The Church of Laodicea – “Lukewarm” (Church Part VII)

Sermon Title: The Church of Laodicea– Make A Decision?

Good News Statement: God Requires Us to be His Church

Preached: Sunday, February 25th, 2024 at Dogwood Prairie UMC & Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): Revelation 3:14-22 Today’s scripture reading comes from the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation is filled with hope, beasts, seven trumpets, seven stars, seven lampstands, seven seals, seven churches, seven bowls, and a lot of symbolic imagery that gets people confused and at times a little scared, which is why Jesus tells John in the opening chapter, “Do not be afraid” (Revelation 1:17). When writing to the Seven Churches, we get a glimpse of what church we need to be—a church without fear but filled with love. Our reading comes from the Book of Revelation, Chapter Three, Verses Fourteen thru Twenty-Two. May the hearing and reading of this scripture add understanding and meaning to your life.

 

The Message to Laodicea

¹⁴ “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin^[a] of God’s creation:

¹⁵ “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. ¹⁸ Therefore I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white robes to clothe yourself and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ¹⁹ I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. ²⁰ Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me. ²¹ To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

Colossians 2:1-5

For I want you to know how greatly I strive for you and for those in Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face. ² I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ⁴ I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments. ⁵ For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your orderly conduct and the firmness of your faith in Christ.

 

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

Introduction:

We are continuing our study of the seven churches John addresses in the Book Revelation. We’ve already looked at the Church in Ephesus, who had forsaken their first love; the Church at Smyrna, who experienced persecution and were encouraged not to fear but to remain rich in their faith; the Church at Pergamum, where some appeared to be seduced and were displaying a morally compromised lifestyle but realized how powerful—life-saving, life-changing, and life-healing—the word of God is; the Church of Thyatira, where some believers were tolerating sin and false teaching but were reminded of what they must do to become the Body of Christ—work, show love, express faith, do ministry, perform acts of service, and embody endurance and patience;  we visited the  Church of Sardis, a church that looked alive outwardly, but inwardly was spiritually dead; and last week, we spent time at the Church of Philadelphia realizing that if we want to be Christ’s church, his hands and feet on this earth, then we must embrace and embody his love in all that we do, in all that we say, and in all that we pursue, preach, and proclaim.

At the end of the message, I asked all of you this question, “Why do you love this church?” Why do you love coming to Church? I encourage you to continue to ask yourself that question because how you answer it is how Christ is speaking to you. Christ needs your love for this church to be the love that he has charitably, sacrificially, and unconditionally given you so that what we do as a church—our ministry, our service, our works, and our gatherings, projects, and ideas—are done and performed by means of love. Without this love, we are nothing, according to the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 13:2); but with this love, we are everything and more: we are able to make our congregation, our community, and the world a better place.

The Church of Philadelphia, a church associated as a brotherly or friendship love, sought to change the world for the better. They are defined as an agape church: a church that exemplifies, embodies, and lives out the love of Jesus Christ in all that they do, in all that they say, and in their ministry, service, and works. But I have to ask us, here today, what type of love are we living out as a church? Are their factors in our personal lives and in the life of the church that are preventing us from showing and sharing Christ’s agape love? How can we become like the Church of Philadelphia today?

Today, we visit the last church on our circuit riding journey through the Seven Churches in the Book of Revelation. We stop at a church that is the complete opposite of the Church of Philadelphia. The church we are visiting today is known as the Church of Laodicea, a place where the people are lukewarm and indecisive, a place where people are lost, and a place where people have stopped doing the work of Christ. The Church of Laodicea encourages us, as disciples, believers, and as a church, to put our ideas into practice, to no longer sit on the fence, and to realize that being a church means making decisions as we strive to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” The time has come to no longer be a lukewarm church, but to be a church of and for Christ.

Body:

How many of you have ever had to make a decision? How many of you have made a good decision? How many of you have made a bad decision? How many of you have ever had to make a tough decision? How many of you enjoy making decisions? How many of you really don’t care or prefer not to make decisions? Did any of you make a decision today?

Every day, you are challenged to make some sort of decision. For example, you make a decision whether or not to hit the snooze button when your alarm goes off each morning. You make a decision when it comes time to figuring out what you are going to wear for the day. You make a decision on what television station you are going to watch. You make a decision on how you are going to spend your day. You make a decision on what you are going to eat and what you are going to drink. You make a decision whether or not to “like” or comment on a post on Social Media. Some of you, depending on how your morning went, even had to make a tough decision on whether or not to be here this morning. Every day we make decisions that impact our life and quite possibly the lives of others. But, just how many decisions do we make in a day?

Researchers at Cornell University, an Ivy League land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York, estimates that the average adult makes about 35,000 decisions a day. If the average adult gets about seven hours of sleep each day, that means that they are making almost 2,000 decisions per hour. Researchers also concluded that of those 35,000 decisions, 226.7 of them (less than one percent) are on food alone. Some of you right now are making the decision to either believe or not believe these statistics.

Doing further research, Psychology Today suggests that there are five common “big life decisions” that every person deals with throughout their life. First, every person makes a decision about their career. Second, every person makes decisions related to education: pursue a degree (or not). Third, every person makes decisions regarding family: have/adopt a child (or not), how to care for a child, what sort of support the family needs, who in the family makes the best noodles, or even end of life decisions. Fourth, every person makes decisions related to finances: buy a home (or not), sell a home (or not), buy something or sell something, create a budget (or not), or make investments (or not). And fifth, every person makes decisions regarding their relationship status: begin or not begin a romantic relationship, get married (or not), get divorced (or not), or remain single.

The decisions we make, according to Cornell University, stem from several different styles of decision-making. Impulsiveness: going with the first option without much thought. Compliance: choosing the most comfortable and pleasing option. Delegating: not making the decision yourself, but pushing it off to others. Avoidance/Deflection: avoiding or ignoring decisions to scapegoat responsibility. Balancing: weighing the factors involved to render the best option. Lastly, Prioritizing and Reflecting: putting the most energy, thought and effort into those decisions and options to yield the greatest impact.

I mention these facts and statistics about “decision-making” not just because, but to inform you that although we have chosen to follow Christ we are not exempt from having to make decisions. Whether believer or not, everyone makes decisions throughout their day and throughout their life that either negatively or positively impacts their life as well as those around them. Now as followers of Christ, the decisions we make should reflect the life and teachings of Jesus Christ; and that is how we need to make decisions when it comes to the life of our church: we need to make decisions with Jesus in our heart and in our mind. The Church of Laodicea, struggled to make decisions which is why Jesus calls them “lukewarm.” As a church, do we want to be labeled as being “lukewarm” for Christ?

Geographically, Laodicea was close to Colosse, to whom Paul wrote the letter of Colossians. As a matter of fact, Paul mentions Laodicea in Colossians 2:1-5 and 4:13-16. It was located in the Lycus Valley, about one hundred miles east of Ephesus. It was the southernmost of the seven churches, about 40 miles from Philadelphia. Laodicea was built on a wide plateau several hundred feet above the valley floor. However, because it had to pipe in the water for the city by aqueducts from several miles away, it was vulnerable to siege; invaders could easily sever the water supply. Three aspects of the Laodicean economy were noteworthy: money, wool, and eye medicine.[1] From the livelihood of the Laodiceans, Christ is able to diagnosis this church as being “lukewarm.”

Movement One: CHRIST DIAGNOSIS THE CHURCH

Christ says in his diagnosis of the church in Revelation 3:15-17, “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, [pitiful], poor, blind, and naked.”

First of all, notice how Jesus describes this church. He says, because of their material richness the church has become prosperous and needs nothing, as in they don’t need Christ because they have their physical wealth: they have everything figured out and everything figured out. Do you have everything figured out? Remember, they gained this wealth from producing wool and selling eye medicine. Then Jesus bluntly tells the church that they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. In verse 17, Jesus speaks to their self-assessment. This is where they put themselves in danger. They evaluate themselves by comparing themselves to the churches and individuals around them, saying, “That is not me — I am fine.” The Church of Laodicea is not fine. As a matter of fact it is lost, self-centered, has put Christ below financial wealth, and is beyond “tasteful” to Christ which is why he states, “I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” The Church of Laodicea is not the church Christ needs them to be.

