Revelation 3: 14-22
14 “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. 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.
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 him, and he with me.
21 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. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
It’s Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. We now begin our forty day journey to Jesus’ cross and empty Easter tomb. Notice the color has changed. It’s purple. That’s because this is a season of preparation. What do we prepare? Our hearts to welcome two wonderful pieces of Good News. Jesus’ words from the cross, It is finished and the angel’s words at Jesus’ tomb, He has risen.
I have chosen this Word of God to help us prepare. Of course, here you might be wondering. Why did the pastor pick this text? This letter to the church in Laodicea? You may have noticed the Lord has nothing good to say about this church. Does our pastor mean to say this describes our church? Is he saying this describes me? No, only Jesus can look into our hearts and give this kind of diagnosis. But that doesn’t mean we can’t benefit from this letter. After all what does Jesus say at the end of this letter. He has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. I haven’t checked you out tonight but as far as I know, all of us have at least one ear. Jesus’ words are for us too, aren’t they? And these words point each of us in one very important direction. To the heart preparation we all need. Our Savior says it this way:
“Be Earnest and Repent”
I. Jesus’ warning speaks to us
II. Jesus stands ready to draw near to us
Let’s make sure we understand that key word. Repent. It means to have a change of mind. A good way to think of it might be this. We often hear Lent described as a time to give up something like chocolate or internet. Repentance means that we spot something in our life and realize. God doesn’t want that there. The way I’ve been treating that person, the attitudes I’ve carried. It’s stands between me and him. My God tells me that in his Word. I need to turn away from that. But that’s only half of repentance. Then I need to turn to God like the tax collector in our gospel lesson. His words are the theme of our service. God have mercy on me a sinner. And he does. He forgives us in Christ. That’s repentance.
Jesus warned this church that they needed to repent. Think about that. When you warn someone of some kind of danger, you want them to take you seriously. At least if you care. You don’t tell a joke and then say, oh by the way your house is burning down. You speak to be listened to. That’s what Jesus does here. He is about to bear witness to their lack of faith. He wants them to know this is not just some person’s opinion. So he says 14 “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. In other words, listen up, people.
A cardiologist will run all kinds of tests to determine the condition of that mass of muscle that pumps your blood. Jesus, the ruler of God’s creation can see far more than our physical heart. He can clearly see another heart- a heart that believes or doubts. A heart that treasures or couldn’t care less. Jesus knew the heart of these people. And he didn’t like what he saw. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! These Christians had become lukewarm. You might think that Jesus would prefer lukewarm to cold and unbelieving. But think again. A lost person might be reached. He might be led to see how lost he is. But the lukewarm. That person has a kind of a shrug your shoulders attitude when he thinks of Jesus’ cross. Sin. What’s the big deal. Forgiveness. Let’s move on. That person goes through the motions of worship, mouth moving, heart far away. And haven’t we all been there?
That’s dangerous. Jesus wanted them to know how dangerous. He wanted to wake these people up from their apathy. 6 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
How had it come to this? They had let true riches slip away from their hearts and lives. You see, the town of Laodicea was wealthy and so too the people of this church. They had a thriving wool industry. It’s cloth was famous. The town was a center of banking and a place where they minted coins. Laodicea was known far and wide for a special salve produced for the eyes. They were very well off.
Now it’s not a sin to be well off. But wealth can blind us to the truth. And don’t think you’re immune because you’re not living in a mansion. Compared to people in Bible times, many of us are wealthy. So we need to be careful. If not, we can begin to think like these people did. I’m doing fine on my own. Talk about fool’s gold. Think of what Jesus said. 7 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. For without Jesus, that’s what we are. We may have a house full of stuff or not, but without Jesus we are poor beyond measure. And sadly these people were blind to it.
Listen closely to Jesus words. We need to hear them too. 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. There is only one who can make us rich – rich in God’s forgiveness and hope. The Son of God who went to a cross and became poor for our sakes. There is only one way to cover the shameful nakedness of our guilt. By being clothed in Jesus’ perfect righteousness And there is only one way to see things as they are. As the Spirit uses God’s Word to open our eyes and see that Jesus is our treasure.
It must have been humiliating for the church people in Laodicea to hear these words from their pastor. How does it make you feel to hear them? Spit me out of his mouth. Wretched, poor blind. Why does Jesus speak to them this way? It’s a warning, a warning that spills over onto us as well. And ouch that hurts, Jesus. But now listen closely. 19 Those whom I love…did you hear that? This is about love, Jesus’ love for people in danger. Love for you and me. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
There is a Hebrew word that God spoke again and again to his stiff necked Old Testament people. It is pronounced shub. It means to turn or return to the Lord. In the book of Ezekiel you hear the Lord pleading with his people. Turn, turn. That’s repentance. What these people needed to do. What we need to do every day. Shub. Be earnest and repent.
But here don’t picture a guy with a big stick prodding you on. Picture a bridegroom calling out to his bride. He loves her very much. Well Jesus loves us very much. And he stands ready to draw near to us. So be earnest and repent.
Listen to how Jesus puts it. The way he starts out in this letter, you might think he’d say I ‘m going to come to your nice Laodicean house, kick in the door and wreck the place. But no, instead he comes to sinners like you and me with a grace-filled invitation. When you turn to me in repentance this is what you will find. 20Here 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.
Of course, this is a picture. Jesus is not saying that he’s going to walk in your front door and take a place at your dinner table. That would be special. But Lord please don’t come on a night when I am supposed to cook.
No, this is a picture, a picture of something far more wonderful. A fellowship he offers each of us. It’s not something we can touch, taste or see. It’s not something I can even begin to explain. But it’s something so special. Think about this One who becomes our guest. He made this planet. Angels worship and serve him. Yet he came to be your flesh and blood brother. He knows you, what troubles you, what you struggle with every day. And he is able to help you. In fact, he promises it.
So think about this One. This season we remember once more the extent of his love. How he took every one of our sins on himself. How he bled and died for each of us. And now he promises each of us a very special place with him in his heaven.
Well he says to each of us. Remain in me and I will remain in you. But have we? Do we/ We know the answer. We sin daily. We get complacent. We put distance between us and our Savior. So it’s time. It always time. Be earnest and repent. Amen.