Letter to Sardis: Wake Up

It's my pleasure to be preaching this morning. We're continuing right along in our sermon series through the seven letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation.

We're looking at the anti-penultimate letter. I love that word, anti-penultimate. The third to last. It's a great word.

The third to last church, the letter to the church in Sardis.

And I want to begin this morning with a story that may or may not be based on a true story.

It is a story about a mother who's struggling trying to get her son excited and motivated to go to church.

So this mother goes into her son's bedroom, as she often does, and she's expecting him to be asleep and not motivated to go to church.

And so she says his name. She calls his name and she says, son, wake up. It's time to go to church.

And she can tell he's stirring, that he really is awake, but he's pretending to be asleep.

So she leaves. A few minutes later, she comes back in and instead of just saying his name, she shakes him gently and says, son, it's time to wake up.

It's time to go to church. And he opens his eyes, you know, when people are faking like they were asleep.

And he says, look, mom, I'm just, I'm not going to go to church.

In fact, I'm definitely not going to go to church this Sunday.

And she says, well, can you tell me why not this time?

And he says, okay, mom, I'll give you three reasons.

One, church is boring. Two, the people there don't like me.

And three, I don't like them.

And his mother gently replied, well, I'll give you three reasons why you are going to church this Sunday.

One, you're 49 years old.

Two, you're the pastor.

And three, you're preaching this morning.

So I don't know if any of you can relate to this pastor who struggles getting motivated to go to church in the morning.

Sometimes I feel that way.

Not this morning, though.

And I want to look at the situation in Sardis.

And I want to consider for a moment together why it is that Christians go to church every week.

Why we go to church every Sunday.

Why should we go to church every Sunday?

And why do we need to?

I think this letter to Sardis teaches us that we go to church to wake up.

Let's pray together.

Our Father, with this brief time we have together, I pray that you would wake us up by your spirit.

That we would come alive to the things of your son.

That we would come fully alive to the life that you've invited us into.

And being sent on mission into the kingdom.

So as we've gathered together, Lord, would you renew us and send us out.

We pray these things in Christ's name.

Amen.

So a little background to the city of Sardis.

Sardis is a city at the time that this letter was written.

Whose greatest days were behind it.

It was once the proud capital of the western portion of the Persian Empire.

And it was a hub for the trafficking of goods and ideas.

It was this center of exchange culturally and economically between Mesopotamia and the Greek world.

But it was a city that fell asleep during the night watch.

And thieves came in and took over.

In 334 BC, Alexander the Great and the Greeks took over the city.

And then some 201 years later, the Romans took over.

And a few decades before this letter was written.

Before John wrote the letter to the church in Sardis.

In the year 17, there was a massive earthquake in Asia Minor.

And the city of Sardis suffered the worst.

The city sort of imploded on itself.

And so it took decades to rebuild.

And in many ways, it was a city with a rich past.

But a really uncertain future.

Perhaps this is the background that John's appealing to as he writes this letter.

He doesn't give us a lot to go on.

We're not exactly sure why the church is struggling the way it is.

John doesn't really care to tell us.

Unlike some of the previous churches that we've looked at,

this church doesn't seem to be suffering,

or at least the greatest threat to the church,

isn't external persecution from the Jewish community in the town

or from the Roman government.

The greatest threat seems to be an internal one.

A problem internal to itself, not something external.

So what is the problem in the city of Sardis?

What is the problem with the church?

Well, unlike other letters,

Jesus doesn't sort of give an affirmation.

He doesn't say,

this is something you're doing really well.

He comes out of the gate swinging in this letter.

And he says in verse 2,

I know your works.

You have the reputation of being alive.

You have the reputation of being alive.

But you are, in fact, dead.

The Christians in Sardis,

they had an excellent reputation.

Because of their past faithfulness,

because of the things that they had done in the past,

when people saw them,

when they thought of them,

when their names were mentioned,

it conjured up good things,

faithful things.

Things came to mind like,

they're a really faithful community in that city.

Those people really love Jesus.

They're making a difference.

They're making an impact in their city.

They had a great resume of past faithfulness,

but they're mostly driving on fumes.

That's what Jesus is telling us in this letter.

You know, the church may have even been doing

some of the same things that they had always done.