The Church is on the verge of becoming cold, turning away from Christ: wretched—miserable and broken; pitiful—pathetic and sad; poor—absent of Christ’s rich love and life; blind—only seeing what they want to see instead of seeing what Christ needs them to see; and naked—vulnerable and open to deceit and destruction, absent of their atonement in Christ. Ultimately, it has committed sin upon sin upon sin and has not repented. The Church of Laodicea is not fine which is why Christ defines them as being lukewarm.

What is this “lukewarmness” all about? Before we answer that question, let’s reflect on what surrounds the idea of being lukewarm: hot and cold. I already mentioned that being cold is an act of turning away from Christ: not being his loving hands and feet on this earth. Now, heat or hot is the opposite of being cold. Heat pleases God. Heat is God’s passion, zeal, and love. A human example would be the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. In Luke 24:32, Jesus opened the Scriptures up to their hearts and minds. After He left, “They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’” Jesus says of John the Baptist in John 5:35, “He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.” It is said of Jesus in Psalm 69:9, “…zeal for your house consumes me [has burned Me up].” Romans 12:11, urges us: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” To be on fire for the Lord or to experience the Lord’s passion and love, is to be doing his works, his deeds, living out his teachings, mission, and lessons on earth. Is our church on fire for the Lord? Is our church living out the love Christ in all that we do, in all that we say, and in our ministries and services? Is our church feeling a little cold?

Returning to our original question, “What is ‘lukewarmness’?” Some scholars and preachers interpret this in the context of the experience that all Laodiceans would have had with their water coming from miles away. Some nearby towns had hot steam baths, and others might have had cold, refreshing, water as from a mountain stream. The water in Laodicea was not good for refreshment or bathing. It most likely would have been tepid, foul-smelling, cloudy, and repulsive. Jesus uses the water of Laodicea to describe its people: neither good nor refreshing. The Church of Laodicea was on the fence: they didn’t know what to do—continue in their wicked ways or follow Christ? They needed to make a decision, but Christ was getting impatient.

Think of the church’s situation through the lens of Peter. In 2 Peter 2:21, Peter talks about people who employ in self-indulgence. They are feasting and reveling and getting drunk and acting sexually immoral, and Peter admonishes them that such way is not the Gospel. Peter states, “It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: ‘A dog returns to its vomit,’ and ‘A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.’” The Gospel did not change them but now they were in real trouble since they heard the true Gospel, which had no effect on them. It would have been better if they had never heard it than to conduct themselves in such a manner as if they had. Christ needs the Church of Laodicea to make a decision: a decision that can change their life.

Movement Two: CHRIST COUNSELS THE CHURCH

To help the Church of Laodicea make their decision, Christ begins to counsel them by giving them advice. What is the advice? “Come to me and buy what I am offering.” Jesus was the source of everything that they needed. They greatly underestimated Christ, paying Him lip service, lukewarm worship, token prayers. It was time they understood their poverty and Christ’s riches, which He would supply. They needed to put to death forever this repugnant self-reliance, and understand that He is the vine, that apart from Him, they were dead.

Revelation 3:18 asserts, “Therefore I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white robes to clothe yourself and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.” First, “Therefore I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich…” This is like the treasure hidden in the field, worth selling everything to obtain. This is the genuine spiritual wealth of salvation in Christ, the wealth of heavenly joy, the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s as if Jesus is telling the Church and us today, “I will give you real gold which will last for all eternity — gold that was refined by the fire of my suffering on the cross, the free gift of wealth in Me. You will be rich.”

Second, He counseled them to bring their nothingness, their nakedness, to Him. In return, He promised to clothe them with “…white robes to clothe yourself and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen….” This is a symbol of atonement, of the imputed righteousness of Jesus, given as a gift by faith in Christ. He wove a beautiful white robe of righteousness for the purpose of clothing our nakedness with it, using it to wipe away our sins.

