The Church in Sardis

So, we come to the church in Sardis, and I want to, if I may, just spend a little time

introducing some of the themes that I hope you will see will be picked up when we actually

come to the text.

I want to start by talking about that, and there is quite a lot of data from the world

of psychology on this, and that is the temptation of human beings to kind of talk things up a

little bit.

As somebody who has stood at the back of churches, as people filed out one by one, and I would

say, good morning, thank you for coming, how are you?

I don't think anybody ever didn't say, I'm fine.

I knew that some of them were deeply bereaved, some of them were suffering from mental health

issues, some of them were struggling in marriages, and yet their default was to say, I'm fine.

I did discover, although I was told to ask the question in this way was slightly anal,

if you say to people, on a scale of one to ten, where would you put your life at this time?

Ten being, it's the most amazing time in my life, I love it.

One being, I need to call Samaritans.

People will then generally think about it, and they'll probably say six, seven, maybe

give a little more truth to it.

Or again, one of the things I've noticed is, it's almost like when people go on holiday,

and the weather's terrible, they kind of don't like to admit it.

They come home and you say, oh, you know, I'm so sorry, you know, your holiday must have

been awful, you know, the weather was terrible, and you had the kids with you, and you know,

I know from my own experience that when it pours with rain, and you've got your children

with you, it's more expensive, you've got to find stuff to do.

People would say, oh no, we had sun, you know, it's fine, thank you very much for asking.

We talk things up, and I want you to hold that thought, if you can, as we come to the

text in a few moments to the church in Sardis.

So the second thing I want to say by way of introducing this is another aspect of our modern

culture, and that is what I call when image trumps substance.

What I mean by that is, and social media has truly turbocharged this, that it's made life

kind of performative.

And you can go on websites and you will see people who are basically, I mean, there's so

many video clips of people just dancing in front of the camera, not very good dancing often,

but dancing, because that's what they do.

Or if you click on beauty products, you will find thousands and thousands and thousands,

I mean, obviously I don't, but you will find thousands and thousands and thousands of offers

made by young people, very often whose image has been airbrushed.

What you're looking at is not the real person.

You are looking at the image that they want to project.

And I don't think God is that concerned with image.

Remember, in the Old Testament, he said that man looks at the outward appearance,

God looks at the heart.

I don't know, you know, whether you look in the mirror every morning and say, you know,

thank God, Lord, that you made me so beautiful.

I feel sure you may not.

But look, what God's interested in, and this is hard in our culture, is the cultivation of

what we might call inner beauty.

Who are you?

What are you like?

And at the end of the day, no amount of cosmetic surgery, no amount of makeup,

no amount of these things can hide what you are inside.

Was it John Lennon who wrote that song and his strapline was,

one thing you can't hide is when you're bitter.

Is it bitter?

Is it bitter?

Inside.

Something like that.

Third thing is, one of the things that I think can be true of us all is that we can

so quickly become complacent.

You know, I've said many times, when I say from this pulpit, I mean in this church,

I've said many, many times that there are a lot of things that we have in our culture,

which approximately 60% of the world does not have.

Most of us, maybe not all of us, can put food on the table in this country.

Most of us sleep on a bed, unless we've got a bad back.

Most of us have got running water.

Most of us have got sanitation plugged into our homes.

There are billions of people worldwide who just don't know things like that.

And I mean, I'm not asking you to shout out, but I mean, I wonder deep down if ever we take things like that for granted.

A kind of hallmark of complacency.

And then finally, by way of introduction, I think another human trait is our capacity to be deluded.

That is to imagine things about ourselves that nobody else imagines.

And this is not an important, actually, in churches where we talk about spiritual gifts, quite rightly.

And we talk about how the Spirit gives those gifts to his people in order that the church can be the church,

and in order that the church can serve the world and glorify God.

But how do I find out what my gift is?

What I've discovered is, as somebody used to be in local church ministry,

there are a number of people who stalk this planet,

who imagine that their primary gift is something that nobody else who stalks the planet thinks is their primary gift.

I used to stand next to, for a little while when I was in a local church ministry,

in the evening we had the remnants of a choir.

In fact, one person.

Who I think just liked wearing robes and used to stand next to me.

And have you heard that thing that, you know, somebody said,

if you gave a monkey a typewriter,

eventually, randomly, just by banging the keys, it would type a word.

