Wake Up!
sermon reflection on the message to the church of Sardis, in Revelations 3:1-6
This is the second of two sermon reflections for Sunday November 2nd. This essay reflects on the fifth sermon in my local church’s Book of Revelation sermon series. Pastor Jeremy delivered this week’s sermon.
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image: ruins at Sardis
Revelation 3:1-6 :: The Message to Sardis
‘And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars:
‘I know your works; you have a name for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is at the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. 3 Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. 4 Yet you have still a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels. 6 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
Built high atop an acropolis, the residents of Sardis had a complacency regarding their defenses from attackers. This led to the Cyrus the Great and Antioch the Great invading on separate occasions, finding undefended pathways that enabled an easy capture of the city. A very wealthy city, Sardis enjoyed much luxury and prosperity, leading its citizens to become drink on the apathy of comfort. An easy life made the church of Sardis lazy—spiritual deadness meant they didn’t pose a threat to non believers and so they didn’t face persecution.
Why did the church of Sardis fall asleep? We can point to four reasons.
Outward activity without inward life
Neglecting repentance
Failure to engage discipleship and grow the church
Indifferent to the calling of mission work
Jesus Defibrillates the church of Sardis
In his message to the church of Sardis, Jesus brings a spiritual defibrillator, to shock the heart of the church of Sardis out of its deadly disrhythmia. A defibrillator has two paddles.
Wake up
Remember
Revelation 3:1-2 :: And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your works; you have a name for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is at the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God.
Wake up!
Is my faith asleep or awake?
Faithfulness means we make a daily choice to serve and love, not just a one-time vow we make at baptism. We renew our faithfulness daily and often multiple times a day. Do we evaluate the patterns of our lives to make sure it’s aligned with the Jesus Way. Live a life that bears fruit. What evidence does my life reveal about my Christian lifestyle choice, as a follower of Jesus?
In chapter 2, verse 26 of his epistle James says, “for just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.” A life of service provides evidence of our transformation in Christ. Is the church in the west sleeping, like the church of Sardis?
National Trust for Canada recently reported that 9000 places of worship could close because they’re dying. More and more, churches die away and then they get repurposed. Why does culture affects us more than the Word of G-d? Think of the slow boiling frog metaphor —sitting in a pot of cold water, to which to temperature slowly increases, the frog doesn’t notice. Complacency creeps into our lives, unnoticed, like that metaphorical frog. How can we stay alert and guard our heart?
Remember!
To remember means to have in or be able to bring to one’s mind an awareness of (someone or something from the past). Think of Jacob, in Genesis 35:1. G-d tells Jacob to return to Bethel, the place where Jacob met G-d and made a promise. G-d wants Jacob to remember Bethel. In Hebrew Beit-El בֵּית־אֵל means House of G-d. Like Jacob, G-d wants us relinquish our idols, those being our false ideas of G-d, and return to His house. How can we remember G-d’s love for us in Jesus? We can guard our hearts, we can love G-d with all our mind, heart, soul.
Ten signs of a dying church
The past became hero1
Refusal to look like a community
Budget moving inward, following comfort not calling
The great communion becomes great omission
Shift toward a preference driven ethos
Pastoral tenure grows shorter — conflict grows and pastors burn out
Congregation rarely prays together, human effort edges out dependence on G-d
Lacking a clear purpose — busy and directionless
Choosing comfort > change
Ignoring the warnings signs
Once upon a time there was a pastor, who grew burnt out and discouraged that his congregation seemed spiritually dead. One day he announced the church is dead, and said that a funeral would take place for the dead church. People packed the church, and saw a coffin at the front of the church. When the pastor asked the people to come pay their respects, the people saw themselves, because inside the coffin the pastor placed a mirror.
Questions for reflection. What’s turned you away from G-d? What’s become the idol in your life? What’s replaced your hope, faith, joy with pride, greed, despair? Why do you lust rather than love?
This list could easily be 10 signs of a dying society, culture, nation