The following Sermon was preached in our Church by Rev. Archie Bathgate on Sunday 1st
June 2008
SERMON
The Letter to Thyatira
Revelations 2: 18-29
At this time, as a group of believers, we are
being challenged by God as to what kind of Church we want to become for him. We are a few weeks into a vacancy, we have re-advertised
for a new Minister, and as we think about what kind of Minister we want to come
here we are also thinking about the kind of Church we want to become, and because we are all different we have different expectations
of what that should be. Some of us stress the importance of worship, others prayer, others outreach, or family, or service
to community – we are all different and have different expectations of how our Church should grow. But at the end of
the day it is not what we want or like that really matters but what Jesus, the Lord of the Church, really wants for us. And
that is the real value of these letters to 7 Churches in Revelations. They are sent to local Churches by Jesus himself. Revealing
what he expects of a congregation – what he likes and what he dislikes. Each of these letters follows a similar pattern
– a description of Jesus as Lord of the Church, recognition of anything the Church is doing well, a challenge to change
some kind of behaviour and then promises for those who are faithful.
There was a lot in Thyatira that thought they
were doing well. Jesus said to them, “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance.”
English translations tend to let us down here – in the way he delivers this message in the original text Jesus pairs
these things together differently – he places love with service and faithfulness with perseverance. In doing this Jesus
is showing how they should develop: love grows into service and faithfulness becomes perseverance. If we claim to have Christian
love in our hearts, the only way to prove this is by practising it – by helping other people. Likewise, if we claim
to be faithful/loyal to Jesus the only way we can prove it is by continuing to be faithful – by persevering every single
day of our lives – resisting temptation, overcoming sin, practising forgiveness. Jesus said of his followers –
“By their fruits shall you know them”. It is by the way we practise our Christianity that the love and the life
of Jesus can be seen to be real in us. The Bible is very clear on this matter – without evidence/action there can be
no new life.
So what does this mean for us as a Church as
we think about our future? What is Jesus saying to us here? He is saying the same thing that he has ever said to everyone
of his other Churches – if we love him we must prove it by sharing that love with others. In Outreach: to the people
of our community, because his love is the only thing that can change their lives. In Fellowship: because we need to be loved
too and if we can’t love one another how can we ever hope to convince others that Jesus is worthwhile. Jesus expects us to live in a way that shows that he is real - that he has power – power to deliver
us from habits that enslave – power to heal broken relationships – power that enables us to pass through and overcome
any difficulties we face in
life. Not to run away; not to stand with a childish defiance saying “I
shall not be moved!” nor giving up and allowing circumstances to swamp us because we claim it is God’s will for
us. God’s will for us is that we remain faithful to him, passing through the difficulties, being aware of the problems
but also being aware of the power of Jesus that can keep us – and discovering his peace that brings stability in even
the worst situation.
The thing that really pleased Jesus about the
Church in Thyatira was that they were doing more now than they were at first. There was evidence of growth in their Church
life. Their love and loyalty for Jesus was more evident now than when the Church started. How can we know if that is true
for our Church? How can we know if we are more loving now than we were 1/5/10yrs ago? Do we count the number of people here
each Sunday? Do we look at the number of activities read out in the notices each week? Do we count the amount of money we
give away? Jesus commended the Church in Thyatira because they were doing more now than they were at first. His expectation
is that there must be development and change, if things remain the same the life of the Church is stifled, there must be growth.
So think back 1yr, 5yrs, 10yrs – have things changed? Can Jesus say of our congregation what he said to Thyatira –
“you are more loving now than you were in past?” This is also something we need to ask ourselves as individuals
– has my relationship with God grown? Do I know him better now than I did before? Am I still struggling with the same
habits, holding the same grudges, facing the same difficulties in relationships? If we are, then we need to seek his help
in overcoming these things. The expectation on us as a Church and as individuals is that we will be showing more love now
than we were in the past.
For all that Jesus Christ commended the Church
at Thyatira they also had a major problem. And unlike some of the other 7 Churches who faced external persecution Thyatira’s
problem came from within their own Church. In addressing this problem Jesus uses some of the most threatening and violent
language that appears in any of these letters – he even threatens those involved with sickness and death. The only thing
Thyatira was really known for was its extraordinary number of Trade Guilds and that is where the problem lay for some of the
Christians in the Church. To do any kind of business in Thyatira a person needed to be a member of a Trade Guild, which also
meant that you had to attend social functions. Unfortunately for them these social events also included sacrificing to an
idol, drunkenness and sexual immorality. And it seems that within the Church there was a group of people, led by this woman
who is likened to Jezebel, who said this was OK. Jesus makes his feelings really clear here – he wants them to change
and for all that he threatens them he still gives them a chance to repent.
As Christians, whatever we do, whether at home/work/involved
in some social event, we do that as a representative of Jesus. And the standards that we live by/uphold must be his standards,
not our own and not the world’s. People judge Jesus by what they see of him in us. It doesn’t matter how much
people already know about Jesus, their understanding of Jesus is based upon what they see of him in our lives.
After issuing all these violent threats Jesus
says that those who have remained faithful, those who have refused to compromise his standards, he will not place any extra
burdens on them. He only asks that they continue in the same way – keep on doing what you are doing. But then he makes
a staggering promise: to those who win victory – to those who remain faithful, he will pass onto them exactly the same
authority his father passed on to him. And to make sure we don’t start to dilute this promise he quotes from Psalm 2
where the Messiah, the Son of God, is given authority over all the nations.
In Philippians 2 Paul says Christ has authority
over all powers, whether in heaven, on earth or under the earth. That is the authority/power that Jesus promises us. But before
all this goes to our heads it is worth noting that this authority is given to do his will. Whatever he has called us to do,
whatever he leads us into, whether as individuals or together as a Church – he gives us his authority to make sure that
it is brought to completion. It is his authority to do his will. Of course we then need to ask ‘What is his will for
our Church?’ ‘What does he want us to do?’ And this takes us back to very beginning of the letter.
What did Jesus commend the Church in Thyatira
for? For love that developed into service; for faithfulness that showed itself each day as perseverance in the face of difficulties.
This means that as we seek to be the kind of Church Jesus wants, if we follow his will, we will find the right Minister, and
we will continue to grow - as long as our love for God continues to show itself in service of others and as long as our faithfulness
to him continues to show itself in patient endurance.
No
one really knows what happened to the Church in Thyatira, it seems to have disappeared somewhere in history and this makes
me think – what will people think of us in future? What legacy will we leave behind - a beautiful building; some fond
memories? Or can we make more of an impact – lives that have been changed because our love has grown into service and
our faithfulness has shown itself each day in perseverance. Let’s look to Jesus and become the Church that he wants
us to be.
