May 22 Rev 2 8-11 Three Strikes
Long Branch Baptist Church
Halfway, Virginia; est. 1786
Sunday, May 22nd, 2005
Enter to Worship
| ! Prelude
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| ! David Witt
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| ! Invocation
| ! …………………………………………………………..………
| ! Michael Hollinger
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| ! Opening Hymn*
| ! …………………………………………………………..………
| ! #383
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| ! “How Firm a Foundation”
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| ! Welcome and Announcements
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| ! Morning Prayer
| ! ………………..………
| ! Mr. Hollinger
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| ! Responsive Reading
| ! [See Right]
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| ! Offertory Hymn*
| ! …………………………………………………………..………
| ! [See Right]
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| ! “Give Thanks”
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| ! Offertory
| ! …………………………………………………………..………
| ! Mr. Witt
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| ! Doxology
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| ! Scripture
| ! Revelation 2:8-11
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| ! Sermon
| !
| ! Mr. Hollinger
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| ! “Three Strikes, but not out.”
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| ! Concluding Hymn
| ! #32
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| ! “Immortal, Invisible”
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| ! Benediction*
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| ! Congregational Response
| !
| !
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| ! Postlude*
| ! …………………………………………………………..………
| ! Mr. Witt
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- Congregation, please stand.
Depart To Serve
Responsive Reading
For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the debater of this age?
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.
For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise;
God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
God chose what is low and despised in the world,
Things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.
He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
(1 Corinthians 1:18-31, NRSV)
Give Thanks, with a grateful heart.
Give Thanks, to the Holy One,
Give Thanks, because he’s given, Jesus Christ, his Son.
And now, let the weak say I am strong.
Let the poor say I am rich,
Because of what the Lord has done, for us.
Give Thanks.
Title: Three Strikes, But Not Out.
Text: Rev 2:8-11
FCF: Things are not what they appear – But do not fear because God is in charge.
SO:
Intro:
Last week, we began a series of sermons in the book of Revelation. We talked about a letter that had been written Ephesus, and he reminded us that we need to remember Jesus Christ, our first love. Like the Tree of Life he promised, we are only alive when we abide in Christ.
John, the author of Revelation, was in exile on an island in the middle of the Aegean sea, when Jesus came to him in a vision. Normally, when we think of people having visions, we imagine them to be seeing things that aren’t really there, but I want to suggest to you this morning, that in this book, John’s vision was different. For once in his life, he was actually seeing past the things we normally see – looking beyond and being one of the few who actually saw the way things really were. When John sent this letter to the little church of Smyrna, he realized that our limited perception often confuses reality, and he wanted to send them a message: “Don’t worry. Things aren’t actually what they seem.”
Before we read, a little background on Smyrna. Of the seven churches that John wrote to in Revelation, Smyrna was by the smallest. Economically, Socially, Politically, the Christians who comprised the church of Smyrna were a backwater – but they produced tough, committed Christians. And, interestingly enough, of the seven churches, Smryna is the only one that has a church still in it today.
Not too ling ago, I read the letter of Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna – possibly even the very bishop that John had in mind when this letter would be delivered. When persecution came, he was ordered to Rome for execution. He willingly went, and even wrote a letter to the Christians in Phillipi along the way begging them not stop what he knew was own death. He did this because he knew the Christ, and was not afraid. He was burned at the stake in 116 AD, probably less than 20 years after John wrote warning of the suffering to come. It is said of Polycarp, the first Christian martyr of whom we have record, that just as he was to be burned, the proconsul pleaded with him simply to renounce Christ and be set free. But he answered:
“Eighty and six years have I served Him and He never did me any injury. How then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?”
The proconsul said: “I have respect for your age. Simply say, “Away with the Atheists[1]” and be set free.” Polycarp solemnly said, “Away with the Atheists”—pointing to the pagan crowd.
He joyfully went to the stake, thanking God for counting him worthy to be numbered among the martyrs.[2]
So then, this was a church acquainted with suffering, And while we can thank God that we don’t live in a country where we face such a choice, we still have a lot to learn from Smyrna about courage, and seeing things correctly. Let’s read:
—Read Rev 2:8-11—
Remember – this was a church with strikes against it. It was poor, lies were being told about it, and it was as pressed under the emperor’s thumb as you could get. Can you imagine writing the welcome brochure for that church? Come, join us. We have nothing to offer you but death! But, as we read earlier, God uses the foolishness of this world to confound the wise. Unlike the other churches we’re going to read about, there isn’t even the slightest hint of condemnation in this letter. God literally has nothing against them!
So, this morning, I suggest to you that we can learn something from Smyrna. It’s a very simple message: “Fear Not!” From a church that understood fear from experience, I can exhort you “Fear Not!” I’d like to suggest this morning that our text specifically mentions three things:
- In the face of poverty – “fear not!” because He had made you rich!
