Wake Up - Week 7 - Study Notes

English

Wake up

Revelation 3:1-6

On Tuesday morning of this past week, I received the news that Anne Ortlund had passed away. Anne served here at Lake Avenue Church for 20 years while her husband, Ray, was Senior Pastor. Their time among us was a wonderful time of God's working in and through the life of our church. Many people around the world know LAC's reputation because of what happened when the Ortlunds were here.

I find it ironic that Anne's home-going has arrived just as we come to Jesus' letter to the church in Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6. That church was also a church with a great reputation. In their past, the Christians in Sardis apparently had experienced tremendous movements of God's Spirit. Sadly, when Jesus' dictated this letter, their spiritual vitality was all in the past. As I look at it, Ray and Anne Ortlund are a big, big part of the global reputation that LAC still possesses. And hear me clearly: Churches should celebrate God's work done in their pasts. However, as Anne made clear to me in my last visit to her, "Greg, please build on what God has done. Do not rest on it!"
With that in mind, look again at what Jesus said to a popular church in the city of Sardis in Revelation 3:1b: I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
It seems that it can be dangerous to have a great reputation. Was the Church in Sardis the best-known, most popular church of its day? It may have been. Even Jesus, as he surveyed all the churches in Asia, had to acknowledge its fame. But, unfortunately, Jesus saw that their fame didn't fit what was happening in the church. Jesus condemned the church in Sardis in spite of her reputation. He condemned her with extremely forceful language. Jesus' message to Sardis is a warning both to us as a church as well as to us as individual Christians in a day in which we too could be deceived into thinking that what brings fame in the world – like big numbers and exciting programs -- will always be what is approved by Jesus.
What happens in this letter is that Jesus examines the whether a church is really alive to him – right now! In doing so, he asks, "Is your faith in me real or are you simply trying to do the things that make people think it is?" That was the challenge Jesus gave to Sardis – and, I think, gives to us today.

I. The Problem of Pretense
Read 3:1. Is this possible? Is it possible for a church everyone thinks is alive is, in truth, going to sleep? Jesus declares a resounding, "Yes!" As human beings looked at them, the churchgoers in Sardis were able to do very well those things everyone thought a church should do. They were able to get everyone to think that God's Spirit was working there when he was not. I've wondered how they were able to do that. How they were able to fool so many into thinking they were alive to God? One of the contributing factors may have simply been their location. As a city, Sardis had a great reputation. Apparently, that reputation as a city wasn't always well deserved either. Why do I say that?
For one thing, Sardis had a reputation for being impregnable. The city officials claimed to be perfectly safe. Sardis was built on the spur of a rocky mountain with 1000-foot vertical cliffs on all sides. They would claim that armies could never storm their city. But Sardis had been stormed and defeated several times in spite of the claims. Still, the leaders acted and spoke as if these defeats had never happened. Their arrogance and resulting failure to admit the truth made them vulnerable.
Beyond that, Sardis had a reputation for great wealth. The river that ran right through the market place in town was the river that the legendary King Midas had supposedly bathed in. You surely remember the story of King Midas, i.e., that everything he touched turned to gold. And, Sardis had once been a rich, rich city. But, again, the people would not admit that this wealth was largely in the past. They seemed to cast a blind eye to the problems of poverty that plagued the city when Jesus' letter was written. By ignoring the problems, they also ignored the pain of the people.
We could be vulnerable to similar things here in our great city. We have a great reputation -- a beautiful parade that the whole world watches. While people are freezing in Chicago, they see the sun and mountains and happy people at our parade every January. And, of course, we have the little old lady that the Beach Boys sang about who was cool even when she was old. And we have a great university and seminary here...
I've wondered this week whether the desire to rest on the laurels of the "glory days" in the city of Sardis had rubbed off on the church there. It seems that the "1st Church of Sardis" had experienced some glory days too. Of course, there are still churches today that revel in past glory. They speak of the well know leaders who once preached there and teachers who taught their classes. I'm sure you can see immediately how Jesus' message to this church in Sardis is one we need to listen to attentively here at LAC – especially this week of Anne Ortlund's passing. We too have an incredible heritage passed down from those in our church who have served God before us.
Let's look carefully at how Jesus clarified what the church in Sardis had a reputation for: "You have a reputation of being alive." Here was a church then which, in the eyes of the Christian public, was noteworthy not simply for being large and successful (which it probably was), not simply for having a long and honored tradition (which it probably had), not simply because it was situated in a famous city (which it was). No, this church had a name for being spiritually vital, vibrant, and dynamic.
Imagine this: "Are you going to Sardis for the weekend, Aurelius? Lucky guy, you'll love the church service there. It's much livelier there. And the preacher -- no one goes to sleep when he's preaching. And just look at that Website of theirs. I can't believe so much happens in that church. And in the Sunday service they don't use harps and lyres like we do. We're so out of date. They've put in this thing called an organ, some new fangled instrument. It's great. That church is alive, Aurelius. It's alive!"
But it wasn't. At least, not as far as the one who is the Lord of life is concerned. "You have a reputation for being alive but you are dead." I ask again: Is that possible? Can a church give every outward indication of being vibrant and led by the Spirit of God and yet be nothing but a spiritual corpse? Jesus says it is so. Spiritual life can be counterfeited, he says. The public can be easily deceived by the fake.
I think this is especially true when the pretending creeps in by a gradual process of transition from an originally authentic love of Christ. Here is what I've discovered: Once a church gets its programs rolling, it's quite possible to keep them all going simply by means of good management and organization. Yes, it is possible to build a reputation for being spiritually alive through smart planning, strong tradition, and talented leaders. It happened at Sardis. It could happen to us. Maybe it's already happening.
So every human evaluation was that this church was alive. Nobody guessed that Christ's verdict was so different. And, I'm sure that there was no church wide conspiracy to deceive people. No one said, "Let's all start being hypocrites." No, I think the church people probably believed their reputation too. So, make note of this: If you think things are OK just as they have always been, then you probably will not even be aware of the fact that, in the eyes of Jesus, something may be seriously wrong. You'll settle in comfortably to the routine of doing church – and not be alive to the presence of God and his daily leading in your life.

