There are many other examples. In every case, Miller and his kind are playing into the same desire voiced by Jesus’ disciples in today’s Gospel. “…all will be thrown down,” Jesus said, and so they asked, “…when will this be, and what will be the sign?” —the universal desire for certainty, or at least to minimize life’s inherent uncertainty. Jesus tells them that many will come in his name saying
‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’
People have gone after false leaders ever since, and people have suffered disappointment—not always as great as that of William Miller’s followers. Nonetheless, whenever someone comes claiming to know the time and the place, claiming to have special insight into God’s plans for the world and the human race, we remember Jesus’ warning:
Do not go after them.
Things do happen that tend to make people think the end is nigh. It seems that every major disaster—9/11, the Boxing Day tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, just to name a few—leads to someone saying that this is the beginning of the end. And in every case, that person is wrong.
Do not go after them.
Who then should we follow? And how should we live in troubled times? These are the questions before us today, in the world and in the church. There is a clamor of voices today, all claiming to know the way ahead, all seemingly certain of the truth. How are people of faith to respond?
The people of the church in Thessalonica lived in the expectation of the imminence of Christ’s return—any day now. We should not fault them for this belief, because they had been well taught by Paul, who also held this belief. But Paul does fault them for how they lived in this conviction, because a number of them had abandoned any vestige of a normal life, and were simply sitting and waiting for the end, living off their companions in the church. Why bother doing anything, when all of this will be over very soon?
Paul gives instructions to the church, requiring every member to pull his or her weight, contributing to the welfare of all, and never wearying of doing what is right. The church—God’s people, those who are being saved—can not truly fulfill its mission unless each member contributes to the best of his or her ability.
For while we wait Jesus’ return, there is work to be done. Even as we look for the promised new heavens and new earth, God has a continuing mission for us on this earth. The Church has striven to live into its mission for two millennia, expressing it in different ways in different times and places, but the heart of the mission remains—to proclaim and celebrate God’s kingdom, and to work with God for its fulfillment.
All Jesus asks of us—as does Paul—is our faithfulness, our endurance, our persistence.
Of unknown origin, the following story has been circulating on the Internet for many years.
There was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man that he had a job for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture placing thoughts into the man’s mind such as; “You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn’t budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it?” etc. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man even more. “Why kill myself over this?” he thought. “I’ll just put in my time, giving just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough.” And that he planned to do until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord” he said, “I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock a half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?” To this the Lord responded compassionately, “My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition, you have grown much and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you haven’t moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient, to push and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom. This you have done. I, my friend, will now move the rock for you.”
There are many voices competing for our attention today.
Do not go after them.
Let us rather listen together for the true voice of our Lord, and together let us strive to be faithful to our calling, following only the one who first said “Follow me.”