GOD HAS NO GRANDCHILDREN
Ann Ratcliff
Midland Seventh-Day Adventist Church
September 22, 2007
There was a group of people called Jews that have in their set of beliefs, the coming of a Messiah. And a group of those Jews about 2000 years ago decided that Jesus was the Messiah; that their search for the Messiah was over. These people are now called Christians. But other Jews of 2000 years ago failed to pick up on the fact the Messiah had come. They were looking for a warrior/leader/king to lead them to triumphant military victory over their enemies--- a national savior who would restore the Davidic dynasty and the Jewish nation.
Those Jews were so busy looking for the warrior/king Messiah that they missed the fact that perhaps a Messiah could be born a helpless baby in a stable, of a relatively normal couple, and lead a quiet life in Nazareth. So today, while Christians believe the Messiah has come in the form of Jesus Christ some people have not interpreted their beliefs that way and they are still waiting. Misinterpretation perhaps? A mistake perhaps?
Now, come with me to the United States in the 1830s. There is a fervent group of believers under a man named Joseph Smith in New York State. Their beliefs include information contained in the translation of some golden plates, an angel called Moroni, and some time later, the practice of polygamy—plural marriage. They were persecuted in the east –literally run out of town in some cases, so they moved to the Midwest and a little later a man named Brigham Young, led them way out west to what was to become the state of Utah. At the time of his death Brigham Young had had 26 wives.
Then in 1890, about 40 plus years later, the person who was the leader at the time of this fervent group of believers issued a proclamation reversing the practice of polygamy—in essence forbidding a practice that was once considered a good thing. The interesting thing is that after the practice of polygamy was stopped, Utah was able to became a state in 1896. So was polygamy a misinterpretation perhaps? A mistake perhaps?
What are we to make of this ‘change of stance’ in terms of a practice sanctioned by the church at one time and then ‘de-sanctioned’ around 40 years later? These were fervent believers! Many of them packed up their belongings and traveled west in wagon trains or even hand carts, pulling their own possessions in a cart all across the country—they experienced untold hardships on behalf of their beliefs. But on the issue of polygamy, unlike the Jews waiting for the Messiah, they apparently had been wrong, they had followed a misinterpretation of what they thought of as God’s message. The Sabbath School lessons of couples of the Bible seem to confirm this idea that being married to more than one spouse is not a particularly good idea. But that church while it is about 10 million people strong today, is not our church, so we don’t need to pay much attention to the ‘tweaking’ of such a doctrine—we don’t believe that way.
Now come with me back again to the 1830s again to a little farm in upstate New York where a Baptist farmer lived. He was over 60 years old, he was not particularly healthy but he did spend a lot of time reading his Bible. He came to a conclusion that Jesus Christ was coming again soon to earth. Even though he was reluctant to share too much with the public, a movement took shape and others began to join William Miller in his message that Christ was coming soon and they needed to be ready. The time seemed to be ripe for such a revelation; the movement took on a particular urgency—Millerite preachers were spreading the news all over the area—from Boston, to Detroit, and down into Missouri, and Iowa. The millennium and end of the world were subjects of daily conversation among many—even average people on the street.
And meanwhile the Millerites themselves were growing in number and fervor. Pastors of churches began to resign their posts so they would be free to preach Miller’s message. There were conflicts about date setting and financing halls large enough to contain to huge crowds who gathered to hear the message.
But dates began to be set for the Lord’s return. On New Year’s eve of 1842 many thought that this would usher in the last year of Earth’s history. A date was set for April 18, 1844 but changed after more study to October 22, 1844. That was it. The Lord would return then. They KNEW it.
So they seriously confessed their sins; many did not harvest their crops, they repaid their debts, many resigned their jobs, they attempted to right any wrongs; everything; any other activity paled to the soon return of Jesus. This belief in the coming of Jesus so soon really put things into perspective for them.
As the time got closer some store owners had liquidation sales. People returned any stolen or borrowed goods. People confessed their crimes large and small. On October 22, 1844 the Millerites attended religious services or gathered in small groups in their homes to wait and pray. People were reported to be calm and cheerful and content.
