December 7th Sermon Capsule - Live Holy or Repent: Part 2

The final three churches, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, formed the foundation for our discussion this week. We began with Philadelphia, a small, poor city, recently destroyed by earthquakes, moved on to Sardis, a church whose reputation is greater than its reality and finished with Laodicea, the big, rich city whose lukewarm tendencies made God sick.

Philadelphia was a city that had not only recently been destroyed by a massive earthquake, but was still troubled by earthquakes to the extent that most people did not live within the city out of fear. Philadelphia was little and poor. Despite this God gives the church in Philadelphia praise for being faithful. Philadelphia is each and every one of us, when we think we have no power, when we think we are unimportant, when we think it doesn't matter if we do right or wrong, and yet we still do the right thing.

Sardis was a church with a great reputation for being alive, but they are warned that their reality is the exact opposite. I told a story about myself when I was in 6th grade. At that time I was asked to be in an advanced math class. I had a reputation among my peers for being very good at math. Unfortunately the reality was not so. In the class, we would receive our tests back in the order that we performed on them, the best in the class gettings theirs back first. I always got my tests back last. Except for one time, when my name was called first! Unfortunately, the teacher had reversed the order this week, and so again mine was the lowest score in the class. I even moved down to the regular math class, later that year, when it was clear I was not succeeding in the advanced class. My reputation was still good with my fellow classmates (those who weren't in the advanced class) and many still believed me to be good at math. I suggested that I was just "too cool" for that advanced math class, but when we received our first test back, and again mine was one of the lowest grades, I began to realize that I could not merely believe the hype, and live in the unreality that I was effortlessly good at math. I needed to take the advice God gave to the church in Sardis and remember what I received and heard; obey it and repent. Sardis is all of us when we buy into the false reputation that others give us (good or bad) and stop living in the reality of who we really are (forgiven children of the living God).

Laodicea was a rich and powerful city. One that was also destroyed by the same earthquake that destroyed Philadelphia. When the Roman government came to offer assistance in rebuilding the city, the Laodiceans rejected the help, boasting that their city was rich enough to rebuild on its own. Laodicea was also a city that attempted to have hot water brought into the city from hot springs via aqueduct. Unfortunately by the time the water reached the city, it was no longer hot, and not quite cold, but rather a tepid lukewarm. It is almost certainly this particular misshap that is being used to chastize the church in Laodicea when they are said to be lukewarm. This lukewarmness is also referencing an aspect of their spiritual lives. It could either mean that they are not passionate enough for God, or that they are guilty of worshipping other gods (hedging their bets if you will). I choose to believe the latter, and therefore see them as the "Thanksgiving Dinner" church. Think of it this way, on Thanksgiving we have so many wonderful foods, and when many of us sit down to eat it, we MUST have a little of everything. A little stuffing, a little mashed potatoes, a little squash, a little gravy, a few rolls, a little bit of the cranberry sauce, a little bit of the coleslaw, etc, etc, etc. When you get done you no longer have a little of anything, but a whole plate full of food, its only then that you realize you forgot to get a little bit of the turkey. By the time the Thanksgiving meal is over, many of us are stuffed and overstuffed! But wait, we haven't had desert yet, you must have a little apple pie, and a little pumpkin pie, and don't forget a little strawberry rubarb pie. If we aren't careful our tendency to have a little bit of everything will make us sick, and send us running to the nearest bathroom! I believe this is exactly what's going on in Laodicea. The people are worshipping this god on Monday, and this one on Wednesday, and another on Thursday, and yet another on Saturday, and their attempts to please everyone have only served to make the one true God sick to his stomach and threaten to vomit them out! Laodicea is us when we try to do too much, when we try to hedge our bets, please everyone, and in the end forget who's really important (God).

With the conclusion of the 7 letters to the 7 churches, we have been given glimpses of 7 real churches that existed nearly 2,000 years ago, and their struggles living in a world that's not always the most friendly to Christians and Christianity. At the same time we've been given glimpses into our own lives and our own struggles living in a world that still isn't always the most friendly to Christians and Christianity. The one piece of advice given throughout is to REPENT. Simply put, when we find ourselves in the midst of doing wrong, we are called to stop what we're doing, and say we're sorry (or repent).

Grace & Peace,
Pastor John