Today, we wrap up the part of Revelation, where Jesus has John writing to the angels to the churches. Jesus has clear expectations, and high expectations, for his churches. Every church has its own spirit-- its own angel-- who is responsible for that church. And some angels, and some churches, are more faithful, and have better works, than others. The angels are held responsible, and so are the churches. This last church today, in Laodicea, is not doing well.
Let's start by reading verse 14-15.
(14) and to the angel-- to the one in Laodicea of the church-- write:
"These things, says The Amen (Isaiah 65:16), The Faithful and True Witness, The Ruler of God's creation--
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Isaiah 65:16:
(16) Whoever blesses himself/considers himself fortunate in the land, shall bless himself/consider himself fortunate by the God of Amen.
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(15) I know your works,
that neither cold, you are, nor hot. ["cold" and "hot" are both focused, in both lines]
Would that cold, you were, or hot!
Jesus opens by describing himself as The Amen. This is a Hebrew word, and the meaning revolves around the idea of something being true, and reliable. And when we look back at the verse, and how Jesus goes on to describe himself, he keeps talking along these lines. Jesus is faithful, and reliable, and trustworthy. What he says is accurate. His words have weight.
Jesus then goes on, in verse 15, to describe the church. And what does Jesus look at? Their works. In every church, the thing Jesus looks at is their works. That's the basis for his evaluation. It's through your works, that Jesus tells how you're doing.
And we see that Jesus isn't happy about their works. Normally, Jesus likes to talk about the good things he sees and hears in his churches, but with this church, he has nothing good to say, at all. He can't praise them for anything.
In describing this church, Jesus uses a metaphor about hot, and hold, and lukewarm, and puking. People debate what exactly Jesus means with this metaphor. Some people think that Jesus is deliberately using exaggerated language here (hyperbole), which isn't to be pressed literally (Roloff, William Barclay, etc.). They think it's good to be hot, and it's bad to be cold. And they think Jesus is saying, basically, that he'd prefer the church to be filled with terrible sinners, doing terrible things, than with this mediocre, lukewarm Christians. I had a friend in Bible college once, who was quite the character actually. He told me that he hardly ever sinned, but when he sinned, he sinned big. That's basically what some people think Jesus is saying. My friend took a bit of pride in hardly sinning, but sinning big.
But I think (with Craig Koester, who was again super helpful here) that the idea is more like this: cold things, and hot things, are both useful, and desirable. In ancient Rome, they didn't have fridges or freezers or electricity, so I always read this verse with some confusion. But apparently, it was a thing to chill beverages, even in ancient Rome. You could store wine at the base of a well, to cool it. Or you could buy snow from people who must've stored it in caves, and use that snow to chill wine, in particular. Chilled beverages were highly desired in ancient Rome. So we all know that on a hot day, there's nothing better than iced tea. On a cold tea, there's nothing better than hot tea. Cold things are useful, and desirable. And so are hot things.
And if we stop to think about, why is that the case? The thing that makes cold things desirable, and hot things desirable, is that their temperature differs from the outside environment. They're not like everything around them. So the idea behind this metaphorical language then, probably, is that Christians are supposed to be different from their environment. Jesus expects us be distinctive, and that distinctiveness makes us useful, and desirable (*Craig Koester). When Jesus drinks us, we are supposed to be a beverage that goes down smooth and easy, in a pleasing way.
This church is not like that.
With this, we come to verses 16-17. English Bibles probably separate these two verses out, but it's important we read them together (verse 17 begins with "because" not "for"):
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And actually, when translators try to make these two verses smooth, they make it impossible to hear what Jesus says. It's really important that there's an "and" before "nothing," and an "and" between what they say, and what Jesus knows. It's the little words like this that are usually the most valuable part of learning Greek, simply because English translations hide connections.