Well, on that same principle, you might think that somebody who's in a choir might hit a note that was right occasionally,

and we're talking about Cyril.

And when I said to Cyril, forgive me for asking, you know, but why are you in the choir?

He said, what do you mean?

I said, well, A, there's only one of you, so the idea of leading the congregation in singing is,

you know, a bit of a long shot, frankly.

I said, but also, you can't sing in tune.

Oh, yes, Rector, he said, I know that.

So I'm like, really?

He said, yeah.

He said, I only joined the choir because I was so sorry for Mr. Lawrence, your predecessor,

that he was on his own at the front of the church.

I thought, I'll go and stand there and join him.

I won't tell you the long story now, but we discovered that Cyril's primary gift was working with his hands.

And he became a completely different person when he was released to be the odd job person around our church.

Sadly, I had to get rid of the choir altogether before I could get him out of his robes.

When I say get rid of the choir altogether, I mean, actually, I asked Cyril not to stand at the front in robes when our music group were holding forth.

We can have illusions about ourselves that become quite dangerous when they become delusions.

And I would imagine that most human beings, at some point, exercise a level of delusion in their lives.

And here's a church where I think all these human characteristics are at work.

Risen Christ said, these are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

We'll come back to that.

I know your deeds.

You have a reputation of being alive.

But you are dead.

As you well know, you know, I used to function as a bishop.

And so I went round to loads and loads of different churches.

Sat in the house of bishops, you know, the seat of decision making amongst the bishops who were making decisions to take to the general synod of the Church of England.

I have rarely been in a group that felt the need to talk up what really wasn't very good.

And that is the statistics that go with the Church of England.

I lamented the day that the Church of England appointed PR people who earn a lot of money by trying to create an image for the Church,

which actually isn't anything to do with the Church in reality.

I've been part of a conspiracy in the Church called complacency.

I look back over my ministry.

I think to myself, did I speak up enough?

Did I try and speak prophetically and biblically in the kind of corridors of power of the Church of England?

Or were there more things that were important to me than that?

Like my reputation?

And when illusion becomes delusion,

I cannot think that the risen Christ could have said anything more condemning of that Church

than your reputation is that you're alive.

But I know.

He who knows everything,

I know you are dead.

And I ask myself the question,

I wonder if the risen Christ were, you know, dictating letters today.

How many churches would fall victim to the same accusation?

And I just thought,

I don't know why I thought this,

but I thought that,

I'd just like to highlight,

I mean, this is not,

you know, I haven't been up to Mount Sinai

and come down with these ideas.

But I, you know,

my experience is having worked in a local church

and then having supervision over 260 of them.

These are the things that I've noticed

are in a church where I think the church could be described as alive.

So I just want to take your time,

if I may,

just for a few minutes

to introduce to you the characteristics of a healthy church.

The first thing,

godly leadership.

Let me say that again,

godly leadership.

Men and women who understand

what it is to be a minister of God,

understand what it is to be the least of God's servants,

not somebody who is owed a living by their congregation.

Godly leaders understand

that in their own strength,

they can do nothing of eternal value

and therefore constantly throw themselves before God,

seeking His will,

seeking His strength,

and seeking,

seeking the knowledge

that's needed

to lead a local church.

Kind of,

you know,

just an aside really,

but one of the things

that used to puzzle me

was that I'd have clergy coming to me saying,

you know,

they were on the edge of burnout

and I would say,

well,

take me through your week

and take me through your week

and I'd think,

why are they saying this?

You know,

they've either got very low capacity

or

there's something that doesn't add up here.

What I learned was,

if you're coming to see the bishop,

people are frightened

to talk about reality in their own lives

because they fear,

I'm going to get a black pen out

and make a mark

in their personnel file

saying,

you know,

clueless,

something like that.

And actually,

the acceptable way

to talk about their pain

was to talk about

physical tiredness.

Most of you

are church members

and I want to tell you

what I think is the real drag

on a lot of clergy,

which they can't talk about

because they think

it might make them look bad.

And it's this.

Church leadership

is about the oversight

of a rather complicated set

of interpersonal relationships

whose balance

is very easily imbalanced

and conflict

and trouble begin.

Godly leadership

understands this

and seeks to build trust

with the people

to whom he or she

has been called to minister.

The second thing,

highly contentious

in my own church,

but not so contentious

for many of you,

biblical integrity.

