses and then asks, “Did you EVER find out what her chairs were and buy them?  All of them?”

The man looks at him in bewilderment.

 

I recall Barak Obama speaking of his marriage in this way.  After all his years with Michelle, he still felt he was discovering more about her.  And there was a certain delight in the mystery therein.  You could tell that he was on a mission to identify Michelle’s chairs and buy them all.

 

And so should we in our intimate relationships.

What are the other person’s passions?  Hopes? Dreams?   What are his/her chairs and how can we buy them?

 

 

And in case we’re bemoaning the fact that no one’s even glanced sideways at our chairs…

The God of the universe takes exception. He is standing at the storefront of our soul – not to judge our flimsy chair creations made of twigs – but to buy them.

All of them.

 

Revelation 3:20    Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

 

Romans 8:1    There is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

 

1 John 4:8    God is love.

 

The content of this post is based on a sermon called “Reclaiming Marriage” by the pastor of Mountain Park Church in Phoenix, AZ.  Click here to check it out. 

Thank you, Rosemarie, for encouraging me to listen to this and take it to heart.