Why We Are Here, Part 3

This sermon was preached during Annual Council 2025 on Sunday, October 12. Elements of oral style have been retained.—Editors.

Imagine that you’re walking down a sidewalk in Silver Spring, Maryland, when a man in a trench coat carrying a briefcase stops you. He sets the briefcase on a nearby ledge, opens it, and shows you what’s inside: US$1 million in cash. He glances left and right, then looks at you and says, “All of this is yours if you can correctly answer one question.”

You’re intrigued. “What’s the question?” you ask.

The man leans in and says, “What is the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church?”

Now you’re beginning to wonder about the kind of people who wander the streets of Silver Spring with briefcases full of cash, asking questions like this. But it’s $1 million, so you want to have an answer. You think to yourself, I know this. Why are we here? What’s our purpose? And then it comes to you.

If you were to line up 10 Adventists and ask them that same question, in my experience you’d get at least 11 different answers. Some might say, “Our mission is to be good people.” And a passing Baptist might nod in agreement: “That’s a good mission.”

Others might answer, “Our mission is to worship God through our lives and our words.” A Lutheran friend walking by might say, “That sounds right.”

Or perhaps: “Our mission is to know God.” A Catholic friend might smile and agree.

Another person might add, “To serve others as Jesus would serve them.” And the Methodist walking by would nod approvingly.

If you ask enough Adventists that million-dollar question, sooner or later someone will say, “Wait, I’ve got it! Our mission is to fulfill the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20.”

That’s an interesting answer. I know you all know it by heart, but let’s look at it together with fresh eyes.

These are the final recorded words of Jesus in the book of Matthew. He has been crucified, buried, resurrected, and has spent several weeks with His disciples. These are His final words to His disciples as He essentially says goodbye.

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age’ ” (Matt. 28:18-20).

Let’s be crystal clear: this is the strongest statement Jesus makes during His earthly ministry. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. And with that authority He commands: Go and make disciples.

If that’s the entirety of our mission, then we might as well sell our schools, churches, and institutions, including this very building, and join with other Christian denominations. Because making disciples is their mission too.

Any church that calls itself Christian must be about the business of fulfilling the Great Commission of Matthew 28. We cannot claim to follow Jesus and neglect this command. This is the most powerful statement Jesus ever makes. If the Seventh-day Adventist Church is going to be Christian, it must be focused on the process of making disciples.

But Jesus didn’t say merely to make converts; He said to teach them “to observe all things that I have commanded you.” That is the work of nurturing mature disciples—people growing into the fullness of Christ, walking with Him, and helping others to do the same.

We must be about the business of making disciples.

If that’s the entirety of our mission, then we might as well sell our schools, churches, and institutions, including this very building, and join with other Christian denominations. Because making disciples is their mission too. Honestly, it is profoundly ineffective and arrogant to maintain our own institutions if our mission is just the same as theirs.

But the doors are still open. Our schools, hospitals, and churches are still operating. So we must ask: Why? Why do we insist on maintaining our own churches, schools, and institutions?

It’s because, while we share many beliefs with other Christian denominations, we do not have the same mission. Ours is different. And if we get this mission wrong, this planet and its people will be affected for eternity.

So what is the unique mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church?

Well, come back tomorrow, and I’ll tell you.

Today there is a final thing we need to talk about first. During the past two parts we talked about the attitude of our hearts, of being passionate, prayerful people who are daily filled with the Holy Spirit. Now it is time to set a proper exegetical framework that will help us accurately interpret our true mission.

A People Called for a Purpose

The first part of Revelation 12 describes a pure woman who represents God’s people—first Israel, then the Christian church. Verse 17 calls them “the rest of her offspring.” The Greek word there is loipos, meaning “remnant.” This remnant represents the last group of God’s people on earth just before Christ’s return. They are identified by two clear characteristics: they keep the commandments of God, and they have the testimony of Jesus.

Revelation 19:10 explains that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Consequently, the last group of God’s people will be marked by two defining traits. First, they will take all of God’s commandments seriously. They’re not altering them, not choosing which to keep, but honoring them all. Second, they take prophecy seriously.

In the mid-1800s a small group of believers led by Joseph Bates and James and Ellen White humbly and fearfully saw themselves as the direct fulfillment of Bible prophecy, including Revelation 12:17. They believed they had been called into existence by God Himself, confirmed by divine visions and phenomena, and commanded to prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Humanly speaking, that task must have seemed impossible. How could such a small group reach the world for Christ? Yet from that handful of people the Seventh-day Adventist Church now numbers more than 24 million members.