That is,

what does this church teach?

my view is,

there is only

one piece of guidance

we have

if we want to build faith

in the church.

It comes in Romans

Romans 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

and

the great apostle

tells us that

faith comes through

hearing

and hearing

through the word

of Christ.

Jesus himself

told us

in that parable

of the two house builders,

a wise man

is like a man

who hears

my words

and puts them

into practice.

So if you want to build

some rock

into your life

and if you're a church leader

and you want to build

some rock

into the life

of the church

that you have

responsibility for,

here's my advice,

preach the word of God

in season

and out of season.

use it

to teach,

train,

rebuke,

whatever

but don't let

the Bible

be put on

the substitutes

bench

of your church

life.

Thirdly,

I think

in a healthy

church

people are

faithful

in worship

and in prayer.

it would be

a strange church

wouldn't it

who decided

they would stop

worshipping God

together.

Though there seem

to be a number

of churches

around today

which have

almost come

to that conclusion.

And faithful

in prayer,

I am,

I love

getting together

with

people in our

church

to pray.

And we have

some set

prayer meetings

and it's really

good to turn up

at them.

I was in a church

which had a large

membership

and our parish

prayer meeting

on a good evening

might muster

40 people.

It's a weekly

meeting,

might muster

40 people.

And once I got

a guy called

Wallace Ben

to come and

do a

weekend away

for the church

on prayer

it was excellent.

And

for about

for a few

weeks we had

almost 200

people at the

prayer meeting.

After about

a month

I had gone

down to 60

and after

two months

we were

back to

30.

Same.

Mostly

older ladies.

Many of them

ex-missionaries

or ex-teachers.

And I've

never understood

why is it?

I'm not

saying you know

you've got to

come to a

church meeting

to be

faithful in

prayer.

But I do

think there is

something that

goes on when

we pray together.

I really do

believe that.

Fourthly a

healthy church

empowers people.

It seeks to

build discipleship.

Ministry is

not about

controlling

people.

It's setting

them free.

Fifth thing

is it

helps if

your church

has a vision.

There's a lot

of stuff talked

about that out

there in the

marketplace.

place.

And I want

to say that

you

once you've

got your

mission statement

or your vision

statement put

together

that you

know a lot

of churches

behave like

that's the

end.

I remember

the Roman

Catholic

Archbishop of

Leeds

told a story

of he had a

dream one

night and in

his dream he

dreamt that

outside his

church there

would be a

banner and

it said

Jesus is

Lord on the

banner and

he woke up

very enthused

and then he

went to bed a

few days later

and he had a

total nightmare

and he saw

that outside

all the Roman

Catholic churches

in the Archdiocese

of Leeds

there was a

sign and it

said on the

banner we've

always done it

this way.

Again a

vision isn't

the end it's

the beginning

and I would

suggest that

alongside a

vision what a

local church

needs is a

plan and

then it needs

to work out

how we're

going to

effect this

plan and

most importantly

and I rarely

met a church

that did this

you then need

to apply some

metrics to

say this is

what we

said this is

what we

envision this

is what we

said we

would do

how do we

know if

we're achieving

it?

How can we

measure that?

Sixthly by

the way these

are in no

order of

importance so

probably godly

leadership and

faithful worship

and prayer which

should be an

R somewhere near

the top.

A healthy

church is

concerned for

the lost.

lost.

You know

why use that

language?

Well in

Luke 15 you

get this

incredible

section of

teaching that

Jesus gave.

First of all

there's the

lost coin

sorry the

lost sheep

and then the

lost coin

and then the

prodigal of

the prodigal

the parable of

the prodigal

son lost

son and

then you

get the

parable

there's a

parable about

a lost

job and

Jesus seems

to or at

least Luke is

arranging his

material to get

across the

message that

lost people

matter to

God and

therefore they

should matter

to his

people.

I you know

this I really

liked church

fellowship you

know I like the

people in the

church I was

minister of you

know and I

liked hanging

out well hanging

out with most

of them but the

danger of that is

your whole

relationship span

can get locked

into church

life.

I remember

preaching a

sermon on

evangelism and

telling people you

know talk to your

friends about

Christ and a lot

of people came to

me and said well

we don't have any

friends who are not

in the church.

I remember a

Salvation Army

minister said that

to James Kennedy

the founder of

Evangelism

Explosion amazing

man came to our

fraternity in

Slough goodness

knows how that

happened and so

we're there and the

Salvation Army guy

said well you know

how you know how do

we make contact with

unbelievers you know

James Kennedy said to

him he said why don't

you go down to the

nudist beach.

I think it was a

joke.

Healthy church is

concerned to loss and

then finally imaginatively

engages the local

community.

I say imaginatively

there because I think

that one of the things

we learn from the

parable of the good

Samaritan is that the

Samaritan didn't just

patch up this guy and

leave him he took him to

an inn and then paid

for him to get some

accommodation there

while he recovered.

I would say that's

imagination.

So here's a dead

church in Sardis.

Here's my view of

what a church that is

alive might look like.

So I want to move to

the text now to

Sardis.

Sardis today is the

city of Izmir.

If you go to

Turkey on your

holidays the

likelihood is you'll

fly into the

airport at Izmir.

It's in Turkey and

today it's a kind of

modern bustling city.

There's a big port there

and there is a little

bit of the ancient

town of Sardis left

but mostly it's been

overtaken by modern

building.

The role of Izmir in

antiquity and I'm

talking about maybe

from 400 AD onwards

it kind of took on the

role that Ephesus had

had.

If you've been to

Ephesus you know it's

about three miles inland

from the sea but you

can go and stand on the

jetty which used to be

where the sea was.

It's silted up and so

it's now inland.

Izmir in a way has

taken over the role of

Ephesus in modern

Turkey.

It's a big port and

lots and lots of goods

are exported through

there.

You'll be aware that

Turkey today is a

massive manufacturing

nation and quite a lot

of our stuff that we

have in our shops comes

to us from Turkey.

In Izmir there was a

massive temple right

on the headland and I

have read that it was

twice the size of the

Parthenon in Greece and

if you've been there you

realise we're talking

about a very big

building.

The old town of Sardis

was built on a

headland so three sides

were impregnable.

And then there was just a

very thin isthmus which was

very easy to defend and

because of that, hold this

thought, because of that

they considered it

impregnable.

And though it was

impregnable it was twice

fatally invaded.

On it was this temple of

Artemis

Cybele.

This is not the same as the

Roman and Greek god of

Artemis.

This is a local

Anatolian god called

Artemis

Cybele.

Only really commemorated

in Sardis.

And Sardis has a

similarity with, I was

trying to think of a

modern day city which

went the way of, and I

came up in my mind with

Detroit in North America

which at one time was an

extremely affluent place

that earned a lot because

the car industry of the

United States of America

America was largely based

there.

And as more Americans

bought more Japanese

cars and the market

dipped, etc, etc,

Detroit, you can buy it

now, well I don't know

now, but five years ago

you could buy a whole

street in Detroit for

$120,000.

I don't think there'd be

many places in America

where you would achieve

that.

And in 600, a king

called Croesus

had governance

of the city of

Sardis.

And he was a very,

very wealthy man.

And things were

good.

It was profitable.

They were known

for their,

they were good at

dye stuffs and they

dyed a lot of

cloth in different

colours.

Purple was a very

popular colour.

I don't know if I

told you this last

time when we were

talking about

Thyatira, but purple

was popular because

it was the Roman

regal colour.

It's the colour of

choice for people who

are in governance in.

If you wore purple,

you were somebody.

Which incidentally,

hard to believe,

is why bishops

traditionally wore

purple.

they opted for the

Roman Catholic

model of

episcopacy and

wore purple.

That is, you

know, to show

people, at least it

would have been in

Roman times, to show

people that you were

somebody.

The city was

pretty well

defunct and

Croesus was

defeated by

Persians.

And from then the

city went from bad

to worse.

until the Romans

arrived.

And in AD 17,

the Emperor

Tiberius deployed

a huge force of

builders to rebuild

the whole city.

And it was

rebuilt.

So the risen

Christ arrives

there.

And he's

introduced to us

again as him

who holds the

seven spirits.

These are the

words of him

who holds the

seven spirits of

God and the

seven stars.

Interestingly, in

the Greek text,

there is no

conjunction there.

It just says

how the seven

spirits of God,

the seven stars,

implying that

they're the same

things.

The only English

version of the

Bible, I think,

that translates the

Greek like that

is the New

English Bible.

Clearly, the

seven spirits,

as we know

from our early

study, refers to

the Holy Spirit

to the churches

in his fullness.

Sorry, the Holy

Spirit to the

churches in his

fullness.

This is Jesus

filled with the

Holy Spirit

addressing the

churches.

And the seven

stars are mostly

thought to be

the seven churches

and or their

leaders.

Jesus.

So, the gravity

of the

accusation.

I know your

works.

You remember in

Ephesus, the

risen Christ

started his

message with

exactly the same

words.

But in this

case, they are

evidence of

disapproval rather

than evidence

of approval.

There is the

evidence of

their delusion.

I know your

deeds, you have

a reputation of

being alive, but

you are dead.

And of the

works that they

sought to do,

in verse 2 we

read that the

risen Christ

says, he's not

found their

deeds complete in

the sight of

God.

the gravity

of the message

means that

Jesus uses

quite interventionist

language.

In verse 2, he

tells them to

wake up.

He tells them to

strengthen what

remains.

John Angle was

telling me before

we started, that's

a very, very

important verse

for him in

terms of his

ministry overseas.

Then he tells

them they've got

to remember.

That remembering

was such a big

theme, wasn't it,

in the Old

Testament.

When the

Jewish people

were going

through times

of hardship

and difficulty,

they were told,

remember, remember

the covenant that

God made with

you people.

Remember the

way he saved

you from slavery

in Egypt.

And in

remembering,

there's a

Greek verb

which occurs

words in,

the words we

use in

communion about

bringing to

mind the

things that

Jesus did.

The Greek

word comes,

is an

amnesis.

And it's not

a kind of

cold,

nostalgic

remembering.

It's remembering

the past in a

way that will

give us

courage in the

present and

hope for the

future.

Wake up,

strengthen what

remains,

remember, and

then the

risen Christ

says, I

will come

to you.

And then

to the

faithful few,

he says

this.

One, they

will walk

with me in

verse four.

I have

noticed when

visits to

the Middle

East, and

to places

like Africa

as well,

that very

often when

I've been

visiting

church leaders

there, they

love to

kind of walk

with you.

And many,

many times, I

remember with

the Archbishop

of Uganda,

we kind of

met very

formally and

exchanged gifts

and all that

stuff.

And then he

said, come

with me.

And we

walked around

his garden

for ages.

And he

walked around

and all the

time he

held my

hand and

stroked it

while he

was talking

to me.

I'm not

really used

to that.

But I've

noticed that,

I noticed

it with

Bishop

Munir in

Egypt,

and I can't

remember his

name now,

the Bishop

of Iran,

who of course

can't live in

Iran.

It's a kind

of walking

with somebody

is more than

just a walk.

faith.

It's a way

of kind of

expressing

trust and

affection.

Secondly,

they will

wear a

white robe.

I mean,

that imagery

comes up a

lot in

Revelation,

that the

faithful will

be given

a white

robe.

The use

of it here

seems to

me to be

in line

with the

rest of

Scripture,

that it

will be the

faithful few

who are

given a

white robe.

And even

those who've

been given

a white

robe have

the opportunity,

have the

possibility,

that they

can soil

them.

And their

names will

be indelibly

put into

the book

of life.

Verse 5.

The book

of life

has a

kind of

long

biblical

history,

and also

is

mentioned

a couple

of times

in the

Revelation

of St.

John.

It first

comes up

in Scripture

in

Exodus

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

chapter

32,

and

verses

31 to

33.

So what's

happened here

is the

people of

God have

just been

found

worshipping

golden

images.

So Moses

said to

the people,

you've

committed a

great sin,

but now I

will go up

to the

Lord.

Perhaps I

can make

atonement

for your

sin.

So Moses

went back

to the

Lord and

said,

oh what a

great sin

these people

have committed.

They have

made themselves

gods of

gold,

but now

please

forgive

their sin.

But if

not,

then block

me out

of the

book you

have

written.

again

comes up

in

Psalm

139

and

verse

16.

We

read

there.

Sorry,

let me get

the light

on this.

Verse

16.

Your eyes

saw my

unformed

body.

All the

days

ordained

for me

were

written

in your

book

before

one of

them

came

to be.

I mean

that's an

amazing

verse,

isn't it?

You know,

the days

of our

life

are

ordained

from the

moment we

are being

formed

in our

mother's

womb.

I know

people who

are

absolutists

on the

theme of

abortion borrow

on that

verse very

strongly to

say that,

you know,

we should

have far

more respect

for the

fetus because

God is

at work

when the

fetus is

in the

womb.

