Revelation 2:8-11
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Dear Friends in Christ,
If you grew up attending catechism classes in the
Perhaps you will remember wearing a white robe. The white robe was chosen for a reason. It signified the pure righteousness and holiness of Jesus Christ that covers over the sinfulness of those who trust in Him as their Savior.
Perhaps you remember solemnly taking your confirmation
vows. The vows came in a series of
questions to which you responded. The
exact wording may have changed over the years, but of all the questions that
were asked, the one that probably made the biggest impression on you and made
you aware of just how important a step of faith you were taking went like
this: “Do you intend to continue steadfast in the confession and Church and
to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away from it?” To which the pastor then asked you to
respond: “I do so intend with the help of God.”
And then you received a confirmation verse. Maybe it was assigned to you. Maybe you picked it out yourself. Either way, one very popular confirmation
passage that some of you call your own beautifully underscores the confirmation
vow. It is Revelation 2:10 – “Be faithful, even to the point of death,
and I will give you the crown of life.”
That wonderful word of encouragement and promise was
originally part of a letter addressed to a group of Christians who lived in the
ancient town of
Nineteen centuries later there is much we can learn from this congregation. In keeping with our Advent series of examining the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation and how they speak to us today, tonight we’d like to take a closer look at
ADVENT LETTER #2: TO THE CHURCH
IN
“To the angel of
the church in
We’ll remember that the word “angel” can also be translated “messenger” and most likely refers to the pastor of the church. We’ll also recall that of the seven letters, most of them – five – contain a stern word of warning from Jesus and a corresponding call to repentance. Only two do not. This is one of them, meaning the congregation was a faithful and devout church that was not only well grounded in the Word, but also put their faith into practice. As such, they provide the church of all ages – that’s us – with a purely positive example to follow.
With that in mind, let’s work our way through this letter.
Jesus begins by identifying Himself as “the First and the Last” and the One “who died and came to life again.” This description reminds us that Jesus is indeed our almighty, eternal God who broke into our time and space to live, die and rise again for us. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead is the central tenet of our Christian faith. It substantiates and validates everything He said about who He is – the Son of God and our Savior – and what He came to do – to save us from the damning consequences of our sin.
This reminds us of why we are here today. We do not worship a fallen hero, nor have we gathered to honor an enlightened teacher who died before his time. No, ours is a Living Lord, who, by His grace, has called us to be His very own now and forever.
Because He is our almighty, living Lord nothing escapes
His notice. He knows what is going on in
the lives of His people. So He tells the
church at
Some things to note. Jesus speaks of their afflictions and their poverty. There is no reason not to take these statements at face value. Affliction to early Christians came in various forms. Sometimes it was actual, physical persecution, which Jesus will speak more on in a minute. Sometimes their failure to worship the Roman Emperor as a god resulted in the confiscation of whatever wealth and property they had, which made them literally poor as far as owning possessions.
Jesus also points out He knows the source of a special form of persecution came from those who said they were religious and in fact claimed to be the people of God (“those who say they are Jews and are not;” part of the “established church” we might say), but in reality were in league with Satan.
From all outward appearances,
In what way were they rich? The same way every Christian is rich. It has nothing to do with possession or power or prestige or position. It has everything to do with Jesus Christ. Fanny Crosby, a woman who had her share of afflictions, understood this when she wrote:
Take the world,
but give me Jesus, all its joys are but a name.
But his name
abides forever, through eternal years the same.
Oh the height
and depth of mercy; oh the length and breadth of love.
Oh the fullness
of redemption, pledge of endless life above.
The point: those who know Jesus are rich, regardless of their physical assets and what they go through for His name. Conversely, those who “have it all” according to the world’s standards, but do not have Jesus, are impoverished.
The
people of
If we
see what was happening at
I
believe we know these words to be intellectually true, but at the same time something
we have not personally experienced – at least not to the degree that the
Christians at
Yet it still happens. It has been said that across the globe more martyrs have died or been physically persecuted for the cause of Christ in the 20th century than all the others combined. Again that’s hard for us to understand, but a recent e-mail that pastors and others received from the president of our seminary may hit home for us, because it has to do with somebody we know.
Joshua
Yu is a Chinese man who attends Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and is actively
involved in our Saturday evening Chinese Fellowship here at
Whether personal, psychological, or physical, Jesus says Christians should
not be surprised by persecution or suffering for their faith. Rather, Jesus says, expect it. But also, Jesus says, expect that I will
never leave you or forsake you.
Therefore, keep your eyes on the prize:
the crown of life in heaven, where “our present sufferings are not worth
comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans
From
church history sources outside the Bible we know the name of one individual who
may very well have heard the words of this letter when it was first
delivered. His name was Polycarp. He had been a disciple of the Apostle
John. For many years Polycarp was the
pastor of the church at
He lived to be 86 years old. The end of his life corresponded almost
exactly with what Jesus speaks about in the letter to
He stepped forward, and was asked by the proconsul if
he really was Polycarp. When he said
yes, the proconsul urged him to deny the charge [that he was a Christian].
“Respect your years!” he exclaimed,
adding similar appeals regularly made on such occasions: “Swear by Caesar’s fortune; change your
attitude; say: “Away with the godless!”… “Swear, and I will set you free:
execrate Christ.”
“For eighty six years,” replied
Polycarp, “I have been his servant, and he has never done me wrong; how can I
blaspheme the king who saved me?”
“I have wild beasts,” said the
proconsul. “I shall throw you to them,
if you don’t change your attitude.”
“Call them,” replied the old
man. “We cannot change our attitude if
it means a change from better to worse…”
“If you make light of the beasts,”
retorted the governor, “I’ll have you destroyed by fire, unless you change your
attitude.”
Polycarp answered, “The fire you
threaten burns for a time and is extinguished: there is a fire you know nothing
about – the fire of the judgment to come and of eternal punishment, the fire
reserved for the ungodly. But why do you
hesitate? Do what you want…”
(taken from Eusebius
Church History)
And
they did. They gathered the wood. When the pyre was ready, Polycarp prayed,
thanking God for counting him worthy to suffer as a martyr and for the eternal
life that would soon be his. They lit
the flame. And Polycarp died. But, in the words of Jesus’ letter to
Faithfulness. The
expectation of hardship. Courage under
fire. Always keeping our eyes on the
prize. And ultimately, the crown of
life. Those were the qualities embodied
by the watching-and-waiting Advent Christians at
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Amen.