Revelation 3:14-22
August 24, 2025
14 “And
to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the
faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation:
15 “I
know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold
or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm and neither
cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 For
you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize
that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 Therefore
I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and
white robes to clothe yourself and to keep the shame of your nakedness from
being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 I
reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and
repent. 20 Listen! I am standing at the door,
knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with
you, and you with me. 21 To the one who conquers I
will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down
with my Father on his throne. 22 Let anyone who has
an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
I used to be part of a clergy study
group that included a Moravian, a Lutheran, two Presbyterians, and a United
Methodist. It was a sort of
stereotypical version of what is called “Mainline Protestantism” and even
though we had our theological differences, one of the participants referred to
the group as “a bunch of radical moderates” and the name stuck.
When I come to this last letter sent
from John in exile on the island of Patmos, and read his warning to the
Laodiceans, I think of what he said:
“I know your works; you are neither cold
nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So,
because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out
of my mouth.” [Revelation 3:15-16]
It
troubles me that I have heard that applied to us “radical moderates” by people
who fail to recognize the deep commitment to faith as a way of life that does
not need to prove itself to anyone but God, nor to call attention to itself
when the spotlight should be on God’s grace given to us by the work of his Son,
urged upon us daily by the Holy Spirit.
I had a little time last week to
scan the internet for items that had nothing to do with the news, and watched a
few episodes of a series called “Atheist Church Audit”. It’s done by a North Carolina man in his
thirties who grew up in a conservative, Pentecostal Christian environment who
now considers himself an atheist but who regularly visits a whole lot of
churches of all sorts (and the occasional mosque or Mormon gathering). He reviews his experiences, which include
in-depth conversations and interactions with the people he meets there and
honest, wide-ranging discussions about faith and life.
Across the series he shares little
bits and pieces of his own spiritual biography, which becomes the most moving
part. I hesitate to describe it because
the story is complex and I don’t want it to come out as a cartoon version. In this one episode about his visit to a
church that was neither fundamentalist nor especially liberal, he compares the
people he meets to the people among whom he spent his teenage years who left
their faith, about whom he says,
“They were
known as ‘Crispies’ because fire burnt them.
And I don’t think there are many people like that here.”
That was
kind of a snide remark. He went on,
though, and it felt like he was going off-script.
“Also I
want to tack this on as a postscript because this always happens. If your immediate response to everything I
just said is to type in the comments, ‘Well, it sounds a lot like you had a
works-based religion, but did you ever have a real relationship with Jesus?’ Respectfully, shut up.
Jesus was
my everything.”
[Then he
choked up for a few seconds.]
“And I
hope you never have to experience the pain of losing him.”
[More
silence.]
Then
he finished the way he finishes all of his videos:
“My name
is Jared; I’m an atheist. Go to church.”[1]
Do
I myself want to be on fire for Christ?
Yes. Absolutely. Do I want the same for others? No question.
What I don’t want to see is someone burn out. There is a time and a place for
bonfires. More often, though, there is a
need for something steady. In the Sermon
on the Mount, Matthew recounts Jesus’ words:
“You
are the light of the world. A city built
on a hill cannot be hid. No one after
lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it
gives light to all in the house. In the
same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good
works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” [Matthew 5:14-16]
To
maintain a constant witness to the love of God in Christ requires a constant reliance
on him that is like regularly refilling the oil in a lamp.
“For you say, ‘I am rich, I have
prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched,
pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” [Revelation 3:17]
Instead of
thinking you are self-sufficient, look to him.
“Therefore I advise you to buy from me
gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white robes to clothe
yourself and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to
anoint your eyes so that you may see.” [Revelation 3:18]
That is what keeps up the steady kind of faith that lasts through both the highs and lows of lifelong discipleship.
I do not offer the following story
as marital advice. It is not a good
model to follow, but take it for what it is worth, for God hides his wisdom
everywhere: There was once one of those
game shows where they take a couple and separate them, then ask questions of
one spouse to see how the other will answer.
So they sent a husband offstage and asked his wife a series of questions,
one of which was, “How long has it been since he said, ‘I love you’?” and she
answered, “Fifty-four years.” Everybody
laughed, but she insisted that was her answer.
Then they brought the man in and asked all the other questions before
they came to “How long has it been since you told your wife, ‘I love you’?” and
he said, “Fifty-four years. I’m not good
with that kind of thing, but when I said it I promised I would let her know if
it ever changed, and it never has.”
“Let anyone who has an ear listen to what
the Spirit is saying to the churches.” [Revelation 3:22]
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