“LET JESUS IN” (Part I) July 17, 2005

Revelation 3:14-22

Sermon in a sentence: as people who are prone to exclude Jesus from our lives, Jesus patiently waits for us to let him back in

on Monday afternoon, June 13th, I was walking in a cherry orchard outside of Hood River, praying for our church. I was asking God to speak to me. I was trying my best to listen.

I sensed the Holy Spirit telling me to read Revelation 3:14-22. I began to read & pray & listen my way through this passage, Christ’s message to the church at Laodicea.

by Wednesday I was convinced God wanted me to suspend my series in Genesis for 1 week & preach on Rev 3. The next evening, Thursday, the church burned.

I preached Revelation 3 the 2nd Sunday we met at Bethany. I want to come back to it today. I have been trying to live out of these words for myself. I believe God wants our church to live out of them right now.

Prayer – I pray Father God that you would use the words of your Son Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to correct, rebuke, and encourage us. May you, Jesus, the Living Word of God, address us in the written Word of God. Give us ears to hear what the Spirit wants to say to us. Amen.

Who are the Laodiceans?
Laodicea was part of a tri-city area in Asia Minor – Laodicea, Colosse (to which Paul wrote the letter to the Colossians) & Hierapolis. By the time John wrote Revelation around AD 95 the church was over 30 years old.

Laodicea was the banking center of Asia Minor & the richest city of the 7 mentioned in Revelation 2-3. The city was devastated by an earthquake in AD 60. Rome offered money & tax relief toward its rebuilding. The city refused any assistance due to its vast wealth.

Laodicea was also known for its textiles – their black sheep produced the finest black wool available anywhere. They had a flourishing clothing industry.

their medical expertise put them on the map as well. They produced medicines that were distributed worldwide – including an eye salve that was repudiated to cure eye problems.

the city was known for 1 more thing – they had no fresh water supply. 6 miles away in Hierapolis was a hot springs. Water was transported along a stone aqueduct to Laodecia. As the hot water moved through the aqueduct it became lukewarm & picked up various bacterial particles. If you drank it without boiling it, it made you sick.

Laodicea was US Bank, Nordstrom’s & OHSU all rolled into one with a lukewarm water supply.

14 – description of Christ:
he is the Amen. In biblical usage Amen means absolutely, firmly. Christ is the utterly trustworthy. He is the last word, the solid foundation, the rock of ages.

He is the faithful & true witness. Jesus is the absolutely faithful witness to God. He is true truth. What he says about God, life, anything is exactly so.

He is the ruler of God’s creation. Jesus is Lord & Sovereign over all. Like the fly buzzing around my office as I wrote this sermon – the bombings in London – the growth of the California Redwoods – the summer harvest of Copper River salmon – Bob Cryder’s stem cell transplant – Hillary Abraham’s crazy time in Jamaica – your life – my life – our lives.

This is a magnificent, majestic partial picture of Christ. Christ the Head of the Church. Christ who stands among & in the 7 churches of Asia Minor found in Revelation 2-3. Christ who stands here with us today always.

In Mere Christianity CS Lewis wrote, Jesus Christ produced mainly three effects – hatred, terror, adoration. There was no trace of people expressing mild approval. Mild approval of Christ is what we find in the church of Laodicea.

15-16 – mild approval:
These are hard-hitting words. Jesus tells it like it is. The temperature of the Laodicean’s commitment to Christ made him sick. They’re not hot – not cold. They’re lukewarm, tepid, status quo. The lukewarm water that flowed into Laodicea through those stone aqueducts is a picture of their tepid spiritual life.

Lukewarm deeds, Christ says. Deeds. Their good works, their service of Christ was pathetic. Outside service is fueled by inside passion. The Laodiceans love & passion for Christ had been compromised. They had no fire in their belly, and therefore, they had no energy in their service.

The word Jesus uses for spit is the word for vomit. The Amen, the faithful & true witness, the ruler of God’s creation is nauseated by the lukewarm, mild approval of the Laodiceans.

Hot, cold, lukewarm – what are you? What are we? I believe that Jesus is trying to tell us that we have grown lukewarm in our love for him.

17 – out of touch with reality:
1st the Laodiceans lacked spiritual passion for Christ. And 2nd they were out-of-touch with reality. They lacked self-awareness. The Laodiceans saw themselves as wealthy, rich & without needs. They thought they had it all together.

