Rich church, poor church
What is the biggest difference
between a rich church and poor church?
Is it money? Does it mean they
can afford bigger buildings; a nicer website; advanced equipment - iPads
instead of bibles?
Or is it outreach? Programmes for both young and old;
projects to help build up the local community; bible translation and church
planting in distant countries? Rich churches have more money to do more mission
and more ministry than poorer churches.
Today we come to the last of seven churches addressed by the
Lord Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation, and it is a church that is rich,
in city that is wealthy. This is the church of Laodicea. But notice that Jesus
does not tell them to make sure to use their money to fund more programs. Nowhere
does Jesus say, “Make sure you give me your ten per cent - before tax!” He
doesn’t even warn them, “Don’t be greedy. Don’t discriminate against the poor.
Be generous with the wealth that God has given you.” He doesn’t say any of
that.
Instead Jesus looks straight at
this church full of wealthy, influential individuals, and says, “You are
wretched, pitiful, poor. I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
Try saying that to a CEO of a
multinational company driving his Bugati Veyron Sport down to his villa in
South France. “You’re poor. I pity you.” He will probably laugh at you and
think you are mad. Or worse, he might get angry and say, “Who do you think you
are talking to me that way?”
Well, who does Jesus think he is?
We begin with verse 14.
The words of the Amen
To the angel of the church in
Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the ruler of God’s creation.
Revelation 3:14
Where the NIV has “ruler” of
God’s creation, some translations have the word “beginning” (Eg. the ESV
reflecting the Greek: arche; which I take to be a more accurate
reflection of the text); meaning Jesus introduces himself with three titles:
(1) the Amen, (2) the faithful and true witness, (3) the beginning of God’s
creation. But I hope to show you how these three titles flow from one identity
of Jesus, and also how these three titles flow from Jesus’ relationship with
the church. How they relate to Jesus; how they relate to us - the church.
The identity of Jesus Christ:
There is a close connection between these three titles - a flow, if your like.
The first two are easy: “Amen” in Hebrew, simply translates “faithful and true”
in the Greek. It’s what we say at the end of our prayers, “In Jesus’ name,
Amen.” That is, we are committing ourselves to what we’ve just prayed - This is
true. When the whole church togther says, “Amen”, we are saying that we all
agree. (That is why is it important that when we lead in prayer before the
church, we say what is consistent with the truth of the bible. So that everyone
can respond, ‘Amen’: It is true.)
Here Jesus is saying you can
trust what he is going to say, because these words are true but also Jesus is
the Amen. He is the truth.
Additionally, Jesus calls himself the beginning of God’s
creation. Here, we are meant to recall John’s gospel Chapter 1, “In the
beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was
with God in the beginning.” And the next thing John writes, “Though him all
things were made.”
This is the Word that is true;
this is the Word that is God. Through him all things were made.
The three titles come together to
reveal Jesus’ identity as the agent of God’s creation and therefore rightly, as
the NIV implies at the end of verse 14, the ruler of God’s creation.
But what does this have to do
with the church? Well, verse 14 isn’t just talking about the first creation; it
actually points forward to the new creation. Colossians 1:18 calls Jesus
“the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead”, speaking of the church.
You may also remember that over
the past few weeks I have said that “witness” has this double meaning of
someone who gives a reliable testimony a court-room, but also someone who
witnesses through his sacrifice. It is where we get the word “martyr”. Through
his witness or sacrifice on the cross, Jesus brought in the new creation. He
redeemed the new creation, that is, out of the original creation stained by sin
and standing under God’s judgement, Jesus paid for the church by taking our
punishment of death upon himself. He redeems this new creation out of the old
with his own death.
Who does Jesus think he is? He is the Amen, the faithful and
true witness, the beginning of God’s (new) creation - the church. He paid for
this church is Laodicea with his own blood.
Lukewarm
And now he says to the Christians in this church:
I know your
deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the
other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you
out of my mouth.
