Stephen
Terry, Director
;
Ablaze
With God's Glory
Commentary
for the June 24, 2023, Sabbath School Lesson
"Look, he is coming with the clouds, and
every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all peoples on earth
will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen." Revelation 1:7, NIV
When I was very small, sometimes
grandparents would visit from another city. They would never be able to say
exactly when they would arrive, only which day. Since we looked forward to
their visits as a joyous occasion, we would spend much of that day on the front
steps awaiting their appearance. When we saw their car coming down our street,
we would race one another indoors to announce, "They're here! They're here!"
Everyone would then run outside to surround their car as it pulled into our
driveway and welcome them with hugs and kisses all
around. I don't know if every child has a similar experience, but it helped me
to understand the wait for the most loving visitor of all, the wait for Jesus.
But for that wait, we not only don't know the hour, but we also don't even know
the day.[i]
If that had been the case with our
grandparents, we doubtless would have tired of waiting and eventually returned
to the usual activities of childhood. Maybe that is the case with Jesus as
well, for we have long since abandoned the urgency of preparing for his return,[ii]
and normal seems to have become many things that are antithetical to the life
Jesus lived and the lessons he taught. If anything, the mission of Adventism
has been to rekindle that anticipation and subsequently bring about a Holy
Spirit inspired recreation of God's character in his people. As that mission
succeeds, there will be little doubt who are God's children and who are not.
The love, compassion, and humble service of his followers will proclaim it
louder than any preaching ever could.
Unfortunately, there is a tendency
within Christendom to be right more than to be loving. Seventh-day Adventists
are not immune to this temptation. We will trot out charts and timelines,
images of scary beasts, and esoteric prophetic paradigms to validate how right
we really are. Many have joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church motivated by
fear engendered by these presentations or because the prophecies mesh to some
degree with conspiracy theories they already held. Often, converts will echo
this idea of the rightness of it all with statements like, "I have found the
truth!" Rarely does someone say, "I joined the church because these are the
most loving, Christlike people I have ever met." Sadly, because the emphasis is
on being right, many, upon joining the church, begin to compare that rightness
with what they see around them. The resulting dissonance can send them in two
different directions. One response is to try to out Adventist the Adventists.
After all, if it is about being right, then the one who is the most right wins, right? The heresy of perfectionism can be
very appealing to those at this stage since it seems to agree with their goal
to become perfect Adventists. This can lead to arrogance like the Pharisee and
the tax collector as they compare themselves to others who are struggling.[iii]
Where compassion should open their hearts to such individuals, arrogance
instead builds an impenetrable wall between them and the struggling one.
However, since no one is without character flaws, what the Bible calls sins,[iv] in
their lives, they will find others looking down on them with the same
Pharisaical arrogance they show to others. Eventually, they either allow those
others to control their spiritual journey until they no longer have the energy
for the struggle, or they realize that everyone is struggling and instead of
finding solutions in the demands of others, they find surrender in the life of
Christ.
Though this seems the biblical
place to be, those who are trying to be perfect, or at least more perfect than
others, may have difficulty seeing this while they focus on the failings of
others. Typically, when we read the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax
Collector, we see ourselves as the tax collector, never the Pharisee. But the
very act of seeing ourselves as the tax collector and judging the Pharisee for
his failure proves we are more Pharisaical than we wish to admit. When we come
to that understanding, we have hope. Until we see the need for change, our
present course seems comfortable enough. It is failure that is often a catalyst
for change, and nothing insures failure more than an
attempt to have perfect works in order to impress God that we should be allowed
into heaven, and failing that, to at least impress other church members of our
saintliness, even if our families see us in an altogether different light in
the seclusion of our private homes.
The other option taken by new
converts to Adventism is to see in all the failings of those around them proof
that being always right is an impossibility and so, they quietly slip away out
the back door as quickly as they came in the front one. While the evangelist is
often blamed for not establishing the new converts well enough to remain in the
church, how does one prepare someone adequately for the glories presented in an
evangelistic crusade and the disappointment at finding that the church members
are much like Jesus' disciples, involved in petty squabbles and jealousies as
they push one another aside in attempts to gain power and position.[v]
They might rightly ask, "Why is this church any better than where you found
me?" As we wound each other through our behavior, do we even know the answer,
or if we do, are we afraid it will condemn us for succumbing to such attitudes?
We are told that Jesus will be
returning, and he has left us as his stewards to take care of things until that
day. During the interim, are we more likely to be throwing stones at sinners,
implying that we are more righteous than them?[vi] Or
are we more inclined to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and care
for those who have lost their way in life with compassion and grace?[vii]
Jesus knew that our nature would be to do the opposite and warned us of the
outcome if we should turn on our fellow servants while he was away and the
absence seemed prolonged.[viii]
Does that not describe our present circumstance? Repeatedly, the Bible assures
us that Jesus will return. His return has been delayed for millennia. Even
religious leaders are acting as though it is no longer a possibility when they
abuse and diminish others simply because they have the power to do so. I am not
specifically picking on world church leaders here. I see it even in the local
churches over less grandiose offices like local elder, head deacon, sabbath
school superintendent, and head deaconess. The backstabbing and character
assassinations are astonishing. It is a good thing Jesus' return has been
delayed. God is not willing to destroy us any more than Jesus wished to destroy his disciples for such behavior. He delays his
coming in mercy to allow us the opportunity to see others through the loving eyes
of Jesus instead of through the eyes of jealousy and the desire to have power
to set things the way we want them to be.
The day will come when the sky
will be ablaze with the glory of Jesus' return. It will be a wonderful day for
those who have loved others as he taught us to. But for those who have only
been concerned with what power they can wield over others in this life, it will
be a devastating realization that they have run out of time to be the loving,
compassionate, and merciful people they had the opportunity to become. Money
and the power it can buy over others is an addictive opiate. Having a little
seems only to create the desire for more. Even preachers are not immune from
this temptation. It is far too easy to convince ourselves that we could do far
more for God if we only had more money and power available. But God never
asked us to behave like that. Instead, we are following the examples of
others who have gone astray before us. Often, it is we who still lead others
thus. They see slick media presentations using computerized equipment and
advanced sound systems, and they become convinced that only with those things
will they be successful in winning others to Christ. However, God gave us all
we needed with a biblical canon established over 1600 years ago. That Bible is
still the most effective means to share the news that Jesus is indeed coming.
It will be glorious. He loves everyone enough to give them a future according
to their desires. Those who desire to be with him will be received into his
arms. Those who want nothing to do with him will receive their wish as well,
though it breaks his heart as it did when Adam and Eve rejected him to follow
another path in Eden. The choice is ours to make.