Scripture: Revelation 3:14-22 and Daniel 3:8-30
Title: Are you a Thermometer or a Thermostat?
Topical Sermon focusing on how Christians can live like a thermometer or a thermostat.
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ His Son who came to take away the sin of the world!
Today, we live in a golden age of inventions. It seems like every time you turn on the TV or get on the internet someone is sharing some new invention. It's fantastic seeing all the new things that are being created today. One could not say that about the 16th century. Some historians have labeled the 16th century as the "dog days of the Renaissance". While it was an age of art, poetry and religious discussions it produced very few inventors and inventions. The reason for this was quite simple. The 16th century was an age of war. Over 120 different wars and rebellions took place during the 16th century. It was an age when empires and kingdoms fought against each other and when civil rebellions were hot and heavy.
But it did have one rather unusual inventor named Cornelius Drebbel1. Drebbel was born in 1572 in Holland where he grew up studying engraving. He had plans to live out his life as a map maker. However, around the turn of the century Drebbel was introduced to the world of chemistry (alchemy). Something sparked in his soul and Drebbel's inventive mind came alive. Over the rest of his life he would be involved in the invention and construction of all kinds of things including the world's first submarine and the world's first perpetual clock.
But it is not the submarine that history most remembers Drebbel. His most famous inventions while more modest have helped transform our world. Drebbel is credited with creating and improving both the thermometer and the thermostat. Today, you can thank this little Dutch man for giving us these two great inventions. And this morning, it is those two inventions, the thermometer and thermostat that can help us get a handle on what the Holy Spirit wanted to share with the congregation at Laodicea.
Let me share with you what I mean. If you look at the central issue that was affecting the Church in Laodicea you can see what was happening to them was that they had chosen to be a THERMOMETER CHURCH full of THERMOMETER CHRISTIANS at a time when the LORD was looking for a THERMOSTAT CHURCH filled with THERMOSTAT CHRISTIANS.
That's right. Instead of being Thermometer Christians the LORD is looking for us today to be Thermostat Christians. Instead of being a Thermometer Church the Lord is looking for us to be a Thermostat Church. Now, let's take a few moments this morning and see what this exactly means. What exactly does it mean to be a Thermometer Christian and what does it mean to be a Thermostat Christian? What is the difference between the two?
1. THERMOMETER CHURCHES and THERMOTER CHRISTIANS
Let's begin by picturing in our minds a thermometer. It can be large or small thermometer because its size does not matter. It can be one that is designed to stay inside a home or one that has been designed to stay outside. It can be a medical thermometer designed to see if we have a fever or not. It can even be one that we use while we cook to make sure that the our meal is being cooked well. It doesn't matter as long as we are thinking of a thermometer.
Got it? Now, let's look at some of the characteristics of that thermometer
A. The first thing that we notice is that thermometers are passive in nature
That is to say, thermometers do not set the temperature. They merely reflect and register the temperature. They don't cause it to become warmer or colder. Instead, they simply measure the environment in which they find themselves.
If our thermometers are located outside they will reflect that the temperature is either going up or down depending on the current climate conditions. Right now all over our nation we are watching our thermometers tell us that each day the temperature is going down a few more degrees. That is what we expect as we enter into the beginning of the Winter Season. However, when Spring and Summer come around we will watch the exact opposite occurring. We will watch as the fluid in our thermometers starts to rise more and more each and every day. Our thermometers will reflect that it is getting warmer and warmer. They will not cause anything to happen they will simply reflect what is going on.
We don't expect thermometers to be active. That is not their job. They were not designed to be active. They were designed to reflect their environment.
If fact, if you were going to picture a thermometer as an animal one of the best ones that you might want to pick is the chameleon lizard. A chameleon is that fantastic little old world lizard that is known to be able to adapt to its environment. The only change it makes is to do its best to blend in so it can't be seen. That is how it survives. It has learned how to blend in so that the other animals will have a difficult time setting it apart. It mimics its environment. It doesn't want to stand out. It doesn't try to change anything. It only tries to blend in and become a part of its surroundings.
This morning we can be upset with either the chameleon or the thermometer. It is not their job to be active but to be passive. It's not their job to stand out but to blend in with their surroundings.