Revelation
4:15-16
Jesus finds them disgusting! He
is about to spit them out of his mouth. The word actually means to throw up.
It’s a reaction when you’ve just swallowed something that has made you sick!
The reason is lukewarmness. Not
hot; not cold; just somewhere in the middle. Lukewarm.
But what’s wrong with that? You
know how some people like to leave the Coke bottle open until it all fizzles
out? Tastes like cough mixture afterwards. Or the guy in your office who buys
the expired sandwiches for lunch the next day (everything for one pound at
Boots after church!). So what’s wrong with that? I happen to enjoy day-old flat
Diet Coke with my stale BLT sandwiches, thank you very much.
Laodicea was situated in a region
near two other cities; one was famous for hot water, the other, cold. The city
of Hierapolis had hot water springs, and people would drink this like medicine.
While the city of Colossae had a supply of fresh cold water (Interesting
enough, if you look to Colossians Chapter 4, you will see Laodicea mentioned at
the end of the letter. They were close neighbours).
The problem with Laodicea was it
didn’t have its own water source, so they tried to pipe their water in.
Unfortunately this resulted in horrible tasting water. It wasn’t hot or cold.
It was yucky and lukewarm. It is like having take-away food delivered to your
house only to have it arrive two hours late. The pizza is cold, the crispy
noodles are soggy, the ice-cream has melted and the delivery guy standing there
waiting for his tip.
Now you guys all know that Jesus
is a using an illustration. Even the kids know that “lukewarm” is not talking
about food or water, but that it is symbolic of something going on in the
spiritual lives of these Christians. The question is what? What does it mean to
be lukewarm?
Does it mean being indecisive?
You are decide whether you like hot or cold? You can’t decide whether to go out
with the hot guy or the cool dude?
Does it mean you’re uncommitted?
You’re not really doing anything here in church; you’ve not pulled out either.
You’re just hanging around.
What does Jesus mean by
“lukewarm”? He tells us in verse 17.
Don’t need nobody
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. 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.
Revelation
3:17-18
Laodicea was well-known for three things: banking, textiles
and medicine. Meaning it wasn’t just rich; Laodicea was industrious: They
invested they money; they built up their business from scratch. They took care
of their bodies - ate well, lots of sessions at the gym, there was excellent
healthcare. And they looked good: Laodicea was famous for it’s woolen industry;
their clothes were exported to other countries.
We see these three things - banking, textiles and medicine -
picked up by Jesus in verse 18, “Buy from me gold refined in the fire; white
clothes - as in white wool - to wear; and medicine for your eyes.”
The Laodiceans were healthy, wealthy and well-dressed. But
they were not wise.
Verse 17: You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do
not need a thing.’ Again, there is nothing here to suggest that these
Christians were greedy or oppressive towards the poor. There is nothing in
today’s text that says these Christians committed any immoral sin or worshipped
false gods.
The problem was: these Christians turned up in church every
Sunday and thought they were doing everyone else a big favour by coming. “I
don’t really need anything from this church. I’m OK.” And in their minds, they
may even be thinking, “God has blessed me with my wealth, so I must be
OK.”
That is the danger of the properity gospel. I want it all. I
want it now. It is impatience. It is self-delusion. Jesus says, “But you do not
realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Don’t get me
wrong. Wealth is a blessing. You should thank God for your money; for your
health; for that iPod or iWhatever. The problem is, that’s all we want from
God. “Dear God, please get me into Cambridge.” And the moment you receive that
degree, you stop asking for anything else.
That is lukewarmness.
Friends, you don’t tell that you are lukewarm by looking at
your bank account; you tell by looking at your prayer life. Prayer is asking
God. I know that people like to say that prayer is talking to God; it’s like
having a conversation. I don’t think so. Jesus teaching his disciples to pray
like this, “Your will be done, your kingdom come, Give us our daily bread, Lead
us not into temptation, Forgive us our sins.” We presenting our requests to
God. We are asking God to give us something we need; something only he can
provide. That includes bread - our income, our food, our daily living. That
includes forgiveness and salvation.
