Church Health #7 - Laodicea - Stop Kidding Yourself!
Date: Sunday, February 18, 2007
Author: Rev.
Jonathan K. Twitchell
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to this sermon
Before we begin our look at the seventh and final letter to the churches in
Asia Minor
this morning, I’d like to take a moment to
review what we have learned so far in our study on church health.
Throughout our study, we have looked at the history and culture of the
cities that the letters were written to, and attempted to understand what the
letters meant to their original readers in their original first century context.
While these were not necessarily written as a “Church Health Manual,”
we do find that the messages given to those early believers do help us
understand what healthy churches and Christians look like.
The first letter we looked at, the letter to
Ephesus
, reminded us to be people of passion—people
who passionately love God and also love others.
The task of evangelism simply becomes a matter of introducing our two
great loves to one another—we introduce the person we love to the God that we
love. A healthy church fosters an
environment where we can love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and
strength—and love our neighbors as ourselves.
In week two, we learned about “holding fast to our faith,” recognizing that
we are stronger when we stand together than when we stand separately.
While we may not face the same life-or-death persecutions faced by the
believers in
Smyrna
, we must hold fast to our faith despite the
temptation to be lazy or apathetic in our spiritual lives.
A healthy church is one that encourages believers to “hold fast.”
Week three took us to
Pergamum
—where we learned about the counterfeit
deities of Aesculapius, Demeter, Dionysus, Zeus, and even the Roman Emperor.
We were reminded that it is God who supplies our bread, our wine, and our
health, and that it is God who provides us true freedom.
A healthy church knows Who it worships, and accepts no counterfeits.
From
Pergamum
, we traveled to Thyatira, where we learned of
the dangers of tolerance and pluralism. The
church in Thyatira was chastised for their tolerance of sin, and their
willingness to be conformed to the pattern of this world.
Pastor Ken reminded us that we are called upon to be the Salt of the
world, providing flavor and preventing moral decay.
A healthy church is one that stands for the truth of the Gospel, and
doesn’t allow its moral compass to be shifted by every changing wind.
In week 5, we learned the history of the city of
Sardis
, and their failure to learn from past mistakes
as they TWICE exposed themselves to an enemy’s attack in the same manner.
The church in
Sardis
was exhorted to “wake up,” and we were
reminded that we must be vigilant in our pursuit of Christlikeness.
A healthy church is one that continues to be the church in the here and
now while “keeping watch” for Christ’s return.
Last week took us to Revelation 3:7-13, the letter to the church in
Philadelphia
. As
we considered the possible “open doors” which Christ has placed before the
church in
Philadelphia
, we were reminded that He is the God who opens
doors, and that a healthy church is one that looks for the open doors God has
created for us, and invests time and energy in walking through those doors.
As we approach the letter to the church in
Laodicea
this morning, I first want to
read to you a story by the great Danish story-teller—Hans Christian Anderson.
Many
years ago there lived an emperor who loved beautiful new clothes so much that
he spent all his money on being finely dressed. His only interest was in going
to the theater or in riding about in his carriage where he could show off his
new clothes. He had a different costume for every hour of the day. Indeed,
where it was said of other kings that they were at court, it could only be
said of him that he was in his dressing room!
One
day two swindlers came to the emperor's city. They said that they were
weavers, claiming that they knew how to make the finest cloth imaginable. Not
only were the colors and the patterns extraordinarily beautiful, but in
addition, this material had the amazing property that it was to be invisible
to anyone who was incompetent or stupid.
"It
would be wonderful to have clothes made from that cloth," thought the
emperor. "Then I would know which of my men are unfit for their
positions, and I'd also be able to tell clever people from stupid ones."
So he immediately gave the two swindlers a great sum of money to weave their
cloth for him.
They
set up their looms and pretended to go to work, although there was nothing at
all on the looms. They asked for the finest silk and the purest gold, all of
which they hid away, continuing to work on the empty looms, often late into
the night.
"I
would really like to know how they are coming with the cloth!" thought
the emperor, but he was a bit uneasy when he recalled that anyone who was
unfit for his position or stupid would not be able to see the material. Of
course, he himself had nothing to fear, but still he decided to send someone
else to see how the work was progressing.
"I'll
send my honest old minister to the weavers," thought the emperor. He's
the best one to see how the material is coming. He is very sensible, and no
one is more worthy of his position.