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(16) So then, because lukewarm, you are, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit you from my mouth
(17) because you are saying,
"Rich, I am,
and I have become rich,
and nothing, I have need of,"
and you don't know
that you are miserable/unhappy, and pitiable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
In verse 16, Jesus speaks as though the church is a lukewarm liquid in his mouth. Jesus was planning to swallow the church, but the temperature makes him reconsider that, and makes him want to puke. He has a mouthful of church, basically, and he's about to vomit.
This isn't literal, right?
Jesus' words here use a different metaphor than earlier words to the churches, but the idea is the same. The day is coming very soon for this church when he will reject them, and judge them. That day isn't yet here. But we've all had moments where we had something in our mouth that we couldn't handle, and needed to puke it out. Those moments are pretty urgent. And that's where this church is at. Jesus isn't going to resist rejecting them for very long.
So what's the thing that keeps them from being hot or cold, from being desirable and useful? What makes them the same temperature as their environment?
In verse 17, we see the answer to that is connected to their perspective on their wealth.
When the Laodiceans look at themselves, what they see is their financial statements. They have lots of money. And how they came to that money was a bit of a process. They realize one day, "We have become rich."
And that's it often happens to people. For many years, some of us scrimped and saved. The question at the end of each month, was how big of a financial hole did we dig this month? How much debt are we carrying over on a credit card with 28% interest rates? We thought we'd be okay, but there were always one or two unexpected bills that just wrecked things. Eventually maybe, things stabilized. We got promoted, or we get raises. We worked our way up the ladder. Life got easier. Every month, we started to save money-- sometimes lots of money. Our investments went well. Our houses became worth twice what we paid for them. Throughout this whole process, we came to understand that it's not how much money you have, that really matters. It's about the flow of money coming in and out. Did our bank account grow this month, or did it shrink? The total dollar amount became unimportant. What mattered, was whether that dollar amount was growing. This maybe went on for years, or decades. And one day, we had this moment where everything changed. One day, we stopped and looked at our financial statements, and thought about the numbers we were seeing. We realized, we're rich. What do we have need of? There's nothing on our Amazon wish list, because we buy stuff as soon as we want it. Nothing, we have need of.
Now, if we stopped right here, is there a problem yet?
There's nothing wrong with having wealth, and being rich. The problem here, is that the Christians in this church view themselves solely through the lens of their financial statements.
They don't need anything materially. They have nothing on their Amazon wish list. But their words reveal a super messed up perspective. What they see, is that they're in fabulous shape. But what The Amen, the Faithful and Reliable One sees, is something completely different.
In reality, the church is miserable/unhappy, and pitiable, and poor, and blind, and naked. And they don't know this.
Now, how can you be poor, and blind, and naked, and not know it? How you can you be unhappy, and not know it?
This past month, I've started to dig just a little bit into the intersection of two things: (1) brain science, and (2) happiness. I know enough to sound like I know what I'm talking about, for about two minutes. Ready?
There are two very different paths to happiness that you can take, related to two different hormones and neurotransmitters: dopamine, and serotonin. The easiest path to pleasure and happiness is through chasing hits of dopamine. When you do things you enjoy, or something good happens to you, your body releases dopamine. You get dopamine from experiences, and from things. For example, you get a hit of dopamine when you take a bite of a really tasty dessert, or when you beat a video game, when you go down a roller coaster, when you catch a fish, or when you buy something you want-- a new fishing lure, a new outfit, an iPhone17. You feel good, and happy, when you do things like this.
Now, there are a few catches to dopamine happiness. (1) Dopamine doesn't leave you content. You'll find you get this brief burst of pleasure and happiness, but it doesn't last. I remember one time, I wanted this one particular CD for 5 years. I bought it, finally. And by the time I got to my car, I felt sad about having it. By the time I was 2 tracks in, I shut it off. Dopamine doesn't leave you content. (2) If you chase dopamine hard, your body responds by producing cortisol. Basically, your body doesn't want to be overstimulated, and protects itself against that by making it harder and harder to get that dopamine hit. There are two really good examples of this. The first, is drug addiction. Your body adjusts, so that you require more and more of a drug to get the same amount of dopamine hit. At that point, we find ourselves using language about drug tolerance and addiction, and it's really painful and hard to get out. But the best example of this-- even better than drugs probably-- is watching people play slots at a casino. The slots have flashing lights, and make cool noises, when you win. You get this little dopamine hit from playing. You can get even more when you win. You tell yourself, "This is fun." But your body adjusts, and eventually you turn into a trained monkey in front of the slots. You've seen those people? They'll push that button for an hour, and only get that brief burst of happiness when they hit the biggest jackpot-- which might never come.