Third, He counseled them to buy “…salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.” He is speaking of the gift of the eyesight of the soul, spiritual sight, which is genuine faith — the ability to see the spiritual world as it really is, things in the spiritual realm that they had never seen before. I imagine Jesus standing before the Church of Laodicea and saying, “I counsel you to bring your blindness and I will touch your eyes,” — like the man born blind in John 9. “I will touch your eyes and you will be able to see. You will behold the glory and holiness of God; God the King sitting on His throne; Me sitting at the right hand of God, interceding for you; your shameful condition as it really is; Me on the cross, having atoned for your sins; the empty tomb and My bodily resurrection; the coming wrath of God as it will be; your future glory of walking in the new heavens and earth; the present world and its terrible status under Satan’s dominion; people enslaved in sin. For the first time, you will see things as they truly are. You will see and flee to Christ; you will turn from darkness to light, and from lies to the truth.” Christ alone can give all these things and he is willing to give them to you and to our church if we make the decision to commit to his will. Once we commit to his will, we will no longer be naked but clothed with righteousness, and we will no longer be blind to his glory but will see before us the path in which he needs us to follow as a church.[2]

Movement Three: CHRIST PROMISES THOSE WHO OPEN THE DOOR

Look at Revelation 3:20, “Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.” This verse is used to seal the deal: it is the door of your heart and He wants to come in. If you will get up and open the door, He will come and live with you forever. But are you willing to open the door? Are we, as a church, willing to open the door to Jesus Christ?

This proclamation from Christ is openness to our faith, a desire to be open to Christ, to have him enter and live within us and within our church. Christ said to the church of Philadelphia, “Behold, I have set before you an open door which no one can shut.” But human tendency is to set before Jesus a closed door and challenge him to pry it open. No — open the door to Him. It is a heart response of love, of seeing that He is worthy of loving above all else, which should cause us not to challenge but to embrace what He is offering.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” The yoke is His kingly authority. Our response, our desire to open the door, to invite Him in, indicates that we desire for King Jesus to come in and rule our lives; we submit to His kingly authority, His just and loving rule; we declare our loyalty to Him. We are open to whatever he would do with us.

At this point, if the Church of Laodicea were around during the 1990s, it would probably be asking itself, “What Would Jesus Do?” Like the Church, we need to be asking ourselves the same question but alter it just a little bit. We should be asking, “WWJCD? What Would Jesus’ Church Do?” Would Jesus’ Church strive to keep its doors closed to those who want to know the love and grace of Christ? No. Would Jesus’ Church simply be just a building rather than the people? No. Would Jesus’ Church strive to remain lukewarm? No. Would Jesus’ Church simply offer ideas and not pursue them? No. Would Jesus’ Church refuse to grow in its mission, service, and works? No. Would Jesus’ Church seek to put down others, ignore people, push people away, cause conflict? No. Would Jesus’ Church be complacent with where it is and what it is doing? No.

Would Jesus’ Church overcome conflict with love and respect and understanding? Yes. Would Jesus’ Church do what it can every day to be more like Christ—living out his mission here on earth? Yes. Would Jesus’ Church find ways to grow faithfully and spiritually? Yes. Would Jesus’ Church be a place and space for sinners and saints alike? Yes. Would Jesus’ Church find ways to fulfill the needs and ideas of the people? Yes. Would Jesus’ Church do what it can to be on fire for him? Yes. Would Jesus’ Church be a church by which its cup runs over floweth with all that Christ was, is and always will be? Yes.

When we strive to be the church of Jesus, we will receive the promise proclaimed in Revelation 3:21, “To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” We will eat from the Tree of Life. We will receive a crown of life; protection from the second death; the hidden manna; a White Stone with a new name written on it; the authority to rule the nations; the morning star; white garments; the honor of having Christ confess our name before God the Father and the Holy Angels in Heaven. We will be made a pillar in the temple and will never leave it. We will have written on us the name of God, and the name of the New Jerusalem, and the name of Christ. If we want to be Jesus’ Church and do what he would do, then we must be willing to open the door when he knocks. When Jesus knocks on the door of our church, he is knocking at the heart of a church that seeks to do what he needs them to do. And what he needs us to do is not be lukewarm, sitting on a fence, praying that someone else will make the decision for us. He wants us to make decisions that helps make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. He wants us to make decisions that advance his kingdom on earth. He wants us to make decisions that keep our church here for generations to come.

