THE DOCTOR IS AT THE DOOR
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In season 3 episode 24 entitled Aunt Bee’s Medicine Man Aunt Bee is seduced by a “medicine man” named Colonel Harvey. The Colonel promises that his 170-proof tonic provides temporary relief from mid-life crisis.
This promise appeals to Aunt Bee as she is struggling with various issues in her life. This struggled is amplified by the death of Augusta Finch. Finch was the same age as Aunt Bee so her death, along with Bee’s aliments, have sent her further down the rabbit hole.
As she hears The Colonel’s offer of renewal and restoration, for just $1, her hope is renewed. In her zeal she purchases as bottle and consumes it immediately.
Andy and Barney arrived at the Taylor home later that afternoon to find the once depressed and distraught Bee singing to the top of her lungs. The Colonel’s elixir works!
Suspicious of The Colonel’s elixir Barney takes a sample to Doc Andrews for testing. Doc Andrews test reveal that the elixir is 85% alcohol. Aunt Bee has not been delivered she is just drunk.
Colonel Harvey is no medicine man just a manipulator of human psychology. He possess no credentials to practice medicine only knowledge of human weakness that allows him to pedal his remedies.
Today’s text tells us of a doctor who has come to the door of a church for a house call. He has not been summonsed by the parishioners because they are oblivious to their need for help.
He begins his conversation by stating his credentials.
He wants them to know that He is no fraud. He describes Himself as the Amen. This is a unique title, used only here in Scripture to describe Christ. Amen is a transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning “truth,” “affirmation,” or “certainty.” It refers to that which is firm, fixed, and unchangeable.
Not only is Jesus the Amen because of His work, but also because everything He speaks is the truth. He is completely trustworthy, perfectly accurate, and His testimony is always reliable.
Finally, Christ referred to Himself as the Beginning of the creation of God.
This letter to the Laodiceans has much in common with Paul’s letter to the Colossian church. Colossae was not far from Laodicea, so it is likely that the same heresy plaguing the Colossians had made its way to Laodicea
And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.
Gnosticism, one of many N.T. heresies, taught that Christ was a created being, one of a series of emanations from God. Its proponents also claimed that they possessed a secret, higher spiritual knowledge above and beyond the simple words of Scripture. Combating that heresy Paul wrote of Christ,
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
“Firstborn” is not limited to the first one born chronologically, but refers to the supreme or preeminent one, the one receiving the highest honor. Christ is thus the source of the creation, and the supreme person in it.
This doctor makes it clear that he is no Colonel Harvey. He has not come to peddle an elixir but to expose their condition and extend a cure.
Now that His credentials have been stated he does what any good doctor would do, he exposes their condition.
In verse 15 he states
“ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!
“I know” means more than awareness. He knows what they have done but he also knows why they have done it. The word “works” could also be translated as witness. What was the condition of their witness
So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
What is causing their condition?
Our text is litter with clues that reveal their serious condition. Many of these clues are self-evident but one, and a key one, is not so evident. If we are to understand rightly this often misinterpreted text we must use a map and history.
Lacodicea was a city rich with natural resources. It was known for is black wool and a eye suave. They had also become a financial and banking center.
Though Lacodicea was rich with natural resources it did lack on very important natural resource, water. Lacodicea used a series of aqueducts to transport this need resource to their city. This needed resource came from two adjacent cities, Hierapolis and Colossae.
They were located 11 miles to the south of Hierapolis. Hierapolis was known for its hot water with calcium. This water was known for its medicinal purposes.
They were located 6 miles west of Colossae. Colossae was known for its cold water. This cold water was refreshing. Cold water has many other benefits such as
IMPROVES LYMPHATIC CIRCULATION
The lymphatic system is a network of vessels that run throughout the body, helping take away waste, bacteria and microbes from your cells, essentially cleansing your body.
IMPROVES CARDIOVASULAR CIRCULATION
But cold water immersion can also stimulate blood flow. When you immerse your body in cold water, the blood rushes to surround your vital organs. Your heart then is forced to pump more efficiently, pushing blood through all your vessels and supplying every part of your body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs.
REDUCES MUSCLE INFLAMMATION
Cold water lowers the damaged tissue’s temperature and constricts the blood vessels. This helps reduce the swelling and inflammation, and even numbs the nerve endings to bring immediate relief to any pain.
BOOSTS HAPPINESS LEVELS
A 2007 research study found that cold showers can help treat depression symptoms, and if used on a routine basis, may be more beneficial than prescription medications. The reason for this, cold water triggers a flood of mood-boosting neurotransmitters, which make you feel happy.
A separate study that analyzed the effects of regular winter swimming on the mood of swimmers showed that after four months of routine cold water swimming, the subjects felt more energetic, active and spritely than the control group.
INCREASES WEIGHT LOSS
When practiced routinely, cold water immersion has been shown to boost the metabolism. Not only does cold water force our bodies to work harder to keep us warm, burning calories in the process and in the long run, boosting our metabolisms, it also has an unexpected impact on the type of fat we produce.
The Great Physician was using their own daily experience as a means of showing them their current spiritual condition. What happens to hot water filled with calcium after it travels 11 miles. It becomes lukewarm and if consumed would make one vomit.
What happens to cold water after traveling 6 miles? It becomes lukewarn. What do we do with lukewarm water? We typically spit it out. Laodicea spiritual issue was the same as their physical issue, location to the source.
They had become lukewarm become they had moved from the source. What caused them to move?
They were wealthy. They were self-sufficient. They had prospered through financial institutions. Their prosperity was so great that they rescinded money to Rome after experiencing a natural disaster.
Their textile industry was flourishing and clothing was plentiful. They had become the center for ophthalmology. People traveled far and wide seeking treatment for eye disease.
They were rich and in need of nothing. This condition produces lukewarmness. It’s pride and arrogance. We may not be so bold as to say those words out loud but our life bears witness to it reality.
What a sad spiritual state to find yourself? To live as you need nothing while being wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. If we do not stay down wind of ourselves we will fall into the pit of self-sufficiency and thereby into lukewarmness.
Never equate physical and financial prosperity to spiritual prosperity.
Now that their condition has been exposed he extends a curative prescription.
Accept your condition.
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
Believe that I care.
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
Come to Christ.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.