Sermon Tone Analysis

Perfect love may cast out fear, but fear is remarkably potent in casting out love.

—P.

D. James, English author (1920- )

Smyrna

Brothers and Sisters, how are you going with fear?

What role does fear play in your daily walk with the Lord Jesus?

As we turn to the second letter within the book of Revelation - addressed as it is to Smyrna, Jesus provides some great encouragement that we would do well to consider in our own context.

Of course, for Smyrna, they had a specific set of realities to cope with.

Located just thirty-five miles northwest of Ephesus, unlike the fields that now exist where Ephesus once stood;

today Smyrma is the modern city of Izmir - second largest city in Asiatic Turkey.

But in ancient times Smyrna rivaled Ephesus and Pergamum for power and prestige.

She was renowned for the beauty of her architecture.

On her coinage, the city stamped “first city of Asia in size and beauty”.

Which was quite a claim as it was Pergamum that boasted the seat of Roman government and thereby acted in many ways as the designated capital of the region.

During Roman times it became a centre for emperor worship, as well as a centre of learning and writing.

Jesus’ Self- Description

It’s interesting to note that Jesus chooses to focus on his death and resurrection when addressing Smyrna.

The city itself had been compleytely destroyed 700 years earlier.

It lay in ruins for some 300 years, before literally rising again from the dead to a new and even more prosperous city within the region.

There’s an intentional goal in choosing certain attributes here - Jesus seeks to draw attention to truths about himself that will serve the church in the future.

Unlike many of the other letters, the Lord finds nothing to criticise about his brothers and sisters here; rather His task seems one of warning, which he lovingly tackles through words of encouragement.

The Encouragement

As with Ephesus, the Lord Jesus wants the church to be aware that their situation is well known to Him.

The word translated ‘affliction’ here, is the same used by Jesus when he describes what will happen to Christians in the last days.

It is the affliction brought about through persecution.

Such is this persecution that it has led to their material poverty.

If, as is likely, they have refused to take part in pagan ceremonies, they would certainly have been excluded from normal economic activity and trade.

Either way, in their desire to remain faithful, they have suffered economically.

Their main antagonists seem to be the local Jews.

For many years, Christianity was seen by the Romans as an offshoot of Judaism.

As a result, they enjoyed the same measure of protections and exemptions that Jews had from worshipping the Emperor.

However, by the mid 60’s of the first century such exemptions were being stripped away.

There was increasing pressure put upon local Jews to denounce their Christian neighbours.

For the Christians of Smyrna, it may well be that they have nothing materially, but the ascended Jesus wants them to know that from His perspective they are rich!

Notice, however, Jesus is not only concerned that they know their eternal destiny - He is also concerned about how they live in the present.

And so He gives them an exhortation:

The Exhortation

In the midst of Roman power, the loyalty of the local inhabitants to their Emperor and their worship of him as a god, Jesus says:

Do not be afraid...

The Emperor may have his fancy titles, but they are no match for those given to the ascended Lord Jesus.

He is far superior to even the power and might of Rome.

He is the first and the last, the beginning of the matter and the final full stop to all of history.

Because Jesus died and came back to life again, the Christians in Smyrna can have every confidence that He has the power to look after them and bring them through death to life.

The reference to ten days may remind you of the period of testing that Daniel negotiated with his superiors over the eating from the King’s table.

Do you remember they went through their initial time of testing , where they took their stand against the King’s commands that would have seen them compromise their faith.

Jesus wants the Christians in Smyrna to know that this coming period through which they will indeed need to endure, is time limited.

But more than that, he seeks to help them understand that though the devil intends through his actions their harm, God’s intention is to use this testing time to prove their loyalty and the authenticity of their faith as His children.

In other words, all the devil can throw at them, will only serve to confirm their eternal statis as the true people of God and inheritors of his promises made ‘yes’ in Christ Jesus.

Of course, Jesus exhortation doesn’t stop at encouraging them not to be afraid - there is a call to remaining faithful to the very end.

The Promise

At the end of verse 10, Jesus promises to give this disciples the crown of life.

He goes further...

Of course, with his words to those who overcome, he also extends a promise for his followers today.

There will be times we are not held in high esteem by those around us.

We may even be ridiculed for our faith, for the choices we make and the decisions for Christ we take.

The world may put these persecuted Christians to death, but they will be raised to life and need have no fear of the judgment of God.

The Crown of life...

No second death...

Fortunately, at least for now, we suffer in comparison limited effects for choosing Christ.

But as I have been reflecting on Jesus’ words about fear, about overcoming and remaining faithful - it’s got me wondering about the impact of the prevailing culture around us today.

I appreciate that fear probably isn’t something we have to avoid when we think about the relationships we have with family and friends who don’t share our faith, but I reckon fear plays more of an adverse role in our daily walk with God than we possibly even realise.

In Australia our broadsheet newspapers are similar to those in the UK, in that they are places where talented cartoonists express their art and ability to capture the social mood of the day.

Michael Leunig is one such cartoonist.

In one of his pieces he noted the following:

Michael Leunig

I wonder what aspects of our Christian lives are lived out through fear?

Perhaps your initial reaction is to deny fear has any role to play in your Christian life.

At a push, you might agree with me that there could be an element of fear that stops you from sharing your faith with others - fear of rejection is probably the most common in this area.

But what about more subtle fears?

Fear of change?

What is this going to mean for me?

How is this going to impact my need to be fulfilled, to have my individual expectations met?

Fear of commitment?

What if I get stuck having to do it again and again?

What if people’s expectations are beyond my capacity or desire to give?

Fear of failure?

What if I don’t meet the standards I have placed on myself or the standards others might place on me?

Of course, that opens up another sermon on who is setting the standards, are they real or perceived and do they even matter in the eternal scheme of things?

But we’ll leave that for another time.

Fear of being exposed

What will they think of me when they realise that I don’t know anything about this subject?

Fear of making yourself vulnerable?

What if they think me weak or weird?

Fear of missing out - FOMO?

What if a better offer comes up?

What if I don’t have enough time to do what I really want to do?

Some might say - edging your bets.

These are quite common fears - but when they come up against God’s call on our life, they all share one thing in common.

They impact negatively upon our ability to be faithful; to truly live a life of discipleship and obedience that points to a truly saving faith that is transforming our hearts and minds for Christ.

All those fears may lead to:

Negativity

A critical spirit

A self preserving spirit

A self protecting spirit

A reluctance to move from the fringes of Church Community life.

All responses that effectively build walls.

Walls that block or diminish the potential power of God’s word and Spirit that would otherwise seek to heal and transform us, that we might be whole and live the abundant life that Jesus came to offer us.

More than the effect on us as individuals, they also block our ability to embrace the community life into which saving faith calls us, dampening the witness to those around us; limiting the way in which we live for the kingdom.

But what if, instead of fear, we choose love as the core motivating factor in our walk with Jesus?

Love for God and Love for each other?