Posted on 11/21/2009 8:37:57 PM PST by Charles Henrickson
“Of Mayans and Millerites: 2012, 1844, and 2009” (Mark 13:24-37)
There’s a new movie out called “2012,” maybe you’ve heard of it. It’s about an enormous, earth-shaking event that will take place in the year 2012. No, it’s not a fantasy about my Chicago Cubs finally winning the World Series. No, nothing as far-fetched as that. Rather, “2012” is a big-budget disaster movie about the end of the world. I haven’t seen it, and I’m not planning on seeing it, but from what I can tell, it’s your standard end-of-the-world movie: Big cataclysmic disaster coming, worldwide destruction, some time to get ready for it and make preparations, lots of folks will die, some will be saved. Nothing we haven’t seen before. We know what kind of a movie it’s going to be. We were warned.
I guess what makes this new movie different, and why it’s set in 2012, is that there is supposedly an ancient Mayan prophecy--the Mayans were a Central American Indian civilization that studied the stars and calculated calendars--a Mayan prophecy that the world will end in 2012, specifically, on the winter solstice, December 21, 2012. Apparently, the sun is going to line up with the Milky Way in a certain way on that date, or something like that, and that will mark a shift in time, from the world as we know it to the dawning of a whole new age.
So now, in these next couple of years leading up to 2012, you’ll see a whole new cottage industry spring up in connection with this obscure prophecy about the end of the world. Get ready for 2012 mini-serieses, 2012 reality shows, 2012 lunchboxes, 2012 survival kits. It’ll be like Y2K on steroids.
So what happens when December 21, 2012, comes and goes and everything remains the same? Well, it would not be the first time the date-setters have gotten it wrong. Back in the 1800s, there was a guy in upstate New York by the name of William Miller. He took to calculating the time of Christ’s return, and he gained a large number of followers, called the Millerites. Miller narrowed down the time to sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. When that didn’t work, they did a little recalculation and revised the date to April 18. But then a new revelation: The date of Christ’s return will be October 22, 1844. Thousands of followers waited expectantly; some of them even sold their possessions. But then, lo and behold, October 22 came and went, but Jesus did not return. That non-event thus became known as the “Great Disappointment.” Some of the greatly disappointed regrouped, though, and stuck to their belief that something big did indeed happen on October 22, only it was an unseen “investigative judgment” in heaven. This group led eventually to what is now the Seventh-Day Adventists.
Well, both the Mayans and the Millerites could have spared themselves a lot of grief if only they had listened to our text for today, Jesus’ words in the Gospel reading: “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.” You see, Jesus tells us flat out that no one will be able to predict when that day will be. He tells us that in advance. Don’t listen to the date-setters. They’re wrong. They don’t know what they’re talking about.
“Of Mayans and Millerites: 2012, 1844, and 2009”--that is our theme this morning. In light of Christ’s words about his second coming, what can we learn from the date-setters of the past, for how we live now in the present, as we look toward the future? The first point is obvious, as we just said: No one knows the day or hour. No one can predict when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will return. Yes, it’s pretty easy for us to ridicule the date-setters. When they set a date, and they get all excited about it, and then it comes and goes without anything happening, and then they have to come up with some new revelation to explain why now we have to revise our original calculation--well, it’s pretty easy to see through that type of religious charlatanry. That’s what you might call an “Epic Fail.”
But I think there’s a problem on the opposite side, as well. And that’s when we fail to realize that, while we cannot predict the date, we can predict the event itself, that it will happen. That’s the second point: Our Lord Jesus will indeed return, on a particular day, and that day could come at any time. We forget that, we lose sight of that fact. I think that’s the greater danger in our circles.
That day is on the way. Jesus tells us about it. There will be cataclysmic, cosmic disruptions in the universe as we know it: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” All at once, everything is going to collapse and unravel. Jesus goes on to say about that day: “Heaven and earth will pass away.” The prophet Isaiah had put it like this: “The heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner.” You know, earlier I summed up the standard plot of an end-of-the-world movie by saying: Big cataclysmic disaster coming, worldwide destruction, some time to get ready for it and make preparations, lots of folks will die, some will be saved. And, as far as that goes, that’s what’s really going to happen. Of course, the movie people don’t get the theological dimensions of the story, why all this will happen and how to get ready for it, but as to the event itself: Will there be a final day of worldwide destruction? Yes. And, we were warned.
Why will this day of destruction come upon the earth? It is God’s judgment. The world in its wickedness and unbelief spurned the Savior sent from heaven. Christ, the Son of God, came to redeem fallen mankind, but the world knew him not and rejected their only hope and continued in their lawless ways. But this world’s evil will be brought to an end one day. Jesus says of that day: “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” Or, as we say in the Creed: “From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.” Judgment, wrath, and destruction will fall upon this rebellious world and upon the unbelieving evil-doers who inhabit it. For them, it will be a day of terror and judgment and eternal damnation.