Ellen White became the most published female author on religious topics in history. In 2014 Smithsonian magazine named her one of the 100 most influential Americans of all time. Thanks to her commitment and that of countless others, the Adventist Church today operates the largest Protestant education system in the world and the largest Protestant health-care system, with more than 500 institutions in 65 countries.

Our church membership is growing by leaps and bounds and is experiencing fantastic success. But that has almost nothing to do with the West. Lest you think I am throwing stones, this is the territory in which I work. When we hear of 3,000 people baptized, we don’t picture Los Angeles or Chicago. We immediately assume it took place outside the United States.

I look at the great things God is doing around the world, and then I look in my backyard . . . we have work to do. I can’t help wondering if we might benefit from a refresher course on what it means to be a prophetic movement.

If we can recapture the Christ-centered passion for our prophetic mission that fueled our pioneers, and if we allow the Holy Spirit to take full possession of our lives, revival will come. We will be changed, and ultimately the work will be finished, and we will at last go home.

What does it mean to be a prophet of God? We call ourselves a prophetic movement of God. If we study how God led individual prophets in the Bible, we’ll better understand how we, as a prophetic movement, can function best. These lessons are essential as we prepare to examine the specific mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

So let’s look briefly at three lessons on prophets and prophetic movements.

If we can recapture the Christ-centered passion for our prophetic mission that fueled our pioneers, and if we allow the Holy Spirit to take full possession of our lives, revival will come.

Lesson One: Say and Do What God Commands

Jeremiah, one of the major prophets of the Old Testament, worked in one of the worst times in Israel’s history. Paganism flourished, bloodshed filled the streets, and corruption was everywhere. In that setting God made one truth clear:

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord. They continually say to those who despise Me, “The Lord has said, ‘You shall have peace’ ”; and to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say,
“No evil shall come upon you.” ’

“ ‘For who has stood in the counsel of the Lord, and has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury—a violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.

“ ‘I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings’ ” (Jer. 23:16-22).

Prophets are to say and do what God commands them to say and do.

When God reveals Himself to a prophet, it’s not up to the prophet to form a committee and decide what to say. The same is true for prophetic movements. What was true for the prophets of Scripture is true for us today. We must be faithful to the specific charge God has given us.

I’m often amazed when churches say, “We’re going to create a mission statement for our church.” What are you talking about? We don’t create a mission statement—we discover it. God has already spoken to His people.

We understand inspiration: God imparts divine thoughts to human messengers, who then express them in human language. They don’t invent the message; they communicate it faithfully. The agenda is set by God, not by us. And we are to say and do what He commands, regardless of the cost, difficulty, or awkwardness it can bring.

Lesson Two: Sometimes God Commands Strange Things

Now for our second lesson. Let’s look at a few examples, and I want to see if you can discern a pattern in these texts:

“In the year that Tartan came to Ashdod, when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and took it, at the same time the Lord spoke by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, ‘Go, and remove the sackcloth from your body, and take your sandals off your feet.’ And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. Then the Lord said, ‘Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia . . .’ ” (Isa. 20:1-3).

“And you, son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber’s razor, and pass it over your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair. You shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city . . . one-third you shall strike around it with the sword, and one-third you shall scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them. You shall also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment” (Eze. 5:1-3).

“Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything” (Mark 8:22, 23).

“And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, “So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles” ’ ” (Acts 21:10, 11).

If you are looking for a denomination that will never make you or anyone else uncomfortable, don’t join a prophetic movement. If you are looking for a denomination that will always be mainstream or eternally cool by the world’s standards, don’t join a prophetic movement.

Do you see the lesson?

Lesson one taught us that prophets are to say and do what God commands. Lesson two shows us that God often commands prophets to say and do strange things. You can’t argue that after reading what we just read.

Let me be crystal clear: the life of a prophet is not normal. There were many good, righteous people in Israel who were never called to be prophets. But prophets are different. They live under a unique set of divine instructions. Their actions may appear odd, even shocking—but they are obedient to God’s direction.

The same principle applies to prophetic movements. Sometimes God asks His people to do things that seem strange to the world around them. Of course, this doesn’t mean we should embrace everything that is strange. Nor does it mean that everything we say or do must be strange for it to be from God. But when God calls His people to proclaim an unpopular or countercultural truth, they must obey.

Compared to the prophets of old, the Adventist Church has had it pretty easy. In 30 years of ministry I’ve never had to spit in someone’s face to try to heal them from blindness. I’ve never had to walk around naked and barefoot or shave my head as a sermon illustration. And my guess is that you haven’t either. So before we complain too much about what God has asked us to do, compare it to what the Old Testament prophets were asked to do, and you’ll feel better pretty quickly.

