Church Health #3 - Pergamum: Accept No Counterfeits

Cape Elizabeth Church of the Nazarene

Church Health #3 - Pergamum - Accept No Counterfeits
Date: Sunday, January 21, 2007
Author: Rev. Jonathan K. Twitchell

A healthy church is one full of people committed to God, committed to each other, and committed to reaching the world. That’s what we learned from our study during week one of this series. In Revelation chapter 2, verses 1-7, Jesus asked John to remind the believers in Ephesus to remember their first love. In our Epistle lesson today, Paul reminded the believers in Corinth to be people of love—for we can do a lot of things, but if we don’t have love we are simply a collection of percussion instruments. There is no greater calling than to be people of love—people who love God, love each other, and love those around us. If everything we do is characterized by a deep and unselfish love, we will have fulfilled the greatest commandments—to Love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. For us to be a healthy church, we must be people of love.

Last week, I was talking about those very truths to a group of teenagers from across the state at a winter snow camp. (Well, we promoted it as snow camp, but we actually ended up calling it “dead grass camp”!). While I was in Brooks, Pastor Ken continued our series by looking at the letter to the church in Smyrna . I know that many of you were not able to join us because of weather, and so I made a few extra copies of the sermon CD. I hope that if you weren’t here last week, you’ll grab a CD on your way out. Pastor Ken taught us about holding fast to our faith, about standing firm in the midst of persecution, and about not letting down our guard. While the Christians in Smyrna faced all sorts of obvious persecutions and tribulations, we face a much more subtle temptation—to become lazy or apathetic. We lose our spiritual fervor and passion, and we fail to “hold fast to our faith.” A healthy church is one which creates an environment of passion and endurance. In a healthy church, we stand together, for we are stronger together than by ourselves. In a healthy church, we share our burdens, and we encourage each other to do our very best—to keep up our guard, and to hold fast to our faith.

In this session on church health, based on the seven letters in the book of Revelation, we travel to the city of Pergamum . Before we look at the letter that Jesus told John to write, let me share with you a bit about Pergamum .

Pergamum comes from the Greek word for “citadel,” so named because it sat on top of a cone-shaped hill, a thousand feet higher than anything in the surrounding valley. Pergamum was the capital city of its region until 133 BC when it became part of the Roman empire . From that point on, it was the chief town of the Province of Asia, and in 29 BC it became home to very first temple to Caesar—where subjects would go to affirm their faith in the divinity of the Emperor and to worship him. Not only was Pergamum a leading city in the “Imperial Cult” of Rome , but it was also well known for shrines and temples to Zeus, Athena, Aesculapius, Dionysus, and Demeter. One historian called Pergamum “by far the most famous city in Asia .”

I want to take a few moments this morning to talk about the cult worship of three of those gods (lower-case g), because I believe that they will shed some light on our understanding of what it would have been like to live in Pergamum . While this may seem like a study on Greek and Roman mythology for while this morning, I’m confident that our time together will help you understand some of the meaning of the letter to the believers in Pergamum.

Demeter (to the Greeks) or Ceres (to the Romans) was the goddess of harvest and grains. Some have referred to her as the “Grocery Goddess,” or the Goddess of agriculture. It was believed that she taught people the skills of plowing, sowing, and harvesting. People worshipped Demeter because they believed that she was the source of all grains, cereals, and bread. The staples of their agricultural society were attributed to Demeter, and so anyone who ate – pretty much everybody – was expected to worship Demeter. There were two animals considered sacred in worship of Demeter—interestingly enough, they are the two animals considered the least sacred within the Judeo-Christian tradition—the snake and the pig.

For residents of Pergamum , for every good loaf of bread you had to have a good cup of wine…and to get to the wine store, you had to at least go by the temple to Dionysus. And, most residents of Pergamum probably went into the temple of Dionysus , at least once in their life. Dionysus (or Bacchus) was the god of wine; followers of this cult believed that all wine came from Dionysus, and worshipped him because of that. As you might imagine, worship of Dionysus involved all sorts of drunkenness and behaviors of ecstasy and madness that were antithetical to the Christian call to self-control. Worship of Dionysus involved getting drunk and gorging oneself on raw meat that had been offered upon his altar. The Dionysus festivals involved women getting drunk and running through the hills screaming. All of this was accompanied by all sorts of sexual immorality. In fact, the Dionysus festivals had become so pagan and out-of-control that they were outlawed in Rome for a period of time.

