YOU’VE GOT MAIL: LAODICEA
Scott Bayles, preacher
First Christian Church, Rosiclare, IL
Finally, at the end of a long route, about forty-five miles southeast of Philadelphia, was the city of Laodicea. Laodicea was the wealthiest and the worst of the seven cities to whom Jesus wrote. Forget saving the best for last—Jesus did just the opposite. The downward spiral that began at Ephesus and continued through Pergamum, Thyatira, and Sardis reached rock bottom at Laodicea. Even the church at Sardis, which Jesus called spiritually dead, had some true believers left. But as far as I can tell, the church at Laodicea was a totally unregenerate, counterfeit church.
Jesus has absolutely nothing positive to say in this letter—nothing. Rather, this is by far the most condemning and critical of the seven letters to the churches of Asia. Makes you want to just jump right into it, doesn’t it? Well, let’s hear what Jesus had to say:
“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. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 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. 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.
“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 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.
“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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:14-22 (NIV)
Before we get into Jesus’ criticism of this church, let’s begin one last time with Christ’s credentials.
• CREDENTIALS
Jesus opens this letter, once again, with three key phrases identifying himself and the authority he has to be writing this letter.
First, Jesus refers to himself as “the Amen” (vs. 14). This is actually the only place in the Bible that the word amen is used as a title. The word amen means more than just “that’s the end of our prayer.” It actually means “so be it” or “let it be done.” It was an affirmation of something true and binding. So when Jesus says that he is “the Amen,” he’s not saying, “I’m the punctuation at the conclusion of a prayer.” Rather, he’s saying that he is the one who sees things through, who is true, certain, firm and unchanging. More than that, it reminds us that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises and the answer to every prayer. Paul told the Corinthians: “For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ (which means ‘Yes’) ascends to God for his glory” (2 Corinthians 1:20 NLT).
Secondly, Jesus calls himself “the faithful and true witness” (vs. 14). This phrase really supports the previous one. Once again, Jesus is saying that he can be counted on. If he says something, claims something or promises something, you can know it’s true. He is completely trustworthy, perfectly accurate, and his testimony is always reliable. Jesus Christ is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Finally, Jesus says that he is “the Beginning of the creation of God” (vs. 14 NKJV). This translation has been a little misleading for people. When translated like this, as it is in the NJKV, it sounds as if Jesus is saying that he was the first thing God created—thus, the “beginning of God’s creation.” If that were true, then Jesus isn’t really eternal at all and, therefore, couldn’t be truly equal with God the Father. But that isn’t what Jesus is saying here. The Good News Bible actually gives us a better translation: “the origin of all that God has created” (vs. 14 TEV). The God’s Word Translation puts it this way: “the source of God’s creation” (vs. 14 GWT). Jesus is reiterating what John said of him way back in John 1: “He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:2-3 NIV).
Not only is Jesus faithful and true, not only is he firm, reliable and unchanging, but he is also the creator of all things the source from which the whole universe leapt into existence. Many of the Christians in Laodicea may have been influenced by a Gnostic teaching that denied the pre-existence of Christ. They taught he was created being just like everybody else. And it may have been this very teaching that led the church in Laodicea to the corrupt condition that Jesus now finds it in. Whatever it was that got them started in the wrong direction, Jesus has some scathing criticism for the church in Laodicea.
• CRITICISM
This is what he has to say: “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” (vs. 15-16 NLT).
Jesus begins with their works (“all the things you do”) because it by our works that we demonstrate the faith that works within us. This is a balance that I think a lot of Christians struggle to understand. The Bible teaches unequivocally that we are saved by grace through faith—two invisible elements working together. However the evidence or the proof of our salvation is in our works—all the visible things you do. If you’ve ever wondered whether or not you are truly saved, whether you’ve genuinely been born again—the biblical answer is not, “Well, have you been baptized?” or “Did you pray the sinners prayer and really mean it?” The biblical answer is: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5 NIV).
Jesus put it this way: “You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit… just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions” (Matthew 7:16-20 NLT). My guess is—the folks in Laodicea had stopped examining their own fruit. They had fallen from the true faith and didn’t even realize it. They were Christians in name, but not in any other way.
Have you ever heard of genericide? It’s what happens when a product becomes so common that the name becomes synonymous with any cheap generic version of the original. For example, if you go into a restaurant in the South and ask for a Coke, the waitress will ask you what kind. The word Coke is often used to refer to any caramel colored soft drink no matter whether it belong to the Coca-Cola company or not. Same thing has happened Kleenex. You might say, “Could you hand me a Kleenex?” even if the box is clearly labeled Dollar General Brand Facial Tissue. A brand name that once referred to a specific product now is used for any old generic reproduction—genericide. And I believe the same thing has happened to Christianity.
The word Christian originally referred to a person who is a genuine believer and follower of Jesus Christ—someone whose life has been unmistakably changed by the life and death of Jesus and his indwelling Spirit. Today and I’m pretty sure in ancient Laodicea as well, the word Christian is used to refer to anyone who might show up at church once a year—anyone who claims some generic form of religion loosely related to Jesus. I can guarantee that almost, if not more than, half the people in this country who claim to be Christian have no concept of what that word really means and the life that Jesus expects from those who claim his name. To Jesus, there is nothing more disgusting than a halfhearted, in-name-only Christian who doesn’t truly follow him at all.
