“‘’Write this letter to the angel (messenger) of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief. Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.’” - Revelation 3:1-6 (NLT)
As much as people have issues with deciphering and discerning the Revelation of Jesus Christ at the end of the New Testament there is a great deal that is spoken in plain language. You don’t need a linguist, preacher or biblical expert to understand it. When Jesus speaks to the seven churches in Asia it’s very easy to understand the point he is making.
Take the church at Sardis, for instance. Jesus states simply - “You think you’re alive but you are really dead.” It doesn't get much plainer than that.
And that, if you ask us, would more than likely be the message to the church in North America today. It thinks it is alive. It feels it is doing what is right. It believes it is doing what God wants.
Yet, all the while, the church is asleep. It is sound asleep. It has forgotten what God has said and what God requires. It is a church in name only.
Oh sure, there are some who are loud, braggadocious, and outlandish. We saw recently where a well-known religious personality from Tennessee stated, “You can’t be a Christian and vote Democrat.” Well, that’s helpful…
Another person, this one from Texas, stated from the pulpit in his sermon entitled, Why We Won’t Shut Up, that all gay men were predatory pedophiles who have either committed sex crimes against a child or just haven’t had the opportunity to do so yet. He added, “We need to put these people to death through the proper channels of the government…” and that queer people “should be lined up against the wall and shot in the back of the head.” Okay…
And, if that were not enough - and by golly, it ought to be - now we have the Southern Baptist church embroiled in a denominational wide sexual misconduct scandal that inlcudes a “minister” raping other minister’s wife. Let’s not forget the “United” Methodist who have managed to destroy an entire denomination and crush the spirits of thousands of congregants.
Needless to say, the church doesn’t need enemies - we are “enemy” enough for ourselves. The Devil isn’t killing off the church. The church is fine at killing itself.
Now, before you get depressed (any more than many of us are presently) and are wondering aloud, “Why are they writing about these things?! This is not encouraging! I need encouragement!” Well, so do we…
It’s at this point we ought to remind ourselves that Jesus said, “On this rock (our faith) I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” Now those are words to live by… and that’s permanent encouragement.
In a very real sense, this was what Jesus was trying to do with the sordid lot he had at Sardis. He is trying to get their attention, get them to repent, get them restored, and get them to a living faith once again. Jesus is encouraging the people of Sardis. He tells them - if you want to live, repent and turn back to God.
Thankfully, there were some in Sardis who were living as commanded and they were an example to the rest. Bright bulbs in the darkness…
And this is where we come in.
God is calling - always calling - his people to repent. Acts 17:30 has Paul preaching, “God calls all people everywhere to repent.”
God also has his people strategically placed all over creation as examples. Again, Paul - this time in his letter to the Philippians writes: “So that no one can criticize you, live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people." (2:15).
We (followers of Christ Jesus) need to be the example/the model the world follows. Rather than judging without Jesus, we need to offer Jesus without judgment. The Holy Spirit will do the rest.
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