While worship of Demeter and Dionysus were important to Pergamum , that is not what the city was best known for. Pergamum was best known for its Aesculapion, or shrine to Aesculapius—the god of healing. But the Aesculapion was really more than a shrine, it was one of the first healing-centers of its time. Those who were sick would travel to the Aesculapion, present their case to a priest who would decide if they could stay or not. Pregnant women and the elderly were often turned away—perhaps because the priests didn’t want to take the risk that they might not be healed. Those who were deemed to be curable were allowed to come in, but only after sacrificing a piglet to Aesculapius. After walking through underground tunnels which may have contained many snakes (the sacred animal to Aesculapius), the sick person was invited to sleep in an underground dormitory. The sound of running water would have filled the dormitory, and the sick person may have been offered some mind-altering drugs or opiates. Supposedly, during the night, Aesculapius would visit the sick person in a dream. In the morning they would tell the priest about their dream, and the priest would prescribe a treatment—perhaps some time in the gymnasium, or maybe a warm bath, or a period of fasting, or even to take in a play at the theater of Aesculapius. Once the sick person was cured, they would come pay homage to Aesculapius, perhaps even see the sacred snake, and then would leave the Aesculapion. But before they left, they would inscribe their name on one of several white stone pillars lining the path—in essence proclaiming to the whole world that they were healed because of Aesculapius.

So let’s recap what we find in Pergamum —we have an altar to Zeus, dedicated to “Zeus the Savior.” There is a temple to the Roman emperor, declaring him to be divine. There is a shrine to the grocery goddess…the one who supposedly makes grain grow and provides bread. There is a temple to Dionysus—the god of wine—and by extension drunkenness and immoral behavior. And, there is a hospital, dedicated to Aesculapius—the god of healing.

With that as our background, I invite you to hear the words of Jesus, as recorded by John in Revelation chapter 2, verses 12-17:

¹²"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. ¹³I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives. ¹⁴Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. ¹⁵Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. ¹⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word.

Now, don’t be discouraged if none of that letter made a lot of sense to you at first—after all, it wasn’t initially written to you. In many respects, we are called upon to take this letter—without ever having met its author or its recipients—and try to understand not only what it meant to them, but what it might also mean to us. We must use the clues from the letter, combined with our knowledge of the history and culture of Pergamum to decode its meaning. Let’s go back through the letter, phrase by phrase to see what we find.

¹²"To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.

Based on the words of Revelation chapter one, we know that it is Christ speaking, and that the sharp, double-edged sword is the Word of God. Pergamum is the third of the seven letters which Jesus told John to write down.

¹³I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

Twice so far, Jesus has referred to Pergamum as the place where Satan lives—or the place where Satan has his throne. We don’t know exactly what is meant, but there are a couple of good candidates—we know that on a crag high above Pergamum was an altar to Zeus, which was said to resemble a throne. It’s also possible that this is meant to refer to the temple to Caesar. During the time period that Revelation was written, we know that there was great persecution of Christians—particularly those who would not renounce their faith and proclaim that Caesar was Lord. Tradition tells us that Antipas was executed by being roasted to death in a bronze kettle. It’s quite probably that he was put to death because he continued to proclaim “Jesus is Lord,” when the Roman guards demanded that he worship Caesar. In any case, this paragraph helps us understand the level of persecution which Christians faced in Pergamum , and that the residents of Pergamum were worshipping someone or something other than God. It was the city where Satan had his throne. Let’s continue in verse 14:

¹⁴Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.

You have to do a little investigative work here to figure out what Jesus is talking about. You may remember Balaam—the Old Testament prophet who was hired by the enemy King to curse the Israelites? You might remember that his donkey spoke to him in an effort to prevent him from completing this mercenary task. And, if you really remember your Old Testament history, you know that on 4 separate occasions Balaam was asked to curse the Israelites, and that in each of those occasions he could only speak the blessings that God had put within his mouth. What, then, is John talking about? Let me take you to Numbers 31, verse 16, where we learn something else about Balaam: Moses says to the elders about some of the women, “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the Lord in what happened at Peor.” It’s a small clue—but it’s enough of a clue to figure it out. For immediately after Balaam’s last set of blessings upon Israel , we read these words in Numbers chapter 25:

the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, ² who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. ³ So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD's anger burned against them.

So, apparently, while Balaam was unable to pronounce a curse upon the Israelites, he was able to advise the Moabite King on a method of harming them from the inside—on Balaam’s advice, the Moabites placed temptation before them—and they worshipped the Moabite fertility god by participating in drunken orgies. It sounds an awful lot like the residents of Pergamum who ate raw meat that had been sacrificed to Dionysus after getting drunk on his wine. You may also recall that the Nicolaitans believed that you could remain a Christian and still participate in all of the pagan idol worshipping activity around you. Perhaps John is referring specifically to the practices of the Dionysus cult—for there may have been Christians who believed that they could compromise their faith in this way—they thought that they could be followers of Christ AND of Dionysus.

