Reflecting the Image

Scripture:

Revelation 3:1-6

“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 of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up and strengthen what remains and is on 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 persons 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 erase your name from 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. (NRSVUE)

Observation:

The words of John the Revelator are poignant. I’ve read some commentators who suggest that the angel may be the bishop, or leader, of the church in Sardis. If so, then these are challenging words to anyone who finds themselves in any kind of church leadership.

There are plenty of good works in which the church may participate. But unfortunately, busyness and involvement in many projects do not necessarily mean that our hearts are right with God. Being passionate about community engagement and social justice alone is not all that God wants from His children.

The cry is loud and clear. Wake up! This church had a reputation for being alive, but Jesus said they were dead. Their works had not been completed or fulfilled in the sight of God. They were doing things, but somehow their activity was not fulfilling the purpose for which the church had been called into existence. The church is called to participate in God’s kingdom here on this earth and to be engaged in the continuation of Jesus’ mission. Somehow, this church had failed.

But I find myself wondering about their past. Jesus tells them to “strengthen what remains” and to “remember, then, what you received and heard.” What if their reputation for being alive had once reflected a genuine spiritual vitality? What if they had received much from God, but were now living on the reputation of what they had once been? The text doesn’t tell us, but the possibility is sobering.

The call was to obedience and repentance. It was time to wake up!

The sad truth was that most of the people of the church were being lulled to sleep without fulfilling the purpose for which they had been created. If Christ returned, they would not be ready to face Him. But in the midst of it all there were still those who remained faithful. They would walk with Jesus, clothed in white. There was still life in Sardis. There was still a remnant.

Interestingly, this entire message is framed by the Spirit. These are the words of the One who has “the seven spirits of God,” representing the fullness of the Spirit, and the message ends with the admonition, “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

May God grant us all spiritual sensitivity to hear what the Spirit is saying to us.

Application:

Many years ago, Dr. Phineas Bresee, founder of Los Angeles First Church of the Nazarene, used to say that the church was called to “Christianize Christianity.” Why? Because he saw that even among those who called themselves Christians there was a need for a deeper work of God — much like the situation in Sardis. He recognized the danger of claiming to be “Christian” without really fulfilling the purpose for which we have been created.

We have been created to be God’s holy people, a new creation, serving Him in and through His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit.

At the first church where Chuck pastored in Texas there was a little lady named Fannie Mae. She had a difficult life, but along the way she had learned to follow Jesus with her whole heart and had experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit. In this little church, she was one of those clothed in white. She had learned to walk with Jesus through the good and the bad and had chosen the path of joy. She was an incredible prayer warrior and intercessor and never gave up.

Recently I was at the district assembly in South Carolina. There I heard the testimony of the District Superintendent’s wife. They had been at our church in Texas many years ago — as newlyweds. She was a new believer and didn’t know how to pray. Fannie Mae invited her over to her house where together they would work in the garden, and Fannie Mae taught her how to pray.

Fannie Mae has long since gone to be with Jesus, but she was a remnant of the faith, clothed in white, in a little church in Texas that wondered if it had much of a future.

There in South Carolina, nearly 40 years later, I saw the future.

Candy — the DS’s wife — is clothed in white! She prays like Fannie Mae and has a passion for the Lord that is unmistakable. The faith and prayer life of one Spirit-filled woman had been passed on to another generation.

The remnant is awake, dressed in white, but they may be few.

What if we have become satisfied with having a reputation for being alive? What if we remember what it was like when the Spirit moved among us, but we are now living on the memory? What if our works continue, our programs continue, and our institutions continue, but somehow we have stopped seeking the One who gives us life?

The answer of Jesus to Sardis is not despair.

Wake up!

Strengthen what remains. Remember what you received. Obey. Repent. Listen again to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Fannie Mae reminds me that sometimes the fire may look very small. It may be burning in the heart of one faithful woman praying in her garden with a young Christian who doesn’t yet know how to pray. But nearly forty years later, I saw that fire still burning.

Maybe the remnant isn’t simply evidence of what has survived. Maybe the remnant is where God begins again.

Wake up.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for the challenge to make sure that we are awake. Open my eyes to see Your hand at work around me and help me to participate in Your mission. Give me ears to hear what the Spirit is saying, and help me to seek You as passionately as that dear saint in our church so long ago. May the fire of Your Spirit continue to burn in us and be passed on to another generation. Amen.