Answer The Door!

You hear a knock on the front door of your house. Or you hear the doorbell ring in your home. What thoughts go through your mind as you head toward the front door? What emotions do you typically feel? Like so many situations in life the answers to those questions depend on the circumstances surrounding the knock on the door or the ringing of the doorbell. If you were waiting for a dear friend or a close relative to arrive you would have feelings of anticipation. A smile would form on your face as you headed toward the front door. But imagine if you were several months behind on your mortgage and you knew that the person at the door had in his hand an eviction notice. Sadness would blanket you as you dragged yourself to the front door. And you would probably have different reactions to a knock at the door or the ring of a doorbell depending on the time of day or night. Finally, I guess our reaction to someone being at our front door depends on who is on the other side of the door and what they want. Do we know the person? Are they trying to sell us something? What is the purpose for their visit? The answers to all those questions will influence what we think and feel when there is a knock on our door or our doorbell rings.

With those thoughts and feelings in mind let’s turn our attention to the words of our Savior in Revelation 3:14-22. (Read text.) This morning Jesus is knocking at the door of our heart. There is a part of us that is scared to answer the door. In the house of our heart there are things we don’t want him to see. But Jesus comes to bring us great things. On top of that he wants to have fellowship with us today and forever. May we listen as the Holy Spirit tells us to:

ANSWER THE DOOR!

I. Jesus is calling us to repent

II. Jesus is offering us forgiveness

III. Jesus wants to be our guest

In Revelation 2-3 we find seven letters from Jesus to seven different Christian churches. We just finished discussing those chapters at our Thursday morning Bible class. The seven letters to the seven churches follow a similar pattern consisting of seven parts. Normally, there is the call for John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, to write to a specific church. Then a powerful description of Jesus is given. Then there is a word of praise for the congregation. Following that there is a word of rebuke and then an admonition to do the right thing. The letters continue with a call to hear what Jesus says and normally conclude with a gospel promise.

The letter to the Laodiceans is unique among the seven. It contains no word of praise for the congregation. We often say of someone or something at the end of list that it is “last but not least.” In this case Laodicea was last and least! Jesus had nothing good to say about the congregation. His letter was an urgent call to repentance coupled with fearful warnings.

I.

I guess it could be a risky thing for a pastor to stand before his congregation and compare it to the Laodiceans. Your reaction might be, “What are you saying about us, Pastor? Are you telling us that there is nothing praiseworthy about our congregation?” No, that is not what I am saying. But since we are a congregation of sinners we need to continually hear Jesus’ call to repent. Repentance isn’t a one-time act. It is a daily part of a believer’s life.

So what is repentance? In our service this morning we are considering the nature of true repentance. In its simplest sense repentance is a change of mind. When we are confronted with the Ten Commandments, God’s holiness, and his righteous expectations of us we are filled with disgust and horror over who we are and what we have done. We then turn to God in faith and he assures us that our sins are forgiven. In view of God’s mercy we then think differently about our words, and thoughts, and actions. The Bible says this repentance is a continual process for believers.

The first thing Jesus did in his letter to the Laodiceans was to confront them with their sins. “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.” Ouch! Sometimes the truth hurts. The Christians in Laodicea had become lukewarm in their lives of sanctification. Sure they weren’t living like outright pagans or unbelievers. Their lives weren’t totally immoral and unbelieving. But they also weren’t living like the salt and light they had been called to be. Their words were partially diluted and polluted by sin. Their thoughts were only partially focused on Christ. Their actions were warmed by their love for Jesus but they were also kind of “ho-hum” and “half-hearted.” They were not on fire for Jesus nor were they on fire in their love for others. Because of their spiritual apathy and laziness Jesus warned them that he was about to give up on them.