Dear Careless
II Chronicles 28:22-27 I am the Way--Jesus Revelation 2:18-29
You and I may seldom think about it…which seems strange, because it will be the biggest event in the history of humankind: that is, the return of Jesus to gather His people. But that’s His promise. The Bible is clear that there is a divine purpose and a plan for us and for the world---in other words, history is moving towards a goal. According to Scripture, eternity awaits the end of history, both heaven and hell, and the God Who created you and me and loves us passionately, sent His Son so that you and I could spend that eternity with Him. That’s a pretty big deal. And that’s why Jesus writes these seven letters to the churches; to make sure that they are ready when He comes.
This letter to the Church at Thyratira is the longest letter but it is written to the smallest church. But unlike the other churches in Revelation, it is not threatened by persecution. In that way and other ways, it is much like the church in America today. The city of Thyratira was a very progressive city where just about everything was accepted, tolerated or embraced. Even the Christians were tolerated, in part, at least because the church in Thyratira had apparently adopted the culture’s attitude of uncritical tolerance. They had become careless and began to lose their unique identity as Jesus followers. That is the first charge in this letter from Christ; that they were tolerating ungodly behavior and beliefs, which, as I think about it, is a pretty good definition for sin.
And contained in this single letter, are six great truths about God that can help us to be ready when Christ does come.
1. God is serious about SIN. The church at Thyratira had a lot going for it. There were lots of good things going on—lots of positives to report. But amid all that activity, the Lord sounds a warning; an alarm with all the urgency of trying to avoid a disaster. I immediately think of the stall warning on an airplane. If the pilot is flying the plane too slowly, an alarm goes off to avoid a stall and a disaster. Today, planes as well as cars have all sorts of warning alarms; proximity warnings, crossing the center line warning, falling asleep at the wheel warning, and on and on. All intended to avoid a catastrophe where lives are lost.
The trouble in Thyratira was that they knew Jezebel was teaching things contrary to the Word of God, and they were just ignoring it. They were tolerating it. They just didn’t want to deal with it since they had so many other good things going. They felt they could tolerate a little sin. How serious could that be? After all, how could one thing matter all that much?
We say the same thing, don’t we? About the church or about our lives. There are lots of good things we’re doing…more good things than bad things. We can tolerate a few sins here and there. I mean, how serious can that be?
Most of you remember watching the shuttle Columbia making its final descent on their way home. They were almost home. And there were a lot of things right---thousands of things right in fact, and only one, maybe two things wrong, but the results were devastating. Sin matters. However much we may want to dismiss or ignore those few things in our lives that are un-Christ-like or that are clearly contrary to God’s Word, Sin matters. Even a little gossip can destroy a life. Even a little judgmental attitude and can damage a soul. Even a little self righteousness can destroy a witness. A little ill temper or cruel words can destroy a marriage. Being too selfish or stingy with God’s resources can hurt people, and even a little lack of compassion can wreak havoc. A little lying, a little dishonesty what can it hurt? It’s easy to tolerate just a little sin in our lives, isn’t it?
Many of you know that I’m a technology dinosaur, but I recognize the wonder and blessing that technology can be. But it has also ushered in an entire new era of sin and brokenness and addiction. It has in some ways, made our existence much more anonymous. More people are addicted to online pornography than any drug. More marriages are wrecked by a husband or wife looking for and finding old flames or new interests online. And believe it or not, one of the top things I have counseled people about in the past ten years are folks whose marriages are on the verge of collapse because the husband or the wife was texting other people in ways that they had to hide it from their spouse. And they argued that they weren’t committing adultery; that it really wasn’t infidelity because it wasn’t physical. It was just texting….what’s so wrong with that?
The Christians in Thyratira were good people, but they were tolerating what they knew they shouldn’t. Our church today finds itself in a culture very similar to that of Thyratira; where tolerance has been elevated to a virtue. But some things simply cannot be tolerated. For example, if you worked in a propane factory, would you tolerate smoking inside? If you knew a certain food product had traces of arsenic in it, would you tolerate that? Of course not! And you would never tolerate a faulty compass if you were trying to find your way in the woods or on the sea or in a plane. Why in the world would you tolerate a faulty compass in life? You see, tolerating sin in your life is like a magnet that’s just a little bit off. You may not notice anything wrong for a while, but the longer you go, the further you move away from true north and the more lost you become.
That’s why God is so serious about sin. It pulls us away from fellowship with Him, and when that happens, our lives become a wreck. 2. The second thing this letter reveals is that God is eager for us to repent because He wants to forgive us. Did you hear that? God WANTS to forgive us. Seems everybody thinks God is out to get them, that He can’t wait to punish them, but nothing could be further from the truth. That’s not the God of the Bible and it certainly isn’t the God in these letters. God wants to forgive us so we can get our lives back on course.
Now to repent simply means to change course. To recognize that you’re life is off course, heading in the wrong direction and to admit it; confess it and ask God to re-orient your life so that Christ is your TRUE NORTH. In Thyratira, some were following their own way. Some were following Jezebel’s way. And some were following Jesus who IS the WAY. And for us, well some of us may have our whole life headed in the wrong direction. We’re going our own way, the world’s way or some other way, but we’re certainly not walking in the footsteps of Jesus. And maybe, no one else has noticed. After all, we may only be a little bit off course. But here, in our hearts…we know. We sense when our life is off course and headed in the wrong direction. And Jesus says, REPENT, or change course before it’s too late. He really does want to forgive you and get you back on track.
In Luke’s gospel, Jesus tells a parable about a young man who had really messed up things at home and ran away; heading as far away as he could from home and from his father. But when the son recognized his mistake, he repents; he turns around and heads towards home. And he is shocked to find his father waiting for him. Not to punish him though. His father has been watching for him and waiting for him and when he sees the wayward son, the father runs to him and hugs and kisses him! The father couldn’t wait to forgive his son. Your heavenly father is that way about you too.
3 The third great truth we find in this letter is that God wants to share His glory with us. If you’re not blown away by the news that God is not out to punish you but wants to forgive you, then here’s the kicker: God wants to give you more than you can imagine! He wants to share His glory with you! All that He has, He wants to share with us. That’s why God is so serious about sin. It prevents us from being close to Him and sharing His glory. That’s why God is eager for us to repent and to forgive us, so that we can share His glory. Listen to what God promises if we repent and remain faithful: He promises to come for us. He promises to share His rule; to give us authority to rule the nations. And on top of that, He promises to give us the Morning Star and a Resurrected Life. Is any of this new to you? Have you heard anything today that you have not heard before? God loves you! He hates sin, not you! He hates sin because it wrecks our lives and so He is eager for us to repent so that He can forgive us and put our lives back on course. And more than that, He wants to share His glory with us.
4. This is the fourth great truth: IT Matters what we believe. That’s not new. It’s in the opening lines of the Bible. When the serpent raises the question to Adam and Eve if God really means what He says. Can they really not eat of the fruit? And if they do, will they really die? Surely not…not for something that seemly insignificant. Well, they believed the serpent instead of believing God and as you know, that didn’t turn out so great for them. Even for Adam and Eve, it mattered what they believe. As I said earlier, tolerance has been elevated to a virtue in our culture, as it was in Thyratira. And tolerance can be a very good thing. But uncritical tolerance, being careless about things that really matter is dangerous. Saying that you can believe whatever you like and I can believe anything I like, and both of us will be right; does that really make sense? Our culture says that as long as you are sincere, it really doesn’t matter what you believe. Yes it does. Eternal truths are not relative. Two beliefs that are fundamentally different cannot both be right. Not all roads lead to heaven, any more than all medicines treat the same illness. If you are diagnosed with diabetes, you don’t want your doctor to prescribe a fungal crème to treat you. If you have a cold, you wouldn’t want to be treated with chemotherapy. If you are dying of arsenic poisoning, a snake bite antidote won’t help you much, will it? All medicines are not the same. They won’t all cure you. Sin is the common condition for all human kind and faith in Jesus is the only cure. It matters what you believe. It mattered to Adam & Eve, it mattered to the Christians in Thyratira and it matters to us.
I heard of a policeman who pulled a driver over for not stopping at a stop sign. The man rolled down his window and the policeman said you broke the law; you didn’t stop at that stop sign. The man replied, “stop, slow down…it’s all the same.” The policeman said, well, if I take out this billy club and start whacking you with it, will it matter then if I stop or just slow down? It matters what we believe.
5. Christians are called to be holy (which means different). The church in Thyratira was playing follow the leader with the world and the world was in the lead and in many ways, the church looked much like the world. That’s happening in many churches and more than a few denominations today as they allow the culture to lead them in matters of morality. Political correctness has displaced Biblical authority in much of the church as the church strives to not be out of step or offensive to the culture. But Christians are called to be different...to be Holy…to reflect the heart of Jesus and the Word of God. If we DO reflect the heart of Jesus and the Word of God, we will be noticed because most of the time, we will be going against the flow of culture.
This sanctuary is holy because it is different than all other buildings.
The Sabbath is holy because it is different from every other day. And God is holy because He is different than everything else in all creation. We are called to be holy because we are called to be more like God and less like the world.
6. And lastly, in this letter to the church in Thyratira, we learn that Today is a good day for a course correction. Christ urges His people to get ready and not delay. He gave Jezebel time and she refused to repent or change course. Jesus urges the others to repent and be forgiven and return to the Way of Jesus. And, He says, those who have ears, let them hear.
You have in your hands a compass. It’s not a very good one. In fact, it cost less than a nickel, and you probably shouldn’t depend on it to save your life or to get you where you want to go. This compass is simply a reminder that Jesus said, “I am the Way…no one comes to the Father but by me.” And tolerating sin or being careless in your faith, in what you believe and in how you live is like using a defective compass to set your life course by. A compass without a True North is worthless at best and dangerous at most. Jesus is the Way. He is your True North. To settle for anything or anyone else just doesn’t make sense. Does it to you?
