Crisis: Persecuted Christians

                                                          Revelation 3 : 1-6, 14-22

Today’s Mass reading from the book of Revelation consists of two messages straight from Jesus himself, and copied down by the Apostle John.  

The first message is to the Church in the city of Sardis.  Sardis had once been an important city, the capital of ancient Lydia.  It is located in modern western Turkey, conquered and controlled by Muslems.  Its current name is Sartmustafa, a name combining the original "Sardis" and the Moslem name "Mustafa".  In its ancient heyday its strategic location made it a central point connecting the interior of Anatolia (Turkey) to the coast of the Aegean Sea.  Its people were proud that it was associated with several famous Greek kings of old.    

By the first century AD, when John was writing, Sardis had become a shadow of its former self.  There was still great wealth in Sardis—and great poverty too.  But it was no longer important in geopolitics.  Its reputation no longer matched its reality.  In comparison to its past, it had became dead.

So when Jesus addresses the Church there, not about the city, but about the state of the Church and its congregation's souls, he makes a comparison:

    "I know your works, that you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Be watchful and strengthen what is left, which is going to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God."

The reputation of the Sardis Church did not match its true condition.  Many of the Christians there had come to have only a nominal faith.  The Church's works were incomplete—it was failing to live up to its Christian calling.

So Jesus calls them to remember their past and “repent”.  He says to “be watchful”—also translated to “wake up”.  He warns them to "strengthen what is left” spiritually in their Church because “I have found your works incomplete"—they must fully live up to the truth they said they believed.  

Otherwise, he says, “I will come like a thief” at an unexpected moment and hold them accountable.  This refers, not to our Lord’s second coming at the end of history, but to a coming in judgment on that specific congregation. This was a reference to the city’s history. Once Persia (modern Iran) had captured Sardis unexpectedly when they broke through defenses thought to be impregnable.  Jesus is warning the Sardis Church that it will be caught in judgment unaware if it does not repent.  Today there is no church in Sardis.

Yet not all Christians in Sardis had failed to live up to their faith.  Some had “not soiled their garments”.  Such a person would get to "walk with" Jesus “dressed in white”, and “I will never erase his name from the Book of Life”. Jesus would “acknowledge his name in the presence of my Father and of his angels”.  White was a symbol of purity, the state of those who live in the love and glory of eternal life (Daniel 12:10; Mark 9:2-3; Revelation 19:14).  Those whose faith and behavior matched what they professed, would live forever with our Lord. 

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The second message is to the Church in the city of Laodicea.  It has the same name today, and is located near Sardis.  Our Lord charges that Church with being lukewarm: “I know that you are neither cold nor hot”.  He says that he will spit the believers out of his mouth unless they change.  Why that earthy image?  Because Laodicea was known for its lukewarm, unclean, virtually useless water.  Hierapolis, just six miles north, had springs of hot water used for washing and medical treatment.  Colossae, ten miles east, had fresh, cold, drinkable water from a mountain stream.  Jesus was saying that the Christians in Laodicea were like the undrinkable and useless water of their city.  He was exhorting them to be either like the good hot water in Hierapolis or like the good cold water in Colossae.  

Ironically the Christians thought that they were fine, saying, “I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything”.  Laodicea was a center of banking, the textile industry, fine clothing, the refining of gold and silver, and the city had a medical school that had developed a medical ointment to treat eye problems.  The Christians there had grown satisfied and comfortable with their way of life.  But Jesus is saying that economic advantages are not the same as spiritual advantages, and he evaluates the congregants as “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked”. 

Jesus then speaks as though he were one of the familiar, respected businessmen in town, and suggests that they buy his products: the kind of "gold" that would make them spiritually rich, white "garments" that would cover their soul's nakedness, and "ointment" that would heal their spiritual eyesight.  Jesus is calling them to seek real, spiritual goods, and is contrasting what they thought they had with the blessings that only he can provide.

“Behold, I stand at the door” of the Church "and knock”.  He promises reward to any and all who let him in: “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me.  I will give the victor the right two sit with me on my throne”.  Notice that Jesus is addressing believers.  This is not primarily an evangelistic invitation to nonbelievers.  It’s a warning to the faithful that Jesus would break down the door of their church and judge them if they did not repent (James 5:9).  That's a possible comparison with then-recent events from the city's history.  Laodicea was located in an area that suffered from earthquakes.  One of the most powerful had struck in 27 BC, within the living memory of some of their grandparents.  Jesus is possibly making a comparison between the unexpected suddenness of an earthquake and his judgment.  "Judgment begins with the household of God” (1 Peter 4:17). 

Let’s serve our Lord, not in a lukewarm way, but with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.