Turn on Timer! [Slide 1] We are in a middle of a series entitled, Revelation: Unveiling Reality. Revelation was written to show people who were persecuted and people who are going through hard times that reality is more than what we see with our eyes that things are not as they seem. This book unveils the reality not just of the future, but also of the present. Seeing this unveiled reality helps us to be faithful during hard times. Today, we are going to look at the last two letters to the seven churches, the letters to the churches in Philadelphia and Laodicea. [Slide 2] Today s sermon is entitled, Nausea. I. Let s start out with Philadelphia. [Slide 3] Let s go to Revelation 3:7-13: 7 To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. [We should never interpret this in an antisemitic way; we have to remember that John the writer was a Jew, Jesus was a Jew, Paul, who probably started this church was a Jew, and a significant part of the church was Jewish. So, John is dealing with what NT Wright called inner-jewish question of who really are the true Jews, bearing the torch of God s ancient people. And what Jesus is saying is that those who follow him, the one who holds the key of David, are the true Jews.] [Slide 4] 10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. 13 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 1
A. [Slide 5] Background on the City of Philadelphia. The City of Philadelphia [Slide 6] is located in modern day Turkey and it is presently called Alasehir. [Slide 7] There has not been a lot of archeological digs here. They have discovered some remnants of the old acropolis and an unexcavated amphitheater. A couple of things to keep in mind in terms of what they were like at the time of the writing of the letter. First, they were sometimes referred to as Little Athens because they had a lot of temples. Second, they experienced a major earthquake in AD 17, and Emperor Tiberius funded the reconstruction of the city. In honor of his support, the city was renamed Neocaesaria (New City of Caesar). Later, the city was renamed Philadelphia Flavia by Emperor Vespasian. This was a city where they experienced periodic renaming. Third, there was a significant Jewish community here and in the surrounding cities, much bigger than the Christian church. There was probably an open synagogue that had thousands of members, and a church with a few members meeting at people s homes. Jerusalem fell in AD 70, when Rome destroyed the city and the temple. That was the beginning of the Jewish diaspora, meaning that Jews left Jerusalem and settled elsewhere. A lot of Jews settled in the area where the seven churches were. Because Judaism was an acknowledged religion, Rome left them alone and exempted them from worshipping Pagan gods. Christians used to fall into the Jewish exemption but when they were kicked out the synagogues as heretics, they had to go underground. They met in people s homes instead of in publically open buildings. B. [Slide 8] What did Jesus say to the church in the city of Philadelphia? In verse 7, Jesus said he is holy and true. Holy means separated because it is pure good. 2
There are two words for true in Greek: one means true as opposed to false, but the other means real as opposed to unreal. Jesus uses the later word. He is saying if you unveil reality, you see that I am the ultimate reality. Anytime we are going through a hard time, we have to open our eyes and see that Jesus is the ultimate reality. Nothing else is truly real. Then, Jesus said, I have place before you an open door to the presence of God, and I have the key. No one else has the key of David. It is not the synagogue that has the key of David. It is not the Pagan temple. It is only through Jesus that we enter into the presence of God. That s where the door is leading you. He is saying that Jesus has opened that door and no one can shut the door. He further unveils the reality of the presence of God: To a city full of Pagan temples, he said this church would become a pillar in the temple of God, the presence of God. And they will never leave this temple, meaning that they will never leave the presence of God. And to a city familiar with being renamed, Jesus is saying, I am going to give you a new name: New Jerusalem. You will be the true heir of the promises of God made to Israel. It was hard but the church in Philadelphia remained faithful even when they were expelled from the synagogue and persecuted by the Gentiles and other civic authorities. They chose to remain loyal to Jesus even though it made their lives difficult. Jesus encouraged them. There was no word of chastisement. He wanted them to see the truer reality when it was difficult to see beyond the suffering. Are you going through a tough time now? Jesus is saying, look at me. I am holy, meaning that he is pure good. He said, I am the ultimate reality. Things are not as they seem. Going through my open door is what matters. Enter into my open door and live in the ultimate reality, the presence of God. As Jesus said in Matthew 11:28: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. II. Then, Jesus turns to the church in Laodicea. [Slide 9] Let s go to Revelation 3:14-22: 14 To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 3
