Let Jesus In! - Week 9 - Study Notes

English

Let jesus in

Revelation 3:14-22

In the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows on Navy Pier in Chicago, you can see a striking stained glass window based on Rev. 3:20: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears hear my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
What is this verse and picture saying?
• A call to personally let Jesus into your life to save you from sin?
• A plea from Jesus for you to set aside time for fellowship with Jesus?
I think these may both be a part of what Jesus was saying in this verse. However, the main point of Jesus' letter to the church in Laodicea and of this well-known verse is that people in a church in Laodicea were doing all sorts of church-like things in their church and were happy with all they were doing – but Jesus was outside asking them to let him in! This is the problem: When a church has been gifted with resources and talents like this church in Laodicea was, we can easily say things like this, "We know what a church is supposed to do and we can do it." But the Jesus who alone can empower us for the work of God may have no part in it at all. It's possible to do church things in our own strength. That's what Jesus addresses in this text. "Let me in," he says so that your deeds can bring about eternal usefulness.
This weekend, we close our series from the letters Jesus dictated to seven churches in Asia by coming to his words to the people in Laodicea, the materially wealthiest and most successful of all seven churches. But, ironically, this church was the only church Jesus had nothing good to commend.

The Accusation – We may do some good things in our own strength but they will have little eternal value.
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth (3:15-16).
I believe Jesus' words have been slightly misunderstood by many American Bible readers because of our failure to know what was happening with the water supply in the city. Most Americans read Jesus' letter about being hot, cold and lukewarm and think he is talking about spiritual passion. That's because we use words like hot and cold to speak of our affections. However, that was not often the case in the ancient world. Instead, Jesus' language almost certainly speaks of the water being literally either hot or cold.
So, I'll try to explain it to you: Approximately 12 miles east of Laodicea was the city of Colossae, a city well-known for its refreshing cold waters which came down from melted ice, snow and rain from Mount Cadmus above it. These waters were valued for their purity and cooling abilities.
About 7 miles north of Laodicea was the city of Hierapolis, a large Roman city whose most famous feature was its hot baths, fed by hot springs (reminiscent of Yellowstone's hot springs), which had therapeutic and healing value.
And there, between Colossae and Hierapolis sat Laodicea, where the streams of cold water from the west and hot water from the north were piped in through a sometimes-rusted irrigation system and met to provide water for the otherwise waterless Laodiceans. Unfortunately, the mineral-rich hot water from Hieropolis and the refreshing cold water from Colossae often ran together to create lukewarm water that reportedly tasted awful and could make the people of the town sick. For the citizens there, this was a constant source of irritation. In that context, think about how appropriate Jesus' words about water were to them.
Using this metaphor, Jesus is saying that our lives are meant to flow out like the refreshing water from Colossae into us keeping Jesus' great commission, i.e., going out and giving witness to others about Jesus thereby making disciples of all people groups. Is that happening through your life? The people were too concerned about their personal reputations and success to be witnesses to Jesus. Jesus is also saying that, like the water of Hieropolis, our lives should flow out into the keeping of Jesus' great commandment with us loving people and bringing them God's healing. But, the church people in Laodicea were too busy with their own lives to spend their lives in bringing God's love to those who were hurting.
Let me paraphrase Jesus' words: I wish you were more useful in serving what my Father is doing in this world – either hot, like the water of Hierapolis that heals those who bathe in it, or cold, like the water of Colossae that refreshes those who taste it. Instead, you are a lukewarm mess like your own city water that makes those who drink it want to spit it out!
Jesus' lesson of Laodicea isn't so much about churches failing to show emotion as it is about churches failing to act in obedience to participating in the work of God's kingdom. As Pastor Jeff Liou said, "You're not good for drinking! You not good for healing! You're useless for God's service!"
The question you must ask yourself – and I must ask myself is this: Has God provided so well for me that I have come to believe that I need for nothing – that I am providing for myself out of my own doing? In doing so, have I ceased to be useful (hot or cold) for Him?
Derwin Gray puts it well in his Transformation Church: Jesus wants us to live a missional life that invites others to ask you why you are the way you are.

The danger: We often face spiritual danger when we know we possess a lot of good things.
V.17a: You say, "I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing." Laodicea was a commercial city. In fact, it was the financial center of that part of Asia. The city was so wealthy that after a devastating earthquake in A.D. 60, the leaders completely rebuilt the city within a few years from accumulated funds without any assistance from the Roman treasury. And that affluence apparently had permeated the church. Sadly, when it came to their spiritual lives, the church people had not handled their good times of material blessing very well. In fact, the very thing that should have made them passionately grateful to God had, according to Jesus, led to their lukewarmness.
Unfortunately, success has often been the enemy of spiritual service to God. How does success often blunt our spiritual fruitfulness:
1) When we are succeeding in the world, we find it hard to be radically committed to Jesus.
We have too much invested in the way things are. We want to hold on to what we have. When we see that radical changes must happen around us, we are too closely allied to the status quo to work passionately for change. But Jesus says that to follow him, we must view that all we have has come from him and is on loan to us. If Jesus calls, we must be willing to "sell what we have and give to the poor." Do you remember Jesus saying that to one fine young man in Mark 10? But the man couldn't make such a radical decision. And the reason was that he had too many possessions and, therefore, could not respond to the call of Jesus. Those who are the successful of the world become embarrassed by such sweeping calls as Jesus makes.

