Sermon

Click here to print this sermon.

December 12, 2004
3rd Sunday in Advent
Revelation 3:1-6
Pastor Robert Raasch

Jesus Writes to the Church in Sardis

1. A Warning for Those Who Look Alive But are Dead
2. A Promise for Those Who Overcome

Just for a minute, I'd like you to imagine that you have in your hand, this apple. A big red delicious apple. It's hard. It's shiny. It just begs you to sink your teeth into it. And so you do. Imagine that you take a big bite out of it. But instead of finding that sweet crunchy insides of the apple, you find that it's nothing but mush, dark brown in color and filled with worms. Blah!! Oh that tastes terrible. You spit it out as fast as you can! What a disappointment. What looked so good on the outside was in fact dead and rotting in the inside. Sometimes that happens with fruits and vegetables. I remember helping my dad pick sweet corn on the farm. Dozens and dozens of beautiful ears of corn. But every once in a while you rip open an ear of corn and it would just be black with corn smut. Yuck! Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes what appears so good on the outside, is in fact dead and rotting on the inside. Well, what is true of fruits and vegetables is also sometimes true of churches. In fact, here in Revelation chapter three, we are introduced to just such a church. The congregation in the city of Sardis was a church that looked good on the outside, but on the inside had some real problems.

Today we continue our study of the letters which Jesus addressed to the 7 congregations in Asia Minor. This morning/evening we turn our attention to the letter that:

Jesus Writes to the Church in Sardis

In this letter, Jesus offers:

1. A Warning for Those Who Look Alive But are Dead
2. A Promise for Those Who Overcome

Like each one of the other six letters to the churches, this letter also begins with Jesus describing himself in a very unique way. He says that he is the one "who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars." The seven spirits of God, or as it might be better translated, the sevenfold spirit of God, is a reference to the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the one who promises to send the Holy Spirit to his people. He holds the Spirit in one hand-and the seven stars in the other hand. What are the seven stars? In Revelation, chapter 1 Jesus explained, "The seven stars are the seven angels (that is, the seven pastors) of the seven churches."

So what does Jesus have to say to the pastor and the parishioners of the church in Sardis? He says first of all, "I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive." Apparently the congregation in Sardis was well known in the community. The congregation maybe had a lot of things going on-lots of people involved in what they were doing. And yet, what looked like life to the human eye, in the eyes of God was not. Jesus says, "You have a reputation of being alive, but you are not." In fact, Jesus explains his diagnosis just a little further when he says, "For I have not found your deeds complete in the eyes of my God." Now what does that mean? "I have not found your deeds complete?" Well, there are a number of ways in which their deeds might be judged to be incomplete by God. Maybe the Sardisian Christians were busy doing all the wrong things. Maybe their bazaars, their fellowship meals, their assemblies had nothing to do with sharing the gospel. Maybe they had lost sight of the purpose of the church. Rather than being a lifeboat for drowning sinners, maybe the church saw itself as a country club for self-appointed saints. Maybe they were busy doing the wrong things-and that's why their deeds were incomplete.

Or, maybe they were doing the right things-with the wrong attitude. Maybe their worship life had become an empty "going-through-the-motions," rather than a heartfelt dialog with their Savior God. Maybe their offerings were being given purely by habit or as an obligation, rather than as a joyful, willing response to God's love in Christ. Maybe the service they were rendering to their fellow man was being done simply to be seen by others rather than as an expression of love and devotion to God. You see, it's easy for people to do lots of things that look good, but in fact are not pleasing to God, because they don't flow from a heart that is filled with Christian faith. The writer to the Hebrews puts it bluntly: "Without faith, it's impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6).

So this was Jesus' charge against the congregation in Sardis. He doesn't say that they're tolerating false doctrine like the church in Pergamum. He doesn't say they're caught up in sexual immorality like Thyatira. He doesn't say they're going to undergo persecution like the Christians in Smyrna. No, the problem with the people in Sardis is that while they looked alive, they were spiritually dead. Or at least in a very deep sleep, for twice in this letter Jesus implores them to "wake up."

Now the real question is: Does Jesus' description of the church in Sardis also apply to the church in which you and I belong today? Could this letter just as easily be written to the members of Mount Olive? I don't know. Are there any parallels between the two congregations?

Tell me, is there a lot of activity in our congregation? Oh man, check the church calendar. The lights in this building are regularly on from six in the morning till 10 at night. Mount Olive has a lot of things going on. Do we have a reputation for being alive? I think so. When our parish consultants interviewed other pastors in our community about their view of Mount Olive, they came back with some pretty glowing reports. If you study the WELS statistical report, you'll find that our congregation is above average in the percentage of our people in worship, above average in giving per household.

From all outward appearances, our congregation is alive and growing-and as soon as we break ground on our new building expansion, that will become even more evident. The question is: Is all this activity equate to true spiritual life in the congregation? Is what the outsiders see, the same things as what God sees? Or to put it another way, could it be that Mount Olive has the reputation for being alive, but in reality was dead? Is Mount Olive the modern day Sardis?