II. Diagnosing Pretense (How can we tell whether we are asleep?)
My own experience is that individual Christians and churches are always susceptible to this problem of drifting off to spiritual sleep. It's not a bad thing for us to take a service like this one, open God's Word and ask fervently, "Lord, are we truly committed to you as the Lord of this church?" I think the natural tendency for us as those who walk by faith and not yet by sight to be tugged away from spiritual fervor and toward routine or maintenance "churchiosity". I'm telling you this so you won't be surprised by times of spiritual dryness – or think that Sardis was the only church that felt the natural tug toward what becoming a "Ho-hum church." You know what this is, don't you? "Oh I go to church more than most people do. But, you know, there are so many demands in life. I'm not as enthusiastic about God as I once was but I think I'm OK."
I tell you this: All of us occasionally need a clarion call from Jesus to rouse us out of our slumber. I find the only churches and individual Christians that are not drifting toward sleep are those that regularly ask, "God, are we truly alive to you? Are you the God of our lives?" Our natural tendency in this world is to lose our first love for God -- soon it's no love at all. Our spiritual lives easily become duty or routine. Pastor Tim Keller says that every church to be roused – to be revived – every 2-3 years. He's probably right.
Let me give you two questions to ask if you think you might be drifting toward sleep.
Two Diagnostic Questions
#1. Is what was once clearly real to you no longer so clear? When you are asleep and dreaming you tend to think that things that are not real are real – and you begin to wonder whether the things you once knew are real are actually real. When you're dreaming, it's hard to tell the real from the unreal.
One of the most common dreams that people have is that they are in some public place – like a mall or a school assembly – and they've forgotten to get dressed. They only have their underwear on. (Maybe you've had that dream.) So, you're out there in that mall and you're so embarrassed. You forget that you never even walk out of your own bedroom without getting dressed! And then you hear a voice shouting at you. It sounds like a voice you've heard but it's so foggy to you! That voice is shouting, "Greg, wake up! Wake up! You're having a bad dream." But, you can't tell what's real from what's unreal because of your stupor.
When you're spiritually asleep, similar things happen. It once was so clear to you that God loved you and that his grace was sufficient for your sins. Gratitude moved your heart and life. But now you wonder...
Or, once you knew that sin was serious. You wanted to please God so you wouldn't even entertain things like cheating on a test, engaging in a questionable business practice, being unfaithful to your spouse... But now, you begin to wonder whether such things are so important to God. You ask, "How can God care about such things in the lives of so many people?" Do you see it? What once was so real is now as real to you?
Or, once you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God wanted all his people to worship together on each and every Lord's Day. You would never have questioned that. In fact, you didn't even want to question it? You loved to be with God the Father together with your church family. But now – well – "It's so hard. We have soccer games... We stayed up late last night and are so tired..."
I hope my point is clear: When what once was clear now seems fuzzy, you may be asleep.

#2: Are you standing for Jesus even if you are the only one standing? Jesus has an interesting word of encouragement for the few in Sardis who were still alive to him – in 3:4-5.
The people at Sardis would have known a lot about dirty clothes because one of the major industries of the city was the wool trade and there were many laundries there. I think Jesus is using an illustration very relevant to their city to say that a few people in the Sardis church were alive to him in such a way that they were living their faith wherever they went – even if they were the only faithful ones. The point is that those who are truly alive to Jesus will live passionately for him, live obediently to him and speak courageously of him even if no one else in church is doing it. Jesus says here that a few in Sardis had not soiled their clothes.
In these words, I see Jesus pointing us to one of the clearest marks of being a vibrant Christian: The one who is alive to God will be faithful to Christ even if no one else is. We'll stand for him even if we have to stand alone. The one who plays at church will want to be where the excitement is, where the success is. But the awake Jesus-follower only wants to be wherever God wants him to be.
The Ortlunds called it "the company of the committed." I ask you: Would you be here worshiping this morning even if almost no one else came? If no one else at work or school claimed to be a Christian, would you say, "I am." If it is for the sake of Christ, the genuine Christian is one who is willing to be among the few even to stand alone, for Jesus.
So, if this were a church where no one served, the genuine Christian would be here worshiping and serving Jesus and his church whether anyone else did or not. The awake Christian doesn't blame the church when there is deadness in his own life. No, he knows he must stand personally and individually before Christ. If your relationship to God is real, it's real whether anyone else is passionate about Christ or not.
So there was a small group of Christians in Sardis in a dying church. Jesus doesn't criticize them for being there. He doesn't tell them to leave or move to another church. He tells them to stay awake and be alive to his leading -- and Jesus promises them the greatest of rewards: Membership in the Book of Life.

