Trinity 25
1
Thess. 4:13-18
11/17/13
On Tuesday, October 22, 1844, tens
of thousands of followers of William Miller – known today as “Millerites” –
waited throughout the day in eager expectation. They waited all day … and
nothing happened. Henry Emmons, a
Millerite, later wrote, “I waited all Tuesday and dear Jesus did not come;– I
waited all the forenoon of Wednesday, and was well in body as I ever was, but
after 12 o’clock I began to feel faint, and before dark I needed someone to
help me up to my chamber, as my natural strength was leaving me very fast, and
I lay prostrate for 2 days without any pain– sick with disappointment.”
October 22, 1844 is now known as the
Great Disappointment. It was the
culmination of events that had begun in 1815 when William Miller had left deism
and returned to his Baptist roots. He
began to study Scripture and became convinced that in Daniel 8:14’s reference
to 2300 days, he had the key to determining when Christ would return. Miller believed that each day stood for a
year, and that the 2300 days began when the decree had been given in the fifth
century B.C. that the temple in Jerusalem could be rebuilt. Using these calculations, Miller determined
that Jesus Christ was going to return on or before 1843.
Miller began publicly teaching his
view in 1831. He published them in
different settings, and they turned him into a celebrity. A large movement developed around Miller and
his teachings, and it is estimated that it included up to 100,000 people.
Pressed for more specificity, Miller predicted that Christ would return
sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. When the latter date passed and nothing happened,
a follower of Miller recalculated and set the October 22, 1844 date. The Great Disappointment of that date brought
an end to Millerism … though not entirely. One group determined that Jesus
Christ had come on October 22, 1844 – but that instead of cleansing
earth, he had come and cleansed the sanctuary of heaven. This group would go on to become the Seventh
Day Adventist Church … but that’s a story for another day.
The story of the Millerites – like
every group that has incorrectly predicted the date of the return of Jesus
Christ – is a somewhat humorous one.
It’s humorous because, of course, Jesus has said very clearly that no
one knows that day. The attempt to
predict the day of Christ’s return is an absurd exercise. But on this next to
last Sunday in the Church year, it is worth pondering whether in some ways the
Millerites had a more biblically orientated faith than we do. It’s worth considering whether they had
correct orientation that the Church today often lacks. For after all, the Millerites
were focused on the Last Day.
Our text today is from the apostle
Paul’s letter to the church at Thessalonica, Greece. Paul preached the Gospel
in Thessalonica soon after he had crossed over the strait that separates modern
day Turkey from Greece on his second missionary journey. His letter to the Thessalonians is one of the
earliest that we possess.
He begins our text by saying, “But
we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that
you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” Paul had preached the Gospel to the
Thessalonians, and from Paul’s letters we know that the return of Jesus Christ
in glory was a central part of that Gospel.
Yet now some time had passed.
Apparently there were concerns about Christians who had died. What did
it mean for them if they weren’t alive when Jesus returned?
Paul says that he wants the
Thessalonians to understand, so that they won’t grieve as those who have no
hope. And then he tells them why, “For
since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God
will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.” Paul says that the
foundation for the hope that belongs to the Thessalonians is the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because of
this, they can be confident that God will not abandon those who have died. Instead, they will be with him through the
work of Jesus.
And then Paul goes on to describe
how this is going to happen. He writes, “For this we declare to you by a word
from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the
Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.” The first thing Paul wants them to know is
that those who are still alive when Christ returns are not going to leave
behind the Christians who have died.
Instead Paul says, “For the Lord
himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ
will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will
always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
The apostle declares that the return
of Christ will be a dramatic event that will be impossible to miss. He says the first thing that will happen is
the resurrection of those who are already dead. The Thessalonian concern about the brothers
and sisters in Christ who had already died was totally misplaced. In fact, they will share in the resurrection first.
They will share in it first, but
that doesn’t mean those who are still living will be left out. In 1 Corinthians
15 and Philippians 3, Paul says that they too will be changed; that their
bodies will be transformed to be like Jesus’ immortal risen body. The apostle doesn’t dwell upon this fact in
our text. Instead, he seeks to emphasize
the fact that no matter whether the Christian is alive or dead at the coming of
Jesus, the result will be that we will always be with the Lord.
Paul expresses this in language that
in the last one hundred and fifty years has become one of the most abused and
misunderstood texts in the Bible. He
says, “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with
the Lord.” If you have ever been behind
a car and seen the bumper sticker, “In case of rapture, this car will be
unmanned,” then you know exactly what I am talking about. While based on a massive misreading of Scripture
as a whole, the idea of the rapture and dispensational millenialism that was
created by John Darby and popularized by Cyrus Scofield, relies heavily on this
text.
The problem is that the language
Paul uses here would have been very recognizable to his Thessalonian readers.
It was part of their world. When the emperor
or governor approached a city, the city went out to greet him. They then escorted the leader back into
the city as a way of showing honor – and of sucking up to him in the hope
of civic favors. Like all of the end
time language in Scripture, it is a movement to the earth, not away from
it, for the renewed creation is the place we will live.
Paul concludes our text by saying, “Therefore
encourage one another with these words.” The challenge for us is the question:
“Do we?” Remember, the issue that Paul
is addressing is that of Christians who have died before the return of
Christ. He describes the situation that
we face every time a Christian dies.
When this happens, where do we most often look for comfort?
It’s very likely that most often,
we don’t look where Paul is pointing us. Most often we probably take comfort in
the thougth that the person “has gone to heaven” or that the individual “is
with Jesus.” Now these are true
answers. They are answers that Paul
himself gives – but not very often.
Instead the answer Paul almost always gives – the one he thinks is the
really important answer – is this one.
It is a blessing that every year the
end of the Church year focuses our attention on the end – on the Last Day and
the return of Christ. We need this
because our tendency is to set our focus short of the real goal. And so our
text today urges us to take hold of the real hope of the Gospel. That is the confidence that because Jesus
Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead with a transformed body, we
will too; we will share in that bodily existence which no longer knows the
possibility of death as we live in a creation that is very good once again.
And when this becomes our goal, we
can begin to live like it is. Right
after our text Paul writes, “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of
the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” The focus on the goal of our
Lord’s return and the resurrection prompts us to recognize that it will be
sudden and unexpected. As Paul says in our text, “the Lord himself will descend
from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the
sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
The expectation of Christ’s return,
is then, a constant reminder to be what God in baptism as made us to be. Paul goes on to say, “But you are not in
darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all
children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the
darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be
sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk
at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the
breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.”
Our expectation of Christ’s return
prompts us to live as people of the light; people of the day. It moves us to live in faith, and love, and
hope. The expectation of the real goal that
is coming helps us to live in the present as the people God has made us to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment