Editor’s note: Below is a distillation of an August 24, 2024, sermon given at Pioneer Memorial church on the 150th anniversary of Andrews University (formerly Battle Creek College). Some elements of public oratory have been preserved.
In September 1874, a mere month after the opening of Battle Creek College, John Nevins Andrews sailed to Europe as the first officially appointed Adventist overseas missionary. The proximity of the starting of both the college and Andrews’ travels were not a coincidence. On the contrary, the reason we started Battle Creek College in the United States was the same reason J. N. Andrews left to go to Switzerland: mission, the mission of introducing people to Jesus Christ, sharing with them the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14, and . . .
And here, precisely on this point, is where this 150th anniversary celebration galls me.
Please don’t misunderstand! I’m thrilled at the chance to relive the stories of our pioneers and their bravery. But what galls me about this 150-year celebration is that it means we are still here. Jesus has not yet come. We are not yet in heaven. The work is not yet done.
And the question naturally comes: What would it take for this to change? I think the answer to at least part of that question lies in a single phrase: At any cost.
Jesus is coming soon! May we do all we can to prepare the way.
It was not cheap for J. N. Andrews to go to Europe. He literally sold everything, giving much of the proceeds for building Battle Creek College and using the rest for his mission expenses. He, in essence, said, “I will fulfill the mission Christ has given me, at any cost!” And back home those creating what would eventually become Andrews University said the same: “We will sacrifice! We will see this institution grow to become a sharp tool in God’s hand for sharing Christ and the three angels’ messages with the world—and we will do that at any cost!”
But today I wonder: Are we still doing this? Is the primary mission of Adventist higher education still the spreading of Jesus Christ and His gospel as found in the three angels’ messages? I think the answer is a definite . . . sometimes! Sometimes, yes, we are doing this! But other times, not so much—or maybe, in some cases, no, not at all.
Faculty, both here and at any Adventist institution, I plead with you: Make your graduates the smartest, most proficient they can be in their chosen fields! And never forget that one of the primary reasons you exist is not only to instruct, but to equip students for the finishing of the work; to equip students who will go out and give their all to fulfill the mission of spreading the gospel at any cost! That is why our forebears started this university! That is why we are here! And “at any cost” is the attitude that, by God’s grace, will help guarantee there will never be a 200th anniversary of this august, much loved, impactful institution.
Is this not the hope that burns in our hearts? Then let us live it. Jesus is coming soon! May we do all we can to prepare the way.