Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord
Perhaps you have heard of the Millerites, a mid-19th century religious movement started by William Miller (a largely self-educated New York farmer turned fiery preacher) that became widely popular in the US. At the center of the movement was Miller’s claim not only that Jesus’ second coming was imminent but that he could tell them when it would happen. All that was necessary was to read the book of Daniel literally, which prophesied (according to Miller) that Jesus would return 2300 years after 457 BC (the year in which a Persian king decreed that Jerusalem would be rebuilt). Miller did the math, and that meant that sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844 Jesus would return in physical form.
As he and other gifted preachers whom he converted to the movement traveled first along the east coast but later pushed as far west as Ohio (with stops in Dayton and Cincinnati) they spread a powerful and also terrifying message that at Jesus’ second coming the righteous would be separated from the unrighteous with the former going to heaven and the latter spending eternity burning in hell. Getting “right with God” was urgent, to say the least!
As you can imagine, those who thought they were righteous got very excited as that window for Jesus’ return approached. But when March 21, 1843 came and went with no sightings of Jesus, many were devastated. Yet, they didn’t give up. Another date was set: April 18, 1844. Folks again got excited. And again they were disappointed. Then Samuel Snow, another Millerite preacher, read the book of Daniel again but in a slightly different way and came up with October 22, 1844. He revealed the new date in August at a big tent revival. Believers again got excited—in fact, so excited that some of them gave away all of their belongings (including homes and businesses) in anticipation of Jesus’ return and their blessed eternity in heaven. No need for houses or businesses there!
Of course, October 22 came and went too. No Jesus. This came to be known as the Great Disappointment.
This is an incredible and heartbreaking story about earnest Christians who wanted so badly to know the times and the seasons. And they wanted to make sure they were among the righteous few who would join Jesus in heaven while the sinners and scoffers suffered for eternity.
I wish I could say that this story does not speak to us today. But, unfortunately, it does. All you have to do is flip through the religious cable channels to find a preacher offering yet another literal reading of biblical prophecy, pointing to this or that current event as among the signs in the book of Daniel that prove that Jesus is about to return and the great judgment will be underway soon.
It is not for us to know the times or the seasons. It is also not for us to know who will be saved and who will not. So, what is for us?
To answer that question, we need only to turn to our reading from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. This letter, scholars tell us, is all about the church. We should take that to heart. What is for us is to be the church.
But what does that mean? Again, Paul tells us: it is be humble, gentle, patient. It is to bear with one another through love. It is to strive for unity through the bonds of peace—that peace that Jesus so graciously and generously gave/gives us. It is to be one body. In all that we say and all that we do, we are to be one body—the body of Christ on Earth. Of course, to be one is not to be same. Paul is clear on this. Yes, we are to be one. And, yes, we are diverse—in the gifts we have been given, in the roles we are to play, and (to be sure) in so many other ways.
Perhaps in these days when the principalities and powers seem determined to divide us into political and commercial niches for their personal gain, we can proclaim the gospel to every creature just by loving one another not despite of but with our differences.
- Sue Trollinger