LOVE THE CHURCH HONESTLY
Revelation 2-3 (p861-863) June 23, 2013
INTRODUCTION
Do you know how you can tell if someone really loves you or not? It’s not so much if they hug on you and smile at you in your presence…Don’t get me wrong, that’s encouraging and nice, too…but you can tell if someone really loves you by what they do outside your presence…when you’re not together.
Absence between people who love each other makes the heart grow stronger…because they can’t wait to see each other…get rid of the absence. But absence can also create…”Out of sight, out of mind”. And if someone doesn’t really love you…what they do outside your presence…and what they say outside of your presence will reveal something completely different than…Uh, LOVE.
Love for the church can be like that…On Sunday we can be together, smile, shake hands, hug….sing together, open God’s word…even meet around the Lord’s supper together, remembering why we’re here..
But have you ever met someone or experienced someone who Monday-Saturday has a completely different Spirit, or attitude, than what you witnessed on the Lord’s Day…”What’d you think of that sermon?” “I don’t know…pretty stupid if you asked me!” (They could possibly be right!) The conversation becomes a critique and one that reveals…not love, but well, something different. It happens all the time…doesn’t it…Complaining, dissatisfaction….sin begins to change the way life is lived outside the family of God…Outside the walls…in a culture that loves dissatisfaction and the downfall of others. Maybe initially they talked about love…but they’re ready to break up…
There was a girl who said while breaking up with her boyfriend, “I will always cherish the initial misconception I had about you!!... (Ouch)
You see, real love doesn’t happen in fantasy...it happens in reality…You can’t love someone for who you wish they were, you have to love them for who they really are….flaws and all…that’s why Dietrich Bonheoffer said “True Christian community begins with disillusionment. You aren’t really loving your Christian brothers until they’ve disappointed you and you choose to stick by them anyway.” That’s what Jesus does for the 7 churches of Asia Minor in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, and when I read these chapters I too am inspired to love the church more honestly.
I I LOVE GOD’S IDEA CALLED THE CHURCH
Man, when I read Acts 2-4…when I read the book of Ephesians…I catch a vision for this radical, vibrant, victorious community of faith…living it out loud and outside Solomon’s porch. In my imagination I see men, women, young adults…families ablaze with love for Jesus, sharing the good news in the market places, loving the sick…embracing the outcast, digging deeply into scripture together. Church, Baby!!!! I want to be part of the body like that---sign me up.
But then the reality hits me….I find people in churches who care more about carpet color than compassion, who cautiously guard their money and their positions, people who bicker and quarrel, who know the Reds starting line-up better than their Bibles…I saw a book the other day entitled: “Church: Why Bother?” and when I see churches shamed by moral scandal or dulled by years of routine, led by power players and brokers…I get frustrated and feel like giving up on church.
But not if I read Revelation…All churches are stained and wrinkled brides…all of them miss the mark of God’s glory, and nowhere is that clearer than Revelation 2 and 3…these churches are marked with immorality, sloppy teaching, apathy, and complacency. The churches are a mess, just like the ones I know….I love what one Christian leader said with this in mind…”We say we want to be the New Testament church…Congratulations…We made it!!!”
But the good news is…Jesus still loves these churches. It’s tough love for sure, but real love, nonetheless…and the Lord describes the ones He loves (Heb 12:6) (Rev. 3:19)…with each confrontation is commendation…for each Church, except LAODICEA, he affirms the good He sees mixed in with the bad. He loves these churches, not because they’re perfect, but because they’re His.
Each of the 7 churches are addressed through the “angel” literally “angelos” messenger…It might not be a celestial being Jesus speaks to…although I certainly believe in spiritual warfare and “unseen powers both good and evil” but It’s the same word used for preachers or evangelist…Messenger to the church at….
The messenger is accountable for his message…whether from heaven or Lexington, KY. The messengers in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea are given instructions from John through Jesus, “He who holds the 7 spirits of God and the 7 stars” (Rev 3:1), the one who “holds the seven golden lamp stands” (Rev 2:1)…We know the 7 Stars are the messengers.” The 7 lamp stands, the 7 churches.”
And with this in mind let me say a word about the symbolism of Revelation….Revelation might be the most challenging genre of scripture to interpret…Dr. Lowry from O.C.C. Said, “It can give you a Charlie horse between the ears.”
