Dear Sardis | Dear Church | Trinity Sermons

Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of

Trinity Sermons. This week we are continuing

our sermon series called Dear Church, where we're

looking at the letters written by Christ to the

churches in the book of Revelation. How do you

know if you're really alive? Are you breathing?

Are you moving? Are you growing? Those are all

pretty good signs, but how do we know if a church

is alive? The church in Sardis had a reputation

for being alive, but when Jesus looked at it,

he says, you are really dead. So listen in as

Rob talks to us about what it means to take the

pulse of a church. Our readings for today are

from the book of Revelation, beginning with chapter

1, verses 4 and 5, and chapter 2, verses 1 to

7. John to the seven churches in the province

of Asia. Grace and peace to you from him who

is, and who was, and who is to come, and from

the seven spirits before his throne, and from

Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the

firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the

kings of the earth. To the angel of the church

in Sardis write, These are the words of him who

holds the seven spirits of God and the seven

stars. You have a reputation of being alive,

but you're dead. Wake up, strengthen what remains

and is about to die, for I have found your deeds

unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember,

therefore, what you have received and heard.

Hold it fast and repent. But if you do not wake

up, I will come like a thief, and you will not

know at what time I will come to you. Yet you

have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled

their clothes. They will walk with me dressed

in white for they are worthy. The one who is

victorious will, like them, be dressed in white.

I will never blot out the name of that person

from the book of life, but will acknowledge that

name before my father and his angels. Whoever

has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says

to the churches. The word of the Lord. That was

the famous Monty Python sketch about the dead

parrot, and we laugh on it because it's kind

of absurd to imagine somebody who is selling

a dead parrot and passing it off as a live one,

and yet there is a bit of spiritual truth to

that, isn't there? Because is it possible for

our faith to be dead, and yet we pretend otherwise?

Actually, is it possible for a church to be spiritually

lifeless and yet convince itself? that everything

is absolutely fine, all right? Is it possible

that we sometimes say, oh, no, no, no, my faith

is just fine. I'm just resting, right? Or a church

that says, no, no, no, we're not a dying church.

Well, look, oh, see, look, we just moved, right?

We did an activity. We had a program. We ran

an event. See, we're not dead. And actually,

look at our church. Look at the beautiful plumage

of our church, right? The beautiful building.

the beautiful worship space, the beautiful technology.

But sometimes that which looks alive is actually

spiritually lifeless. A person or a church could

have all the feathers in place, could have all

the right looks, all the right programs, all

the right activities, all the right staff, and

still have no heartbeat. It could just be sitting

there, nailed to the perch. And I don't know

about you, but sometimes I walk around and I

look at buildings that were once churches and

now they're yoga studios or now they're condos.

And at one point, a spiritually dead church became

a really dead church. And now they're not a church

anymore. And sometimes I wonder, well, what happened

to that church? You know, why did it die? What

happened to the people that were in that church?

Well, we are in the middle of a teaching series,

which we are calling Dear Church. And what we're

doing is looking at these ancient letters that

were written to real churches like 2 ,000 years

ago in Asia Minor to kind of see what we can

learn from those letters. And I want to just

do a little bit of an activity with you just

to see how well you've been paying attention

over the past four weeks. Here, Polly, let's

just set you right there. Let's just set you

right there. Okay, good bird. All right, good.

So I wonder if you can help match the description

with the church. So do you guys remember which

of the churches was described as a church that

had lost its first love? Anyone remember? Ephesus.

That's right, Ephesus. Which of the churches

did we discover had the phone call was coming

from inside the building, that it was corrupted

from the inside? Does anyone remember? Thyatira,

good. And which was the church that was suffering

horrible, horrible persecution? Yep, Smyrna.

And that means that the other church we talked

about, the Trojan horse that had been kind of

compromised from the outside, was the church

in Pergamos. Today, we're going to look at a

different church. It's the church in the city

of Sardis. And Sardis was one of the oldest and

most prestigious cities in Asia Minor, blah,

blah, blah. We said that about all the churches.

