Revelation 3:14-22

“He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says”

            Today is the seventh and final stop on our tour of churches. Over the past six weeks we have traveled over 250 miles visiting churches throughout Asia Minor. The Book of Revelation includes a separate letter addressed to each one of these churches. This morning, as we head to the city of Laodicea, we seem to end this sermon series on a somewhat sour note – literally. Jesus tells the church in Laodicea that they disgust him and that he wants to spit them out of his mouth. The church in Laodicea left a bad taste in Jesus’ mouth because, as we will hear him say, they were neither hot nor cold; they were lukewarm. In fact, that’s what we can go ahead a call them – “The Lukewarm Church.”

            What led to this apathetic spiritual condition? What made them “the church that didn’t care?” Jesus will answer those questions for us this morning and he will answer them in a very vivid way – perhaps more vividly than in any of the other letters that we have looked at. Jesus will use their city and the economy of their city and the natural resources around their city to illustrate what’s wrong with their priorities in and their outlook on life. Jesus will use the sharp, double-edged sword of his Word to cut deeply into their apathetic, take-everything-for-granted, self-reliant attitudes. He will use the pictures of gold, black wool, eye salve and water – things they saw and used everyday – to try to lead them to repentance. At the end of the letter we will see his motivation for speaking the way he does and we’ll consider the promises that he has for those who overcome.

            Once again, understanding the city will help us understand and apply the letter. The city of Laodicea was a wealthy city. It was a city known not only for its banks but also for its mint – where they made Roman currency. It was a city that was known for its deep, dark black wool that was used to make expensive clothing. It was a city that was known for its medical advancements – especially in the area of optometry. They had developed a special salve – a pasty combination of crushed rock and oil – that could be applied to the eyes to improve vision. The city had a lot going for it – but the city was also known for its bad water. It was undrinkable. It was full of deposits and minerals. It was discolored and had its own odor. Two neighboring cities, however, had excellent water. The city of Heiropolis was known for its hot springs – used for relaxing baths and to soothe sore muscles. The city of Colossi was known for its cold springs – which provided clear, refreshing drinking water.

            As we read this final letter – and as we ask one last time: what do the letters to the churches in Revelation reveal about us – perhaps the pictures that Jesus used to speak to the church in Laodicea will speak to us and warn us about sinful attitudes that would make Jesus want to spit us out of his mouth. As we read their letter, I pray that Jesus would encourage us to not only appreciate the material blessings that he has given us in this life but to also value the spiritual blessings that he gives us in Word and Sacrament. I pray that we will be encouraged to use all that he has given us – both his physical and his spiritual blessings – to help those who need our help. We read from Revelation chapter 3.

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 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. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

God has given us both ears to hear and the Spirit who speaks so let’s listen now to what the Spirit says not only 1.) to the church in Laodicea but also 2.) to the church here in Omaha. This letter – just as the other 6 letters were – is addressed to the angel, or the pastor, of the church. The pastor in Laodicea had his work cut out for him – primarily because he was the one who was responsible for letting things get this bad. In order for things to change in Laodicea, the pastor there was going to have to first apply Jesus’ words to himself and then, with the same full force, apply those very words to his congregation.

He has help, though. The message he proclaims is not his own. He speaks the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. He speaks the words of Jesus, the Lord of the Church. The words Jesus used to describe himself in his letter to the Laodiceans are in direct contrast to what he saw in the Laodiceans. He is the Amen – the “Yes, it shall be so,” the “I agree.” The Laodiceans were the “Whatever will be will be.” They were the “I don’t feel like agreeing now but maybe I will later.” Jesus is the faithful and true witness; the Laodiceans were no witness at all. Worse yet, any witness they did give gave no glory to God. Jesus is the ruler of God’s creation; the Laodiceans were self-reliant, self-confident and self-centered with the created things they that owned. With this description of himself – one that should have gotten the Laodiceans thinking about their attitudes and priorities in life – Jesus set the tone for the entire letter.