So
the good old minister went into the hall where the two swindlers sat working
at their empty looms. "Goodness!" thought the old minister, opening
his eyes wide. "I cannot see a thing!" But he did not say so.
The
two swindlers invited him to step closer, asking him if it wasn't a beautiful
design and if the colors weren't magnificent. They pointed to the empty loom,
and the poor old minister opened his eyes wider and wider. He still could see
nothing, for nothing was there. "Gracious" he thought. "Is it
possible that I am stupid? I have never thought so. Am I unfit for my
position? No one must know this. No, it will never do for me to say that I was
unable to see the material."
"You
aren't saying anything!" said one of the weavers.
"Oh,
it is magnificent! The very best!" said the old minister, peering through
his glasses. "This pattern and these colors! Yes, I'll tell the emperor
that I am very satisfied with it!"
"That
makes us happy!" said the two weavers, and they called the colors and the
unusual pattern by name. The old minister listened closely so that he would be
able say the same things when he reported back to the emperor.
The
swindlers now asked for more money, more silk, and more gold, all of which
they hid away. Then they continued to weave away as before on the empty looms.
The
emperor sent other officials as well to observe the weavers' progress. They
too were startled when they saw nothing, and they too reported back to him how
wonderful the material was, advising him to have it made into clothes that he
could wear in a grand procession. The entire city was alive in praise of the
cloth. The emperor awarded the swindlers with medals of honor, bestowing on
each of them the title Lord Weaver.
The
swindlers stayed up the entire night before the procession was to take place,
burning more than sixteen candles. Everyone could see that they were in a
great rush to finish the emperor's new clothes. They pretended to take the
material from the looms. They cut in the air with large scissors. They sewed
with needles but without any thread. Finally they announced, "Behold! The
clothes are finished!"
The
emperor came to them with his most distinguished cavaliers. The two swindlers
raised their arms as though they were holding something and said, "Just
look at these trousers! Here is the jacket! This is the cloak!" and so
forth. "They are as light as spider webs! You might think that you didn't
have a thing on, but that is the good thing about them."
"Would
his imperial majesty, if it please his grace, kindly remove his clothes."
said the swindlers. "Then we will fit you with the new ones, here in
front of the large mirror."
The
emperor took off all his clothes, and the swindlers pretended to dress him,
piece by piece, with the new ones that were to be fitted. They took hold of
his waist and pretended to tie something about him. It was the train. Then the
emperor turned and looked into the mirror.
"Goodness,
they suit you well! What a wonderful fit!" they all said. "What a
pattern! What colors! Such luxurious clothes!"
"The
canopy to be carried above your majesty awaits outside," said the
grandmaster of ceremonies.
"Yes,
I am ready!" said the emperor. "Don't they fit well?" He turned
once again toward the mirror, because it had to appear as though he were
admiring himself in all his glory.
The
chamberlains who were to carry the train held their hands just above the floor
as if they were picking up the train. As they walked they pretended to hold
the train high, for they could not let anyone notice that they could see
nothing.
The
emperor walked beneath the beautiful canopy in the procession, and all the
people in the street and in their windows said, "Goodness, the emperor's
new clothes are incomparable! What a beautiful train on his jacket. What a
perfect fit!" No one wanted it to be noticed that he could see nothing,
for then it would be said that he was unfit for his position or that he was
stupid. None of the emperor's clothes had ever before received such praise.
"But
he doesn't have anything on!" said a small child.
"Good
Lord, let us hear the voice of an innocent child!" said the father, and
whispered to another what the child had said.
"A
small child said that he doesn't have anything on!"
Finally
everyone was saying, "He doesn't have anything on!"
Apparently
the Emperor of our story is not the only person who has thought they were richly
dressed when in fact they were not. Apparently,
the people in
Laodicea
(who, by the way, were also known
for their great textiles) had a similar problem to that of our emperor.
Apparently, they too thought that they were richly dressed—when in
fact, they weren’t wearing any clothes!
I
invite you to hear the letter to the church in
Laodicea
, found in Revelation chapter 3,
verses 14-22:
Rev 3:14
“To the angel of the church in
Laodicea
write:
These are the words of the Amen, the
faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know
your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the
other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor
cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
17 You say, ‘I am rich;
I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not
realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you
can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful
nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and
repent.
20 Here I am! I stand at
the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in
and eat with him, and he with me. 21 To him who overcomes, I will
give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with
my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches.”
The
Word of the Lord for His children today
There
is so much rich imagery contained in the letter to the church in
Laodicea
, that it may be impossible to cover in one short sermon.
