July 6, 2025
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus
write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand,
who walks among the seven golden lampstands:
“I know your works, your toil and your
endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who
claim to be apostles but are not and have found them to be false. I also
know that you are enduring and bearing up for the sake of my name and that you
have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against
you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember, then,
from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I
will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you
repent. Yet this is to your credit: you hate the
works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Let anyone who has an ear
listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers,
I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of
God.
************************************
For
some reason, reading this letter to the church in Ephesus leaves me with one
question going around and around in my head.
I’m sure it’s a question that at least one or two other people here are
asking themselves: Who were the Nicolaitans?
Why was it a good thing to hate their works?
I
went to my fallback source for answers, the Interpreter’s Dictionary of the
Bible, pulled down the K-Q volume, and began to read.
“NICOLAITANS… Followers of a Nicolaus. Their works and teaching in the churches of
EPHESUS and PERGAMUM are condemned by John.
Since the same practice and teaching of immorality and of idolatry
appear in the church of Thyatira, the Nicolaitans, though not named, were
probably present also in this church (Rev. 2:20-25). Thus three out of the seven churches to whom
John wrote were afflicted with this heretical sect. In Ephesus their deeds were hated by the
church and by Christ; in Pergamum there were some who held their doctrine; in
Thyatira the woman Jezebel, a self-styled prophetess, was tolerated and allowed
to teach and to beguile Christ’s servants. …”
The author goes on for another paragraph until he
writes:
“Nothing is confidently known about the Nicolaitans
beyond John’s references to them. Their
works are hated, but not described, in the letter to Ephesus. …”
Another half a page goes by explaining not only why we
know nothing about them, but listing a lot of ancient and early medieval
authors who also knew nothing about them, either.
However.
The
time and energy, paper and ink wasted on this question is, in fact, a wonderful
illustration of the message that we can and should take from this passage,
which is not to become distracted. Stay
focused on the main point of discipleship.
Live faithfully and proclaim the good news. If you get off track, get back on.
“I have this against you, that you have
abandoned the love you had at first. Remember,
then, from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first.” [Revelation
2:4-5]
Churches do a lot of good. The more good they do, though, the easier it
becomes to find motivation in the sense of accomplishment rather than in the
sense of Christian mission.
Every
year, when December rolls around, you see advertisements for performances of
Handel’s Messiah. It’s a terrific
piece of music, of course. Putting it on
is an achievement in itself because of the work it takes to arrange an
orchestra, find the right venue, recruit enough singers and four decent
soloists. (And you really, really,
really have to have a good soprano.) At
the end of the performance (speaking for myself here) there’s a sense of relief
similar to the end of a baseball game that has gone into extra innings.
Messiah
was not composed for holiday entertainment, though. It was written to raise funds for three
charities in Dublin. One was a hospital,
one was a clinic, and one was a prison ministry. In fact, the first performance raised enough
funds to spring 142 people from debtor’s prison. Seventeen centuries earlier, long before
Dublin was founded by Vikings, a Galilean carpenter named Jesus announced
himself as the Messiah using the words of Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed
me
to bring good news to the
poor.
He
has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to
the blind,
to let the oppressed go
free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
[Luke 4:18-19]
That first performance of Handel’s oratorio was right
in line with that. Subsequent concerts
have often – not always, but often enough – had other impulses behind them.
It’s
so easy to slip off course, when some good but secondary cause presents itself. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in a
fundraiser and forget what the money is for, or to let numbers or applause or likes
or human approval be the way to define success instead of asking if whatever is
going on would make Jesus smile.
Remember,
as John told the Ephesians, “the love you had at first.” Keep going back to that. Then go and do great things for the sake of
that love, instead of wasting time and resources on side issues and false
starts.
“Rise up, ye saints of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
to serve the King of kings.
Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where his feet have trod.
As partners with the Son of Man,
rise up, ye saints of God!”
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