Inactive Christianity

Revelation 3:1-6

Wake up and live the life God has for you!

Sleeping on the Job

We hired an employee recently at AlphaTRAC, at my day job. Really promising young employee for a Junior Programmer position. She had a great resume, seemed to click well in interviews, smart and quick and demonstrated a good grasp of the necessary skills. All good. Hired.

She shows up for her first day of work ready to go and we have things all scheduled out to show her around, show her what we do, how we work, etc... Well, first day, a couple people are giving her a demo of our flagship software product and she is listening intently, or deeply, nodding... nodding... nodding... asleep. Out cold. Awkward. They wake her up and we chalk it up to first day jitters.

Next day we have some more tutorials and she keeps nodding... jerking her head up... and several times that day walking by her cubicle. She is out. She takes to wearing sunglasses (because the lights are so bright) and clearly sleeping behind the sunglasses. Every day, through her first week.

First week of work. Last week of work too, as it happens. The boss had a chat with her, understanding but firm that you have to find a way to stay awake during work hours... it continued... but her employment contract did not. It was a shame because she had potential and it was a great opportunity for her. To work at what I think is an incredible company on exciting and meaningful projects... it was a shame.

I started to wonder, how long could I get away with sleeping all day work, not getting anything done. Quite awhile, actually, just living on my good reputation.

Coasting for Jesus

We can take that question into the things of God. Having done something "super spiritual," how long could we coast on that reputation?

Can't we just coast for awhile? Do you ever feel like that?

This morning we look at a church that seems to have tried exactly that. The church at Sardis Jesus speaks, through the letter we call Revelation, in Chapter 3, verse 1.

Revelation 3:1-6

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits[b] of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Sardis

Jesus seems to be trying to teach the church in Sardis a lesson from the history of their own city. The parallels are too many too ignore.

Sardis was a powerful and wealthy city back in the day. It was capital of Lydia which rivaled Ancient Greece in power and had this huge impregnable fortress-castle thing with cliffs all around. It was so impregnable, actually, that they pretty much only guarded the gate and the city was capture by Cyrus of Persia by sending a few men to scale the cliffs, and take the gate. They got lazy and were caught napping by men who came as thieves in the night.

This was such a miraculous achievement that "capturing Sardis" become a phrase for achieving the impossible. Apparently Sardis thought it was still impossible, became lazy again, and were captured again and again, once in exactly the same method Cyrus used when Lagoras climbed the cliffs and opened the gates.

Sardis was a city living in the glory of days past when it was rich and powerful. It was comfortable, but never achieved its past glory.

Apparently alive, actually dead.

What was the problem in Sardis? Church in Sardis, you are asleep or dead or about to die... all three are mentioned here.

Well in Greek thought, life essentially equals activity. If a thing moves around on its own, it is alive. Life is activity, it is motion and movement. You can see then the strong parallel of sleep to death.

The church in Sardis had a name or a reputation for being alive... but actually they are dead. So word on the street was that this was a living church, perhaps a great growing church. Probably they had activities or things going on that kept that reputation going... but it was a hollow thing. Just like Sardis had a reputation for being impregnable but... really not so much.

Clothes soiling

They were dead, dying, sleeping...

Apparently there is another way of putting it and I love this, because there are a few exceptions Jesus mentioned. Those who have no soiled their clothes.

4a Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.

I have thought for hours this week about hilarious stories, pictures, phrases... How deeply were they sleeping that they soiled themselves?

Sadly, I have to change your visual. There is no hint that they were soiling their clothes in quite the way I immediately imagine. Sardis was the most prominent city in dying cloth, in fact they invented the process, and so this would have been a powerful image to them. Also, "soiling the clothes" was used to indicate ritual impurity, usually due to sin.

This was church sitting back on its reputation. At some point it must have done something good. It got a reputation somehow, it looked good for awhile. People started talking about that "living, active church in Sardis." It had a good resume, hired. It believed its own press and decided to settle in for a nice nap. Just coast for awhile.

You're not done

Jesus says, "WAKE UP!

2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.

You aren't done, not by a long shot.

It certainly doesn't sound like Thyatira: your love, your faith, your service, your endurance, and greater now than at first. Because that is what God has for us. Ever greater blessings. Ever greater callings. Ever growing, always reaching, always learning, always discovering, always creating, always being challenged in faith and love.

Jesus says, Wake Up, you're not done. What is the implication? I have more for you. I have more life for you to live.

Wake UP and live the life God has for you.

Strengthen what remains and is about to die. How does one do that?

3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

Remember and repent. Like Jesus told Ephesus, do the things you did at first. I expect knowing what to do wasn't the problem, Sardis earned the reputation in the first place, but they had been lulled to sleep. Apparently no persecution in Sardis. Apparently no great struggle. Apparently no false teachers in their midst, no Jezebel, no Nicolaitans. Things were peaceful and calm. Warm and cozy.

Man I feel sleepy just thinking about that. The church at Sardis was lulled into sleep in the midst of peace and prosperity.

Things are more urgent than you think

But the truth is that things are more urgent that they thought. Jesus comes with his words of redeeming judgment.

3b But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

The way that is phrased, I don't think it's talking about future day of judgment. I think Jesus came like a thief in the night to Sardis and judged it. In fact, the two churches Jesus speaks most harshly to in Revelation here are the only two cities no longer around today. Sardis is one. Laodicea is the other. Game over.

Dead or Alive - It's about relationship

The question is, why is Jesus being such a punk about Sardis' little beauty rest? What is the big deal if Sardis wants to sleep it out?