This church is self-sufficient, independent & autonomous. Their confession – I do not need a thing. What dangerous words. What proud words. Words that separate us from Christ himself.

There’s a huge difference between you say & you are. The Laodiceans had plenty of money. Their theology was solid. They were an established church.

But Christ – the Amen, the faithful & true witness, the ruler of God’s creation – portrays them in a different light. You are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

Do we have a you say – you are discrepancy in our church? We think ‘this’ about ourselves but Christ thinks ‘that?’ Who cares what we say about ourselves. What does Christ say?

18 – grace: At verse 18 the whole passage turns, goes in a different direction. Verse 17 – Jesus says to the church who thinks they have it all together – you make me sick to my stomach. I’m going to spit you out of my mouth – he uses the word for vomit. He calls them some bad names – wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. You can hear the judgment coming. You can smell the building wrath.

But what happens next is grace. Undeserved favor. Jesus chooses to treat them as they don’t deserve to be treated. From vomit to come to me & I will give you what you really need.

The 2 key words are from me. Jesus has all that the church needs in himself:
Buildings are nice, but they are not our greatest need.
A fall schedule of classes & activities to get things back to normal is nice, but that is not our greatest need.
A very large sum of money from the insurance company would be nice, but that is not our greatest need.
Getting into our new offices this past week is nice, but that is not our greatest need. Money to put your kids through college is nice, but that is not your greatest need. Landing your dream job is nice, but that is not your greatest need.
Remodeling your kitchen & dining room is nice, but that is not your greatest need.
Finding a boy or girlfriend is nice, but that is not your greatest need.
Having your health is nice, but that is not your greatest need.

Our greatest need is Jesus – his life, his love, his joy, his peace, his power, his presence, his life fully alive in our lives.

The Laodiceans were banking on their material wealth – Jesus offers them true riches. They were proud of their black wool & clothing industry – Jesus offers them clothing that will cover their guilt & shame. They were proud of their eye salve – Jesus offers them eyes to see his kingdom. They were hung up in the material realm – Jesus offers them riches from the spiritual realm.

What Jesus wants for them is a radical change of their lives. I counsel you to buy from me… He seeks to be their 1st & only choice. They’ve blown it bad & he is giving them a 2nd chance to make things right.

Jesus Jesus Jesus. Jesus is calling us to himself. He’s calling us to leave behind everything that has taken his place in our lives. It’s time to lay down our idols – anything that takes the place of Jesus in our lives.
it’s time to move from you say to you are & deal with it
it’s time to lay down our pride
it’s time to lay down our independence & self-sufficiency
it’s time to take a look at how we spend our time
it’s time to take a look at our commitments – it could appear to be that many of you parents are more committed to your children’s athletic growth than you are to their spiritual growth
it’s time to be honest with Jesus

are we pitiful? Wretched? Poor? Blind? Naked?

Call to action
I want you to meet Bob Stoddard. United Methodist pastor from the Bay area. Bald, overweight, intelligent and part rebel. We were classmates at Asbury during the years I was working on my doctorate. The 2 of us visited Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee and ran into Elvis at the salad bar at Shoney’s just _ mile from Graceland.

bob was edgy. He had issues. He had baggage. He didn’t like to be told what to do. He was a big, lovable Teddy Bear, sometimes.

after finishing all my classes I went back to Asbury in 1996 to meet with my dissertation committee. While there I heard that Bob was on campus. We found each other.

as we walked up to each other & I could look into his eyes I could see a different look through those eyes. Something had changes. He was more at peace with himself, relaxed, joyful.

as we talked I soon found out why. 8 months earlier he had almost died due to complications from surgery. He told me how he had left his body. He was looking down at a team of doctors & nurses & interns working to save his life. Suddenly he felt a warm light behind him.

he looked around & saw this tunnel leading to a door. What he remembers most was the beautiful healing light & a feeling of love calling him like he’d never experienced in his life. God was calling him home.

but he was given a choice. He said he wanted to go back & make things right, do things differently. And he did.

I’m a changed man. The love of God was so real to me. It melted my heart. It brought healing to me. I now want to live & walk & serve in that love.

Jesus came to him through a near-death experience and touched Bob with his love & changed his life.
took away his pride
took away his dependence upon his intelligence
lifted his resentments
healed his wounds
give him new eyes w/ w/c to see the world

I counsel you to buy from me… Jesus is calling us to himself. Listen up. Hear. Respond. Take him as your all in all.