A Tale Of Seven Churches: Thyatira Series

This is the fifth week of an eight week series and this morning we are looking at the fourth of seven churches. It’s interesting to note that this is the longest letter and yet it’s addressed to the church that was situated in the least important city of the seven. If we were to pull up our trusty map we’d discover that Thyatira is located right here which is about sixty kms southeast of Pergamum. There were no real distinguishing features about the city. It was not situated on a harbour like Ephesus or Smyrna, nor was it on at hill like Pergamum. It was in the middle of a valley. Even though it was situated well away from the Mediterranean Sea it was on the road which connected Pergamum and Sardis. This was the road that the Imperial Post travelled and so while it may not have been a large city it was a thriving city. A city of merchants and manufacturing. The city actually had a large number of trade guilds, which were the early equivalent of unions, and so it could be said that Thyatira was a union town.

Strategically the importance of Thyatira was that it was the gateway to Pergamum which was the Capital of the Roman Province of Asia Minor. And so there was an armed garrison placed in the city to protect the capital. However Thyatira wasn’t capable of a sustained defence because it lay in the middle of an open valley. So the very best that Thyatira could hope for was to be a speed bump that would slow an advancing army down until Pergamum could prepare a defence.

The city is first mentioned in connection with Paul’s missionary labours in Europe. His first convert on that continent was a woman of Thyatira, Lydia, a seller of purple, a commodity for which the city was famous (cf. Acts 16:14 )

Religiously Thyatira had no special significance, it was not a centre of Caesar worship like Pergamum, nor of Greek worship like Ephesus. The two notable things about the city from a religious perspective was it had a local god by the name of Tyrimnus, whose image was on their coins and it possessed a fortune telling shrine presided over by a female oracle called the Sambathe. Religious persecution was not an issue in Thyatira it was very much live and let live but there was a type of economic persecution that came as a result of the trade guilds we mentioned earlier. These guilds represented different trades in the city but they were much more then that, the guilds operated much as service clubs do today, so their influence in the community was substantial.

The guilds often held common meals, which more often then not happened in the temple and would begin and end with a formal sacrifice to the various gods. The meat served during the meals would have been meat offered to one god or another. And if that wasn’t bad enough the meals often became an excuse for excess and often degenerated into immorality.

And so the question was: Should the Christian be involved in the guilds when their involvement would include at the very minimum attendance at these events. The other option for the Christian of course was to not belong to a guild. However due to the far reaching influence of these organizations this option would virtually guarantee economic ruin and commercial collapse. Have you ever been in a position where you’ve had to decide between playing it safe at work or taking a stand for something you believe in? Isn’t easy is it.

So what then was the response of the Thyatira church? Jesus begins by introducing himself and this time there is no messing the description he himself is plain and simple he says Revelation 2:18 This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are bright like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze: Most commentators agree that this is a description of two of Jesus attributes. That he is all seeing and all powerful. Other’s add that the description of his eyes reflect his anger over sin and that he sees deep into our hearts and interior motives.

And so Jesus begins as he does in all but one of his letter with praise in this case he says Revelation 2:19 “ I know all the things you do—your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.

So what can we learn from Jesus commendation here? Well first of all none of these traits are passive, they are all active and they are all positive. Jesus begins with the words

Revelation 2:19 “ I know all the things you do. We keep coming back to this, Jesus knows everything we do. Did you catch that Jesus knows everything we do, the good the bad and the ugly, he knows it all. When you helped the old lady across the street he saw that, the extra hundred you slipped into the offering box he knows that, the time you spend in prayer and scripture reading, yep he sees that. The time you cussed the driver out who cut you off in traffic, uh-huh, the hurtful thing you said to your spouse or kid, what you read, what you watch and listen to, how you behave. Someone said that character is how you behave when no one is watching. Well remember Jesus is watching. And if you have any reason to doubt what I say listen to what Jesus says a little further along in the letter. Revelation 2:23 And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve. Scary huh? Now with that said Jesus begins to tell them what it is that he knows about the church at Thyatira. It’s interesting that three of the four qualities mentioned here are all listed as fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.