They might have been going through the same motions,

regularly serving,

giving of their time and their talents and their treasure,

going to their equivalent,

whatever that would have been,

of core groups or triads,

doing the things,

the types of things,

the behaviors that normally indicate

and constitute a living faith.

On the outside,

they looked alive,

but on the inside,

they were spiritually dead.

They were a people who were there,

but they weren't really there.

They showed up on Sundays,

but they weren't really present.

They looked alive,

but they were dead.

They were a people who were spiritually asleep.

And so Jesus is writing to them and saying,

wake up.

It's interesting that Jesus describes the problem

as people walking around with soiled garments.

Every letter we have,

pretty much every passage in Revelation,

we should expect something strange

to sort of draw us deeper into the passage.

So what's this soiled garments language all about?

Well,

I think he's probably referring to portions of the Torah,

the very beginning of the Bible,

the first five books of the scriptures,

which indicate that anything that comes into contact

with the dead body

automatically becomes defiled or unclean or soiled.

So anything that touches a dead body,

whether that's another person

or whether that's clothing,

is by virtue of touching it,

soiled,

and it needs to be purified.

Jesus isn't entirely negative in this letter.

There is some comfort here.

He says that not everybody in the city of Sardis

is spiritually dead.

Not everybody is walking around in soiled garments,

but many are,

probably most people in this community are.

Jesus gives us a powerful layering of images.

He says,

Sardis,

you look alive,

but you're really dead.

You're walking around,

you're doing stuff,

but you're sleepwalking.

You're sleep.

You're walking around asleep

with your eyes wide open

and you need to wake up.

So what is the real problem here?

Well,

I think you could say

that the core issue

with the church in Sardis

is that the church is lacking integrity.

The Christians in Sardis,

they're a church that's lacking integrity.

What do I mean by integrity?

By integrity,

I mean by lacking integrity,

I mean that their outside

is inconsistent with the inside.

Their outer lives

do not match their inner lives,

their convictions,

the things that they claim to be about

and the things that they claim to believe.

The things that they actually say,

the things that they actually think,

the things that they actually do

just don't align with the things

that they profess to believe about Jesus.

I won't ask the rhetorical question this morning

if that state of affairs applies to you

because it just does.

All of us are Christians

who are lacking in integrity.

It's true of me.

It's true of you.

The things that we claim to believe

don't align with the things we say

and we think

and we do every week,

every day.

And that's why,

if you've ever wondered,

this is why we confess our sins.

We do it every day

and we do it every week

when we come together.

It's because we're so easily

falling out of alignment.

We're prone to wander.

And this being prone to wander

doesn't necessarily mean

or make us bad Christians.

It just means that each one of us

is a work in progress.

We're all on a journey

and we have yet to arrive.

And on this journey,

we require routine maintenance.

And the journey is not a safe journey.

The journey is fraught with danger.

Each week,

we're assaulted by the world

and by the flesh and the devil,

the enemies of our souls.

And sometimes,

this assault isn't obvious.

And I think that's probably

what was going on

in the city of Sardis.

We don't know.

It's not necessarily clear.

It's not a full frontal assault.

It's a sneaky one.

It's subversive.

Instead of being knocked over the head,

we're lulled to sleep.

This idea of being lulled to sleep

reminds me of one of the scenes

in C.S. Lewis'

The Silver Chair.

This is part of the Chronicles of Narnia.

Narnia,

probably one of the more

underappreciated stories

in the Chronicles of Narnia.

All the main characters

are in this scene.

You have Prince Rillian,

you have Jill Pole,

Eustace Scrub,

and Puddleglum,

the Marsh Wiggle.

And they had just

rescued Prince Rillian

from the enchantment

of the Queen of Underland.

They basically saved him.

That was part of their mission.

And he came awake.

The spell was taken off.

And right after they broke the spell

and he destroys the Silver Chair,

the Queen,

the evil antagonist,

walks in into the room.

They were in her lair

in the Underland.

And this Queen

appears beautiful

and she appears wise

and she appears kind

and loving.

But she's,

in reality,

a terrifying snake

that's taken a different form.

And she sees that

her spell on Rillian

has been broken.