Conclusion:

Revelation 3:19 is a timeless word to all genuine believers and to every church: “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.” Christ cherishes us as genuinely born-again people, too much to let us wander off. Hold on to this truth, because we all have lukewarm days, perhaps even weeks. But if Christ is active in our lives, He will come after us, draw us back to Him; He will rebuke and discipline us if we drift into this kind of coldness. Though it is a stern word of warning, it is truly a comfort to those who love Him. It proves that we are genuine children, people of his church. He will speak in a way to get our attention, sternly, perhaps even harshly, when we are sinning. He will not give us over. He does not want us to be a lukewarm church, but to be a church that is zealous and on fire for him.

As a church, we have to make decisions a lot. We make decisions when it comes to our finances. We make decisions when it comes to scheduling, cancelling, and rescheduling events and meetings. We make decisions on who is bringing what to the next dinner or where we are gathering for pizza. We make decisions on what to purchase. We make decisions on where we are going to sit. Could you imagine what kind of church we would be like if we didn’t make decisions? If we didn’t follow through on what is proposed? Could you imagine if we were constantly “lukewarm” and sitting on the fence?

As a church, it is our duty to make decisions that better the life of each congregant member, cater to the needs in the community, and find ways to share and live out the good news. As a church, it is not our duty to be lukewarm, but to be on fire for Christ. There will be moments in our church life where we appear to be lukewarm—praying that someone else make the decision or that the Pastor will decide and do everything for us. That is not who we are: we are a church that works together, walks together, and shares the good news with each other. To overcome the moments of being lukewarm in our church and life, we must allow Jesus to counsel us and to give us advice. We must pray, read and study the scriptures, listen to each other, communicate with each other, be involved in the church together, find ways to put our ideas into action, and to open the door when Jesus knocks. As a church we must find ways to not be lukewarm but to find ways to be the church that Jesus needs us to be.

In Junior High, every morning each grade would gather for a brief assembly to go over announcements and at the end of the announcements, the speaker would say, “Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.” The choice is ours when it comes to deciding what kind of church we want to be. Jesus knows what kind of church he wants us to be, but is that the church you want to be? I hope that we become the church that Jesus needs us to be, but the choice is yours. I pray that of the 35,000 decisions that you make each day, at least one them is a decision to be the church of Jesus Christ.

Let it be so…

Closing Prayer:

Dear God, we don’t want to be a lukewarm church or even a lukewarm disciple. O Lord, we want to be a church that is on fire for you, that makes decisions with you in mind, with you in our heart, and with you pushing us to find ways to become your church today and every day. We want to be a church that answers the door when you knock. In your Holy Name we pray. Amen.

 

Benediction:

The choice is yours. Do you want to be a lukewarm church or a church that is on fire for the Lord? May the decisions you make this week be blessed by the love and grace of Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you and keep you; May the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; and May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-26). In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit go forth finding ways to be the church God needs us to be. And all God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

 

[1] First, money: It was a powerful, wealthy center of finance, banking and commerce. Laodicea was strategically located in terms of commerce and trade. It stood at the junction of two important highways. There was an east-west road leading from Ephesus to the interior of Asia Minor, and then there was a north-south road going from Pergamum down to the Mediterranean Sea; those two roads crossed there at Laodicea.

Second, wool: Laodicea was famous for soft, glossy, black wool, which was woven into carpets and used for luxurious black clothing. This was a significant source of revenue.

Third, eye ointment or salve: Laodicea supplied a Phrygian ointment that was known throughout the Roman world. It was useful in curing certain eye diseases; people came from all over the world to get the eye treatment.

[2] Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with these words in Matthew 5:3: “Blessed are the poor in spirit [spiritual beggars — in Greek, “ptóchos,” meaning ‘have nothing’] — for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Bring this currency to Jesus and humbly lay it at His feet, He says “Buy, I will give you everything you need.”