We can't be upset with a thermometer for being a thermometer. It does not have the inward ability to change its environment. It doesn't have the power. It wasn't designed to change anything. It was designed to be passive. It was designed to reflect and mimic the environment in which it exists.
And while a thermometer is wonderful to have around to tell you what the temperature is at the moment it is not the way the Holy Spirit wants us to live today. The Holy Spirit does not want us to simply reflect our surroundings. The Holy Spirit does not want us to live passive lives that mimic those around us. The Holy Spirit does not seek for us to be either Thermometer Christians or to be a part of a Thermometer Church.
But Satan does. Satan loves it when a disciple of Jesus decides to live like a thermometer. He wants us to reflect the surroundings and environment that he provides.
He doesn't even mind it when we get all holy when we are around holy people. He doesn't mind it when we come to worship, raise our hands and shout for joy. He doesn't even mind it when we get all holy. For he knows that all we are doing is mimicking our environment. He knows that all we are doing is reflecting what is going on at the moment.
He doesn't mind because he knows that as soon as we live such a hot and passionate worship experience that we will quickly begin to cool down. He knows that once we get with another group of people we will soon reflect and mimic their culture and their environment. He knows that when we get around people who are fighting we will begin fighting. He knows that when we get around people who are gossiping we will begin gossiping. He knows that when we get around people who are watching things they shouldn't we will simply set down and watch them as well. He knows that when we are around people who are doing the wrong things that we will either stay silent or we will join in their destructive behavior. After all, when we choose to be a thermometer Christian we have chosen to be passive, reflect what is going and mimic the environment we find ourselves.
We see this happening in Mark 14 in the life of the Apostle Peter. Jesus has been arrested and is on trial for his life. Peter has followed the proceedings from a distance to see exactly what is going to happen. He is not allowed to go into the Sanhedrin so he finds a fire to warm himself in the dead of the night. Others are gathered there for the same reason. They want to know what is going to happen to Jesus of Nazareth.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd points Peter out and accuses him of being a Jesus follower. Peter, looking around and noticing that the temperature in the area is anti-Jesus becomes anti-Jesus as well. At this point in his spiritual journey he is a thermometer disciple. Peter begins to deny that he even knows Jesus and some Bible scholars tell us that he goes as far as to curse the name of Jesus. Peter at that time lived the life of a perfect Thermometer Christian - he measured the spiritual warmth of the room and reflected it. He mimic his surroundings.
Sadly, Peter was not the first or the last of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of the Order of Thermometer Christianity. The Devil loves it when we put our spiritual thermometers in the air to gauge what is going on. He knows that for the most part where we work, where we go to school and even in some of our churches the spiritual temperature for Jesus is low. He knows that given an opportunity we will sink down to that level and live. He loves it when we get all twisted up in the ways of the world. He loves it when we live in discord, when we allow evil to rule our work environment and when we adopt the philosophies of the world and its ways.
This morning, that is not the life that Jesus came to give to all of us this morning. It was not the life he wanted for our friends in Laodicea. Jesus has another way for us to live. We are to reject the life of Thermometer Christianity and live a life of being a Thermostat Christian in a Thermostat Church.
I. A Thermostat Christian is a Holy Spirit Control Change Agent
Now let's think for a moment about a Thermostat. You know, those little things that hang on our walls that control our air conditioners and our heaters.
Whereas a thermometer has been designed to reflect the current temperature, the thermostat has been designed to create the right temperature. In other words, thermostats are active. They get involved. They control the environment instead of allowing the environment to control them.
For example, if the room is too hot you can set the thermostat at a certain temperature and in a few minutes the room will begin to cool off. If you want a room to heat up all you have to do is to set the thermostat and wait a few minutes and you can begin to feel the warmth.
So, what does it mean to be a Thermostat Christian?
+It means that if we find ourselves in an area that is full of anger and hate we are able to bring about peace. We don't just reflect the atmosphere. Instead, we begin to pray for peace and then allow the Holy Spirit to bring peace through us. We become a Holy Spirit change agent of peace.
+It means that when we find ourselves in an environment that is evil we begin to glow with the light of Christ. We allow the Holy Spirit to turn up our thermostat of love, grace and mercy and in a few moments we have begun to change our environment. People begin to sense the flow of the Holy Spirit in our actions. People begin to feel that they are in the presence of one who has been redeemed, renewed and filled with God's Holy Spirit.