One of the keys to understanding Jesus Revelation is to pay close attention to the symbols used. In an attempt to convey this “beyond words” vision he receives John ransacks the Greek language for all the metaphors he can find…He borrows extensively from the Old Testament for images…more than 500 Old Testament allusions in 404 verses…He pulls language to the breaking point trying to capture what he sees. It’s best to interpret these symbols in two ways…first, look for historical associations of the symbols….rather than 21st century guesses like “Apache helicopters” flying through John’s writings, point them to 1st century connections, seeking to understand things as John’s 1st century audience would have, and second, look for emotional associations of the symbols…dragons are fierce, large and frightening, lambs are innocent and vulnerable, the picture is meant to stir something in our hearts…over explaining can sometimes unweave the tapestry.
Leland Ryken reminds us… The truth is that for the most part the images and symbols of Revelation are universal…its images are those of our waking and sleeping dreams-lamb, dragon, beast, water, sea, sun, war, harvest, bride, throne, and jewels. Its color symbolism is equally universal-light for goodness, darkness for evil, red for bloodshed and perverse passion. Heaven is high, as we have always known it to be, and Hell is low and bottomless…the book of Revelation does not require a guidebook to esoteric symbols. It requires a keen eye for the obvious.
The 7 stars…”Messengers of the Churches”,
The 7 Lampstands…”The 7 churches”.
Stars shine in the darkness…lampstands give light…Jesus holds the messengers in his hand, and He walks among the lampstands…(Rev. 2:1)
II AN HONEST EVALUATION OF THESE 7 CHURCHES
Listen to Jesus’ evaluations of the Church in…
1) Ephesus. Rev 2:2-6…Duty, without devotion…Timothy was the evangelist at Ephesus…Paul speaks of their love for Christ 20 times in his letter. “You are rooted and grounded in love,” he says but years later we hear John say, “You’ve left the first love.”
Jesus commends their service…working to the point of exhaustion…but the critique is cutting. You’re separated from me…you’re doing a lot of stuff, but for the wrong reasons. You’re not motivated by love for me….you’re going through the motions out of a sense of duty…Have you ever been there?!!! I HAVE!!! Ephesus hasn’t gotten off track doctrinally…the Nicolatians “Followers of Nicolas” were heretics that pretended to be Christians, but prevented the essential truth…they were false teachers…who tried to infiltrate the church…The Ephesians wouldn’t stand for it. The Ephesus Christians didn’t get off track doctrinally, but devotionally…Jesus doesn’t long for you to know the facts about Him…He longs for you to know Him, to love Him, to embrace Him…
First love is honeymoon love…its heart racing…hold hands love…not “Hurry up and get ready so we can get this over with” love…Duty without devotion is legalism…and it’s deadly to honest intimacy and genuine love. Jesus says, repent…do the things you did at first…because if you don’t…I’ll remove your lampstand from its place.
Next is 2) The church in Smyrna…the hurting and persecuted church…Jesus has not one negative critique for these hurting people…Your enemy tries to hurt you more when you’re hurting…I’ve met people like that even experienced people like that…but if Jesus has something negative He doesn’t relay it here…instead…He loves on these people…His evaluation is “You are rich.” To many of the other churches Jesus says, “I know your deeds…I know where you live…I know your reputation…but to these blessed followers He says, “I know your affliction…I know your poverty…I know about those who slander you…Do not be afraid…Some of you will even be put in prison….It’s a test…Do Not Be Afraid!!!”
[These difficulties are real, they are harsh and hard…these followers are in the middle of the furnace for Christ’s sake…Jesus will allow it for a period…whatever “10 Days” is...but not forever…None of us in American know this kind of test yet. It’s not a cold shoulder, or job loss…or ridicule…it’s slander…it’s prison…it’s to the point of death…it’s tied to the stake and the match nearing the wood…do you reconnect faith…It’s the martyr’s cry of victory when the first death comes, because “the 2nd death” will not hurt Him…Victory beyond lies, poverty, pain and attention…Jesus says, “I personally will give you the Victor’s crown” Eternal life!!!
The next Church is 3) The Church in Pergamum…they are addressed with a sharp double sword…symbolism? “The Word of God” (Heb 4:12)
Read Rev 2: 13-16
They live on “Bourbon Street”. They live on the strip in”Las Vegas.” They live in the middle of Sodom and Gomorrah where Satan has his throne…Where Satan Lives! I’d say it was like being a faithful Christian in the dorms of “party central” but for those in Pergamum, like Antipas…they kill you for your faith, not ostracize you…Jesus condemns the fact that they’ve allowed some leaven in the loaf…some like Balaam who lead God’s people into sexual immorality and idol worship, some false teaching from “Nicolaitians” (mentioned in Ephesus)….Jesus says, repent…remember the double edged sword…the word of God…it will fight against those false practices and those who follow them.
