Lynn Jones: A commitment to worship

By Lynn Jones

Poor John Doe.  Here’s what happened to him. He was caught red-handed trying to burglarize a business in Dallas, Texas. To make matters worse, John tried to escape when the police closed in on him.  Because of this, the police also charged him with resisting arrest.

John’s case did not come before the judge until several months later.  John had had some time to think about what he would tell the judge when he appeared in court.  So, when he came before the judge, John pled guilty to the charges lodged against him.  He also told the judge that his arrest had caused him to think seriously about the direction that his life had been taking and that he had begun attending church regularly since his arrest.

John’s plea evidently had an impact on the judge, and the judge decided not to send him to jail, but to place him on probation.  He did add one stipulation to John’s probation, however.  The stipulation was that John must continue to attend church every week for the next ten years.

Can you imagine that?  Every week for the next ten years John was required to be in church!  Wasn’t that going a little too far?  What about times when he had company?  What about days when it was raining or days when he just needed to stay home and relax after a hard week’s work?  Evidently, the judge made no exceptions.  John Doe was required to be in church every single week for ten years!

I don’t know what kind of effect this sentence may have.  It may affect church attendance. Church leaders are always trying to think of creative ways to boost church attendance.  Maybe they should talk with the judges here in our area about sentencing some folks to attend our worship services every week.

Let me tell you something else about the sentence John Doe received.  Did you know that some folks wouldn’t see that as much punishment?  These folks have already committed themselves to being in church every Lord’s Day for the next ten years (and at mid-week services besides).  They don’t see going to worship the Lord as punishment.  They see it as the greatest privilege of their lives.

That was evidently the way Jesus saw it. Luke 4:16 records that “Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day and stood up to read.” Attending worship services was not something unusual for Him to do. It was His custom. The author of the Book of Hebrews encouraged us to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as some are in the habit of doing but encouraging one another” (Heb. 10:25). So, for the text ten years or longer, let’s plan to be in worship services every single week!

Lynn Jones is a retired pastor who lives in Oxford. He does supply preaching for churches in his area and often serves as an interim pastor. Jones is also an author, has written two books and writes a weekly newspaper column. He may be contacted at: kljones45@yahoo.com.