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm neither hot nor cold I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. [Slide 10] 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. I. [Slide 11] Background on the city of Laodicea. [Slide 12] Laodicea is located in Turkey about 45 miles from Philadelphia. It was a wealthy city. It incurred massive damage in the earthquake of AD 60 but Tacitus, a second Century historian, tells us that Laodicea recovered without any assistance from Rome. The city was a financial powerhouse of the region and wealthy enough to recover from massive earthquake by itself. [Slide 13] The city had two amphitheaters, one seating about 8000 and another sitting about 15,000, and huge stadium that can sit about 40,000 people for chariot racing and gladiator fights. The remnants of them are still there today. The city also had a sophisticated underground sewage system and a lot of beautiful buildings and homes. This city was rich and well developed. Laodiceans were fashion innovators. They developed a special breed of black sheep whose wool was of especially fine quality. Clothes made from Laodicean wool were considered luxury. It was the Paris or Milan of the time. They were also famous for a medical school. It was so famous that their doctors appeared in their coin. And this school was known for the ointment for the eyes. However, they did not have their own source of water. They had to bring in water through a sophisticated system of aqueducts from Hierapolis, about 6 miles from 4
Laodicea. [Slide 14] Hierapolis was and still is famous for its mineral rich limestone hot springs. There was a famous Roman bath there that can actually accommodate 1,000 people. These bathhouses were known for their healing properties. [Slide 15] The water from these hot springs was transported via aqueduct to Laodicea; and by the time it got there, it was lukewarm and nauseating. And about 9 miles away was the city of Colossae, [Slide 16] which had cold refreshing water from streams that rushed down from a snow-capped mountain. Of course, in this dry region, cold water was a good thing. The church in Laodicea was probably planted by people who heard the gospel through Paul in Colossae. If you look at the end of the letter to Colossians, Paul acknowledges several people from Laodicea, including Nympha, who hosted a church at her house. II. [Slide 17] What did Jesus say to the church in the city of Laodicea? Jesus says that he feels nauseated by the church in Laodicea because they are lukewarm. Like the water from Hierapolis, it is no longer hot, it is lukewarm and it is nauseating. The people here knew exactly what that meant. They had lukewarm limestone water from the hot spring of Hierapolis. I know a lot of people think that hot is good and cold is bad and that Jesus is saying that you should be hot for Jesus or cold for Jesus, meaning not believe. That s not true. That s reading this text with our cultural filters of what hot and cold means. To this city, cold was also good. The cold water of Colossae was refreshing. So, Jesus is saying that be like the hot spring of Hierapolis or be like the refreshing like the cold stream from Colossae. But, don t be lukewarm. It is nauseating. That s a strong reaction. Lukewarm Christianity nauseates Jesus. We are lukewarm when we don t have passion for Jesus. We are just half way in. We are looking around to see whatever is out there. We don t put all our eggs in one basket. We put one leg in the world and one leg in the Kingdom of God. It s like being married, but still looking around to see if there s anyone better around. It s like a soldier 5
who fights for both sides. It s like a double agent who is willing to serve whoever pays more. Jesus is saying, that s nauseating. William Booth, the founder of Salvation Army, tells of how he came to realize that he was lukewarm. He was at a lecture given by a hardcore unbeliever. At one point, the lecturer said, If I believed what some of you believe, I would never rest day nor night telling others about it. At the beginning of the message to this church, Jesus described himself as the Amen. We say Amen at the end of the prayer. But, it means something. In Isaiah 65:16, God is called, the God of Amen two times, which is translated as the God of the truth. And Jesus used this term a lot. Everytime Jesus said, truly truly I say to you, he said, amen amen I say to you. Jesus is the truth; he speaks the truth. He is the life. He is the way. No one comes to the Father except through the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross. He is the only way source of life! He is the bread of life. No matter how rich we might be, we are not going to be satisfied unless we eat the bread of life. He is the water of life. No matter how much water we drink, we will go thirsty unless we drink the water of life. Do we believe this? If we do, how can we just be so lackadaisical about our faith? How can we just live half way committed? C.S. Lewis argued that if what Jesus said about himself is true, we can t just give mild approval and follow him half way. He is either what he said he was, in which case, he is the Lord, the creator of the Universe, and whatever he says is the truth; or he is a liar or a lunatic, a devil himself. There is no halfway point regarding Jesus. He has not allowed us an option of thinking of him just as a good moral teacher. We can t just pick and choose between what he has taught us to see if want to follow or not. He has not made that an option available to us. And if we profess to follow Jesus, we have to go all in. We have to completely surrender our lives to him. And Jesus is saying that acknowledging that he is the truth and being lukewarm in our faith is nauseating to him. 6
