In parts of the Adventist world, the Second Coming has gone quiet. We believe it. It’s in our name. It’s Fundamental Belief 25. Yet many pulpits mention it once a year, if that, as though it’s too outrageous a claim to say out loud in polite company.
That’s a strange thing to be shy about. The return of Jesus isn’t an embarrassing family heirloom we keep in the attic. It’s the great hope that animates us and focuses everything else. Paul called it “the blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). Jesus said, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself” (John 14:3). The Bible closes with a prayer: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).
Some of the reluctance makes sense. We’ve seen the charts, the date setting, the fear sermons that left kids lying awake at night. Nobody misses that. But the cure for a bad timeline was never silence. It was joy.
Paul didn’t tell the Thessalonians to stay calm and change the subject. He said, “Comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18). The comfort is real because the event is real. This is not comforting fiction. It’s a promise from Someone who keeps His promises.
So it’s time to recapture an eager expectation. We don’t need a calculator or a panic attack. We need people who live like Jesus is coming soon, and who find that the thought makes them kinder, braver and more generous today.
Jesus is coming. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s the best news we’ve got.
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