Hope for Lukewarm Souls (Revelation 3:14-22)

A letter from “The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation.”

Laodicia was…

In Colossians Paul says that he is praying for the people of Laodicea because he wants them to live in unity with the Holy Spirit.  His mention of them in this letter speaks to us of a few possibilities about this city/church.  Laodicea was near Colossae in the area of Phyriga or Asia or modern day Turkey.  Paul did not actually plant these churches, but equipped the pastors that did.  So Paul has chosen to personally write to these churches about their character of faith in the midst of hostile climates.  The church at Laodicea could have been around since as early as 50 AD and we think the Revelation letters were written between 80 and 90 AD, making the church community about 30 or 40 years old as they read their letter.

According to Strabo, the ancient Greek geographer, Laodicea was a wealthy and proud community known for its textile industry and its manufacture of a medication for ophthalmic disorders.

Laodicea was inland and had a series of aqueducts that brought water to the community.  Some led from a hot springs source while others brought cold water from the mountains.  In either case, the distance the water traveled made it tepid regardless of the temperature of its source.  The tepid water was distasteful, as you can imagine. 

Laodicea boasted of her wealth, even refusing the financial assistance of Rome when an earthquake nearly destroyed the town in 60 AD. 

The textiles were known “world-wide”, but the most famous was its pure black wool.  Likewise, history records the healing power of the Phrygian Powder, which may very well have been manufactured in Laodicea.

So, when the Revelation says: You are neither hot nor cold. You say you are rich and need nothing. But you are wretched, poor, naked, and blind.  You need to buy gold, white robes, and medicine for your eyes”  it is speaking directly to Laodicea’s dependence on herself against her dependence on God.

Diagnosis: you are a lukewarm people, neither on fire for the Kingdom of God or completely closed to its purposes.  They just didn’t care.  They were complacent, ambivalent, unmoved.  At some point between the church being planted there and the Revelation, the church at Laodicea had pressed the easy button.  Now, maybe to the outside world, they were the “poster child” for pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps.  They were self made, reliant, entrepreneurs, smart, and industrious people.  They didn’t help; they were the helpers.  Sounds commendable.  Except they forgot about the one who provided all of their abundant resources.  They were not self-made.  No one is self-made.  We are all made by God.

Consequence: this is “distasteful” to God, and so God is going to “spit them out.”  Gross.  And in actuality, the reference is even more graphic. More than tepid, the water that flowed from the hot springs was full of minerals and in concentrated form (which it was by the time it reached Laodicea) it caused stomach upset.  What Jesus actually says to the church at Laodicea is “you make me want to throw up.”  That’s not nice at all.  And no, Jesus isn’t being nice.  He’s being honest.  And he is speaking truth and he is wielding justice and he is telling this self-made, self-righteous church that they had better get over themselves, or they were going to miss a visit from Jesus himself: I am standing at the door and knocking.  Can you hear me?  Open the door so I can come in and be in fellowship with you again.

OR….

Prescription: Repent.  Come back to the Lord for your needs.  Answer the door, that is, allow God’s Spirit to resume leadership in this place.  So many times we hear this verse preached and imagine Jesus standing at the door of our heart, making his appeal to become the Lord of our life.  This is a beautiful image of our personal relationship with Jesus to make him Lord of our life.  But Jesus is presenting a bigger picture.  He is reflecting on the stories he told while on earth about servants who are supposed to wait for the master to come home…stay awake, watch for the sign of his coming, prepare the home, set the table, stand at the gate.  Jesus is saying, I’m here.  I’m ready to come to you.  My Spirit longs to abide with you now and very soon I will physically return to you.  Are you listening?  Are you watching?  Are you ready?  Are you just bored?

Maybe the better image is “baseball ready”  So many kids get bored in the outfield.  They still wear the uniform, stand in the outfield, count as a player.  But they’ve stopped playing the game.  A coach or a parent will yell “Pay attention!  Baseball ready!”  Pay attention because a ball may come your way.  Pay attention because this may be your shot.  Pay attention because the crack of the ball leaving the bat will not give you time to duck if it’s a line drive between your eyes!  So church, pay attention, because we wouldn’t want to be found sitting in our pew, going through the motions, bored out of our skulls and no longer “playing the game” or participating in the life of faith.  The crack of the sky when Jesus parts it at his return will not be enough warning.

Outcome:  God will re-enter and dine with us.  That’s a far cry from spitting us out.

So he says, I’m here.  I’m knocking.  Let my spirit share space with you now, so that on that day you will find yourself dining at my table.

Here’s the other key.  We may want to believe that this image is of our inviting Jesus into our home.  Again, a beautiful and necessary metaphor, just not accurate for this verse.  Rather, Jesus is knocking at the door of his own home.  It’s God’s house, this is God’s church.  Laodicea may think she is strong and rich and wise and gifted, but without God she is nothing.  Let me come in, says the Lord.  Let me dress you, strengthen you, heal you, fill you.  You don’t have to be a church that does it all on your own.  As a matter of fact, God wants you to be a church that does nothing without God.