And rather than attack head-on,

what she does

is she tries to enchant them

with a sweet-smelling smoke

and the sound

of her musical,

magical instrument.

And so she drops

this green powder

on the flames

and it just

goes,

spreads throughout the room.

The smell of the smoke

filled the room

and we read that

it made it hard

for them to think.

The sound of her mandolin,

Lewis writes,

was a steady,

monotonous thrumming

that you didn't notice

after a few minutes.

But the less you noticed it,

the more it got

into your brain

and into your blood.

And all of this

made it hard to think

and then the queen

challenged their sense

of reality.

She began to challenge

and question

every single thing

they thought they believed

and knew.

They had a conversation.

She interrogated them

and one by one

she dismantled

their entire notion

of what was true.

It's sort of a scene

of the serpent

in the garden

questioning Adam and Eve.

Did God really say?

She's challenging

everything they claim

to believe.

And she's doing

a very good job

and at the end

she says,

come all of you,

put away these childish tricks.

I have worked for you

in the real world.

There is no Narnia,

no overworld,

no sky,

no sun,

no Aslan.

And now,

to bed all.

And let us begin

a wiser life tomorrow,

but first,

to bed,

to sleep.

Deep sleep,

soft pillows,

sleep without foolish dreams.

This story,

I think much like

the book of Revelation,

helps us to see

what's really going on,

what's really at stake

in our own lives.

Each week,

I think,

every single one of us

is lulled to sleep,

or at least forces

are trying to lull us

to sleep.

This happens by

the messages,

the competing narratives

that are just swirling

around us

every single day,

and the things

that we watch,

the things that we read,

the things that we hear

and listen to.

They try to make us

spiritually drowsy,

and they tempt us

to close our eyes

and inhabit

a false reality

where another person,

maybe,

or our accomplishments,

or what others

think about us,

or pleasures,

constitute

our conception

of the good life.

These lies

that make us believe

these things

will make us happy

and fulfilled

and complete

and whole

and constitute

our real reality.

And I think this week,

in this passage,

Jesus is saying

that the greatest danger

for us

is falling asleep,

becoming spiritually drowsy,

and in being spiritually drowsy,

being unprepared

for the return

of the Son of Man.

And this,

my friends,

is why we go to church

every single week.

We come to church

to wake up

because we need

to be reminded

who we really are.

We need to be reminded

of what story

we're really a part of.

And we need to be strengthened.

We need to be fed

by God's Word

and the Eucharist.

And we need

the opportunity

to repent,

to turn away

from the ways of death,

and to recommit ourselves

once again

to the way of Christ.

We come to church

to wake up.

And this letter

links this exhortation,

this command

to wake up,

to a series

of three other exhortations.

And those are

to remember,

to strengthen

what remains

and is about to die,

and to repent.

And so,

for the rest of our time together,

we're going to look

at those three things.

Why we need to remember,

how we become strengthened,

and what it means

to repent.

So we'll look

at those three things

in the last few minutes

we have here.

So I think you can make

the case

that the greatest error

of the people of God,

particularly Israel,

the greatest sin,

or the sin that underlies

all of their other sins,

was forgetfulness.

The failure to remember

not only who God is,

but what God has done

for them

and what he's promised

to do for them.

I think this

being prone

to forgetfulness,

a lack of remembering,

led to every instance

of disobedience

and unbelief

and idolatry

that we see

in the scriptures.

And we saw that

particularly,

that warning

in the passage

that we read

in Deuteronomy 8.

This is a constant refrain

in the Old Testament,

but especially

in Deuteronomy,

when Moses gives

the law

a second time

before he leaves

the people

to set them

on the right course,

there's this constant refrain,

be careful

not to forget.

Because the people of God

are constantly

at risk of forgetting.

And this is true

when things get really hard.

We see this

right after the Exodus

when God delivers

his people

from Egyptian slavery.

They were hungry

and they forget

who God is

and what he had done

and they create

the golden calf

and are disobedient.

And it's also true

when things go

really well for us.

And that's what

the warning was

in Deuteronomy 8.

When things go really well,

we forget

that we actually need God,

that we don't depend

on him for everything.

We're prone to forget.

And I think we likewise

have very short-term memories.