But for you, dear friends, for you who trust in Christ your Savior, that day will be a day of salvation, salvation and victory and great rejoicing. Why? Because Jesus Christ has won that salvation for you, by his death on the cross and his resurrection from the grave. Jesus died to cover all your sins with his holy precious blood. There is your forgiveness, there is your righteousness. Jesus rose from the dead and showed us that what he did by dying on the cross was sufficient to conquer sin and death and deliver us from hell and condemnation. There is your resurrection on the Last Day, there is your eternal life. In Christ, and none other.
Jesus tells us what he will do on that day when he comes again: “And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” Yes, Christ will gather up his church, all his chosen people from all times and all places, from Old Testament and New, from north, south, east, and west, and he will gather us to himself. All the saints of old will be raised from their graves when they hear his voice. All the believers then living will be included as well. We all will receive new and glorified bodies, fit for eternity. We will be changed, in the twinkling of an eye. The heavens and the earth will be changed also, better than ever. There will be a divine restart. Paradise restored, and then some. “We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.”
So the first point is, don’t listen to the date-setters, like the Mayans and Millerites. But the second point is, don’t fall into the ditch on the other side, either. Don’t take your eyes off the prize and forget that it is true that Christ will come again on the Last Day--a day of judgment for the world, a day of rejoicing for us--and that day could come at any time. Which leads us to the third point: What to do while we’re waiting. Simply put, as Jesus puts it: “Be on guard, keep awake.” Or again: “Therefore stay awake--for you do not know when the master of the house will come.” And again: “And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
Be on guard, keep awake, stay awake. Jesus could not be any more direct in his admonitions. Why do we need to hear this? Because what seems like a delay in our master’s return--at least it may seem that way to us, from our perspective--that seeming delay could lull us to sleep and we get caught off guard. Are we watchful? Are we waiting? Are we actively expecting our Lord’s return? Or have we dozed off and lost sight of what this is all about? Has our prayer life faltered? Have we gotten lazy and complacent and too conformed to the unbelieving world around us? Have we let down our guard against the tempter who would lead us astray? Have we been living for our own sinful flesh, instead of for the glory of the Lord and the good of our neighbor? Have we forgotten our hope, our great hope that is found in Christ’s return, when he will raise us and all believers from the dead, and will set all things right at last, and will bring us into the life of the age to come? That lively hope is what will give us the joy and confidence to carry on in these gray and latter days.
Be on guard, keep awake, stay awake. Jude says it like this: “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” That’s what it means to be wakeful and watching. Today our good Lord is giving us that wake-up call.
“Of Mayans and Millerites: 2012, 1844, and 2009.” What can we learn from the date-setters of the past, for how we live now in the present, as we look toward the future? What we have learned is this: We don’t know if the end of the world and the return of Christ will be in 2012, or in 2010, or even in the year 2525. But we do know that this world will end and Christ will return, and it could happen at any time. You have Jesus’ word on it: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” That day is coming. And oh, dear Christians, how we look forward to that day! The Lord who shed his blood for us, to save us from our sins and from eternal death--Christ Jesus will return to crown the forgiveness of sins with the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. So therefore we remain alert and watchful, and we pray the Lord’s help in doing so. Be on guard, keep awake, stay awake.
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
[Jesus said:] “In those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake--for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning--lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
Ping.
bookmarked for when I am actually awake!
Not to be confused with an ancient Hopi prophecy.
When the moon is in the Seventh House
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars
This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius
The Age of Aquarius
Aquarius! Aquarius!
I wanna 2012 keychain and drinking cup. BTW, I actually do have a Wolverine drinking cup. Had some orange soda from it last night.
BTW, I also referred to the Millerites (along with a link) in a recent NB story that I wrote. I mentioned that a certain environmental write was continuing to act like a latter day Millerite by clinging to the Global Warming dogma despite strong evidence to the contrary.
The scare that lined the pockets of obsolete COBOL programmers.
An associate of Joe Smith who couldn't give up his Morning Joe?
Kind of like the "Great Disappointment" of May 12, 2006.
I've placed my belief in the Russellite Revelation about 1914. I'm waiting for that one.
If Man is still alive. If not, that song will still be around somewhere.
The movie people did make a film along this theme: Omen III: The Final Conflict. But what happened is that the producers messed up. The entire plot line was geared towards a modern day birth of Jesus as a baby. Then suddenly it was as if they checked the bible and said, "Oops!" So they tacked on an ending with Jesus returning full grown and hoped that you didn't notice that it was in "final conflict" with the rest of the movie.
Yep! I took my long-retired parents to a show at Wolf Trap back in 98 or 99, and we were discussing Y2K at intermission. I said I wished I had paid more attention in COBOL class, and when Dad said it was really pretty easy, several people wanted to talk to him, gave him business cards, and he ended up going back to work for several months.
bump for later reading
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