There are some in the church, however, who have been made sufficiently uncomfortable by what God has asked us to say that they’ve become creative in finding excuses to avoid saying it. For instance, some have said that while the founders of the Advent movement were correct in their understanding of Bible prophecy, they ultimately had a message only “for their time.” “We have,” they say, “matured beyond the awkward or challenging nature of prophetic preaching.”

Others offer a slightly different excuse. They point out that it has been about 180 years since Adventists began proclaiming that Bible prophecy was being fulfilled in our day. “Obviously,” they say, “anything that takes that long to fulfill is past its expiration date. It’s time to start focusing on something more relevant.”

To these critics I would gently say this: the last prophecies in Scripture—the book of Revelation—were written near the end of the first century A.D., around the years 90 or 92. The prophecies of Daniel were written in the sixth century B.C. Most Adventists today agree that those prophecies were relevant when our movement began in the nineteenth century. In other words, for more than 2,000 years those prophecies didn’t go stale. But then, somehow, in the past 180 years, they have?

I would ask gently: When exactly did that happen? What date? At what point did an unfulfilled prophecy become no prophecy at all?

Some say it’s because we’re so advanced now. We have iPhones and iPads, modern medicine, advanced modes of travel, etc. Supposedly that makes us too wise and mature to need something as archaic as Bible prophecy. To which I would say: impossible. Absolutely impossible.

It is self-evident, spiritually speaking, that the world is not a better place now than it was in 1844. Our technological advancements, while abundantly useful, have not made humanity more peaceful, more joyful, or more godly. If that’s what “advancement” looks like, we don’t need it.

Even beyond the illogic of that argument, the real question isn’t one of time or technology. It’s a question of respect for and loyalty to God’s calling, God’s power, and God’s promises. And this is not a new critique. Even in the first century, Peter addressed it (2 Peter 3:1-10).

Unless the Lord has specifically made provision for it, there is no expiration date on unfulfilled prophecy. So let’s be clear: if you are looking for a denomination that will never make you or anyone else uncomfortable, don’t join a prophetic movement. If you are looking for a denomination that will always be mainstream or eternally cool by the world’s standards, don’t join a prophetic movement.

But if you are tired of a picture of God who supposedly accepts everything and stands for nothing . . . If you hunger for a spiritual adventure that will stretch your faith to its limits, in which love, justice, mercy, and faith become real experiences as you walk hand in hand with Christ in the final days of earth’s history, then maybe you’re ready to be part of a prophetic movement.

Which brings us to lesson three.

Lesson Three: God Uses Strange Things to Rescue People

In this text we are at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. He has been baptized, He has been tempted in the desert by the devil, and now He is getting ready to call His first disciples. But before that, He is going to set the theme for His ministry.

“Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel’ ” (Mark 1:14, 15).

Lesson one: Prophets are to say and do what God commands them to say and do.
Lesson two: God often commands prophets to say and do strange things.
Lesson three: Prophets say and do strange things because God is trying to rescue people from disaster.

This is what Jesus was doing. He said, “The time is fulfilled.” That’s prophecy. He was referring to the time prophecy of Daniel 9—the prediction that pointed to the timing of His baptism and the beginning of His public ministry. Jesus declared that prophecy had reached its fulfillment: “The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus was seeking to save that generation—and every generation after—from disaster. And the prophets, and by extension prophetic movements, are not to say or do what we want to say or do. We are to say and do what God wants us to say and do, even if it’s awkward or uncomfortable.

Not because it’s our personal preference, but because we have been entrusted with a unique message. And if you’ve been honest about that message, you know it can make for some awkward moments. Sometimes it’s difficult, but we’re not doing this to please ourselves. We are seeking to partner with Jesus Christ in bringing home those who are lost.

We are looking to lead those who are in darkness into light. We are looking to bring souls to Jesus—the only name under heaven by which we can be saved. And I crave a time in this church when the question “Will this be awkward, difficult, or strange?” is no longer the first question on our lips.

And though the devil himself tries to stop this prophetic movement, he will not be able to do so—because God is with us. The finest hour of the church lies just ahead.

The Finest Hour Lies Ahead

Years ago, when I was a very fresh pastor, not long out of undergrad, a couple came to me and asked me to perform their wedding. I didn’t know much about this couple. They weren’t Seventh-day Adventists and had no particular faith whatsoever.

I made arrangements to meet them at a Denny’s restaurant. Now, for those of you outside the United States, Denny’s is not exactly fine dining. But that’s where they wanted to meet, so I agreed. I walked in, and they waved me over. The groom had a bottle of beer in his hand, and it was obvious it wasn’t his first. I sat down across from them, placed my order, and said, “Tell me what you’d like for your wedding. Let’s talk about it.”