We have sort of

the memory of a goldfish

and that's why

in verse 3,

Jesus says,

remember.

If you want to wake up,

remember what you have received

and what you have heard.

Remember what you have received

and what you have heard.

Because it's so easy to forget.

So what is he talking about?

What is it

that we need to remember?

I think he's saying

we need to remember the gospel.

That's what we've received

and that's what we have heard.

We come every Sunday morning

to remember the gospel.

We come to remember

that the one

who has the seven spirits

and the seven stars,

that is Jesus,

the one who rules the universe

and holds it all together,

this God took on flesh

and he came

not for the righteous ones

but for sinners

to die for them

that he might redeem them.

We need to remember

the gospel

that we're saved by grace,

that Christ died for us

when we were his enemies,

not when we were

the lovely ones.

And this means

that we can do nothing

to make God love us more

and we can do nothing

to make God love us less.

We need to remember

the gospel

and the gospel is that

we're not just saved

from something,

we're not just saved

from sin

but we're saved

for something.

We're saved for participating

in the mission of God,

for participating

in God's new creation project

of making all things new,

as Jesus says

at the end of Revelation.

We need to remember

the gospel

that it is not about,

merely about making

a decision in the past

but it is about

an abiding relationship

with Jesus.

It's not about things

that we have to check off

that we need to do

and it's not about

a bunch of behaviors

that we ought not to do

but it is about

coming alive

to the full humanity

that Jesus makes available

in his own redeemed

and resurrected humanity.

It's about coming awake

and coming alive

to what it means

to be fully and truly human.

So if we want to wake up,

we need to remember,

we need to remember

the gospel

and the fullness of the gospel

and secondly,

we need to strengthen

what remains

and is about to die.

I think it's important

just to acknowledge

that being a Christian

is really hard.

It's not easy.

It's not for the faint of heart

and because it's really hard,

we need sustenance.

We need weekly nourishment.

We need provision

for the journey of faith

because it's an arduous journey

and so one of the ways

that we are strengthened

is by eating together.

We come to church every week

to be strengthened

by eating together

and so I want to explore

this phrase really briefly,

eating together

and first I want to look

at the last part

of being together.

I want to focus on

how we're strengthened

by fellowship

and friendships

and relationships.

It's important to know

that we're not alone

on the Christian journey.

We come together,

we gather together

to see one another,

to be encouraged

and to be strengthened

by knowing that

other people like us exist.

I am incredibly encouraged

and strengthened every week

when I come in here

and I see all of you

and remember that

my faith in Jesus

and the things I believe

are not just in my own head,

that God actually exists,

other people believe in him.

I find that to be incredibly

strengthening and encouraging.

We're strengthened and encouraged

when we see other people

who are seeking God,

when we see other people

who and hear about their lives

where they're seeking

to be salt and light

in their places of work,

especially when it's risky

to do so

and might cause them

professional challenges.

We're strengthened

when we see and hear

about other parents

who care more about

their kids growing

in Christian virtue.

They care more about

their kids being kind

than winning at all

of their extracurricular activities.

We're strengthened

when we see and hear

about other married couples

who care about

and value creating a home

where people can experience

God's peace

and God's hospitality.

They care more about

creating a home

than buying a larger house.

We're strengthened

when we see other singles

who seek to honor God

with their bodies

and with their desires,

who trust him patiently

and imperfectly

when almost every other voice

in the world,

and sometimes including

their own voices,

are saying that the only way

you can be whole

is if you're in

a romantic relationship.

We're strengthened

when we see others

who are seeking to value

rest over production,

giving over receiving,

serving rather than being served.

The list could go on,

but we're strengthened

by being together.

That's why we come together

every week

and we share life together.

But we're also strengthened

by eating

and eating together.

And the way we eat

when we're together

is we're fed by the word

and by the body

and blood of Jesus Christ.

Our passage in Deuteronomy

reminds us that

man does not live

by bread alone,

but man lives

by every word

that comes from

the mouth of the Lord.

And so we're fed

by the preaching

of God's word.

And just like the letters

to Revelation,

they all have

a similar formula

for the most part.

There is an affirmation,

there's an element

of encouragement.

You're doing well.

There are things

you're doing well.

And then there's correction

and then there are promises.