I'm not going to go into all the details about

that church. But what I do want to say is that

by the time the letter in Revelation was written

to this church, it was a church that was living

on its reputation. and not its reality anymore.

The church within the city used to be lively

and vibrant and had like this great reputation.

But now Jesus says it has a different reality.

And he begins his letter by saying this. He says,

listen, Sardis, I know your deeds. You have a

reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Or if John Cleese had written this, he would

say, listen, Sardis, I know you have a reputation

of being alive, but you have passed on. You have

ceased to be, right? You're an ex -church. he

would say. And maybe that church at one point

was a very, very busy church and it was full

of all sorts of activity and it had great plumage

and wonderful facilities and wonderful things

going on. It looked good from the outside, but

they were a dead church. They were an ex -church.

Jesus has always been able to see through the

exterior to see what's really going on on the

inside. In fact, I love that exchange he had

when he was talking to the Pharisees and he compared

the Pharisees. He said they were whitewashed

tombs as if they looked really good on the outside.

Oh, white and shiny. But on the inside, they

were dead. On the inside, they were just filled

with the bones of the dead. And there is a name

for that, by the way. There's a name for when

something has the name of Christianity, but doesn't

have the life of Christianity. When something

has the name of Jesus, but doesn't have or contain

the life of Jesus. And we call that nominal Christianity.

It means you're a Christian, but really in name

only. And nominal Christianity is so, so, so

deadly. Because so many people have walked away

from the church. Because they met someone who,

though they claimed to be a follower of Jesus,

did not have within them anything close to the

life of Jesus. They had the name, but they didn't

have the life. John Stott once wrote, he said,

the church is not a building to be filled with

people, but it is a people to be filled with

God. Sardis had the building. They probably had

the building filled with people, but there was

no God in them, right? There they were. If they

weren't nailed to the perch, they would have

been pushing up the daisies, as it says. So I

was just thinking about this, and you guys will

remember that a few months ago, We had an AED

installed out here in our lobby. This is in case

somebody ever has a cardiac arrest here at Trinity.

We can hopefully be able to revive them. But

this is a very smart AED. Before it will administer

a shock to anyone, it first does a test to see

if they're really dead. It actually tests and

says, is there a heartbeat? Is there a pulse?

And if there is, it will not administer a shock.

It knows if someone's alive. How do you know

if a church is alive? How do you know if a Christian

is alive? Well, I want to suggest to you today

that just like the AED, there'll be a pulse,

a P -U -L -S -E, right? And in this letter, I

think what Jesus is trying to do is he's trying

to shock this Sardinian church back to life.

and remind them of what a fully alive church

really looks like. And I'm going to call it,

you know, Pulse, P -U -L -E -C, because I think

there's probably five things here. And I've given

you little sermon notes that you can follow along

if you want to track with me. Let's start with

the first one. How do you know if a church is

alive? Well, the first thing to ask is, is the

church paying attention? I mean, when you find

someone who has like, you know, passed out on

the ground, what is the first thing you do? You

try to wake them up. You try to see if they're

okay. You might be like, hey, hey, are you okay,

sir? What's going on? You give them a shake.

You'd shout, hey, wake up. Are you awake? And

that's the very first thing Jesus does in this

letter to the church in Sardis. He says, wake

up. Are you paying attention? Are you there?

Right? If he had a flashlight, he'd probably

like shine it in his eyes. Are you with me? Are

you? Because a living church is a church that

is awake and is alert to what is going on around

them. You know, it's very interesting, the history

of Sardis. It was actually a very strong city

because it was defended in such a way that there

was cliffs and mountains and all this stuff.

And enemies could not really get inside Sardis.

It was so well defended. But twice in its history,

it was conquered. And both times, it's funny,

it was because the guards fell asleep. That the

watchmen stopped keeping watch and they just

dozed off. And the church inside Sardis apparently

had done the same thing. They had just slowly

kind of fallen asleep over time. They got so

comfortable in their religion. They got so secure

in their reputation that the culture just crept

in and they dozed off. And so Jesus is saying,

hey, hey, hey, wake up. Are you with me? Pay

attention. Polly Parrot, wake up, wake up, wake

up, right? And I think that if Jesus were to

say something about the church today, he might

say the very same thing. He might say the church

is kind of falling asleep. We've stopped paying

attention to what... Maybe God is calling us

to do what God is doing in here, but maybe we've

also stopped paying attention to what is happening

out in the world. Have we insulated ourselves

from what is going on in the world? You know,

R .T. Kendall, he once wrote this. He said, the

greatest evidence that we are asleep is our lack

of outrage. over what is tolerated in the church

and what is going on in the world. Not only are

we indifferent to what's happening before our

eyes, but we become so used to it that we are

virtually impervious to it, right? It's a sobering

diagnosis. So let's apply it to Trinity. Trinity,

are we awake? Are we just going through the motions

here on a Sunday morning? Are we just going through

the motions week by week? Or are we awake and

aware of God's presence? Are we aware of God's

activity? Are we paying attention to the needs

of the world that are out there? Or have we become

just like Sardis? We're comfortable, secure,

and now we're asleep at our posts. So that's

the first sign of a church. It's alive. is awake

right it's paying attention the second test though

is is the church using the spirit's power now

at the beginning of this this letter jesus says

to to the sardinians he says remember what it

is you have received he says now it's interesting

question what have you received well when the

very first chart church was kicked off on the

day of pentecost what did they receive They received

the power of the Holy Spirit. And every church's

life. depends on the ongoing power of the Holy

Spirit. In fact, at the end of each and every

one of the letters that Jesus writes to these

churches, he says, listen to what the Spirit

is saying to the churches, right? The power of

a church does not come from our great programs,

does not come from our history or our reputation

or a pastor. Our life comes from the Spirit.

And if you want to think of it this way, imagine

again, there's this person who has collapsed.

What are you going to do? How are you going to

see if they are awake? Well, the one thing you're

going to do is you're going to put your head

down there and you're going to listen. You're

going to say, oh my gosh, are they breathing?

Because we know that breath is a sign of life.

Well, I don't know if you know this, but in Hebrew

and in Greek, the word for breath is the very

same word for spirit. So therefore, if you have

no spirit in you, then you have no breath in

you, and then you have no life in you. A person

dies when their spirit leaves their body. A church

dies when the spirit leaves the body of the church.

Right? I don't know. Maybe this parrot here has

died. Why? Because there's no breath in it. And

the church ceases to be when there's no breath,

when there's no spirit, and when there's no life.

You know, all through the Bible, people were

petrified about losing the spirit of God. Because

they knew to lose the Spirit was death. David

says, God, please don't take your Spirit away

from me. Several times Paul says, hey, don't

grieve the Spirit. Don't quench the Spirit. Don't

resist the Spirit. Why all the worry? Why all

the concern about losing the Holy Spirit? Because

they knew. To lose the Spirit of God is to die.

And when people grieve the Holy Spirit, or they

quench the Holy Spirit, or they resist the Holy

Spirit, then yes, the church may keep going on

its own power. It may have a beautiful building

and beautiful plumage and all that good stuff,

but it will be lifeless. It'll just be nailed

to the perch. I love this quote from John Stott.

We administer great projects and create impressive

committees, but we often leave the Holy Spirit

out. He's rightly been called the forgotten member

of the Trinity. Only when the church of Christ

is filled with the spirit of Christ can spiritual

death be banished and a name for life have any

reality behind it. Guys, every single one of

us was born into this family of God by the spirit.

And every single one of us must continue in that

family by the Spirit. And a church dies when

the Spirit of God is no longer allowed to control

us, to control this church. I wanted to say that

I think one of the ways you can tell if a church

is spiritually alive, just one way, there's lots

of ways, but might be their worship. And when

I say worship, I'm not talking about a certain

style of worship, but I'm talking about the aliveness

of worship. When a congregation sings, do they

glorify God with passion? Are they praying with

expectancy? Do they worship as if God was present

with them that morning? In John chapter 16, Jesus

John 16 · chapter mention

tells us that the Spirit's job is actually to

glorify Jesus. And then Jesus himself says that

those who worship me must worship me in spirit

and in truth. So let's just ask the question

again, Trinity. Are we using the Spirit's power

here at this church? Or are we relying on our

own strength? What about you as you go through

life? Are you... You know, are you depending

on God's power or are you just pushing through

on your own power? Are we worshiping in spirit?