The man leaned forward, beer in hand, and looked me straight in the eye. “I don’t want God to have any part in my wedding,” he said.

Now, I grew up in an interesting environment, and I’d been around people like this before. Sometimes compassion is what’s needed. Sometimes you have to meet fire with fire. So I leaned forward, looked him straight in the eye, and said, “Well, you’re taking a pretty big risk having a Christian pastor do your wedding then, aren’t you?”

He hadn’t thought about that. He sat back, took another swig, and thought for a moment. Then he said, “OK . . . what’s the absolute minimum amount of God required for you to do my wedding?”

I’d never been asked that before. I was young, inexperienced, and trying to think on my feet. I took a sip of water and said, “Well . . . I guess at the very least I’d have to say at the end of the ceremony, ‘By the power vested in me as a minister of the gospel, I now pronounce you husband and wife.’ ”

He nodded. “All right. That’ll do.”

I wasn’t quite sure what I had just agreed to, but we planned out the ceremony on a napkin. They wanted it very short, extremely short. We jotted down a few notes, thanked each other, and left.

The wedding was to be held at a very expensive venue in downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. I didn’t realize how fancy it was until I pulled up that evening and saw the building.

I went inside, and someone met me. “Oh, Pastor Shane, we have a tie for you. The bride would like you to wear this one.”

I already had a tie on, but they handed me an orange tie covered with spiders and spiderwebs. I looked at it, confused, and said, “Oh, wait . . . what’s the date today?” I glanced at my watch—October 31.

This was a Halloween wedding.

Somehow that little detail had slipped past me. They said, “Yes, please go ahead and put that on. We’re about to start.” So I went and changed my tie, thinking, Well, this is going to be interesting.

I met the groom in the back. He’d had a few more beers from Denny’s, and he wasn’t doing too well. I poked my head into the ballroom and thought, Oh, no. The room was decorated with fake cobwebs hanging from the chandeliers. The bride was dressed in orange, wearing a pointed witch’s hat. Smoke was rolling across the platform.

And then my father—an extraordinary man—started playing the bagpipes in the back, dressed in his kilt. I thought, I cannot believe I’m about to perform this wedding.

It was time to go. The groom stumbled up front, we began, and the ceremony lasted maybe two minutes. At the end, in that smoky room surrounded by Halloween decor, I mumbled, “By the power vested in me as a minister of the gospel, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

The bagpipes started again, and the bride and groom marched out. At the reception it was more of the same—cobwebs, costumes, and plenty of alcohol. The bride and groom toasted each other with mugs shaped like skulls. They jovially toasted me: “To you, Pastor!”

I remember thinking, If my conference president drives by and sees my car out front, I’m fired.

Eventually the bride and groom were sufficiently inebriated that I could slip out unnoticed. And I did.

To the best of my knowledge, neither that night nor afterward did I ever make any spiritual progress with that couple.

You might say, “Well, Pastor Shane, that’s not how the story is supposed to end. Isn’t there supposed to be a baptism in the hot tub afterward or something?”

And to be clear, if you’re a young pastor listening, don’t do what I did. A wiser, more experienced pastor would have done things differently. I got the methods wrong. But there’s one thing I got absolutely correct: I was willing to do whatever it took—even if it was strange, awkward, or bizarre—to try to reach that couple for Jesus Christ.

I don’t defend the method, but I will defend the attitude to my dying breath.

Ladies and gentlemen, we must be willing to say what God has asked us to say, and do what God has asked us to do. If God has said it, then we are to say it. If God has told us to do it, we must do it. We need have no fear—not if it looks awkward, not if it feels strange. We must do it with love, mercy, and compassion, but above all, with faithfulness.

Yes, sometimes it will be hard. Sometimes it will be uncomfortable. People may not understand. And yes, some will say no. Sadly, that’s part of the work of a gospel proclaimer—helping people to make a decision, even when that decision is no. But more people said no to Jesus than yes. We can expect the same. There’s a reason we’re called “the remnant.”

Even so, I believe with absolute conviction that the finest hour of the Seventh-day Adventist Church lies just before us. The finest hour is coming! We will not cave to our critics. We will not give in to theological fads or fashions. We will not faint in the face of opposition, no matter the source. And though the devil himself tries to stop this prophetic movement, he will not be able to do so—because God is with us. The finest hour of the church lies just ahead.

We do indeed have “the prophetic word confirmed,” and we will pay attention to it “as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in [our] hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).

May God grant us a double portion of His Holy Spirit as we seek to fulfill His unique calling and mission.

To read part 1 of this sermon series, click here.

To read part 2 of this sermon series, click here.