And so every week

we come to hear sermons

and we are encouraged

in the things

that we're doing well

and we're corrected

in the things

that we're not doing well,

the ways that we're

thinking wrongly

and behaving wrongly

in the world.

And then we come

to be reminded

of God's great promises

that help us to endure.

But we're also fed

by the Eucharist

and in a moment

we'll come together

at the Lord's table

and this is the climax

of our worship together.

And in the liturgy,

I encourage you,

sometimes it's easy

to sort of zone out

and not pay attention

because it's so familiar,

but I encourage you

as Tommy celebrates

to listen to the words

that he's saying.

He's rehearsing

the entire drama

of redemption.

He's reminding us

of what God has done

and the journey

that we are a part of.

And we come together

to eat,

to feed on the body

of Christ

which has been broken

for us

and to drink

the blood of Christ

which has been shed

for us.

And in this,

in a mysterious way,

Christ meets us

and he feeds us.

So we need to wake up

and we do that

by remembering

and by being strengthened,

strengthening what remains

and is about to die.

And finally,

we come to church

to wake up

by repenting.

Repenting,

I think,

repentance is something

that can be

slightly misunderstood.

When we talk

about repentance,

we're not just talking

about sort of

the beating of your breast,

feeling sad

and guilty

and sorrowful,

although that's

a part of it.

Repentance is

changing your course

of action,

recommitting to

a new way.

And I want to highlight

as I seek

to help us understand

what repentance is,

the difference between

penitence

and repentance.

They're related

but they're distinct.

Penitence is the feeling

of regret and sorrow,

holy guilt in a way.

And this is a part

of repentance

but it's not the same thing.

In a moment,

we'll confess our sins together

and as we do so,

you see both penitence

and repentance.

When we confess our sins,

we say,

we are truly sorry

and we humbly repent.

The truly sorry piece

is the penitence

and that leads

and lends itself

directly to repentance.

We are truly sorry

and we humbly repent.

Repentance is about

a reorientation

where we commit ourselves

to new action,

a new way of being,

getting back on track.

N.T. Wright,

he's sort of the patron saint

of our church

in a lot of ways.

He's a biblical scholar

and he puts it

so helpfully.

So is C.S. Lewis.

So I'm referencing Lewis

and N.T. Wright

but N.T. Wright

is just really,

really helpful here.

He puts it so clearly,

helps us to understand

what repentance is.

Wright says,

when Jesus says,

repent and follow me,

when Jesus says,

repent and follow me,

he didn't mean

have some kind of

sad religious experience.

He doesn't just mean

feel bad,

feel guilty,

feel ashamed.

What he actually meant was,

you're going the wrong way.

You're going to have to turn around

because God is doing

a new thing.

If you're going to be

a part of that new thing,

if you're going to follow me,

you're going to have to give up

the way you've been going.

That's what repentance means.

For some of us,

if you've never decided

and committed yourself

your way to follow Jesus,

repentance might mean

a 180 degree turn

where you completely change

your orientation of your life

and you follow Jesus.

For others of us,

if we are committed

to following Jesus,

we're still called

to repent and follow Jesus.

That might not be as drastic

as a 180 degree turn.

It might just be

a slight course correction,

getting back on track.

But every single week,

we need to repent

because we're misaligned.

We're lacking integrity

and we need to get back on track.

Repentance actually is a sign

of spiritual health,

not unhealth.

It is a sign of coming awake.

So I want to end with this.

The Christian life is a journey

and it's a journey

towards integrity.

It's a journey towards

recovering our full humanity,

towards becoming

more fully alive in Jesus.

And one of the ways

that we make progress

in the way of Jesus

is by gathering together

every week to wake up,

to be renewed,

and then to be sent out again.

As Jesus said

in the Gospel of Luke,

blessed are those servants

whom the master finds awake

when he comes.

Truly I say to you,

he will dress himself

for service

and have them recline at table

and he will come

and serve them.

We come to church

to wake up,

to remember,

to strengthen what remains

and is about to die

and to repent.

And by the grace of God

in so doing,

we will be counted

among those who conquer.

And as Jesus says,

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.

He who has an ear,

let him hear

what the Spirit says

to the churches.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.