I know that because of what Jesus said next: The NKJV says, “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (vs. 16 NKJV). The Message puts it this way: “You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit!” (vs. 16 MSG). He couldn’t be any blunter.
A lot of people misunderstand this passage. They think Jesus is talking about fence-straddling Christians who haven’t fallen away, but just aren’t on fire for Jesus. That’s not what lukewarm means. You see, Laodicea had a water problem. They didn’t have any. So they had it piped in from Hierapolis via underground aqueducts. Hierapolis had natural hot mineral springs, so as the water traveled roughly six miles to Laodicea it cooled off slightly. From Laodicea the aqueduct carried the water south to Colossae. By the time the water reached Colossae, it was refreshingly cold. But at Laodicea, the water was lukewarm, spoiled with impure minerals, and (if left sitting) it cultivated bacterial growth that often caused diarrhea and vomiting. If the water had been hot (like in Hierapolis) or cold (as in Colossae) it would have been good and useful, but as it was the water was tepid, disgusting and useless—just like the so-called Christians of Laodicea had become. The believers didn’t take a stand for anything; indifference had led to idleness. They hadn’t been changed by his amazing grace. By neglecting to do anything for Christ, the church had become hardened and self-satisfied, and it was destroying itself. As a result, Jesus told them, “You make me want to vomit!”
At least part of their problem was that they we’re living comfortably in Laodicea. Jesus said, “You say, ‘I am rich, with everything I want; I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that spiritually you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” (vs. 17 TLB). What this boils down to is that they trusted themselves and their money more than they trusted Jesus! They were self-reliant, self-centered, and self-indulgent. Their lives didn’t revolve around Jesus; they revolved around themselves! But while they may have had all sorts of physical blessings, spiritually they were “pitiful, blind beggars, threadbare and homeless” (MSG).
So based on this massive criticism, Jesus issues a compound command.
• COMMAND
This is what he tells them: “My advice to you is to buy pure gold from me, gold purified by fire—only then will you truly be rich. And to purchase from me white garments, clean and pure, so you won’t be naked and ashamed; and to get medicine from me to heal your eyes and give you back your sight” (vs. 18 TLB).
There are a lot of “insider” references in this verse. For instance, Laodicea was world famous for developing a special black dye. The wealthiest people from all over the empire would place orders from Laodicea for their rich black wool. The town became very wealthy by selling garments made from this wool. Jesus tells them to purchase white wool from him—white being a symbol of purity and righteousness. He wanted them to trust him to clothe them rather than to trust in their own riches and wealth.
Laodicea was also well renowned for an eye ointment that they invented that was said to cure several different eye irritations. Again, they became wealthy and famous for selling this medicine and curing people’s blindness. Yet, spiritually they were the blind ones. Jesus wanted them to buy medicine from him so that they might truly see.
The message is the same, either way—they had to stop trusting in themselves and their money and start trusting in Jesus. They couldn’t see past themselves and they were fooling themselves if they thought that the lives they were leading were pleasing to God. And we need to understand—these weren’t “bad” people. They weren’t out partying at pagan festivals or worshiping false gods. They weren’t drunks and gluttons. These were nice, well-mannered folks with Midwestern-values. They were “good” people that probably never bothered a soul. But just like American Christianity today, they had been lulled into a false sense of security and had embraced a generic brand of Christianity that taught them to pat themselves on the back for going church because they had done their good deed for the week. Maybe they believed that God was lucky to have them and their big tithe check every week.
You see, Satan doesn’t want to convince Christians to go out and party and live immoral lives. He wants you to keep your old fashioned values and keep on going to church every week, just as long as you never realize just how “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” you really are—because that is when you realize your need for a Savior, that’s when your eyes will be opened and you’ll see just how amazing his grace really is! It is not until we discover the wretch within ourselves that we discover the amazing love of our Savior.
The good news is—no matter how disgusted Jesus is by this self-centered, self-deceptive brand of Christianity, he still loved them. He assured the church in Laodicea, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline” (vs. 19 ESV). In other words, “I’m saying this because I love you.” The same goes for each one of us. For those of us who have been tricked into thinking that a self-absorbed sainthood is what make Jesus smile, we, like the church in Laodicea, need to repent. We need to make our lives entirely about Jesus. We need to be Jesus-centered, Jesus-reliant, and Jesus-absorbed. We need to open our eyes to the spiritual condition of our hearts and turn to Jesus once again—to find our meaning and purpose and happiness and treasure in him!
INVITATION:
I want to leave you, and leave this series, with the same invitation that Jesus left the church of Laodicea—a personal, individual invitation for every man, woman and child. In the words of Jesus: “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches” (vs. 20-22 NLT).
If you hear a gentle knocking as we stand and sing, don’t leave him standing there. Open the door and let Jesus into your life!