It's important for us to remember that thermostats don't work on their own. For them to work they have to be put into motion. Inside the little box that houses my thermostat in my home it has both a thermostat and a thermometer. I don't have to do anything to the thermometer other than read it. It is always reflecting the current temperature. I look over and it say 75 degrees or I look over and it says 60 degrees. It reads what the temperature is at the time.
But I must set the thermostat. It doesn't set itself. Once it get it's instructions it then goes about bringing up or bringing down the temperature.
This morning, we are called to allow the Holy Spirit to set the thermostat of our lives. Thermostat Christians are not passive. They obey the leadings of the Holy Spirit. They respond to the touch of the Holy Spirit. They respond quickly and obediently to the will of the LORD.
I'm a pastor and a church leader. It is never my responsibility to set the thermostat of the worship service or of any service. Instead, it is my will and pleasure to surrender and obey the will of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit sets the temperature and the Holy Spirit is in total control.
It's tempting to try to otherwise. It's tempting to attempt to design a service and control each and every movement of that service. It's tempting to create a flow of worship that begins and ends with worship, celebration and praise. It's tempting to think that we have the power to direct a worship service but when we do that we don't direct instead we manipulate and that is not the will of the LORD.
Instead, we are to always be under the guidance and control of the Holy Spirit. Sure, we are do all we can to help provide a flow of worship. We are never to just come in for a time of worship without saturating our services with prayer and praise. We are to do our best to be ready to hear and obey the message of the LORD. Therefore, we are never to approach our worship service with either an apathetic spirit or like we are attending some spiritual karaoke singing party.
I know a church or two that operate that way. When they gather together they just believe that it's up to them to choose what they to sing or how they want to worship that given day. They don't give any thought to how they are going to praise and worship the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. So, they call out hymn numbers on Sunday morning and afterwards call that worship. If it goes well and people like what they sing then they believe that they truly had great worship and praise. If it flubs then that is okay because after all its just another Sunday. My friend that is an abomination to the LORD. Worship is more than a spiritual karaoke event.
Worship is a sacred event. It is bowing down to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. It is us putting ourselves before the LORD in praise, confession, worship, prayer, intercession, listening, obeying, releasing, receiving and celebrating. It is offering up to the LORD the best that we have to offer. Therefore it means that we have prayed, we have planned, we have practiced and we have done our best as humans to co-partner with the LORD for our times of worship.
One of the greatest things to experience is to watch how the LORD can work and move during a service. Recently, I had the opportunity to be in two different churches on a particular Sunday morning. One was a thermometer church while the other was a thermostat church.
In the thermometer church everything worked like clockwork. Things moved along in a prescribed pattern. The emotional level was kept at a minimum. Nothing was going to get out of hand. It was a nice enough service. Nice enough to provide a little warmth but not warm enough to move anyone anywhere. There was even an altar call but from the time the altar call was given the people were given 20 seconds to respond before the final prayer was offered. Following that prayer was a musical response followed by a final blessing. People left just like the came in. It was a nice enough service.
In the thermostat church everything was different. You began to feel it in your spirit five to ten minutes before the service that things were going to be electric. You could feel in the air a spiritual charge. Like the other church this church also had a prescribe worship service but instead of following it to the letter they allowed the Holy Spirit to come in and mess it up. They gave the Holy Spirit permission to take over His service. They brought their gift of worship and praise which they had practiced and planned for and then allowed the Holy Spirit to move in and rearrange the service. It was beautiful and lives were transformed. It was wonderful watching the Holy Spirit direct the service like one would direct an orchestra - you know the musical score, you know the instruments but under the direction of the conductor it can become something more than ever thought possible. The conductor by throwing himself/herself into the directing can made the music transcend where the barrier between heaven and earth grow thin.
Thermostat Christians and churches are under the control, guidance and will of the Holy Spirit.
In Daniel chapter three we find the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. They are God's Thermostats in Babylon. We find them among a whole bunch of thermometers. King Nebuchadnezzar had set up a 90 foot image of gold and commanded all the people to bow down to it once the music started. And like all good thermometers the people reflected the common spiritual atmosphere and knelt down in front of it once the music started.