But as we all know, Christ didn’t return that day. The sun rose on the morning of October 23 like any other day, and October 22, became the Millerites' Great Disappointment. One who was there wrote "Our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted, and such a spirit of weeping came over us as I never experienced before....We wept, and wept, till the day dawn." (Quoted in Millennial Fever, George R. Knight, p.218). The Millerites were humiliated, were in despair, were confused, doubted. Some stayed sequestered at home so they would not have to face the jeers, and the “I told you so.” messages. Most of the followers simply gave up their beliefs and quietly dropped away, “Oh well, what a mistake that was.” Some were devastated; their hopes and expectations were dashed. They lost hope. They all, whether they left the movement quietly, loudly or didn’t leave had major questions about why the Lord did not return when the Bible had so clearly pointed to his soon return. So was the belief in the return of Jesus Christ to earth on October 22, 1844 a misinterpretation? A mistake?
No wonder this is called The Great Disappointment. It was certainly a public humiliation. What was left of the followers of Wm Miller went back to the Bible. They had misinterpreted God’s message. They had made a mistake. Today, the church that grew out of that band of believers, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has well over 14.5 million members.
So we see at least three instances –the Jews that didn’t notice their Messiah had arrived, the Mormons and their polygamous practice, and the pre-Adventists who believed that Jesus would return in 1844—were some fairly public, some fairly important and serious misinterpretations were made by human believers. If you had been a believer in any of these groups when these misinterpretations came to light, what would you think?
My message for you today is that we need to put our trust only in God, not in the church with its doctrines that could perhaps be subject to misinterpretation. The church is only the vehicle to God. Of course as we take our baptismal vows we are pledging our allegiance to the particular body and that’s a good thing. But when you are baptized, you are simply getting on the bus—now you are getting on the best bus, and I wouldn’t trade our bus for anything, but if something were to happen to this bus, would your anchor hold? Your anchor is in God, not the bus.
So think about it--in what/I whom do you put your trust?
A friend told me of a conversation she had with an ardent young man, who was a relatively new Adventist. This young man read something about a date of prophetic revelation that seemed to be at odds with what he had read in the Spirit of Prophecy. He had a difficult time reconciling this. He became fairly agitated exclaiming, “If it wasn’t the right date, then Mrs. White was all wrong in all her writing and so then she isn’t a prophet and our church has nothing to offer anyone!” My friend was wise enough to spend quite a while calming him down, and discussing with him the issue of what he really put his trust in -- in the church, in the dates, or in God?
And I admit as a person that was exploring the SDA message in 1979/1980 I struggled with the notion that as a good Methodist for 29 years, I was being deceived about which day was the true Sabbath. However what would prevent this new message I was hearing about the Seventh-day Adventist Church from being just another set of deceptions? Were they really right? Were they really right with the generalities; with the specifics? Where were the misinterpretations? I came to the realization that God saves you, not the church, not the doctrines of the church. God convicts your heart, not the church, not the doctrines.
Our church is pretty unique in that it has something in its history called the Great Disappointment—results of human misinterpretation. But is that a reason not to get on the bus? Different fellowships of believers have done mighty things as individuals and as a group. Think of all the architectural marvels of cathedrals and religious monuments all over the world from people of believer groups. Think of the wonderful art and music created by people who were inspired by the view of God out of the window of their bus. Think of what our own church has done—we have the largest protestant school system in the world, we have a world-wide disaster relief system bar none. We have medical missionary work and health promotion work all over the world. We have done wonderful things and as a corporate body we are enabled to do bigger and better things than if we depended upon only ourselves. However, all of this cannot produce salvation for us. Only God can do that. Only God can save us. We are the children of God, not his grandchildren.
Now come with me to Scripture.
Transfiguration story: Matthew 17: 1-12 “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus…... a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my son whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified, But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up” he said “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up they saw no one except Jesus.”.....”
The Transfiguration is one of those rare times that divinity flashed through Jesus that could be seen by others. The Gospel writers make it clear that the Transfiguration was a real experience—not just a hallucination or dream of the disciples. Peter later presents this experience as one of the great confirmations of the Christian faith. One message to me in this story is that we are blessed with the Law of Moses; we are blessed with the prophecy of Elijah and how he helped the Hebrews out at a time of crisis, but they will go away and what remains is Christ; Christ alone.
So we have a good start. We have an excellent view of God out of the window of our particular bus, and like we hear over and over, it is the Lord Jesus Christ that, if we accept Him as our personal savior, will give to us the peace that passes understanding and take us to live with Him forever in Heaven.
Amen
Benediction: II Corinthians 13:14 “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all” so that you may 2 Peter 3:18 “Grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory now and for all eternity!”