3/23/05 Maundy Thursday Revelation 3:14-22
3/23/2005
Maundy Thursday
Text: Revelations 3:14-22
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
Tonight we conclude the Revelation sermon series on the 7 letters to the 7 congregations in Asia. It is my prayer that you have enjoyed hearing this series as much as I have in preparing it, for it is just further proof that God’s Words are timeless, for they speak as much to us today, just as they spoke to the people the letters were originally written to so long ago.
I do not know if you noticed, but each letter that we have looked at in our series has contained within that letter references to things, or events that that particular city was famous for or at least the people were familiar with. The letter to Laodicea is no different, so I want to spend some time describing the city and its surrounding area so you might get a better idea of what Christ was telling them in their letter.
Laodicea lay in the valley at the junction of the three major roads. It was a wealthy city, chief among the wealth were its flocks of sheep that produced a fine black wool. It also had a medical school, with two of its best known medications being ointments for the eyes and ears.
Because of its location Laodicea had to get their water from underground aqueducts that brought the water from springs 6 miles away. No heavy equipment, just plain old back breaking digging. Colossae, 10 miles to the East was known for it cold pure waters, while 6 miles to the north were hot mineral springs. It is said the water from those springs flowed across a wide plateau until they came to a mile wide escarpment near Laodicea where they fell over 300 feet to the valley floor. A spectacular sight I am sure, but the water was not worth drinking, for it was lukewarm and filled with an overabundance of minerals.
Knowing that, we can better understand why Christ had John write the theme verse of this letter. Revelation 3:16, “So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit, in Greek, “vomit”, you out of my mouth.”
You see, their experience with lukewarm water would give them a visual connection, with what Christ is telling them. They knew that the mineral water that was so abundant was not only lukewarm, but could make you sick, maybe even kill you. You drink some of it and you would vomit.
We can see why Christ used the analogy of water to describe their faith, but what is hard to understand is why he would rather see them have a cold or hot faith rather than a lukewarm faith. The hot faith I get, for that is better than a lukewarm faith. It means that someone is on fire for the Lord. But, for him to say that he would rather they had a cold faith than a lukewarm faith is a statement that is much harder to grasp, for if that is right, it appears that Christ would rather see a person with no faith than a lukewarm faith. That does not sound like any of the teachings of Jesus that I know. That must not be what Christ is talking about for the Holy Scriptures tell us that Jesus died for all people and that his desire is for all people to be saved, so this rather odd sounding statement must mean something else.
After much research, I have come to the conclusion that the focus of Christ’s statement is not on the coldness or the hotness of their faith, but on their being lukewarm, which simply means they were indifferent as far as their faith was concerned. In other words they were committing the sin of apathy. You know, where you really do not care one way or the other.
You see, apathy is a sin when a person or a congregation is indifferent to their faith for there is almost no hope for them. The reason that I say that is because being apathetic meant that they did not even know they were being indifferent to their faith.
They might have been doing all the right things one would expect a Christian congregation to do; worshiping, meeting together for fellowship, helping the needy, and so forth. But, there is a problem in their doing what I call church. That is all they are doing, for all their plans and hopes are solely self-centered. They are not reflecting God’s love and desire, but their own love and desire, and that is what got them into trouble.
That is why Jesus tells the congregation at Laodicea that he would prefer that they were cold for if they were cold to his Word there is still hope for them, for they might someday be willing to listen to his instruction. But in their present condition, because they do not have a clue of their condition they are on the verge of being lost. That is why he has to use such strong words, for he has to wake them up, get their attention so that they do not lose their faith.
To bring it to our times, I would say that being lukewarm then is how Jesus describes people who claim to be Christians but do not seem to care about loving God or their neighbor. They might go to church, but it is all about what I get out of it, and not about the true meaning of worship, the fellowship of believers. They might even find that Jesus and the Christian life for the most part is pretty boring. I am afraid that the fact that Jesus died on the cross and rose again so they might have eternal life really does not make any difference to them. It just is not relevant to their lives, so they really do not care whether anyone else hears the story of God’s love in Jesus, at least they do not care if they hear it from them.
It saddens me that some Christians feel that way about Jesus. It saddens me, but there is always hope, for God loves all people. For if he did not love us he would not have died for us. If he did not love us he would not have made us his children in Holy Baptism. If he did not love us, he would not invite us to pray, “Our Father in heaven.”
If he did not love us he would not be saying to us today just as he said to that Christian congregation so long ago, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
Some church bodies say that that particular text is talking about people accepting Christ, but in this text he is not knocking at the door of unbelievers, but at the door of believers. He is knocking at our door now as he calls each member of this congregation by name. Hear his words, “This is my body” and “This is my blood,” given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, including your sins of being cold or indifferent.
As we respond to Jesus’ knocking at the door of our hearts it is time to admit to ourselves and God our sinfulness and helplessness. It is time to recognize that left to ourselves there is nothing in us that makes us worthy of forgiveness, despite all the success we might have had in this life. It is time for us all to acknowledge that all we have and are, comes not from our own effort but from God and his mercy.
It is time for us to experience Christ’s presence in such a way that we will with all repentance and humbleness receive his body and blood. For surely God has given us the pure gold of salvation, the white garments of righteousness, and the pure eye salve that enables us to see clearly with our spiritual eye.
Let me close this evening with a quote from our beloved Martin Luther, “If now I seek the forgiveness of sins, I do not run to the cross, for I will not find it given there. But I will find in the sacrament or Gospel the word which distributes, presents, offers, and gives to me that forgiveness which was won on the Cross,” (AE 40:214).