The 4th Church is Thyatira…listen to Revelation 2:18-25
Straight from Daniel 10:6…eyes like blazing fire…feet like burnished bronze…these are the words of the Son of God….Eyes that see all….feet that bring judgment…they are a loving, serving, faithful, growing church…sounds great, huh?... the problem, “A prophetess...a Jezebel…A cancer, as Katie Proctor would tell you…from within a seduction…A woman Jesus says is a cancer, she calls herself a prophet but nothing could be further from the truth…She claims to speak for God in a leadership position, but it is killing people spiritually..The cancer…why? Here’s an example: A farmer once walked into a restaurant and asked the owner if he could use a million frog legs. Desirous of putting frog legs on the menu more frequently, the owner asked the farmer where he could get so many. The farmer said, “My pond is overflowing with them. The owner told the farmer to bring him as many as he could. A week later the farmer returned with an embarrassed look on his face. He held up two scrawny frogs and said, “I was wrong about a million frog legs. These two frogs were making all the racket. I never knew two frogs could cause so much noise.” Just one person was corrupting the whole church in Thyatira-but one is all that it takes. Like an apple with a worm in it…Jesus says her punishment is sickness and her children’s death.
The 5th church is Sardis. Jesus tells the messenger here in Revelation 3:1-4 it’s the church living on its reputation. At one time it was perceived as active and alive, but Jesus says, “You’re dead.” Like carbon monoxide poisoning these church folks are dead or dying in a closed in space and Jesus, the one who holds them in His hands shouts, “Wake up! Get up! Get out of this deadly place. If you don’t wake up I’ll come like a thief and you won’t know what time I will come to you.” Remember a rut is a grave with both ends punched out, and that is where the Sardis church resides. As well as many others.
The 6th church is the church in Philadelphia, the church with an open door and little strength. Yet they’ve remained faithful (Rev. 3:7b-11). Sardis had power, but wasn’t using it. Philadelphia had little strength, but Jesus held the keys to an open door. In their weakness Jesus provided power. I’ve learned this to be true. “When I am weak, he is strong!” (2 Cor. 12:10). Enduring patiently is very difficult when you’re hurting, when you’re under attack. But, oh, is it something Jesus commands for His people. I know there is a cliché that says, “Hurting people hurt people” but in the kingdom I think it’s more true that “hurting people heal people.” It’s the open door for ministry. “Comfort one another with the comfort you’ve been comforted with.” Jesus knew such hurt. So do His followers. Hold on! What a great challenge.
And all these churches are messy. Ephesus the dutiful church without devotion. Smyrna, the hurting poor church. Pergamum, faithful but in the midst of Satan’s throne. Thy
atira, Jezebel’s poisonous cancer. Sardis, asleep and dying, needing to wake up. Philadelphia, weak but with an open door and the promise of Jesus’ authority. But I must conclude today with the church in Laodicea, the lukewarm church, the church that makes Jesus sick.
Revelation 3:14-21. So proud, so arrogant. What it thinks about itself is a poor evaluation. We’re rich, we’re amazing, we don’t need anything. Nothing left for us to learn. Really? Jesus says, You’re wretched, poor, partially blind, and naked. The emperor thinks his new clothes are “the bomb,” but he’s been deceived by his tailor. He’s buck naked and Jesus tells the Laodicians, “You’ve been shopping at the wrong store. Buy from me!!” Not one word of commendation to this church from Jesus. But Jesus has a love that will not quit. An amazing invitation. “Behold, here I am. knocking on your door. Do you hear me? Let me in and I’ll make myself at home. I’ll make you my home.”
Love that Won’t Quit
Day after day the loving father came to the hospital, often with flowers in his hand. He would sit beside the bed of his comatose 6-year-old daughter, talking to her about the wonderful world outside her window. Sometimes he would tell her a story. But in her unconscious state, the only sound she ever made was her labored breathing. One day her nurse, touched by the father’s unrewarded faithfulness, ventured to say, “It must be hard giving so much love when she’s like this.” He quickly responded, “I’m going to keep on coming and bringing flowers
and telling her stories even if she’s oblivious to it because I love her whether or not she loves me back.”
Let’s pray.