People who chase dopamine might think they're happy, but they're not. They experience brief bursts of pleasure and happiness, but they aren't fundamentally happy.
The other pathway to happiness is found through the other hormone, serotonin. Your body creates serotonin when you go outside, and get some sunlight, and enjoy God's creation. Or when you exercise. But the key place you get serotonin, is through relationships. When you spend time with people, or with God, you boost serotonin. You end up in a place of a long-lasting, settled, contented, happiness.
All of this is how I want to explain the Laodiceans. They think they need nothing. They don't realize their spiritual poverty, or that they are naked, or even that they're unhappy and miserable. But they've chased happiness in the wrong direction, and there's no pot of happiness at the end of this rainbow.
In verse 18, Jesus offers this church some advice:
(18) I advise you to buy from me gold having been refined by fire,
in order that you may become rich,
and white clothing,
in order that you may be clothed,
and the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed,
and eye salve to smear on your eyes,
in order that you may see.
This church has chased wealth hard, as a path to happiness. And Jesus tells them, "You are chasing an inferior product. I have a type of gold that's superior. It's been refined by fire." Buy that gold from Jesus, and you'll be truly rich.
Jesus then goes on to talk about clothing. When people are rich, that wealth usually begins to show up in their clothing. People find that they need to reveal their wealth through designer handbags, or expensive jeans, or a nice watch. People who are poor might not recognize the name brands, and the status symbols on their bodies, but the wealthy notice, and those chasing that wealth notice. Your clothing says, "I've made it."
What Jesus offers is a better type of clothing. Jesus has this clothing that's a completely impractical color. It's white. That white symbolizes purity, and holiness. And elsewhere in Revelation, white clothing is identified with good works. When you do good works, and have good works, you receive white clothing. All of this is really important, I think, and we are touching on a huge pet topic of mine, so I want to expand on this a little.
Let's skip way ahead to Revelation 19:6-8 (NIV no reason). These verses describe the marriage of Jesus, who is the Lamb, with the bride of Christ, who is the church:
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8 Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
The bride makes herself ready by good works. When she does good works, Jesus gives her clothing-- fine linen, bright and clean. You see that? Righteous acts are the thing that clothe the Bride.
So there's this obnoxious hymn, "On Christ the Solid Rock we Stand," that has terrible lyrics in a few different places, and I wonder how much of our bad theology is tied to this one hymn, honestly. One of the things this hymn gets really wrong, is the idea that on the day of judgment, we will be dressed in Christ's righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. That's not the picture Revelation gives us at all. Jesus has high end, white clothing, that he gives to his people when they do good works. Jesus will give you that white clothing now, so that what he sees, are men and women who look fabulous in white. White is a great color on you. And when Jesus gives you that white clothing, that's what you'll see that you're wearing on the day of judgment. So Jesus says to this church, you're naked. But this can be fixed. You can buy this white clothing form me.
Jesus then goes on to talk about how you can also buy eye salve from him. Jesus offers you the ability to see yourself clearly. The eye salve part of this doesn't matter so much-- that's part of the metaphor. The bottom line, the important thing, is that Jesus wants you to see yourself as you truly are.
Let's keep reading. Verse 19:
(19) I-- as many as I love ("phileo"), I reprove and I discipline.
And so then, be zealous and repent.
Everything up to this point that Jesus has said and done for this church, has been done from a place of love. Jesus loves you. It's because he loves you, that he reproves you, and disciplines you. We can also say, it's because he loves you, that he's resisting the impossible urge to vomit. Only love can overcome the urge to vomit.
When you're a kid, you can tell if your parents care about you, and love you, by whether or not the scold you at times, and discipline you at other times. There's a way to do this right, out of love and not frustration. But when someone loves you, they care about the type of person you're becoming. They look ahead to your future, and try to steer you in the right direction.
That's how you can tell Jesus loves you-- he reproves you, and disciplines you, when you go off course.
For the Laodiceans, that moment of reproof and discipline is here. So then, change being lukewarm, to being zealous, and repent. Stop acting like life is all about wealth. Come to Jesus; you desperately need to buy what he offers.
Verse 20:
(20) LOOK! I stand at the door, and I knock!
If anyone hears my voice, and he opens the door, I will indeed come in to him,
and I will eat with him,
and he [will eat] with me.
This is one of the most celebrated verses in the whole book. It's often used in evangelism, as a way to invite people to let Jesus into your heart. I think all of that is fine, big picture. Jesus wants to enter into everyone, and live with them. But originally, Jesus here is talking to Christians. He's offering something to you.
If any of you this morning hear Jesus' voice, and open the door to Jesus, Jesus will enter into you, and he will share a meal with you.
We celebrate this verse. We are incredibly familiar with it. I'm not sure it's grabbed us the way it should.
Some of us grew up being taught that God speaks through the Bible. Period. The Bible is THE word of God. And it's like God has said nothing since the Bible was finished. We were taught that it's kind of like how God finished creation, and then rested. God finished the Bible, and then closed his mouth.
Verse 20 tells us that Jesus still speaks to us. Our ears are maybe closed, and we don't hear him. Maybe our vision is so focused on money, or this world, that we don't see him. But Jesus says, LOOK! Look. Listen. (a really interesting interplay between hearing and seeing, actually-- see the intro).
If you hear Jesus, you can open the door to Jesus, and Jesus will enter into you. We maybe think, "I thought Jesus already lived inside of us." Jesus here is offering something more.
One of the most intimate things that we do with each other is share a meal. We sit across the table from each other, we make eye contact, we smile at each other, we get to know each other in a deeper way. There's a back and forth. There's conversation. When you look back on your life, my guess is that many of your clearest, happiest memories involve eating with people. It's a special thing, being invited over to someone's house for a meal. It's a special moment, having people over. Many of us have pivoted to being coffee house kind of people. That's not a terrible substitute. But there's nothing like sharing a home with someone for a meal.
#serotoninhappiness
What Jesus is offering here, is that type of intimacy. Jesus isn't literally offering to eat a meal with you, from
inside of you. What Jesus wants, is to enter into you, and stay there, in a place of incredible closeness. In this place, you will have ongoing conversations with Jesus. You'll talk to him, and you'll hear him respond. [So we still have dining room imagery, but it's been changed from Jesus puking you out, to Jesus eating a meal from inside of you; *Craig Koester].
The thing that helped me most in all of this is Mark Virkler's book, 4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice. It's also on youtube, if you want to try that. If you want to chase this, I'd buy the book, and listen to the youtube series on it. [The one thing I can think of up front about Virkler I strongly disagree with, is the concern that spontaneous thoughts coming into our head can be from Satan.]
God doesn't just speak through the Bible. God still speaks. And if we stop what we're doing, and LOOK!, and listen, and open the door to Jesus, Jesus promises that he will come live with us, inside of us, in a bigger, more full way. We will see, and hear him. We might be blind to Jesus right now, but Jesus wants us to see him. Jesus will help us see him, and hear him.
Chase this. I'm not sure what else to say. Chase this type of relationship with Jesus.
And if you chase this, and you learn to see Jesus, and hear Jesus, one of the blessings that you'll receive is that other type of happiness. There are two main paths to happiness, right? There's dopamine, and serotonin. Americans tend to chase dopamine hits, and the brief bursts of pleasure and happiness that those hits provide. But when you chase that, the end result tends to be becoming miserable and unhappy. You might not realize it right away. You might not know what you've become. But Jesus sees that.