Now, how did they become lukewarm in Laodicea? What caused it? I think this is really important for us to dig into. Being lukewarm is not just about losing our emotional zeal for Jesus. There is more going on. Let s dig in. [Slide 18] If you look at the passage, Jesus explains (in verses 17-18): 17 You say, I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Jesus is saying getting life from the comforts of the world can lead us to be lukewarm in our faith. Laodiceans were saying I am rich, I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. They are not only rich but they are getting life from being comfortable. Instead, Jesus saying, buy from me gold refined in the fire and become really rich. Don t buy the comforts of the world; buy what is truly valuable. It s going to be hard. It s refined in the fire, which always means going through suffering and hardship. But, it leads to real gold. It leads to true riches. It leads to true meaning and purpose. It s the real thing. Jesus is saying, you might look and feel comfortable, but if you unveil reality, you are wretched, poor, blind and naked! It is so easy to fall into the trap of getting life from material comfort, from things that money can buy. It seems so natural. It s really the air we breadth. We can t even see it. We define ourselves with things we consume. One philosopher said, Consumption is a system of meaning. We assign value and where we are in the pecking order of life based on the goods we purchase. Our identity is constructed by the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the music that we listen to. In short, we have bought into the idea that we are what we consume. People have called this consumerism. That s probably why shopping is the number one leisure activity in America. It is sort of like religion in the sense that it has the power to give meaning and construct identity. But, we are so in it; we don t see it. 7
That was what was going on with the Laodiceans. They were so in it, they couldn t see it. This consumeristic way of life pervades every part of our lives. It s not just the material things. It is relationship. We shop around for the relationship that gives us the most meaning and identity. We relate to consume. What are you going to do for me? Are you going to make me happier? How much is this relationship going to cost me? How much freedom do I lose? We do this with churches too. We use the phrase shopping around for churches. I know we have to find the right church. So, I am not condemning looking around for the right church. But, what happens is that we become consumers in the church. What are you going to do for me? Are you going to deliver all the goods for my kids? Are you going to give me a good sermon? Good worship time? Good facility? Good parking? I am not saying that these things aren t important, but sometimes, we don t even notice it but we have become a consumer in the church, rather than a body part, a member of the body of Christ, a family member. If we are family, we do things together and figure out how to love one another. It s not all about me; it s about how we can love one another; it s about how we can carry the mission that God has given us together. We do this not only to things, people, and the church, we do this to God as well. He becomes one of the things in our lives that gives us meaning and identity, which we consume if it works for us. I know so many people who have walked away from God because they say, it didn t work out for them. They didn t know this but they were really looking at it from a consumeristic point of view towards God. What can you do for me? Bless me with blessings oh Lord. That is code for bless me with things, people, and church that I can consume with find meaning and identify. It is not bless me with you! You are my meaning and identity! Everything else is just a tool. This mindset focuses on me. Things, people, church, and even God become a part of things that I consume to give me life. 8
[Slide 19] How do we get out of this trap of consumerism? First, Jesus said repent. Acknowledge this and repent! Cry out to the Lord and acknowledge that this is sin and ask for forgiveness. Second, Jesus said be clothed with white clothes which covers your nakedness. Don t cloth yourself with the fine black wool of the world. Don t get your meaning and identity from the things of the world. Get meaning and identity from God s grace. At these time, when people were baptized, they were baptized wearing white clothes. It is a symbol of new life in Christ. It is about living as one accepted and embraced by God living in the Kingdom of God. Go back to the gospel and be astonished by the gospel. Continue to get your identity and meaning from God and not from what you consume! Then, Jesus said: 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. This is often used in evangelistic crusades. Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. Let him come in. But, the interesting thing is that Jesus is not talking to non-christians. He is talking to the church. The church has locked him out. We have locked him out of his own house. But, he is so gracious. He does not force himself in. He is knocking. He wants us to hear his voice of love, and he wants to come in to eat with him. He wants to have intimacy with us. He wants us to know his love and grace. He wants us to find life in the presence of God. And when we do, when we experience this love, when we experience the grace of God, he changes us from the inside. We begin to drink his water. We get life from him. We get meaning from him. We get identity from him. And we are willing to be all in. When we get life from God, we don t live to consume, we consume in order to live for others, for the church, and for God. Let s pray. Invite Prayer team. 9