Are we worshiping in truth? Or are we just going

through the motions, a ritual without breath?

Okay, the difference is the difference between

a dead church and a living church. So is the

church paying attention? Secondly, is the church

using the spirit's power? Thirdly, is the church

living on the word? If breath is a sign of life,

then food is also a sign of life. You could be

breathing, I suppose. But if you are not eating,

then you will languish and you will waste away.

And spiritually, the same is true. The word of

God is our... spiritual food. It's what we eat.

It's what we need to live. And that is why Jesus

says to the church in Sardis, he says, remember

what you have heard and hold it fast. Now, Throughout

the book of Revelation, that phrase, hold it

fast, comes up again and again and again. And

every time it comes up, it has something to do

with holding on to the scriptures, holding on

to the word of God, right? Blessed are those

who hold fast to what is written. You have held

fast to my word. Hold fast to my commandments.

Hold fast to the words of the prophecy. To hold

fast doesn't just mean that you admire the Bible

or admire the scriptures. It means you obey it.

It means... It means that you live it. It means

that it is your food. The food of the church

is God's word. And if we stop feeding on it,

we start dying. Doctors know this. Doctors know

that if someone stops eating, they'll become

malnourished. Their body will become weak and

frail. And when God's people stop eating the

word of God, stop consuming that, we too, this

body will become frail. I mean, maybe that's

what happened to this parrot here. Maybe it actually

didn't just stop breathing, but it stopped eating.

And that's why it wasted away. A church can look

alive. It can still run programs. Beautiful plumage.

But it can be starving on the inside without

God's word. I think many churches are languishing

today because they've been told, That the Bible

isn't relevant. And now they're emaciated. They're

skin and bones. There's no meat on their bones

at all. And yet Jesus knew that man cannot live

by bread alone. But by every word that comes

from the mouth of God. So I want to ask again

to you. This is the application part. Are you

feeding on God's word? If here at Trinity, we

as people ever stop reading God's word in our

own daily lives, if we ever stop studying it

in our life groups week by week, and if we ever

stop preaching about it from up here on the platform

week in and week out, then we too will begin

a slow, slow death. Because if you quit eating,

you quit living. A fourth question to ask to

see if a church has a pulse is this. Is the church

supporting each other? Because just as food is

essential to life, so is fellowship. You can

be really well fed, but if you are alone, you'll

wither away. That's why Jesus, in this letter,

he actually looks at the church of Sardis and

he commends a small group of them that are remaining

faithful. A group that are supporting each other.

A group that are trying to hang on. There's a

few of you who have not yet soiled your clothes.

This supportive community Jesus sees in there

is a vital sign of the church in Sardis. It's

this tiny little heartbeat that's maybe still

going on in this mostly dead church. A group

of people who stuck together and supported each

other. And you guys know that more and more we

hear research about how isolation and loneliness

can just... It kills people. When people are

cut off from relationships, they're more likely

to get sick. They're more likely to die at a

young age. And the same is... True spiritually,

if a Christian gets cut off from the life of

the community, then you become weak and you become

vulnerable and you become discouraged. And a

church that is full of people who say, I'm just

going to go it alone. I just do my own thing.

I'm not into that community stuff. That kind

of church will decline and will die. In fact,

this week I read about an elderly man who had

collapsed, who fell down, had a fall in his apartment.

And he wasn't found until days later and he was

dehydrated and he was weak and frail and he was

near death. And it made me think of another time

when I was at another church. I remember during

the service, an elderly man collapsed in the

middle of the service. Only for him, you know

what happened? Dozens of people rushed to his

aid. They gather around him. They started praying

for him. They started caring for him. They started

showing great concern for him. And he survived.

And he didn't survive just because of the medical

care. He survived because he wasn't alone. Right?