What Jesus offers instead leads to a serotonin type of happiness. When Jesus enters you, you'll find that you go through life in constant fellowship and partnership with Jesus. You'll talk to Jesus about stuff. Jesus will answer. This relationship will give you true, lasting happiness. Jesus loves you, and cares about you, and is committed to you. There's discipline with Jesus, and reproof, but that's not the end goal. What Jesus seeks-- and this is perhaps the refined wealth that Jesus offers-- is a mutual indwelling. If you want to call this joy, and make a distinction between joy and happiness, feel free. I'm unsettled on that part. But this is the better life that Jesus offers. This is the gold, perhaps.
And when you have this life, you'll find that the rest of life gets easier. When you realize how much Jesus loves you, you'll find it easier to love people, and see them the way that Jesus does. You'll find it easier to overlook slights, and criticisms. You'll find that you care more about people. You'll find that your works have changed, and that Jesus has lots of things to praise for you, and be happy with you about.
So you can go through life chasing wealth. You can chase pleasure, in ways that are short-lived and leave you unsatisfied. Or you can look at Jesus. You can listen to him knocking. You can invite him into yourself, and enter into a lifestyle of deeper partnership and relationship with Jesus.
Jesus loves you enough to let you know those are the choices. He loves you enough to offer you this superior type of life. And he loves you enough to give time, to make the right choice.
Verse 21:
(21) The one conquering/overcoming, I will give to him to sit with me on my throne,
just as I also have conquered,
and I have sat down with my Father on his throne.
In Revelation, there is maybe one throne-- one seat of power, and authority. But that one throne is described in confusing ways, if we try to press it literally. Does have God have a throne, and Jesus have a throne? It looks like a shared throne. [And what this verse does, in part, is prepare us for Revelation 4 and 5].
And what Jesus offers you, if you conquer and overcome, is to let you sit on his throne with him. The language used here is new, but the idea is something we've seen already in the seven letters. If you overcome, Jesus will give you power and authority. You will rule.
(22) The one having ears should hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
So what is the Spirit saying to us today? If we have ears, what are we supposed to hear?
One of the things that Jesus expects us to conquer, is the urge to chase wealth, and view yourself solely in terms of your financial statements. There's much more to life than wealth. and when you chase wealth, and view yourself through that lens, it's easy to get deceived, and lose focus. Jesus offers something so much better than all of this-- he offers to come and live inside of you in a fuller, deeper way. He offers to have an ongoing relationship with you, of the most intimate kind that humans can have. Life with Jesus, will be like an open-ended, shared meal, where the cell phones are hidden away, and you focus on each other, listening to each other, talking to each other. Chase that. Seek that type of relationship with Jesus.
Translation:
(14) and to the angel-- to the one in Laodicea of the church-- write:
"These things, says The Amen, The Faithful and True Witness, The Ruler of God's creation--
(15) I know your works,
that neither cold, you are, nor hot.
Would that cold, you were, or hot!
(16) So then, because lukewarm, you are, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit you from my mouth
(17) because you are saying,
"Rich, I am,
and I have become rich,
and nothing, I have need of,"
and you don't know
that you are miserable/unhappy, and pitiable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
(18) I advise you to buy from me gold having been refined by fire,
in order that you may become rich,
and white clothing,
in order that you may be clothed,
and the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed,
and eye salve to smear on your eyes,
in order that you may see.
(19) I-- as many as I love ("phileo"), I reprove and I discipline.
And so then, be zealous and repent.
(20) LOOK! I stand at the door, and I knock!
If anyone hears my voice, and he opens the door, I will indeed come in to him,
and I will eat with him,
and he [will eat] with me.
(21) The one conquering/overcoming, I will give to him to sit with me on my throne,
just as I also have conquered,
and I have sat down with my Father on his throne.
(22) The one having ears should hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