III. Jesus' Prescription to Counter Pretense -- 3:2 3
3:2 3. Revival is a work of God. But Jesus gives us both a role to play in renewing our spiritual lives. Let's look at his commands given when we might be closer to sleepwalking spiritually:
Command 1: "Wake up!" Like the person in bed hearing the ringer and knowing there is something you must do, you will find in your walk with God that you often have to make decisions about whether you will get up, and do what you know God would have you to do.
There is something particularly appropriate about this command for the people of Sardis. The people there had always felt that their city was impregnable. But the city had been captured, and on more than one occasion. Each time, it hadn't happened by direct assault but by stealth. A part of the city that no one thought anyone would even chance coming in by had been left unattended and undefended. The records of Cyrus the Persian tell about his conquest of Sardis. He sent a small lightly armed group of soldiers to climb the 1000-foot cliffs. When they got to the top, they were shocked to find there were no soldiers there. The Persian just walked in and took over.
Jesus is saying that our spiritual lives can be defeated in a similar way. Just as negligence had placed the city in jeopardy, so complacency had placed the church in Sardis in jeopardy. Has any pretending crept into your spiritual life? Do you act in church like you pray in a way that you never pray on your own? Is what you practice in your private life the same as you profess in church? What do you do in the secret places of your life?
So I say to you: Wake up! Be honest about your real relationship with God. Revival can only begin with a humble look in the mirror and an eagerness to change. So, first, become alive to your sins and your desperate need of God's grace. But that's not all.

Command 2: "Strengthen." Strengthens what remains but is on its way toward death. Jesus' language here is the language usually used when a gardener's gets rid of the dead parts on a plant so that the live sections might begin to grow and flourish again. Once our eyes are open to the fact that we've been going through the motions at church rather than passionately living for Christ, it's very easy to either ignore the problem (if so, the whole will die) or give up.
Last week, Chris and I saw Alfonso Cuaron's rather breathtaking film Gravity. It's an unforgettable story of survival telling of a time when Mission Specialist Ryan Stone (played by Sandra Bulloch) is on her first space mission aboard the space shuttle Explorer. Through a series of events, Ryan is left alone in space facing a series of challenges outside her control and for which she feels she has no resources. At one point, Stone resigns herself to being stranded and shuts down the oxygen supply of her cabin in order to commit a painless suicide. But, she decides not to quit. She discovers resources she had forgotten and ignored. She gets rid of what is no longer necessary and the result is... well, you'll have to see it yourself.
My point is that when Jesus is the Lord of our lives, he must truly be the Lord. And when he is, we never are completely at the end of resources. Many times we want to hold on to the control of our lives and we want to continue to go our own way. But, what Jesus asks us to do is to give up reliance on our own selves and our own reputations. He asks us to strengthen what remains in our hearts regarding our faith in him and our love for him and our reliance on him. Nothing can separate you in this world from what really matters, i.e., from the love of God that is in Christ. Take this time to tell God you will rely fully on him.

Command 3: Remember, grab hold and turn back to God. Remembering is such a gift from God. Remembering takes us back to those times we were awake and alive to Jesus. Jesus says, "Remember those times." Remember how the good news about Jesus came back to you. Remember those times when Jesus met you – at church, at camp, in your need... Remember and turn back to the Jesus who loves you with an everlasting love. For us as a church family, this is some something I have been waning to emphasize – remembering what God has done here. Let's remember 1) when we sacrificed to send our people to places where the gospel was not heard. We have been seeking to remember, to grab hold of that privilege and to do it again. 2) To remember when, in the midst of the Great Depression, LAC people sacrificed financially to build a facility where our children could be taught the Bible. I want us to remember and to give sacrificially again to do God's work. 3) To remember when we were so excited about Jesus that we told our colleagues and family and friends about Jesus and brought them to church. I want you to remember and do it again. 4) I ask you to remember the times the Scripture spoke to you in this place. Ask God to speak again. Remember what God has done in your life in this church. Wake up and remember – and live each week with a longing to hear his voice and to obey what he says.
He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to this church. Let's pull out the kneelers now for a time of prayer...

To His glory,

Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor