Dear Beloved
Psalm 40:1-3 Isaiah 40:31 Revelation 3:7-13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rq_UbSZhHI (Sermon clip)
I don’t know about you, but I guess I must receive at least two dozen letters via email every week from some nice person in Nigeria or Angola or Zimbabwe trying to give me millions of dollars that they somehow got stuck with and they want to help me out by giving it to me. And almost every one of those letters begins, Dear Beloved…. I have to confess that I’ve never opened one of the letters because….somehow, I just don’t believe they really want to help me. I mean, they don’t even know me!
But this letter from Jesus to the church in Philadelphia…this letter to you and me…that’s different because Jesus DOES know us. He knows me and He knows you too. Better than anyone else knows us. We really are His Beloved, and He knows we need His help. And while He doesn’t offer us millions of imaginary dollars and a broken dream, He does offer us eternal LIFE. So, let’s read this letter from Revelation 3:7-13.
CLIP
Have you ever wondered just how much a person can take? How much disappointment, how much tragedy, how many trials…one on top of the next? Well, you just heard Gene & Brandy Chandler confess that they began to wonder the same thing…after a deployment to Iraq, then the frustration of not being able to have a baby on their own, and when they finally come to terms with that disappointment, they decide to adopt, only to have Brandy diagnosed with cancer, and then complete paralysis. You know they had to be discouraged and had to wonder….God, how long will this go on? Don’t You care? Have you forgotten about me? All the while desperately trying to hold on to their faith and to God’s promises of Good….which they did. And when they realized that some things were out of their control; in fact, that an awful lot of things were out of control, they decide to just wait upon the Lord and trust in His faithfulness and His promises.
The Christians in Philadelphia must have felt much the same way. They had been through an awful lot. And maybe you’ve known that kind of disappointment and trouble and trials; like so much is simply out of your hands, out of your control. Maybe that’s the situation you’re facing right now. Well, the King of Kings had a word of encouragement for the Believers at Philadelphia and I believe He has a word for you too today.
Of all the cities referred to in these letters, Philadelphia was, by far, the youngest. In fact, at the time that John writes this letter, Philadelphia was only about 200 years old. It was situated on the border of three countries, sort of like a doorway to the rest of the world—and it was established with the purpose of spreading the Greek language and culture throughout the rest of the world. And it was here, at the doorway to the world, that a church had been established. And it is to this church that the Risen Lord speaks only praise. There is no criticism…only praise. And history would affirm that the church in Philadelphia deserved such praise because with the exception of Smyrna, Philadelphia is the only church mentioned in Revelations still in existence still today. All the other churches are just ruins. But there is a bishop in Philadelphia and over 1,000 dedicated Christians still holding high the banner of Christ in that city to this day.
So, what’s so important about this letter to Philadelphia, and what does it have to do with us? Well, this letter addresses three real life questions confronting believers then and now; and my guess is that you have asked one if not all three of these questions at least once in your life. The first question is:
What do I do when I can do very little?
All of us have experienced the emptiness and frustration and the fear of being powerless of helpless. And granted, it can be frightening to not be in control of our lives or in control over what happens to us. To sit by and watch an illness destroy someone you love; helpless to do anything about it. To stand by as you watch someone you care about destroy their own life and there seems to be nothing you can do to stop them. Or to watch as your own life comes apart at the seams and no matter what you do, you can’t seem to do anything to prevent it. SO, what do you do when you can do very little? Well, the key is in this letter: Jesus said to the church in Philadelphia: I know you have very little power”.
Isn’t it amazing just how quickly we forget this basic principle, namely: God is in control. It’s not about how strong WE are. It’s never been about how great or powerful or mighty we are. Jesus said that over and over again. You remember what He said; The last shall be first. Paul says in II Corinthians, “When I am weak, THAT’S when I’m strong!” And that’s why he said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” I’m mean, Jesus told us plainly that there are a LOT of things that are impossible for you and me, but that NOTHING is impossible for you and me WITH God’s help. Do you think for a moment that it was Moses and that skinny stick he carried that parted the Red Sea? God was in control! Moses simply trusted God. The power we need to be victorious in life today is found in Christ. The key is Christ IN us! And so, the secret to what to do when it seems you can do very little is to surrender, to trust and to wait upon the Lord. Isaiah knew that. That’s why he wrote, “Those who wait upon the Lord will rise up with wings like eagles…”
So, what do you do when there isn’t much you can do? You give it over to God! You do what you can do, you hold onto faith and to God’s promises…and you wait. You and I, we are called to do what we CAN do, but we’re also called to leave the impossible stuff up to God. He simply asks us to hold onto our faith and hold onto Him. If we do that, God promises to do the impossible! Second life question addressed in this letter is:
If God has a purpose for every life, what’s my purpose? Discovering your purpose in life, what it is that God made you to be or what God wants you to do is the first step towards living the “Abundant Life” Jesus promised because God’s purposes always lead to Abundant Life. That’s why Jesus says to the Christians in Philadelphia, I have set before you an open door. That door would lead them into their divine purpose! You see, Your purpose and my purpose is always tied to Jesus and is always contingent on following Him. In the same way that Philadelphia was to be a missionary of Greek culture to the world, the church there—at that particular place and that particular time-- to be a missionary church, to bringing the gospel to the world. They were to transform the world with the love of God, which sounds like an impossible task for someone with “very little power”. But notice what the Lord says here; He says, “I have set before you and open door.” They don’t have to knock it down. God has placed them in the perfect place at the perfect time to accomplish His perfect will. The church was located at the doorway of the world and the door was wide open. It’s here that Jesus is pointing out their primary purpose. It’s as if He is saying, “Look! Here you go! Here is your purpose in the Kingdom. Here’s your part. This is what you were made for! Go and spread the good news.
That was 2000 years ago; but what about now and what about you? What is your purpose? What does God have for you to do? Do you really want to know? Some people may not WANT to know what their divine purpose is because if they don’t know what God wants for them or from them, what God expects of them…then maybe they won’t have to do anything. But I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work that way. And I think that, deep down, we yearn to know our divine purpose.
Well, discernment isn’t my strongest spiritual gift, but if you really want to know what God’s plan for you is, what your purpose in life is, I can tell you---at least in general terms. Your purpose is the same as the very first disciples, the same as God’s purpose for the Believers in Philadelphia—to share the love of God, to tell the story of God’s love and what Jesus did on the cross. Your primary purpose as a Christian is the same as every other follower of Jesus Christ, and that is to be a signpost to the Savior and the fragrance of God’s grace in the world. To point people to the One who can save them and give them life. How you go about that is often a matter of choice. But if you simply look around, God will show you an “Open Door” like He showed the Philadelphian Christians. After all, God is a good Father, and the last thing He would want is for His children to go about stumbling around in the dark or going the wrong way because He failed to point you in the right direction. Listen, God is gonna place an OPEN DOOR in your life to lead you in the way He wants you to go so that you can fulfill your divine purpose. The trouble, of course, for many of us anyway, is that we get impatient. If we don’t see an open door RIGHT NOW, then we head out on our own way and wind up in the weeds.
What do I do when I am powerless? What is my divine purpose in life? Why am I here? These were pretty significant questions for the Church in Philadelphia and they’re pretty important questions for us too.
How do I deal with the trials and disappointments in my life? Everybody has trials and disappointments…even Jesus. The Christian community at Philadelphia had apparently had their share of difficulties too—their share of trials and, even though they had little power of their own, they had weathered the storms and had emerged victorious. But not because they were so tough or so strong. Remember, they had very little power…they were almost powerless. But they remained faithful. Twice, the Lamb of God says to them, “You have kept my word”. They had held onto God’s promises and to His word and they had patiently waited for Him to come through. They held onto Jesus even in the face of tremendous trials and disappointments. In spite of all they had gone through, their faith in God was unshaken. Their faithfulness and tenacious hope reminds me of the suffering of the Jews during the holocaust of WWII. At the height of the Jewish persecution in Poland, these words were courageously scrawled on the wall of a building in the Warsaw ghetto as the Jews patiently waited for God to deliver them:
I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining.
I believe in God, even when I cannot see Him.
I believe in love, even when I cannot feel it.
That kind of faith, that kind of patient endurance leads others to wonder; where does that kind of strength come from? What is that peace you have? How can you still have joy when you’ve been through so much?
Like all people everywhere, we might ask, “How do you cope when your health fails? Or when your money runs out? What do you do when your marriage is falling apart, or when your reputation has been destroyed? How do you deal with trials in your life?
Like the Christians in Philadelphia, God knows that we too have very little power. We are no more in control than the folks in Philadelphia. But that’s alright because the God who loves us and who died for us IS IN CONTROL and has all the power we will ever need. He is the One who opens doors that cannot be closed and shuts doors that cannot be opened. This great Savior encourages us to “Hold On!” “Wait for Him to return and he will make things right.” If we are faithful, if we hold on to Jesus, if we wait upon the Lord, we will rise up with wings like eagles, we will have the power to make it through the most difficult trials and the darkest of valleys. You see, Jesus has been there before and He will lead us through.
To the Christians in Philadelphia who were going through a rough patch, Jesus was saying, “Hang in there. You’re doing the best you can. Just be faithful and It will be alright. Hold onto my promises and I’ll do the rest.”
In a moment, we’ll sing our closing hymn It Is Well With My Soul. But first, let me tell you about that song—Horatio Spafford was a successful businessman in Chicago and he loved the Lord. He lost much of his wealth during the depression—something he had no control over. Later, he lost everything else in the great Chicago fire. As he was rebuilding his business and getting back on his feet, his wife became ill and doctors suggested they move to the south of France for better climate. So, he arranged passage on an ocean liner for himself, his wife and four daughters. At the last minute, he was called back to Chicago on business so he sent the family on ahead. Somewhere off the coast of Wales, the ocean liner collided with another ship and went down. The four daughters, ages 6-16 all drowned but his wife survived. She wired this tragic message to her husband in Chicago: Saved alone. Children lost. What shall I do?
Horatio got on the next ship out of new York and told the captain to let him know when they reached the spot where the ocean liner went down. When they reached the place, Horatio stood on the deck looking into the waters where his daughters were entombed and God gave him this poem to him there. It Is Well With My Soul. Later Phillip Bliss who lost his own wife in an accident took this poem and set it to music. So from a collection of calamities, these two faithful men have given us this great hymn of assurance.