All that is except Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. They were not thermometers but were thermostats. They would not bow down even when Nebuchadnezzar threaten the death penalty. Each of them were thrown into the fiery furnace where the temperature said it was "deathly hot". But right beside them was the holy thermostat of the LORD Himself and they walked around in the cool of the LORD amidst the hell fire of the Devil You see, when you are a thermostat of the LORD you not only know how to have be passionate for the LORD you also know how to keep your cool around the fires of Hell.
Had Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego been thermometers then they would have been cooked. No one would have seen this miracle nor would be reading about it today. No one would have seen the power of the LORD that day. But because these three men were living their lives as God's thermostats then we have this wonderful story of active faith. We have a miracle story of how God saved His people. We have a story of how God's people were able to bring honor and glory to Him.
Not long ago a man called to order a pizza. He had previously called this restaurant dozens of times before. He knew that when you call, the first thing they always ask is your telephone number. Since he was so familiar with the routine, when a young lady answered the phone he answered politely and said, "Hello, my phone number is 713 - XXX - XXXX and then waited.
Suddenly, the voice on the other live felt insulted. Screaming she cried out - "Sir, I am not ready for your phone number. And when I get ready, I will ask you for your phone number!"
The man was tempted to shout back - "Lady, I will give you my phone number whenever I feel like giving you my phone number! I will call you at midnight and give you my phone number if I want to." Down in his spirit he knew he couldn't reflect her mood. Instead, he could hear the Holy Spirit saying to him - "Be a thermostat, not a thermometer. You may have walked into a room 200 degrees but let me work through you. You can bring the temperature down."
At first he wanted to resist. He thought, "Yeah, right. It will take me six years with this lady!"
But then he realized that she didn't have anything against him. As far as he knew she didn't know him. She was just having a bad day. Something or someone was irritating her. So he decided to do all he could to cheer her up. He started thinking of everything he could do to compliment her. "Ma'am, I just want to thank you for answering the phone so quickly and taking such good care of me. You guys make the best pizzas in the world. Your delivery is always on time. You run such a great organization."
On and on he went sharing this compliment and that blessing. By the time he got finished the young lady was throwing in a free order of hot wings, Dr. Pepper and some free coupons. He had won her over. Not by being a thermometer but by being a thermostat. He had allow the Holy Spirit to come in, dial in the right degree and then watched as things came into peace and harmony.*
This morning, our church in Laodicea is a thermometer church. It mimic its environment of being lukewarm. It mimic its environment of be apathetic and lethargic. It began to look like world, smell like the world and live like the world around it. Being a thermometer church full of thermometer disciples caused the LORD to threaten to remove His light (His Spirit).
This morning, we don't have to be either thermometer people or a thermometer church. Instead, in the power of the Holy Spirit we can be spiritual thermostats. We can allow the Holy Spirit to work through us to be change agents as individuals, as families and as a church.
We may have some problems and difficulties but we don't have to allow them to control our spiritual temperature. We don't have to allow anything or anyone to drag us down. All we have to do is to place our spiritual thermostats under the control of the Holy Spirit and watch what happens. All we have to do is to turn everything over to the Holy Spirit.
In closing this morning, how is it today in our spiritual lives? If you were able to look at yourself in a spiritual mirror what would you see - A person resembling more of a spiritual thermometer or spiritual thermostat? Would you see a person who is a change agent surrendered and committed to the LORD or a person who more often than not simply reflects and mimics the culture they find themselves in at that time?
Today, as we close let me invite you to come and exchange your thermometer for a Holy Spirit controlled and filled thermostat. Let me invite you to come and allow the Holy Spirit to infill your heart, your mind and your soul with His holy fire. Let me invite you to come and surrender yourself to co-partner with the LORD to be a change agent in our world today.
Our world does not need any more spiritual thermometers. It does need Spirit-filled and Spirit-controlled thermostats ready to go out and share the Good News of Jesus Christ. It does need Spirit-filled and Spirit-controlled thermostats ready to change homes, places of work, schools and communities all over our world.
Today, will you allow Jesus to transform you into a Spiritual Thermostat?
Altar call
1 http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/science-and-technology/technology-biographies/cornelis-jacobszoon-drebbel
*Story adapted for use in this sermon - I can not remember where I first heard it.
