Wednesday Bible Study: The seven churches part five

 

Rev 3:1  "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. "'I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 

Rev 3:2  Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 

Rev 3:3  Then remember how you received and heard, and keep, and repent. If, then, you do not watch, I will come upon you like a thief and you will not at all know what hour I come upon you. 

Rev 3:4  Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 

Rev 3:5  The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 

Rev 3:6  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' 

As per my usual, I did a lot of studying on the city of Sardis, and a lot of digesting commentators, to share this lesson.  And I found out I really didn't need to.

The commentators compare this lettered church to the 16th century on Protestant mainline- just as politically motivated and void of substance as the Catholic structure they had escaped.  They draw the comparison to what happened to Sardis itself way back in 547 BC.  You see, the city's army had been defeated in the field by the Persian overlord Cyrus; but the city itself was near impregnable, high on a mountain.  It got to a point Cyrus offered a bounty to anyone who could show him the secret way in and out that kept the city supplied.  One night, a dimwitted Sardian soldier dropped his helmet over the side.  Instead of yelling, "Hey Dimitrius, gimme a new lid!", he snuck down the secret path to retrieve it- in full view of a Persian soldier about to get very rich.  Thing was, even after this defeat, they still prided themselves on being unassailable- despite the fact the Romans did almost the same thing to them some 400 years later.

So I am seeing a church that thinks it's one thing when it's really another.  And knowing we're coming up on Laodicea, which is another example of the same thing, I wondered, "Then what's the difference?"

And God told me:  The difference is, Sardis as a church- and an example- is DEAD.  No hope, no escape, except for some individuals.  What makes them dead?  Better question, what makes one ALIVE.

For one thing, you need to be breathing.  The breath of a church is the Holy Spirit, and they were no longer drawing Him in.  No inspiration, no gifts, just another business.  Slap the name of Jesus Christ on us, and we're impregnable.  Until you're not.

Another sign of life is being able to consume- to eat.  Our food is the Word, the Word is the Bible.  They weren't reading the Scriptures, or the Letters.  Oh, they had them- just like I used to, in the back window of my car, for easy take out every Sunday, and sitting in the sun untouched the rest of the week.

Another, the ability to reproduce themselves.  Like Ephesus, they were NOT making new believers.  Heck, they barely believed themselves.

Finally, an ability to move, to work for the benefit of the organism.  When they went to church, they didn't serve, they didn't pray.  They just sat there, did their minimum to "get credit", and left.

Oh, and one more: The unique aspect of personality, of self-awareness.  There was already three temples for Caesar-worship, along with the largest Jewish synagogue on the planet at the time.  Don't like us?  Plenty of other birds out there.

So next question:  Why was Jesus even bothering with them?  Because, hidden in the carcass, were some who were still alive, still doing their part.  One of them was the Bishop Melito, a second-generation disciple of John, who even wrote to Marcus Aurelius as an equal.  He, more than most, raised the banner of celebrating Easter at the same time as the Jewish Passover.  That he lost this battle to Rome, who wanted the floating Sunday, shows that Sardis wasn't the only place where faith was dying out.  But for every Melito was a basilica full of "butts in the pews" looking at their watches to see how close to kickoff it was.

There is a key word in v3 that the ESV missed (and so I inserted the Literal Translation there)-  "...remember HOW you received and heard..."  This made me think of the words of Jesus:

Mat 13:20  And that sown on the stony places is this: the one hearing the Word, and immediately receiving it with joy, 

Mat 13:21  but has no root in himself, but is temporary, and tribulation, or persecution occurring because of the Word, he is at once offended. 

They had gladly received the Word long ago; but somehow, it never went deep.  They never kept the JOY of it!  "Aren't you worried about missing out on Heaven?" "Certainly not!  We are impregnable; Nothing can harm us."  Which reminds me of another Parable...

Luk 12:16  And He spoke a parable to them, saying, A certain rich man produced well from the land. 

Luk 12:17  And he reasoned within himself, saying, What may I do, for I have nowhere I may gather my fruits? 

Luk 12:18  And he said, I will do this; I will tear down my barns and I will build larger; and I will gather there all my produce and my goods. 

Luk 12:19  And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take rest, eat, drink, and be glad. 

Luk 12:20  But God said to him, Fool! This night they demand your soul from you; and that which you prepared, to whom will it be? 

And night had fallen in Sardis.

So in the end, which modern day church is this?  None of them, and all of them.  My sister still goes to Catholic church, despite seeing things as I do.  I once asked her why, and she said along the lines of, "I just say my prayers and don't worry about the other stuff (i.e. Mary, the doctrines, etc)."  Another person stands in the balcony on Saturday night service, the better to sneak out during the Eucharist instead of staying to the finish.  This then is the church of are YOU paying attention?  Do you really care?  In the end, they actually were what they said they were- impregnable.  And thus, Jesus could not get in.