So much attention has been placed on the “hot, cold, lukewarm” verse
that I fear the rest of the letter has been somewhat neglected.
And yet, a proper understanding of the “hot, cold, lukewarm” verse
may help us understand the rest of the passage.
For
years, that verse didn’t make any sense to me.
I had, perhaps like you, thought that being “HOT” meant that I was
“for God,” and being “COLD” meant that I was against God.
What I could never figure out is why Jesus would prefer someone to be
against Him than to be “on the fence” or lukewarm.
After all, it seems like it would be better to have not made up your mind
about Christianity than to have decided against it.
I would think that someone who was ambivalent about Christianity would be
better to have around than someone who was actively trying to snuff out this new
movement.
But
then I learned something about
Laodicea
that changed my mind about how to understand
that verse. When we understand the
geography of the area, we learn that
Laodicea
had no suitable drinking water of its own.
Colossae
(to the east) was watered by a fresh cold
mountain stream. Hieropolis (to the
north) was well-known for its
hot springs
and the pools which were fed by those
springs…thought to have healing qualities.
The river Lycus which ran through
Laodicea
was described as “turbid with white
mud….nauseous and undrinkable.”
So,
the Laodiceans understood putrid, lukewarm water.
They understand that hot water is good—in the same way we might like to
sit in a Jacuzzi, they would sit in the hot baths, and receive the soothing
comfort that it provided for their skin and joints.
And, they understood that cold water is good—it rushes over the rocks,
it’s fresh and pure, you can drink it, and it brings life to the earth around
it. What was of no use to them was
the awful, mineral-filled, lukewarm water that made up their municipal drinking
supply.
So,
Jesus is telling them that they’re of no use to anyone—they aren’t doing
anyone any good—their church does not provide the life-giving, rushing
creative force that the river of life should provide.
Perhaps they are not empowered by the creativity of the Holy Spirit
moving and flowing through them. Neither
are they providing the healing warmth of a discipleship or fellowship.
Perhaps there is no nurturing within their walls—no place to retreat
from the rough places in the world.
You
see, the church needs to be both of these things—bubbling, exuberant, flowing
forth into the world bringing life and love to all we come in contact with (this
is what happens when we truly love our neighbor as ourselves).
And, the church should be a place of warm, quiet retreat—where we can
be nourished, fed, and receive healing for our bodies and our soul.
As we consider the purposes of missions and evangelism, and weigh them
against the purposes of discipleship and fellowship, we realize that we must
strive for a balance—we must do both of these things.
But the church in
Laodicea
is doing nothing—it’s not doing anything to
impact its world, and neither is it caring for those within its walls.
Jesus would rather that it do at least one of these things than do
nothing at all.
And,
I think that this is the image that pervades the rest of the letter.
The Laodiceans knew what lukewarm water was—it was a deception.
It may have looked like good drinking water, but one taste would tell you
that it was putrid. When we look at
the rest of the letter, I think we will discover that it is a letter primarily
about things that are not as good as they appear—and that the Laodiceans are
buying into this deception.
Why
do I say this? Let’s look at the
next couple of verses:
17
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’
But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind
and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined
in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can
cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you
can see.
In
order to fully understand this passage, we must understand some of the things
that
Laodicea
was well-known for.
Historically known as the city of
Zeus
,
Laodicea
was a center of commerce and trade.
While damaged by the earthquakes of 17AD, Laodicea didn’t need any
outside help from the Roman government—for they were wealthy—and didn’t
need a thing.
Laodicea
was well known for its black wool and for its
medical school that produced a salve. This
salve was in demand throughout the
Roman empire
, because it was the only effective cure for a
number of eye ailments. And yet,
despite their gold, their textiles, and their eye salve; Jesus tells them that
they are poor, naked, and blind.
I’ve
thought a lot about
Laodicea
, and this is what I’ve come to
understand—this was a group of people who thought that they were Christians,
but were not. This was a group of
people who thought that they were a church—but really had nothing to do with
the
Kingdom
of
God
. This
was a group of people that had bought into a deception, and while they thought
that they were “alright,” were really not part of the Body of Christ at all.
This
letter is an effort to say, in our modern-day lingo, “stop kidding
yourself.” You might have gotten
used to your water—because it’s all you have—but I’m telling you that
it’s disgusting, it makes me want to vomit.