It comes down to this. Jesus isn't the employer firing an employee for sleeping on the job. Christianity isn't about working hard or diligently. It is a love relationship. It is a friendship. The Bible uses the language of marriage with Jesus the groom and the Church the Bride.

Funny thing about relationships: you are either growing closer together, or you are drifting apart. The motion in either direction might be slow, but if you don't talk to your best friend for a few years, you won't be as close as you are today. You can't be, they are growing, you are growing, and your relationship has to grow with that. And besides, you want to be with that person. You like their faces. You love them, you love spending time together, growing together, sharing experiences together, challenging each other. That's why they're your best friends.

It is deeply relational. That isn't a work violation, that is a betrayal of friendship, a lack of faithful love.

More than religion

All the "religion" stuff is just there to facilitate and nurture the growing relationship between you and God.

Don't go to sleep! Are you kidding, WAKE UP!

There is no such thing as an inactive Christian. You are either pursuing God, or you are pursuing something else that leads you away from God. WAKE UP! and live the life God has for you.

WAKE UP! and live the life God has for you.

Back to sleeping at work. I realized, thinking about how long I could get away with sleeping through the day at work: Why would I want to? I would miss out on being a part of the team, being a part of the company, being a part of all the exciting projects we are working on. I would miss the challenge and the victory.

The life God has for you

Wake up! and live the life God has for you. God is not done with you. He is not done with you. He has more life for you.

Rest

That doesn't mean that you are always busy doing stuff! Sometimes God says, "be still and know that I am God." Jesus was going off by himself regularly to pray, silence and solitude!

It isn't that you don't get periods of rest. God is a huge fan of rest. "Six days you shall work... on the Sabbath day you shall rest..." sound familiar?

But there is a difference between rest that restores and prepares you for the next challenge, and lethargic sleep that imitates death until death is the reality.

I think the church at Sardis was doing stuff. But it was hollow, it was empty, it was spiritually motionless and dead.

Are you asleep

Are you asleep? You need to answer that question. I can't tell. Maybe you look awake on the outside because you're still doing "God stuff." Sardis had the reputation for being alive... but they were dead.

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping, brother John?

You need to ask yourself that question. Now. Am I sleeping? Am I just going through motions? When I worship, am I addressing my Creator or just singing? When I pray, am I in a dialogue or talking to myself? When I listen to the word preach am I literally sleeping?

WAKE UP and live the life God has for you.

Ask yourself the question, am I sleeping? Ask it tonight. Every time you brush your teeth for the next three days, as you are going through a motion you do out of habit and obligation, I want you to ask yourself: am I spiritually asleep?

If you haven't been challenged to step out of your comfort zone in love, in ministry, in faith... you may be asleep. Because that's the kind of thing God continually calls us to.

If you haven't found yourself coming to God and His Scriptures with burning questions about who He is and what He's doing... you may be asleep. He is bigger than we know and constantly surprising.

If you haven't been amazed and intimidated by what He is doing in and through you... you may be asleep. Because we serve a living and active God.

WAKE UP and live the life God has for you. Don't miss it!

God's Calling on You

God is preparing this church for its new pastor. That is exciting, that is challenging. Don't sleep through it!

Is it possible God is calling you and you are hitting the snooze button? "No, God, call back later. I did something for you yesterday... or last month..."

Wake up and live the life God has for you. It is so much better than sleeping. So much richer and deeper. Thinking through all the ways I have spent too much time asleep, video games and books, tv shows and movies... the best of them don't even compare to the life God has for me. A few weeks ago I got to be a part of 10 kids getting baptized. Holy, blessed, God. That is life worth living! My heart is still full, but anticipating what God has for me next. What God has for us next.

I don't want to sleep through any of it. I don't want to miss it. You don't want to miss any of it.

Wake up and live the life God has for you.

To the one who is victorious

I want to be one of those dressed in white. That is a symbol of victory and celebration. Also, I look really good in white.

4b They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

I want to be worthy. I want God to say of me "I know your deeds, your love and faithfulness, your service, your perseverance, and you are now doing more than you did at first."

The life God has for us

Imagine if all the churches in SDB were fully Active. That is thinking small, actually. Imagine if all the churches in America were fully Active. Still small, imagine if all the churches in all the world, everyone who called themselves "Christian" would WAKE UP!

God's calling on Springs Life

Now I didn't have a dream where God said to me, the Springs Life church is dead, wake them up. No dream. No insight. No knowledge.

But I do know that you are seeking and calling for a new pastor. I know that God has created you and called you out here in the Springs. I know that He has a plan to work through that new pastor, to work through each and every one of you.

I know this, that God has incredibly life before each one of you and before this church. Challenging life. Exciting life. Difficult, maybe, but oh so abundant. He is calling you to live it up!

Imagine with me, if everyone in this church drank a huge spiritual cappacino, came in bursting with excitement with what the Holy Spirit was doing in and through them and you and this church. I know this, a new pastor coming in to meet that would be blessed beyond compare.

Prepare for them that blessing.

WAKE UP and live the life God has for you.

One day, Jesus will come, and the whole world will see him. A trumpet will blast like the ultimate wake-up call. WAKE UP!!! and all the faithful, from all the ages, will rise to life, to reign, dressed in white.

Don't miss out on the victory celebration.

Don't miss out on the life God has for you... it's too good to miss. Don't soil your clothes. Wake up and live the life God has for you.

Whoever has ears... let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.