Now before we try to answer that question, we need to first remember that in its very essence, Mount Olive is not a building. It's not a business. It's not even an organization. In its essence, Mount Olive is people like you and me. In other words, if Jesus is saying that Mount Olive has a reputation of being alive, but in reality is dead, he's really saying that you and I have a reputation of being alive but in reality are dead.

Tell me, is it true? How would the God who judges the very thoughts and attitudes of the heart-how would that God rate your spiritual life? Would he say that you're spiritually alive or you're spiritually dead? Would he say you're on fire for him, or you've grown cold? Are you and I like an apple that is shining on the outside and dead and rotting on the inside?

My friends, do you realize that one of the biggest dangers facing Christian churches these days is not open idolatry, or divorce or greed. Rather, it's plain old human apathy. You know, the old, "ho hum. Whatever. Religion? I don't really care about that. Let's just forget it. I think I'd rather just sleep." Could it be that with his letter to the people in Sardis, he's really talking to you and me? Could he be saying, "You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead"? Could he be saying to us, "If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what time I will come to you"?

I don't know about you, but I find myself being convicted by Jesus' words. I know there are times when I'm guilty of just going through the motions. I chaff under God's command to pray and read the Bible and share my faith with others. I don't want to be kind to others. I don't want to do the right things. I want to take the easy way out. I want to be lazy. And why is that? Why is it so hard for me to be totally devoted to God? Because a part of me is dead. A part of me is rotten. A part of me is filled with hatred, wickedness and yes, sheer apathy. And even if no one else sees it, God does. What God said to Sardis, he still says to me. "I know your deeds. You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead."

Not a very pretty picture, is it? It's the picture of an apple filled with death and decay. Is there any hope for someone like me? Yes, there is. But that hope has nothing to do with who I am or what I can or what I should do. Rather, it has everything to do with what God has done for me through Jesus. Listen to how St. Paul describes what God has done for dead people like you and me. St. Paul writes in Ephesians, chapter 2, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins." Dead-rotten and decaying. "But, because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions." For no reason on our part-through no effort on our part-God made us alive. He scooped out all that sin and death and decay from our hearts. He took our apathy and rebellion and he smeared it all on his son. And then he crucified his son in our place. And when on the third day, God raised Jesus to life, guess what? He made you and me alive right along with Christ.

My friends, if all that is true, if God has granted you new life in Christ, if he's made us alive in the Spirit, then how do we stay alive? How do we keep the fire of the Spirit? How do we keep from growing tired and apathetic and lazy? Jesus answers that question right here in our text when he says, "Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it and repent." Three steps. First, remember what you have received. In other words, regularly call to mind what God has told you in his Word about the incredible sacrifice he made to set you free from sin and guilty forever. Secondly, "obey it." When the word "obey" is applied to God's gospel promises, it really means to believe it. To obey the gospel simply means to believe the gospel, that is, to trust that through Jesus' blood and merits, God has made you right in his eyes. And it's that fact that leads us to the final step in Jesus three part instruction, namely, to repent, that is, to turn away from our old patterns of behavior, our old lackadaisical approach to our spiritual lives and set a new course for the future.

My friends, when by the grace of God we do that, when we do call to mind what God has done for us in Christ, then God makes a remarkable promise to us. In fact, a promise that is recorded here in the closing verses of our text. Here in his letter to Sardis, Jesus offers: II. A Promise for Those Who Overcome.

In verse 5, Jesus makes the statement, "He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white." Exactly who is this one who overcomes? Well, I don't know if noticed or not, but in every one of the letters we've studied so far, Jesus has used that same term, "the one who overcomes." And in each case he attaches a different promise to that phrase. For example in the first letter he says, "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life," and then, "He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death," and "To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna" and to him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne," and so on. The question is, "Who is this person who overcomes? Well, let's let the Apostle John himself answer that question. In the fifth chapter of his first epistle he writes, "Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." (1 John 5:4,5).

In other words, that term, "those who overcome," is really just another way to say believers, Christians like you and me. And what promise does Jesus make to such believers. "You will be dressed in white," that is, before God you will wear the robe of Christ's holiness. Secondly, Jesus will "never erase (your) name from the book of life." And finally, Jesus will acknowledge your name before his Father and his angels." The Greek word here for "acknowledge" means more than just a casual head nod, and "Hey, how's it going? It's more like a public confession. Jesus is going to say, "This one is mine. She belongs to me. He is my disciple!" These are the promises that Jesus makes to those who trust in him as their Savior and Lord.

My friends, do you catch the point that Jesus is making in this letter to Sardis? He's saying that if we want to stay alive as Christians, we need to say connected to Christ. If we want our church to be alive, we need to focus our energy on getting more people connected to Christ more often. Jesus said it well: "I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing." (John 15:4).

As you evaluate how you will spend your time this week, as our congregation evaluates the ministry it will carry out this year, let's keep in mind that only God, working through his Word and Sacraments can effect true change in our lives. Only God can grant true spiritual life. Only God can allow a congregation that has a reputation for being alive to be a congregation that truly is alive. Only God can take an apple that looks so good on the outside and make it an apple that also tastes good on the inside. May God make us alive and growing-and sweet to his lips, for Jesus' sake. Amen.