It appears that a man in Topeka, Kansas, decided to write a book about churches around the country. He began his journey by flying to San Francisco and then started working his way eastward. Upon visiting a very large church, he began taking photographs and noticed a golden telephone on the wall with a sign reading “$10,000 a minute.” Curious, he sought out the pastor to inquire about the phone and the sign. The pastor explained that the golden phone was a direct line to Heaven, and for the price, one could speak directly to God. Thanking the pastor, he continued his journey.
As he visited churches in Seattle, Boise, Minneapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, New York, Atlanta, and beyond, he encountered more golden phones with the same sign and the same explanation from each pastor. Finally, he arrived in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (U.P.). Entering a church in Munising, he once again saw the golden telephone, but this time the sign read “Calls: 25 cents.”
Intrigued, he asked to speak to the pastor. “Reverend, I have visited cities across the country and found these golden telephones in every church. I was told they are a direct line to Heaven, but the cost varied. In other churches, it was $10,000 a minute. Why is it only 25 cents here?” The pastor, with a smile, replied, “Oh, my son, that’s very simple. You’re now in the U.P., and of course, it’s a local call from here.”
Jeremiah 29:13 says, “’You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.’” I once served as a Divemaster in Okinawa, taking people out for dives in the Kerama Islands. Upon entering the water, many would swim away quickly, convinced that anything worth seeing lay beyond the next reef or hidden by a distant coral outcrop. I, however, would settle to the bottom and wait, knowing that being still and observant meant that everything they startled would likely swim back by me.
So it is with finding God. Christ isn’t sitting beyond a distant hill waiting to be found. He’s not hiding in the leaves of a far-off Redwood or peering from behind a magnificent ice structure in Eben. Yes, He exists in those places, but only if you carry Him in your heart. Christ is in the very air we breathe if we are still and attentive. Physically searching for something that can only be known through faith, not sight—what are you truly seeking? Our God is local! He is right there, waiting to be invited into your heart. Even as Christ’s love extends as far as the East is from the West, He is always as close as the space within a handshake. Search with your heart, not just your feet. God made everywhere, and so He is everywhere. He is in any of our local churches—join Him there. Sunday worship allows you to seek and therefore find. Find fellowship, faith, scripture, and grace when you worship with a local congregation. This is God’s country—shouldn’t you know the landlord? Presbyterian service is at 10:00, with light refreshments to follow.