2) Material success can make us feel self sufficient, and therefore complacent in our dependency upon God.
This was happening in the church at Laodicea. V.17: You say, "I am rich" but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. People sometimes say that the successful are unhappy. Often, they are of course. But I think we have to see that equally, there are many prosperous people who are very satisfied by the kind of lifestyle they have achieved for themselves. This kind of satisfaction sometimes keeps people from thinking they even need God. Most of us have witnessed that in people's lives.
I know: It doesn't seem all that bad to be able to have anything you want multiple houses, many cars, new clothes whenever you want them. It feels good to have immediate gratification of every desire. When we're struggling economically, money seems like it would save a lot of stress. Some people in Laodicea were obviously feeling like that. They said, "I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing." Remember that these were church members, professing Christians. But they didn't see their need of God for daily bread. They didn't give praise to God when he provided in ways they could never have anticipated. And they seemed incapable of having a deep inner sense that they didn't deserve anything they possessed -- that God had in His grace provided the material things they had. No, they said "I have. I have acquired. I do not need ..."
Their attitude made Jesus to speak clear and confrontive words to them. You see, their tragedy was that they had no idea about how spiritually bankrupt they were. They needed a wake-up call! V.18: I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
There's a note of sarcasm in that reference to eye salve. Laodicea was the medical center of Asia. One of the most profitable exports of Laodicea was a world famous eye ointment produced locally. It was as if Jesus was saying, "All that your eye ointment business is doing is making you more blind to your real situation. You are increasingly unable to see yourselves as God sees you. Come to me and open your eyes to what is really inside your hearts. Open your eyes to where you would be without me. All your own efforts can do nothing for your eternal souls." But, they wanted nothing to do with all this.
Mayra showed me a sign that seem to be appropriate here. The sign was found on a college dorm room and said, "Warning! Keep out!!" That's what the Laodiceans were saying to Jesus. And, Jesus is saying to the Laodiceans, "Keep me out of your life you will be as useless as lukewarm mineral-laden water. You'll bring the eternal refreshment of the gospel of Jesus to no one and you'll never bring God's healing and hope to those who hurt."
Do you think it's possible Jesus might say something similar to you – or to us? To how many of us would Christ say, "He/she is a person through whom my message is flowing freely to the world and through whom my love flows to those who hurt." I would guess that most of us are fairly comfortable with our level of commitment to Jesus. Sometimes, it seems that American churchgoers biggest concern is why, with us showing up at church, that Jesus doesn't make us more successful than we are!
We all need to open our ears to hear what Jesus says about us. To how many of us is he saying, "You're poor in the sight of God and you have no idea of it." We must beware of those times when we have a lot of what the world values. If we are not spending time with Jesus and completely dependent on Jesus so that his life flows through us, we may, in spiritual reality, be good for nothing.

The caring Jesus who disciplines: When Jesus speaks corrective words, he does so because he loves us.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline (3:19).

Here, I do not want you to miss something quite wonderful about the heart of Jesus. He loves us too much to let us to waste our lives. Jesus words are not spoken to destroy us – but they are spoken with a longing for us to experience his power working through us more and more. I imagine that you know that it's important that discipline be given only in the context of a caring relationship. "This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you," says the caring Dad when he must discipline his child. I was always skeptical of that phrase when I was a child. I understand it better now. If it isn't true, that the discipliner hurts more than the one he's disciplining, then the discipline will only produce resentment and hostility because it will have happened out of hatred or anger. If discipline isn't an act of love, it isn't discipline but punishment.

This point is true of how Jesus deals with you. Jesus' strong words about being useless will burden the consciences of true believers. We may feel, and probably should feel, remorse and discouragement. But, the Bible says we should be assured of this: Jesus' criticism is not condemnation. His reprimand is not rejection. Jesus delivers these stinging words because he has hope for his people. Jesus knows things can be different for you. There is still time for you to be renewed and useful again.

What he calls us to do is in v.19b: Be earnest and repent. When you begin to realize that you have not been living a life of dependence upon God, you must turn away from your self-centered and self-directed and self-sufficient way of living and bring him into the center of your life. He will forgive you. He will come in. He will make you useful for the work of God again.

And notice the wonderful promise he gives to those all invite Jesus into the center of their lives in v.21: To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Just think of this: People who once were self-sufficient and left Jesus out of their lives are told by Jesus that he will sit "with us on his throne." Beautiful!

The formal invitation: Jesus is ready to come in.
Notice again to Jesus' invitation in V.20: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears hear my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Listen carefully: Jesus wants to come into your life. You will not have your life count for eternity unless you ask him to direct your words and your actions every day.
Even more, Jesus is banging on is the door of our church. That's Jesus' primary meaning in this letter. With these words, Jesus paints for us an extraordinarily dramatic spectacle of something that happens too often. He is portraying for us a church meeting in which we sing, give offerings and receive communion meals and yet Jesus himself is left out. The reason is because when Jesus comes in he takes over. He calls us to be his witnesses. He calls us to serve. He calls us to show his love to those who hurt. So, people in Laodicea were supposedly worshiping him. But, the very elements of their worship service that should have indicated Jesus' presence among them were but an empty show. Their worship celebration talked about God being with us but they only wanted to run things the way they always had. They may have spoken of a cross, a cross but there was no willingness on the people's parts to take up a cross in their lives for Christ. "Let me in," Jesus cries. "I'm ready to come in and do great things in you and through you again."

I can imagine that when this letter was first read, here and there in that self satisfied, smoothly operating church, a few ears start to be opened. A few hearts said, "I have not been as committed about my life and witness for Christ as I once was." I envision a few tears were shed. A few vows of rededication started to be prayed. And for those who heard Christ's voice again, they left that place alive to Jesus again. Will it happen in you today?

The same invitation comes from Jesus to us this morning. V.22: Whoever has ears, hear what the Spirit says...

To His glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor