Revelation 3:1-6 * December 12, 2004 * Advent 3 * Pastor Leyrer

Dear Friends in Christ,

What if I told you that underneath this robe I am wearing a complete wardrobe endorsed by the National Basketball Association. I’ve got on an authentic NBA jersey, authentic NBA trunks, authentic NBA wrist bands, and an authentic NBA warm-up suit for, say, the Los Angeles Lakers. Would that make me a professional basketball player?

No. All it means is that I would be dressed like one. And if your imagination could get past the need for some serious body modifications and erase at least 20 years, I might even look like one. But I wouldn’t be one. Because one essential element would be missing. The skills.

The same could be said if I told you I had on a surgeon’s scrubs or a conductor’s tuxedo or a scientist’s lab coat. Dressing the part wouldn’t make me any of those things either.

The point: You can look like something without necessarily being something.

When it comes to style statements and what we wear, this is normally an innocuous exercise in mimicry. There are any number of people who will be watching football games this afternoon in a jersey bearing the number of their past or present favorite player. It’s a harmless form of pretend…

…Except when it comes to the church and those who bear the name of Christ before a watching world. Then pretending to be something we are not or dressing the part without being the part is very serious business. And that is exactly what was going on in the church in the ancient town of Sardis.

Today, on this third Sunday in Advent, we continue to look to Christ for the guidance He gives us through the seven timeless letters He wrote the seven churches in the Book of Revelation. As those who watch and wait for His coming, this morning let us consider and apply to our lives

ADVENT LETTER #5: TO THE CHURCH IN SARDIS

“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. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, 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. ⁴ 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. ⁵ He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. ⁶ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

As with all seven letters, this is addressed to the “angel,” or messenger of the church, which we’ve identified as the pastor of each congregation. This church was in the town of Sardis, a city located in present day western Turkey. At one time Sardis was known for its wealth and fame, but at the time of this writing her glory days were over.

Jesus refers to Himself first as the One who holds the seven spirits of God, which could also be translated “the sevenfold Spirit.” Both names call to mind a passage in the Book of Isaiah where the work of the Holy Spirit is described in seven different terms. This is a significant statement by Jesus because the Holy Spirit is the One who works through the Word of God to bring spiritual life and resuscitation – which is exactly what was needed in Sardis…

Secondly, Jesus identifies Himself as the One who also holds the seven stars in His hand. Earlier in this book we learned that the seven stars represented the seven pastors. Jesus described Himself the same way in His letter to Ephesus. Why? Both Ephesus and Sardis were given strong indictments, and, assuming they were faithful shepherds, perhaps Jesus wanted the pastors to know that He still held them in His hand and did not hold them personally responsible for the unfaithfulness of their flocks.

With that introduction, Jesus makes two strong statements of complaint, five sharp calls for correction, and issues a word of warning to this congregation, all in rapid succession.

These are His stinging criticisms of the church at Sardis. Number one: I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. Number two: I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.

What was going on in Sardis? Outwardly it appears there were all the signs of spiritual life. Whether among the other six congregations or their own townspeople, the First Church of Sardis looked pretty healthy. Today we might talk about Sardis in terms of what they had to offer in facilities, programs and people. Nice campus. Active church. The right people. Probably was the church the other six pointed to as an example. What Sardis was, the other six one day hoped to be.

And there was nothing wrong with any of that. God’s blessing upon Sardis was not what drew Jesus’ criticism. What apparently happened is somewhere along the way to becoming the poster child for first century ecclesiastical efficiency and productivity the people at Sardis lost their way.

Maybe they began to believe all the adulation the others were heaping on them and became smug and proud of “their” accomplishments. Maybe within the congregation a shift had taken place and knowingly or unknowingly they began to focus not on what God did for them, but on what they were doing for God. Maybe they had perfected the art of outwardly doing church through systems management and strategic planning, but inwardly had ceased being a church which went forward on its knees. Maybe they who had once been alive and energized for the cause of Christ became complacent and willing to live off the inertia of a zealous beginning.

Whatever the case and regardless of their outside reputation, Jesus describes the church of Sardis with a single word. Dead. And as to what they were doing? Incomplete. Incomplete because the only motive God looks for in the works of His children – love for Him because of what He’s done for us in Christ – was evidently lacking.

So with five different words and phrases Jesus calls them to repentance. He tells them to make a radical, life-altering change. He tells the church to wake up… to strengthen what remains… to remember what they had received and heard… to obey it… and to repent.

In other words, Jesus says come back to what you once were. Jesus says to this church and to any church and to any Christian who has reduced faith to a detached, compartmentalized part of existence as opposed to our reason for existence:

Wake up to Christianity as the joyful foundation of what you are as opposed to an obligatory reason for what you do!

Remember when faith in Christ was your daily fuel and not just a periodic formality!

Return to the Word as the refreshing water of life rather than imbibing a dribble here and a dribble there as a proof text for certain behavior!

Renew yourself with the Gospel message of Jesus Christ and listen to it as if you are hearing it for the first time, rejoice in it, and go forward each and every day in the peace of God that passes all understanding! That’s what Jesus is saying.

Jesus tells the people at Sardis if they don’t do that, if they don’t wake up, they will find His judgment upon them. But if they do wake up and repent; if they do come forward confessing their sinfulness in this area and lay their sins before the cross where forgiveness and strength are freely found, then perhaps the many in Sardis will become like the few… 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. ⁵ He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.

Sardis had faithful witnesses within its congregation who had not soiled their clothes with complacency or washed them in the waters of self-satisfaction. These people understood the Gospel message of Jesus Christ and ordered their lives around their Lord. They were worthy not because of what they had done, but because of the Savior they embraced, and because of what He had accomplished for them through His life, death and resurrection. Jesus points them out as examples and promises them, and all like them, eternal life in heaven.

So what are the lessons for us 21^st century watching and waiting Advent Christians? What is Jesus telling us about the lives He looks for in His followers during the interim period between his first and Second Advent? What can we learn from Sardis?

We learn how easily Christian faith if it is not properly maintained, can become routine, perfunctory, maybe even automatic. In such a state, works can be done and a reputation may be enjoyed, but the lesson of Sardis is that doing for Christ is not always the same as being in Christ.

To each and every one of as individuals and collectively as a church, then, this letter issues a strong call for personal examination about what it means to be Christian.

How do we counteract letting faith devolve or dissolve as it evidently did at Sardis? What is the solution?

In this letter Jesus tells us first of all to wake up to the possibility of this happening – meaning, let us never take for granted the blessed relationship we have with Him. He tells us to consciously strengthen what we have through constant connection to Christ through Word and Sacrament. He tells us to consciously remember what we have seen and heard – the Gospel message – and find joy in obedience to Christ. And when we fail, He tells us to repent, rejoice in our forgiveness, go forward and start the process all over again.

The words of Jesus to Sardis call to mind what He told the disciples on the night of His betrayal. We find this counsel in John chapter 15: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” As we stay connected to Christ, He promises that we will be truly productive. Moreover we will bear the kind of fruit He desires and truly pleases Him. That, in turn, pleases us and produces joy.

And that, sad to say, appeared to be the failure of many in the church at Sardis. Their faith turned to formalism. They looked the part, but they really weren’t what they claimed to be. And Jesus called them on it.

As we watch and wait for Christ, let us learn from their mistakes.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Amen.