“Occupy Till I Come”
I was running my shift at UPS early one morning, trying to beat the clock, as we loaded the package cars, and prepared them for their busy day. In the midst of our hustle and bustle an alarm sounded. A sorter spotted flames on a conveyor belt. We safely evacuated the building and made sure everyone was okay. The fire was actually extinguished before the fire trucks arrived.
Later, I recollected how we were focused on getting our job done, in time for all the brown package cars to deliver their thousands of packages, all over a waking city, preparing itself for business. In a split second, our important task meant nothing and we were all prepared to quickly walk away and let the building, and all of our business burn to the ground if need be.
We were dedicated to our jobs at UPS but we still had enough sense to know when to walk away. I think this is the kind of balance we need when we hear the words,
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Matthew 24:42
and,
Occupy till I come. Luke 19:13
Some people complain that our church is not preaching enough about the Second Coming. They complain we just preach about day-to-day living. Yet these sermons are biblical, since Jesus taught us about day-to-day living. He did not teach us to sit around waiting for Him to come. The Bible says, “occupy” (“do business” in the NKJV) until He comes.
While our church is rightfully focused on the prophecies of the Second Coming, we must also remember those words in Luke, “Occupy till I come.” Remember the purpose of the gospel is to make people whole. This means more than just telling people what the mark of the beast is, when we can’t buy and sell. It also means teaching people biblical stewardship and money management, while we occupy and can buy and sell. Making people whole means more than just telling them dead people are dead. It means helping them to become whole again as they deal with grief day to day until the resurrection.
Making people whole also involves more than just telling people adultery is wrong. It also means ministering to and healing those scarred by divorce. A friend who had just joined the Adventist church, had emotional scars from divorce. He told me he was glad he had found the Adventist doctrines, but complained that there was nothing in our church to help with the daily pain of divorce. He went to a divorce recovery workshop the local Methodist church shared with the community. He asked me why we had nothing like that in our church.
Is it the job of other churches to help with day-to-day life, while the Adventist church just tells people about the mark of the beast and second coming? No! The first angel in Revelation 14 carries the everlasting gospel to the entire world. The everlasting gospel is a holistic gospel designed to make the entire person whole – body, mind and soul. I am very proud that today I work with the Tampa First Seventh-day Adventist church, which like many other Adventist churches today, is ministering to the entire person. My church has “Life groups” on Wednesday nights. On Wednesday nights people can also come to our church and join a prophecy seminar which I am leading, or they can choose between a grief-share group, parenting group, divorce recovery group and spiritual gifts workshop. We have had many workshops ranging from finances to sexual purity.
The Adventist Church proclaims a holistic gospel which brings healing in our every-day lives while preparing for the Second Coming. I pray that we may we each do our part.
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