Next Time
By Rev. Barry Settle, Contributing Writer
Jonah 3:3 says, “So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across.” We have not gathered in our sanctuary for worship since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person gatherings in the sanctuary. So, as of the time of this writing, it has been seven months since we have had worship in person.
No worship, Bible studies, meals shared on Sundays before an afternoon ministry program, or any gatherings at all. I miss our gatherings together, the worship of the saints, as we gather in the sanctuary crying out with our voices, “I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord, our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.” I miss hearing the people respond as we share the tradition of our Call to Worship. I miss hearing the choir sing the great hymns of the church like “Amazing Grace” and “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross.” I miss altar call, the Decalogue, and the saints of God talking back to the preacher during the preaching moment. I miss the way we did church.
Next time. In our text, Jonah was given another opportunity to follow the directive from the Lord. Previously, the Lord instructed Jonah to specifically go to Nineveh but Jonah went in the opposite direction. As God has a way of changing our perspective of God’s direction with our lives, in the third chapter, Jonah is given his “next time.” As it reads in the New Living Translation, “This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command.
I am personally grateful for how God has divinely done a new thing with our worship experience. We have been forced to move in a different direction with our virtual worship settings and have the ability to reach more people as we share the message of Jesus Christ. However, I am hoping that God will one day soon allow us to gather physically in the church for worship and fellowship in addition to our virtual worship settings.
Next time. When we do, the Call to Worship will not just be from tradition. It will affect me on a deeper spiritual level as the people respond, “I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” Next time, I will appreciate the hymns we are singing more intimately, as we join together in the opening hymn for the morning. Next time, I will look to love my brother and sister as Jesus loves me (John 13:34) because this is how the world will know we belong to Christ. Next time, I will help the preacher, as the preacher preaches. Next time, I will not be in such a hurry to get on with my schedule but will appreciate everything that God’s church provides for our personal and spiritual growth and development as the body of Christ. Lord, give us our next time.