The main reason why we do not pray is because we think we
have no need of prayer. “I do not need a thing,” that’s what the Christians
were saying in Laodicea. That’s not humility talking, friends. It’s not even
laziness, though it is a big factor. It is the fact that we think we’re OK, and
we don’t realise that we are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, naked.
We need to pray. So much so, that I would define complaints
as misdirected prayers. Complaints are prayers that go in the wrong direction.
We complain when something goes wrong - our computer breaks
down, the traffic piles up, our boss is being unfair - and as a Christian,
these are opportunities to bring our needs before God. Yet when I meet someone
who is constantly complaining, always griping about something in their life - I
pray for them; but I also tell them, “You talking to the wrong person. If you
are Christian, you know that God is in charge of all things. Why haven’t you
brought this before him?”
This is counselling, I wonder if you noticed that. Jesus
says in verse 18, “I counsel you.” Counselling is not lying on a couch and
talking about your feelings. Jesus counsels by exposing their need - their
lukewarmness; their sin. I promise you that if you say this during a
counselling session, “You are not OK. What you really need is Jesus,” people
will walk out of your church. They will turn on you. They will not thank you
for this kind of counselling.
And yet, exposing this church’s sin and lukewarmness is an
act of love.
Those whom I love I rebuke and
discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
Revelation 3:19
What is the biggest difference
between a rich church and a poor church? I suggest to you, it’s this. A rich
church needs to be very careful of lukewarmness. A rich church needs leaders
who are loving enough to expose lukewarmness.
That’s very hard to do in a
Chinese Church. Very hard. In the Chinese Church - hard work is good. Respect
is very good. God is always good.
But this passage is saying, we’re not good. We are bad. This
passage is talking to respectful, hard-working, good people and saying to them,
“You need to repent. You need Jesus.” That’s hard to do in a Chinese Church.
But I hope we do this here in the
Chinese Church, because Jesus says it is loving. “Those whom I love,” Jesus
says, “I rebuke and discipline”. He is talking to Christians. That is very
important as we consider the next verse.
I stand at the door and
knock
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 him, and he with me.
Revelation
3:20
This is so often used as an
evangelistic text. So at this point in the passage, the pastor will turn to the
non-Christian and say, “Jesus is knocking at the door of your heart. Won’t you
let him in?” In fact, this verse is so popular that you if you Googled
“Revelation 3:20” you will find all manner of paintings depicting Jesus standing
in the cold dark night, outside a door of a brightly-lit house, waiting for
someone to answer his call. In some of these paintings, the door doesn’t even
have a handle, implying that unless you open the door, Jesus will stuck outside
waiting in the cold - a bit like Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory who is always
knocking frantically on his neighbour’s locked apartment going,
(Knock!Knock!Knock!) “Penny!”,
(Knock!Knock!Knock!) “Penny!”, (Knock!Knock!Knock!) “Penny!”
I had a friend once who got so
annoyed with these paintings and said, “Jesus would more likely blast his way
through the door!” Kapowww!
No, this is not an evangelistic
text for non-believers. Remember: Jesus is talking to Christians, “to those
whom (he) loves” (verse 19). The only difference is: Jesus now speaks to the
individual Christian. “I will come eat with him, and he with me.”
But it is still a strange
picture, isn’t it. If Jesus isn’t talking to a non-Christian, but rather a
believer who already knows Jesus and has a relationship with Jesus - why is
there this new invitation for him to come in?
I would say: for the same reason we have communion again and
again. For the same reason we confess our sin again and again. Repentance is an
ongoing process in the life of the Christian. It is for the same reason we pray
- daily, repeatedly, unceasingly.
What did Jesus say about prayer? Go for a prayer meeting?