You think that you are rich and don’t need anything—but I’m telling
you that none of your riches will buy you entrance into the
Kingdom
of
Heaven
. You
think that your clothes are beautiful—but I’m telling you that you are
naked. You think that you can
see—but even your eye salve won’t fix your real problem—spiritual
blindness.
Jesus
tells this “church” that they don’t even have any white robes—an image
that’s used consistently to refer to salvation.
He tells them that they are blind, and poor—and tells them where to
find true riches and sight. These
people have so deceived themselves that they are no better than our friend the
emperor—walking proudly down the street, wearing absolutely nothing.
How
does a church get that way? How can
a group of believers forget what they believe?
How does a church become more of a social club than a body of believers
pursuing hard after being Christlike? Perhaps
they have lost their passion for God. Maybe they have given up and let go of
their faith. Maybe they have chased
after counterfeits and false gods. Perhaps
they get there by being too tolerant of false doctrine.
Maybe they have fallen asleep. Maybe
they have ignored the open doors that God put in front of them.
Any of these pitfalls that were common to the other churches in
Asia Minor
are the possible reason for
Laodicea
’s current spiritual condition.
In
any case, it’s important that we make absolutely no assumptions.
Maybe it’s not important for us to know HOW
Laodicea
had managed to buy into this false sense of
security as much as it’s important for us to know that such a falling away is
possible, and that we must be constantly vigilant.
Our spiritual condition is far too important to make guesses about or to
allow ourselves to be deceived.
It’s
easy for churches to become so comfortable with each other that we forget to ask
one another the hard questions. That’s
why I’m such a firm believer in small groups and Sunday School classes—for
everyone of us must have opportunity to continue to grow in our faith, and be
encouraged by the discipling fellowship of other believers.
It’s
also easy for us to want to be welcoming of everyone who comes in our doors that
we forget that there is something far more important than simply belonging a
group of people who accept us and love us. I
fear that too many churches have become so busy trying to build their church
(lower-case c), that they forget that they are to be about building the Church
(capital C), the Body of Christ. What
good is bringing people into our church family if we don’t also bring them
into the Family of God? Of what use
is adding to our attendance numbers on Sunday morning if we don’t add to the
numbers that will be in Heaven? While
I’m happy to have people from other churches decide to join us, let’s not
deceive ourselves into thinking that means we have somehow built the Kingdom.
The
fact remains, that unless we continuously and clearly communicate the Gospel
message we run the risk of becoming just another social club on a seashore
littered with social clubs.
On
of the worst thing a church can do is to assume that everyone who fills the pews
week-in-and-week-out is walking in the fullness of the Gospel.
And so, in plain and simple terms this morning, I’d like to, once
again, present to you the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The
Bible tells us that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.
Not one of us is perfect or without sin, and because of that sin in our
life we have alienated ourselves from God. We
are broken, failing to fulfill the purposes that God has designed us for.
And yet, God so loved the world—He loved you and he loved me—that He
sent His one and only Son (Jesus). Jesus
was born of a virgin in a stable in
Bethlehem
. He
grew up, and lived a perfect and sinless life—the life that none of us are
capable of living. He showed us how
to live, how to love, and how to die. For
even though Jesus did no wrong, He was crucified on a cross, where He
died—shedding His blood to wash away the sins of the world.
And Jesus also demonstrated that He had authority over sin, death, and
the grave—for He rose again, giving us the hope and promise of eternal life
with Him.
Scripture
tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us and cleanse
us. To those who believed Him, He
gave the power to become the sons of God, that we would not suffer eternal
death, but instead have eternal life. Our
lesson from Revelation tells us that those who overcome will be invited to share
His throne. This free gift of
salvation is available to all who would confess their sins, and by faith accept
Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
If
you have not placed your faith in this Gospel, and opened the door of your
heart, I invite you to do so today. For,
as the letter to the church in
Laodicea
states, He stands at the door and knocks.
All you need to do is open the door and invite Him in—and He will come
in and have dinner with you—you can be in relationship with Almighty God.
You need not come to these altars (although you’re certainly welcome
to), you need not pray a particular prayer.
But in your own words, you express your faith in Jesus as the Son of God
and the means of your salvation, ask forgiveness for your sins, and invite Jesus
into your life. That is what is
required to wear the white robes of righteousness mentioned in the book of
Revelation. And then, you too may be
part of this
Glorious
Church
, without stain or wrinkle, washed in the blood
of the lamb.
Benediction: Now
to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according
to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in
Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
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