That's the difference. One man was isolated.

The other was surrounded. One was cut off and

the other was supported. That is what Jesus is

pointing to. In Sardis, right? That there is

still this faithful few and they're holding on

together. Community can be the difference between

life and death. I mean, maybe that's what, again,

maybe that's what happened to this old parrot

here. The Norwegian blue. I mean, it's stuck

in a cage all alone its whole life, right? Parrots

are social animals. They're meant to flock around

together, to fly and squawk with each other.

It's not natural for them to be alone. It's not

natural for Christians to be alone either. So

God never meant for us to live the life of faith

alone. Supportive community is a sign of life.

Bible, I'm not even going to begin, but just

look, right? Encourage one another, bear one

another, spur one another, love one another,

serve one another, forgive one another. So here's

the question. Is the church a place where people

are... Truly feeling supported by each other.

Do we encourage one another? Pray. Stay faithful

together. Or are we just like a bunch of parrots

in our own little cages, looking out from the

inside, slowly dying? All right. If paying attention

is necessary for life, and so is breath, and

so is food, and so is community, then this is

the last one. Hope for the future. A church that

is alive, A Christian person who is alive is

one who is expectant about the future. Jesus

says to the church in Sardis, he says, listen,

the one who's victorious, one day they're going

to be dressed in white, and one day I'm going

to acknowledge their name before the Father,

and one day they're going to find their name

written in the book of life, and one day angels,

and one day heaven, and one day this, and one

day that. What is all this about? Jesus is simply

trying to give them a future to look forward

to. Eternal life. Victory over death and our

enemies, his own return. What a glorious future,

right? Dostoevsky wrote that if you lose hope,

then you cease to live. A living church is always

looking to the future with expectancy and hope

and vision. Doctors and psychologists will also

tell you that if people don't have hope for the

future, then they don't. They don't fare well.

They languish. They suffer. Viktor Frankl, you

remember Viktor Frankl? He was a survivor from

the Second World War, from a concentration camp.

And he noticed that those who he was with, who

lost hope in the concentration camps, they soon

lost their will to live. And that is true with

a church. When a church has no vision for the

future, no expectancy, no hope beyond the present,

it withers. And again, I look to this parrot.

Maybe that's what did him in. right? He just

couldn't imagine a future beyond his cage. So

depressing, right? His hope died and his life

followed. As the proverb says, where there is

no vision, the people perish. So let's ask. Again,

do we have an expectancy? Do you have an expectancy

about the future? Do you look forward to what

Jesus has yet to do in your life? What Jesus

has yet to do in the life of this church? Because

I'll tell you, if you are sick, you can endure

that sickness. If you know that one day you'll

have a resurrection body and there will be no

more sickness. If you're weighed down with your

sins, you can endure that. Because you know that

Jesus has forgiven you of your sins and there

is hope for you in the future to be with him

forever. And if you are suffering, you can endure

that. If you know that Christ one day will return

and will make all things. New. Hope is not like

naive optimism. It's not wishful thinking. It's

this deep conviction that God is not done with

you yet. That God is not done with us yet. And

a dying church is a church that is always looking

backward, nailed to the perch. A living church

is one that is looking forward, flying forward

with hope and expectancy about the future. The

best is yet to come. Which will you be? And which

will we be? Jesus' words, they're blunt. You've

got a reputation of being alive, but you're dead.

Stone dead. That's a tragic diagnosis for any

church or for any Christian. But there can be

a pulse. Again, how? By paying attention to what's

going on around us. By using the Spirit's power,

not coasting on our own strength. By living...

On the word, by supporting each other and being

expectant about the future. These are the vital

signs. This is the pulse of a living church.

Guys, the church, the world does not need more

churches with good reputations, but no pulse.

The world doesn't need stuffed parrots nailed

to a perch. The world needs fully awake, spirit

-driven, word -centered, community -minded, and

hope -filled Christians. So let's wake up. Let's

breathe deeply. Let's love each other. So that

one day, when our own pulse gets checked by Jesus,

we will be found very much alive. Thanks be to

God. Amen.