Not a bad idea; but no: Jesus said go to your room, close the door and pray to
your Father in heaven (Matthew 6). Prayer is an intimate, personal and ongoing
between you and God. To him who opens this door - meaning: you close the door
to your room, so that you can open this door to God - Jesus promises to come
into his or her life.
Try this. Don’t wait for Rock on Wednesday. Don’t wait for
next Sunday. Go home, close the door and pray. Say to Jesus, “You promised. You
said in Revelation 3:20, that if I listened to your voice; if I opened the
door; you would come.” Why not try this today?
If you are a non-Christian, then know that this promise is
for the individual who responds to Jesus personally. You don’t become a
Christian by turning up in church. You respond to Jesus’ voice speaking to you.
You respond by trusting that his is faithful and true: He is the Amen. That’s
all. And Jesus promises that as small as your trust might be in the beginning,
as serious as all those times you might have messed up in your life, his word
is true and his forgiveness is real. You will be changed and Jesus will be
there.
Jesus overcame
To him who overcomes, I will
give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down
with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches.”
Revelation 3:21-22
These closing words remind us how serious the problem of
“lukewarmness” is. Jesus says lukewarmness is disgusting. And here he says it
needs to be overcome. That word “overcome” means to conquer; to be victorious -
it is a word that describes a battle in a war.
I worry that we hear these words about money and
self-sufficiency, prayerlessness and lukewarmness and think it’s not a very big
deal. It frankly scares me because Jesus says to the Laodicean church, “You do
not realise” that you are poor. These Christians didn’t think it was a big
deal.
Jesus says that dealing with lukewarmness is nothing less
than an act of war. You have fight against this false sense of
self-sufficiency. If you see pride, deal with it pronto!
In the previous six churches, Jesus says we need to overcome
various struggles: false teaching, idolatry, forsaking the gospel, sin - pretty
serious stuff. But here in verse 21 is the only time that Jesus describes how
he overcame. And he seems to be saying to us as Christians, dealing with
lukewarmness, “This is as serious as how I overcame and went to the cross.”
Jesus says, “I overcame and sat down with my Father on his
throne.” That’s huge! Jesus had to overcome something on the cross, and I
think, he is drawing a connection to the temptation he faced to turn away from
the cross. Do you remember how Satan offered him all kingdoms the kingdoms of
the world (Matthew 4:8)? Satan was offering Jesus glory. It was a way out of
the cross. And Satan used an earthly reward, saying, “You don’t need to
sacrifice yourself. Just worship me.” Jesus was tempted and he overcame.
And Jesus seems to be saying to these lukewarm Christians,
“Don’t settle for cheap glory. It is a false glory.” It means dealing with the
temptation to settle for this world is tough, friends. We often pray for our
friends who leave us at the end of the year - Alan, Kinki, Kit, Molly, Richard,
Shirley, Judy, Sarah, Along, Lang, Vince - we pray that God will help them to
settle in a good church, to settle into their new homes, to settle into their
jobs. But we do not pray for them to settle into lukewarmness. We ask God to
guard their hearts and give them strength to fight against conforming to this
world. And we remind them that it takes nothing less than the kind of strength
Jesus had when he overcame the world and went to the cross. We pray that when
they are tempted, they - like Jesus - will overcome.
The reward for those who overcome is nothing less than
eternal life. Paul writes in Ephesians about being “seated with Christ”,
saying:
And God raised us up with
Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order
that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,
expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:6-7
The amazing thing about this
verse is, it says that God means for the church to display his wealth. In fact,
Paul calls it God’s “incomparable riches”. But it is riches measured not in
money nor status. God raised us up and seated us with Christ so that he might
show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in kindness to us in
Christ Jesus.
The bible says: Come to Jesus and buy from him gold refined
in the fire, so you can become rich; white clothes to wear, so you can cover
your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Come to Jesus and live.
Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love
is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!
(“Come to Jesus” by Chris Rice)
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