Let’s continue in verse 15:

¹⁵Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. ¹⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

John offers a clear call to repentance. Remember—this call to repentance is given to the believers—to Christians. You should never think that your status as a child of God prevents you from needing to carefully analyze your life and to repent from any sin that you find. And remember too, that repentance does not simply mean to “be sorry for,” but that the word literally means “to turn around.” When you repent, you do a 180—a complete change of direction. You no longer do the things you did before.

John also offers a warning to those Christians who refuse to repent. Jesus says that He will come against them with His sword—the Word of God. We are reminded of the words of Hebrews chapter 4, verses 12 and 13:

¹²For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Do not forget that you will be called to give an account for your life. Do not forget that He already knows everything you have ever done—that there is nothing that is hidden from Him. This is a call to a holy life—to purity, not only of your body but of your heart and soul. The good news is that “if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” As we repent and confess our sins, we can be confident of forgiveness—a fresh start—a clean slate.

And then, Jesus concludes his letter to the believers in Pergamum with these words:

To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

Hidden manna? A white stone? What’s that all about?

Well, nobody knows for sure—but here’s a thought worth considering—remember Demeter? The grocery goddess who brought grain and bread? Remember Aesculapius? The god of healing who had a street lined with white stones—each stone bearing names of people who were “healed” during their stay in the Aesculapion?

I think Jesus is reminding those believers in Pergamum to stay strong in the face of persecution—and to remember that Jesus is the source of their bread, the source of their wine, and the source of their healing. Not Demeter, not Dionysus, and not Aesculapius. The believers in Pergamum were surrounded with counterfeits—and their temptation was to turn to those counterfeits instead of turning to God.

Jesus was the bread of life—the manna from heaven. Jesus fed the 5,000, demonstrating that He alone can truly provide bread. And Jesus reminded us of this when He sat with His disciples, took bread, broke it, and gave thanks and said, “This is my body which is broken for you.” Jesus is the bread of life…not Demeter. He is the Manna from Heaven, which sustains and nourishes our soul.

And Jesus was the true cup of salvation. He said that He was “living water,” and he told the woman at the well that He could give her water that would “become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” It was Jesus who turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana , and it was Jesus who took the cup, blessed it, and shared it with His disciples saying, “this cup is the new covenant in my blood.” Jesus is the cup of salvation, the living water, and the true source of life—not Dionysus.

And it was Jesus who provided true healing. You may recall the time that Jesus healed a man who had been laying near the pool of Bethesda for 38 years. It appears as though the sick, lame, and blind would gather around this pool until a certain time each day when the waters would be stirred. While some manuscripts indicate that it was an angel of the Lord who stirred the waters, the most ancient and reliable manuscripts do not include this information. I’ve heard some archaeological evidence which suggests that there may have been a water tunnel that brought fresh water into the pool each day. But more interestingly than that is the certainty that at some point in history a shrine to Aesculapius was built near the pools at Bethesda . We don’t know for sure that these shrines stood during the time of Jesus—but if they did, imagine the statement that Jesus makes to this man who has placed all of his faith in the pool, and is discouraged because he can’t get into the pool when the water is stirred. Jesus doesn’t help him get into the pool…he simply says, “rise, take up your mat, and walk.” The man does, and he is healed.

It isn’t Aesculapius who heals. It’s Jesus. It’s Jesus who made the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame to walk again. It’s Jesus who demonstrated victory over death—not only by bringing others back from the dead, but by rising from the dead Himself. And that same Jesus says that if you follow Him to the very end, you will have a white stone with your name on it—a white stone which testifies that you were ultimately healed, not by Aesculapius, but by the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Perhaps that white stone will join countless other white stones which line the streets of heaven as a testimony to God’s goodness and mercy.

That’s how I understand this rather cryptic letter to the believers in Pergamum . And here’s what I think it means to us, in Cape Elizabeth , in 2007:

Don’t settle for substitutes or counterfeits. Don’t compromise your faith with the things that the world offers. While you may find your food at the grocery store, remember that God provides every good gift. While you may buy those groceries because you have money because you work, remember that it is only by God’s grace that you are able to work and provide for your family. When you are healed—whether it is from cancer or simply by having your wisdom teeth removed—don’t give glory to the medical profession—but to the God who heals you through the doctors. Don’t rely upon your bank account, don’t rest your faith in your house or your family. Meaning and purpose is found, not in work, not in fame, not in politics, but in Christ alone. Remain faithful and true to God—thanking Him for everything that He does in your life.

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the Throne. On Christ the solid rock I stand…all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.

In a moment we will approach His Banqueting Table. As we do, let us remember that Jesus provides for us true healing—true manna from heaven, and the true cup of salvation. Accept no counterfeits!

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.

Back to Sermons