- In the face of slander – “fear not!” because He is truth!
- In the face of suffering – “fear not!” because He is there!
This morning, I want to examine the situation in Smyrna carefully, because in a world like ours that doesn’t know reality when it sees it, it’s helpful to know what things really are. I want to suggest this morning that there are three things that we, who think we see, get wrong. At the risk of sounding like George Orwell’s Big Brother[3], I want to examine three slogans that I think better capture reality than our perception.
- Poor is Rich
- Their “Truth” is a Lie
- Suffering is nothing to fear.
Poor is Rich
I think I’ve told you often enough how money has no relation to the Kingdom of God. No matter how much or how little money we have, we are the richest in the universe, because we have an inheritance from God himself. And, unlike money, which runs out, God’s love never stops.
I think I’ve also defined ‘rich’ for you in the past. I’m convinced that ‘rich’ only ever means one thing – ‘more money than I have.’
James 2:5: Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?[4]
Slander is Truth
I’ll tell you something else that our society really messes up today – the whole notion of truth.
- MCI cooking the books up to $9 billion – and then they started to believe their own numbers, and beat them! Lies can kill you!
- Hiding data as a means to power? Used to be the way to do business. No, Sharing is Strength (See the 9/11 Commission Report if you don’t believe me)
- Litigious society: Student brings an accusation against teacher, Teacher presumed guilty! (Lynne Wine’s story – but I don’t really need to mention her name!)
- Matt 5:12 – Blessed are you when men shall persecute you and revile you for my names’ sake. For so they treated the prophets who were before you. You are blessed!
Suffering is Nothing to fear
I want to bring one more lie to your attention, but here I want to tread a bit lightly. You may remember ago, the whole Terry Schaivo affair. At the time, I carefully avoided taking any political stands, and I still want to do that. For every person who thinks the husband was a cad, there are people who think that the parents just couldn’t let go. It got messy because of the personalities involved. All that wrangling really just went to show that hard cases make bad law. But, regardless of what you feel was the right thing to do, I want to point something out. To me, what this story proved more than anything else was that Americans fear suffering even more than death.
If you don’t believe me, just look at the # of living wills that were created as a result of that story. Now remember, Terry Schaivo was never on life support. The only thing that she had was a feeding tube so she wouldn’t starve. That’s why it took nearly two weeks for her to die. When Americans said that she had a right to “die with dignity,” what they were really saying was, “I never want to be kept on one of those contraptions. I’d rather die than be kept in what looks like pain.”
You see, the curse of living in a soft society is this – We fear pain more than anything else. But notice John’s encouragement. “Don’t fear!” I can’t tell you much about what God has planned for your life. I don’t know what kind of suffering he has in mind for you, but I do know this – you need not fear what is to come.
Why can I say that? I can say that for the same reason that I can tell you even though you think you are poor, you’re actually rich. I can tell you that for the same reason I can say, even when they spread lies about you – you are blessed. I can say ‘Don’t fear suffering,’ because our God is with you!
Hebrews 11:25 reminds us that Moses chose suffering with the people of God – because God is always with his people in suffering. James reminds us that the son he loves he chastens – that’s suffering to produce discipline.
I’ll tell you that suffering will reveal resources you never knew you had. I look at my brother and see what he has become since his wife went crazy. I never knew how much he had in him!
Suffering will reveal truth – the wheat will be separated from the chaff and the silver from the dross. If you don’t believe me, look at the explosive growth of the church in China, once the Chinese government disbanded the church. Even Hudson Taylor never saw such dramatic growth in Chinese Christianity until the Communists forced the Christians into hiding.
And finally, Suffering will show you that you are in God’s love. Psalm 68:5 reminds us that he is the father to the orphan, the protector of the widow.
I learned this lesson on November 10, 1992. When I was growing up, I was good friends w/David Dolnack… (His mother’s strength, @ the funeral – ‘tis’ only the splendour of light hideth Thee.’)
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[1] My note: b/c they only believed in one God, many Romans called Christians a-theos. i.e. “without-God”
[2]Tan, Paul Lee. Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : [A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers]. Garland TX: Bible Communications, 1996, c1979.
[3] You know – about 20 years ago, I read George Orwell’s 1984, and in it, the evil Big Brother has posters placed that represent paradoxes: Hate is Love, Bad is Good. He did that in order to tell his people the way he thought things really were. What’s sad, is that his people bought the lie. Well, in contrast to that, here, Smyrna had to be reminded that those lies really were lies, and in a similar fashion, I want to highlight what John said.
[4]The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version, Jas 2:5. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1996, c1989.