What does our church say about the end of time?

 In light of some of our recent worship services that centered around The Book of Revelation and The New Testament Apocalypse, some people have asked me, “What does the United Methodist Church teach about the end of the world?” Much to their disappointment I have to say, “Not much.” The historic Articles of Religion of The Methodist Church say,

Article 3—Of the Resurrection of Christ
Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took again his body, with all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth until he return to judge all men at the last day.

The Confession of Faith of The Evangelical United Brethren contains this statement: rticle XII — The Judgment and the Future State

We believe all men stand under the righteous judgment of Jesus Christ, both now and in the last day. We believe in the resurrection of the dead; the righteous to life eternal and the wicked to endless condemnation.

(The Methodist church and the Evangelical United Brethren formed one church – The United Methodist Church – in 1968. In doing so, each parent church accepted the doctrinal statements and historical documents of the other.)

John Wesley himself spoke infrequently about such things. One of Wesley’s preachers was George Bell, who at one point prophesied that the world would come to an end on February 28, 1763. Wesley reluctantly but firmly cut his ties with Bell. He wrote in his journal on February 28, 1763, “Preaching in the evening at Spitalfields on ‘Prepare to meet thy God,’ I largely showed the utter absurdity of the supposition that the world was to end that night. But notwithstanding all I could say, many were afraid to go to bed, and some wandered about in the fields, being persuaded that if the world did not end, at least London would be swallowed up by an earthquake. I went to bed at my usual time and was fast asleep about ten o’clock.

Wesley wrote in his sermon, The Great Assize (which is part of Methodism’s Doctrinal Standards) that the concern of the Christian was to live a life of righteousness so that the Final Judgment held no fear for an individual. He spends no time on the questions of “when” or “how.”

Wesley thought that it was folly for humans to concern themselves with timetables and speculation. He quoted Jesus’ words that “no one knows the time or the place…” Wesley contented himself with teaching Methodists that holiness of living and vital piety were at the center of faith, and that the rest would take care of itself.

It would be easy on some of us if the church would just say, “We have a day and hour.” But it doesn’t. Meanwhile, whether the end comes tomorrow or in a thousand years, the scriptural mandates remain the same: “Watch,” and “Love God with all that you are and all that you have.” The rest will work itself out.