For it is only in God’s free gift of forgiveness received in and through the Word and Sacraments that we can live out the commitment to which the first part of our text calls us to do; to not be lukewarm but to be hot with the love of our Lord. Amen
Maundy Thursday
Text: Revelations 3:14-22
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
Tonight we conclude the Revelation sermon series on the 7 letters to the 7 congregations in Asia. It is my prayer that you have enjoyed hearing this series as much as I have in preparing it, for it is just further proof that God’s Words are timeless, for they speak as much to us today, just as they spoke to the people the letters were originally written to so long ago.
I do not know if you noticed, but each letter that we have looked at in our series has contained within that letter references to things, or events that that particular city was famous for or at least the people were familiar with. The letter to Laodicea is no different, so I want to spend some time describing the city and its surrounding area so you might get a better idea of what Christ was telling them in their letter.
Laodicea lay in the valley at the junction of the three major roads. It was a wealthy city, chief among the wealth were its flocks of sheep that produced a fine black wool. It also had a medical school, with two of its best known medications being ointments for the eyes and ears.
Because of its location Laodicea had to get their water from underground aqueducts that brought the water from springs 6 miles away. No heavy equipment, just plain old back breaking digging. Colossae, 10 miles to the East was known for it cold pure waters, while 6 miles to the north were hot mineral springs. It is said the water from those springs flowed across a wide plateau until they came to a mile wide escarpment near Laodicea where they fell over 300 feet to the valley floor. A spectacular sight I am sure, but the water was not worth drinking, for it was lukewarm and filled with an overabundance of minerals.
Knowing that, we can better understand why Christ had John write the theme verse of this letter. Revelation 3:16, “So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit, in Greek, “vomit”, you out of my mouth.”
You see, their experience with lukewarm water would give them a visual connection, with what Christ is telling them. They knew that the mineral water that was so abundant was not only lukewarm, but could make you sick, maybe even kill you. You drink some of it and you would vomit.
We can see why Christ used the analogy of water to describe their faith, but what is hard to understand is why he would rather see them have a cold or hot faith rather than a lukewarm faith. The hot faith I get, for that is better than a lukewarm faith. It means that someone is on fire for the Lord. But, for him to say that he would rather they had a cold faith than a lukewarm faith is a statement that is much harder to grasp, for if that is right, it appears that Christ would rather see a person with no faith than a lukewarm faith. That does not sound like any of the teachings of Jesus that I know. That must not be what Christ is talking about for the Holy Scriptures tell us that Jesus died for all people and that his desire is for all people to be saved, so this rather odd sounding statement must mean something else.
After much research, I have come to the conclusion that the focus of Christ’s statement is not on the coldness or the hotness of their faith, but on their being lukewarm, which simply means they were indifferent as far as their faith was concerned. In other words they were committing the sin of apathy. You know, where you really do not care one way or the other.
You see, apathy is a sin when a person or a congregation is indifferent to their faith for there is almost no hope for them. The reason that I say that is because being apathetic meant that they did not even know they were being indifferent to their faith.
They might have been doing all the right things one would expect a Christian congregation to do; worshiping, meeting together for fellowship, helping the needy, and so forth. But, there is a problem in their doing what I call church. That is all they are doing, for all their plans and hopes are solely self-centered. They are not reflecting God’s love and desire, but their own love and desire, and that is what got them into trouble.
That is why Jesus tells the congregation at Laodicea that he would prefer that they were cold for if they were cold to his Word there is still hope for them, for they might someday be willing to listen to his instruction. But in their present condition, because they do not have a clue of their condition they are on the verge of being lost. That is why he has to use such strong words, for he has to wake them up, get their attention so that they do not lose their faith.
To bring it to our times, I would say that being lukewarm then is how Jesus describes people who claim to be Christians but do not seem to care about loving God or their neighbor. They might go to church, but it is all about what I get out of it, and not about the true meaning of worship, the fellowship of believers. They might even find that Jesus and the Christian life for the most part is pretty boring. I am afraid that the fact that Jesus died on the cross and rose again so they might have eternal life really does not make any difference to them. It just is not relevant to their lives, so they really do not care whether anyone else hears the story of God’s love in Jesus, at least they do not care if they hear it from them.
It saddens me that some Christians feel that way about Jesus. It saddens me, but there is always hope, for God loves all people. For if he did not love us he would not have died for us. If he did not love us he would not have made us his children in Holy Baptism. If he did not love us, he would not invite us to pray, “Our Father in heaven.”
If he did not love us he would not be saying to us today just as he said to that Christian congregation so long ago, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”
Some church bodies say that that particular text is talking about people accepting Christ, but in this text he is not knocking at the door of unbelievers, but at the door of believers. He is knocking at our door now as he calls each member of this congregation by name. Hear his words, “This is my body” and “This is my blood,” given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, including your sins of being cold or indifferent.
As we respond to Jesus’ knocking at the door of our hearts it is time to admit to ourselves and God our sinfulness and helplessness. It is time to recognize that left to ourselves there is nothing in us that makes us worthy of forgiveness, despite all the success we might have had in this life. It is time for us all to acknowledge that all we have and are, comes not from our own effort but from God and his mercy.
It is time for us to experience Christ’s presence in such a way that we will with all repentance and humbleness receive his body and blood. For surely God has given us the pure gold of salvation, the white garments of righteousness, and the pure eye salve that enables us to see clearly with our spiritual eye.
Let me close this evening with a quote from our beloved Martin Luther, “If now I seek the forgiveness of sins, I do not run to the cross, for I will not find it given there. But I will find in the sacrament or Gospel the word which distributes, presents, offers, and gives to me that forgiveness which was won on the Cross,” (AE 40:214).
For it is only in God’s free gift of forgiveness received in and through the Word and Sacraments that we can live out the commitment to which the first part of our text calls us to do; to not be lukewarm but to be hot with the love of our Lord. Amen
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 3:57 PM
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