There is no word of praise in this letter – every other letter had at least a little word of praise. Even the dead church in Sardis had a word of praise from our Savior. To the church in Laodicea Jesus says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” At the thought of cold water the Laodiceans would have immediately looked due east to the city of Colossi and its refreshing cold springs. At the thought of hot water the Laodiceans would have looked due north to the city of Heiropolis and its medicinal hot springs. At the thought of stale, lukewarm water the Laodiceans would have looked at their own springs that they couldn’t even bear to drink out of.

The Laodiceans were not cold water – they were not offering the cool, crisp, refreshing water of the Word to those who were spiritually thirsty. The Laodiceans were not hot water – they were not offering the hot, soothing medicinal water of the Gospel to those who were aching spiritually. They were lukewarm – offering absolutely no spiritual help or care to anyone, including each other. They were not producing any fruit. They were lackadaisical, indifferent and disinterested when it came to their spiritual needs – and the spiritual needs of others. Jesus said, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’” Their wealth made them self-centered and self-reliant. Their wealth made them forget just how much they needed Jesus to be their Savior.

Listen to Jesus as he points that out to them. “But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” Jesus convicts them with the three things that their city prided itself on. They may have had the finest banks in the world but they were in serious financial trouble – spiritually speaking. They may have had the finest wool in the world but they were in danger of soiling the white robes of Christ’s righteousness that he had given them. They may have had the special eye salve for improving eye sight but they were going spiritually blind.

The letter to the church in Thyatira contained the longest rebuke. The letter to the church in Sardis contained the harshest rebuke. But the rebuke that Jesus has for the church in Laodicea is the most direct; it cuts the deepest; it stings the most. Why? Why did Jesus speak this way to these people? Verse 19, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.” Jesus wanted to do all that he could to keep himself from spitting these people out of his mouth. He dealt harshly with them because he loved them. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that “the Lord disciplines those he loves.” Jesus uses his law to lead people to see their sin and repent. He does so out of pure love and compassion. If God didn’t love us, he would leave us alone and allow us to destroy ourselves. But Peter writes, “The Lord is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Jesus had to speak harshly to these people because they were so apathetic. He had to knock some sense into them. He had to wake them up.

We don’t know if they ever did. We’d like to think that at least some of the Laodiceans repented. But what about us? What do the letters to the churches reveal about us? Each one of us needs to examine our own springs of water. What would the thermometer say? Has there been a good balance of hot and cold water flowing from our hearts of faith? Have we been encouraging and energizing and refreshing others in their lives of faith with the crisp, cold, living water of the Word? Have we been consoling and comforting and mending the poor in spirit with the warm, soothing, healing water of the Gospel? Or, have we, at times, been lukewarm? – Not all that interested in or concerned about the lives and spiritual needs of others, pretty much just content to keep to ourselves. Aren’t we being a bit lukewarm when our attitude toward church membership is one that is content and satisfied with coming to church on Sunday morning but beyond that people (and God) are expecting too much?

Jesus says to you and to me, “Be earnest and repent.” He holds out a comforting promise to those who do. “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.” In our apathy, we may tune out Jesus but in his love, he never stops calling out to us. Like a parent who stands patiently outside the bedroom door of his teenager who is trying to shut him out, lovingly knocking on the door and waiting for just the right time to enter so that he can come in and love up his child, Jesus waits on us. He stands ready to embrace us with his forgiveness. He stands ready to comfort us with his peace. He stands ready to assure us of our future in heaven.

Notice how he did that in his letter to the Laodiceans. “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” Jesus didn’t remain in his state of humiliation forever. Yes, he became a man. Yes, he obeyed the law. Yes, he suffered death and hell to pay for our sin. But when he accomplished the work that his Father sent him to do, his Father did not abandon his Holy One, his Son, to the grave. He raised him from the dead and exalted him above all things. He now rules all things as he sits at his Father’s right hand. We won’t remain on this earth forever. Sin will not always control us. Sickness will not always infect us. Unbelievers will not always tempt us. We will sit on Christ’s throne with him where, as John writes in the final chapter of Revelation, “we shall reign forever and ever.”