I'm not

trying to be

controversial,

I'm just

explaining the

way some

people use

the Bible.

But the

idea that

there is a

book,

and of

course the

Calvinists

love this,

because,

you know,

their thing

is,

well,

if our

names are

written in

the book

that early,

it means

we are

predestined

in some

way.

We are

already in

the book

of life.

People in

Sardis,

it doesn't

seem quite

so straightforward

for them,

does it?

Because

they're told

that only

the faithful,

only those

who wear

the white

robes,

will have

their names

indelibly

written in

the book

of life.

So,

Sardis,

a church

that I

find

deeply

challenging,

because I

think it

speaks to

the reality

of a lot

of churches

in the

Western

world,

in the

21st

century.

In

2000,

I was

asked to

speak at

the wonderful

Keswick

Convention,

which

interestingly

takes place

in Keswick.

And I

was asked

to give

what they

rather

grandiosely

call the

millennial

lecture.

And I

took as

my theme

why I

weep

for the

church.

And

without

repeating

the lecture

now,

I mean,

what I

said was,

you know,

how the

church in

this country

has had

so much

blessing,

so much

opportunity,

so much

church

plants,

so many

ministers,

so,

and basically

we're

presiding

over something

that is

diminishing

at high

speed.

Incidentally,

you compare

that with

the church

in America,

which everybody

thinks is a

lot more

robust,

and certainly

is more

robust than

we are

in the

United

Kingdom,

but it

is declining

at an

alarming rate

at the

moment.

I think I

may have

told you

last week,

I can't

remember who

I said

this to,

but

four and a

half thousand

churches were

closed in

2022 in

America.

That's

mitigated

slightly by

the fact

that 3,500

churches were

started,

but if you

do the

math, it

works out

to 28

churches a

day being

closed.

I mean,

I would

say that's

enough,

wouldn't

you?

So,

I think

this church

has a lot

to say to

us, and

I think

that we

really have

to heed

these warnings,

these things

that the

risen Christ

said to

them.

Waken

up,

strengthen

what remains,

remember

that in

this country

we have

been greatly

blessed with

the gospel

since maybe

as early as

the fifth

century,

maybe earlier,

and we

mustn't be

complacent,

and we

mustn't stand

over,

decline,

feeling

complacent,

and oh,

there's

nothing.

I mean,

the number

of times

I went to

churches and

I said,

you know,

last time I

was here,

there seemed

to be a lot

more people

here,

and the

church wardens

said,

well,

we do what

we do if

they don't

like it.

Tough

love.

Is that

really the

mark of a

healthy church?

I don't

think so.

Wake up,

strengthen

what remains.

Do your

remembering of

the blessings

that God

has given

you,

not with

sentimentality,

but in

remembering

that we

might find

courage for

today and

hope for

tomorrow.

And if we

do that,

says the

risen Christ,

you will

know my

presence.

Maybe in

new ways,

maybe for the

first time,

wonderful when

a church

awakes,

isn't it,

and comes

to life.

So,

just to

recap very

quickly,

what have

we learnt?

We've

learnt that

Ephesus,

doctrinal purity

without love,

is not what the

risen Christ

calls us to.

Love without

doctrinal

understanding

leaves the

church undefended

to those

who prevail.

We'll be

given as a

gift, not

anything we

can earn,

eternal life.

And Paul

quite often

uses the

idea of

keeping our

eyes on the

promises of

God that

will be

realised in

the future.

Constantly

molitor the

balance between

collusion and

compromise.

What a

message that

is to the

21st century

Western

church.

You can

fool all of

the people,

but you

can't fool

God.

Sardis.

Avoid

idolatry.

Big deal

in our

culture.

Be very

careful with

the slippery

concept of

tolerance.

Good up to

a point,

but comes a

point, it

just becomes

a total

cop-out.

Be honest

about yourselves.

it was the

fault in

Sardis,

that they

had a

great

reputation,

but the

risen Christ

could see

exactly what

was going

on.

Focus on

substance,

not image.

image.

I think it

would be far

better if

imagining

that, you

know, any

amount of

cosmetic

surgery or

makeup would

make us

beautiful.

Instead of

thinking about

that when we

stand in

front of a

mirror, maybe

it would be

better for us

to just remind

ourselves when

we stand in

front of a

mirror, I

am fearfully

and wonderfully

made by the

God who

loves me.

Amen.