To the Church of Laodicea

Thankyou for your invitation to preach here this morning.

I understand that you have had a series of sermons on the revelation of the risen Christ to the seven churches in the province of Asia... and this morning we are looking at the last one... the letter that Jesus dictated to the church in Laodicea.

Let us pray... May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be pleasing in your sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Before coming to college, I was an Engineer, and for part of that time I was working on a construction site in Alabama, ...in the 'deep South' of the U.S.A. I was there during the summer, and at 10 o'clock at night the temperature was quite pleasant, but during the day it was unbearably hot. It was also extremely humid... the sweat poured off me, and my clothes stuck to me... and I longed for a cool day.

Most of us like the weather when it's not too cold, yet it's not too hot... we like when it's just nice!

It's also how many of us like other people.

You meet some people who are cold and miserable, rather like Scrooge; they haven't got a pleasant word to say to anyone. You meet other people who are just the opposite... and too much so! They are really over the top, we call them fanatics.

But many of us like people who are not too cold... yet not too hot... people who are just nice!

Most of us tend to avoid extremes... and if Jesus said to us "you are neither cold nor hot", we might well take it as a compliment.

But when Jesus spoke these words to the church of Laodicea, he wasn't complimenting them... in fact he meant quite the opposite. He said, "I wish you were either one or the other! ...So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot not cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

I had a similar reaction when I made my wife a cup of coffee last week. We have two kettles at college, which stand next to each other. Both of them had water in them which had been standing there for a while. I boiled the water in one of the kettles, got a cup, put some milk and coffee in it, and then accidentally filled it up with water from the wrong kettle.

Have you ever drunk tepid coffee? Well you can imagine my wife's reaction when she tasted it!

Now the people at Laodicea had probably never drunk tepid coffee, but they knew exactly what Jesus meant. You see, at the nearby town of Hierapolis, (about six miles away), there were some hot springs... and water from these springs formed a stream which flowed right by the city of Laodicea. Unfortunately, the water which was piping hot at Hierapolis, was lukewarm by the time it reached Laodicea. Furthermore, the water was full of lime... and so if you drank it, it made you sick.

So Jesus uses this water as an illustration... "because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

So in what way were they lukewarm?... Well, in a word, they were COMPLACENT. (pause)

To understand this better it helps to know a little bit more about the city of Laodicea.

In Roman times, it was the wealthiest city in the area. It was a banking centre, famous for exchanging money. It was also a textile town, well known for its linen wool industry. And it was a medical centre, and was renowned for making a special kind of eye ointment.

And, just as Jesus used the lukewarm water in the nearby stream to illustrate the true condition of the church... so he also uses these things as an illustration of their complacency.

Jesus said (v.17), "You say 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing'. But you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

You see, they lived in a banking centre and thought they were rich... perhaps they felt that they had everything they needed, that they were self-sufficient, and could do everything in their own strength ...and yet they didn't realise that they were spiritually poor. (pause)

They lived in a textile town, and thought that they wore fine clothes... perhaps they felt that they were wearing robes of righteousness, (as it says in book of Isaiah), that they were living holy lives, and that God would be pleased with them ...and yet they didn't realise that they were spiritually naked. (pause)

They lived in a medical centre, and thought that they could see properly... perhaps they felt that they could see the truth, that they were close to God, and were open to God's ways ...and yet they didn't realise that they were spiritually blind. (pause)

What a hopeless state they were in... they thought they had everything, but in fact they had nothing.

It reminds me of the sort of things that Jesus had said to the Pharisees. Do you remember him criticising them, because they couldn't see what they were really like (Mt. 23). But here, Jesus is saying the same things to a church of Christians. (pause)

Is Jesus saying the same thing to this church? (pause)

The lukewarmness of a Church is sometimes expressed in a kind of maintenance attitude... an emphasis upon keeping things going... and an indifference to those outside the church. (pause)

Well the church of Laodicea was definitely lukewarm... but it wasn't too late for them to do something about it.

Jesus says to them, "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; ...to buy from me "white clothes to wear, so that you can cover your shameful nakedness"; ...to buy from me "salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see".

Its all tied up with a change of attitude, ...which begins with the recognition that they don't possess the things they thought they did, (whether it be the ability to do everything in their own strength, ...or robes of righteousness, ... or an openness to God), ...an which goes on to humbly ask Christ for these things.

The church is to be shaken from its complacency by first recognising their own needs, and then by asking Jesus himself to satisfy them. (pause)

Of course, a church is made up of the individual members who belong to it, ...and it is each individual that Jesus goes on to challenge in his letter. ...It is also good, from time to time, for each of us to stop and take our own spiritual temperature. ...and so I think it might be helpful if we were to pause for a moment now.

For just one minute, let us forget about those around us, and think about ourselves. Let us try to be honest with ourselves, as we ask the question... "Am I hot, ...or am I cold, ...or am I lukewarm?"

It is quite an uncomfortable question, but it is one that we have to face from time to time. So I am going to sit down for just one minute, so that I too can ask myself the same question.

In the letter to the church of Laodicea, Jesus addressed each individual with the words, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me".

This verse was of particular importance to me when I first became a Christian. I had been going to church for several years, but I didn't really understand what being a Christian was all about.

I had thought that a Christian was someone who believed in God, who went to church, and who tried to live a good life... someone who was kind to other people. But one day I discovered that there was more to being a Christian than these things.

God wants us to believe in him...

God wants us to go to church...

God wants us to live good lives...

But I discovered that none of these things actually makes us Christians. (pause)

What makes us Christians is our relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. (pause)

And that is what this verse talks about. "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me". (pause)

Some of the most precious times I have had with my wife have been sharing a meal together. I remember the first time that I invited her to a restaurant... we spent the evening talking about the many ways in which we had different interests and different dreams... and we came to the conclusion that we were totally incompatible with each other.

And I remember sitting next to her at our wedding reception, and being full of excitement about our future together.

Sharing a meal together is a very powerful image... one of deep fellowship and intimacy. And Jesus says that if we open the door he will come in and eat with us, and we with him. (pause)

The night I became a Christian I did just that. I opened the door and invited Christ in. But I have since found that my relationship with God, like all relationships, can go off the boil... at times I have become lukewarm.

And it is to lukewarm Christians that Jesus addresses these words: "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me. (pause)

And so in conclusion... Perhaps as a church God may be calling you to recognise your need, and to ask Jesus himself to satisfy that need. (pause)

Perhaps as an individual, Jesus may be knocking at the door and waiting for you to open it, ...perhaps for the first time, or perhaps because you have become lukewarm. (pause)

I'm going to finish with a prayer. If you hear Jesus knocking, and you want to open the door, please repeat these words silently in your own heart. It is a prayer which asks Christ to come into your life as your Savour to cleanse you, as your Lord to control you, and as your Friend to be with you.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ,

thank you that you love me, and are knocking at the door,

I am sorry for keeping you outside,

I repent of everything that has harmed our relationship,

Now I open the door, and ask you to come into my life,

Come in as my Saviour to cleanse me,

Come in as my Lord to control me,

Come in as my Friend to be with me,

And I will serve you all the remaining years of my life in complete obedience.

Amen.