By Rev. Dr. Brent Russett Asbury Free Methodist
June 26, 2022 – Revelation 3:14-21
Have you ever had a friend or a family member where you have had to do an intervention? A while back, a guy I knew had a wife and three daughters. They are all Christians, but the wife’s behaviour over the years was becoming increasingly harder to tolerate. She was saying hurtful things to him and hurtful things to his daughters. She was getting harder and harder to live with and generally miserable to be around.
The crazy thing was that the wife couldn’t see it. She thought she was living life as normal. Her reality wasn’t the reality that everyone else was feeling. My friend was getting pretty low and figured he might have to leave her.
Then his oldest daughter took some medical training, and she told her dad that what mom is suffering from is depression. The whole family did an intervention – and told the woman that you need to get some help. Because her whole family told her they were seeing the same thing, she did go and get some help, and she got on some medication, and the difference has been night and day.
The intervention made all the difference in the world because sometimes we just can’t see things as they really are.
****
Interventions often happen when someone has a drinking problem that they don’t see as a problem. Everyone around them knows that there is a significant problem. But they can’t see the problem. Sometimes interventions happen around a drug or gambling problem. The person with the problem is living in denial of their reality.
I don’t know if you have ever seen people deny their reality, but this was what was going on in the church in Laodicea. You see, Laodicea was a rich church made up of wealthy people. The city was founded on the textile industry – They made clothes that were traded around the Roman empire.
Not only that but just outside the city was a place they collected ingredients for an eye salve. This salve was sought after. The city had the ingredients and the recipe. It made the city rich. It made the church rich.
We have been working our way through the churches in the book of Revelation. We have seen that many Christians in other parts of Asia were impoverished and persecuted. But somehow, the Laodicean church had acquired social status. They had money.
Revelation 3:17–18 (NIV)
17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 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.
You may remember Jesus talking to the rich young ruler. At the end of the conversation, here is what Jesus said,
Luke 18:24–27 (NIV)
24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
It is hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. It is actually impossible without God’s help, but our God is the God of the impossible. One of the reasons it is hard is that riches have a way of distorting our view of reality. They especially distort our view of spiritual realities. That is what happened with the Laodicean church. Now Jesus was doing an intervention.
****
Now, most sermons I have heard on this church focus on verses 5-6
Revelation 3:15–16 (NIV)
15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
It is such a visceral image, isn’t it? Like tepid tea, the Laodiceans were leaving a bad taste in Jesus’ mouth. But that is not the image I want to focus on today. Rather come with me to verse 19
Revelation 3:19–20 (NIV)
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Many of you probably know that there are three Greek words used for “love” in the New Testament. Eros, from where we get the word Erotic. Philos, which is a companionship friendship kind of love. And agape, which is a love of commitment. I will choose to do what is in your best interest whether or not your respond.
Agape love is the love used in John 3:16 – For God so loved the world. Agape love is what is used in 1 Corinthians 13. Love is patient; love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
It is not the word for love that is used here. When Jesus says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline,” the word he uses is Philos. The love of friendship. Brotherly or sisterly love. The love of companionship.
Jesus is saying, those who I am friends with I rebuke and discipline. He is saying, I am your friend, so I need to do an intervention here.
Jesus is saying, my friends – I care about you enough not to let you keep on living in a way where you are deceiving yourself. You are my friends – and because of that, I am telling you the way it is.
I love you, friends. The real question is, do you want to be my friend. Right now, our friendship is so bad it makes me want to spew you out of my mouth.
*****
Revelation 3:20 (NIV)
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
I am your friend; I am here standing at the door, and I am knocking. I have said some pretty harsh things to you, but it is because I am your friend. The question is – do you want to be my friend?
***
That is a fair question both to them and to us. Do you want to be my friend?
Over the years, I have done a lot of thinking about the gospel. My thinking has evolved over the years. I used to think that the gospel was primarily about getting us into heaven. Then I used to think that the gospel was about dealing with my sin. Then I thought that the gospel was about keeping the rules. I have thought the gospel was about making me good. I have thought the gospel was about making me into the best me I could be. The good news about Jesus does all of those things – but that is not the main purpose of the gospel. The main purpose of the gospel is that we are now able to come into and then living out of a relationship with God.
This is what Jesus said,
John 17:3 (NIV)
3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Notice he didn’t say to know about God – it is to know God. If we miss this, we will miss the point of much of the Christian life. The Christian life will become about prayer, or bible reading or church, or fellowship, or some of the other spiritual disciplines. But those things are not ends in and of themselves. They are a means to an end. The end that we seek in know Christ. The end we seek is having a rich, moment-by-moment life co-authored by God. We are living out of our relationship with him, and he is living out of his life in us.
Out of our relationship with God comes all those other things. What Jesus says to the Laodiceans is that your relationship with me is impoverished. I want better for you. I am your friend, so I am letting you know that.
****
Come with me to verse 14. Look at how Jesus introduces himself. Remember, he always introduces himself in these letters with characteristics the church needs to hear about.
Revelation 3:14 (NIV)
14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
Jesus reveals himself as the amen. In Isaiah 65:16, God reveals himself as a God of truth. The actual Hebrew word for that word truth is the God of Amen. We use the word amen, to tack at the end of our prayers. It is sort of a spiritual goodbye. Just to let God know that we are finished talking to him.
What the word really means is I guarantee what I have stated is true. So, when you pray, “God, I want to be like you, Amen.” You are saying, God, I want to be like you, and I give you my word that this statement is true.
So, when Jesus in verse 14 is saying that he is the Amen, He is saying that I am true, that I guarantee my truthfulness. This should not surprise us because he has already told us that I am the way, the truth, the life.
So, when he speaks to the Laodicean church and tells them things that they don’t want to hear, he is saying I guarantee that what I am telling you is true.
And to reinforce all this, he says I am the faithful and true witness. He wants these people to know that he speaks the truth, and he will continue to speak the truth.
The reason why people need an intervention is that they are in denial about the truth. I am not an alcoholic. I am not a gambling addict. I can stop anytime I want.
The people in Laodicea were in denial about the truth of their spiritual impoverishment. They were saying that “We are rich: and we do not need a thing.” Jesus said, “You do not realize that wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
I think one of the things that is easiest to be in denial about is the state of our soul. This is especially true when life is good. Things are so good that we don’t see how sick our soul is.
It is even easier now when we can distract our souls to death. But here is the thing – Jesus isn’t distracted by our outward life. He sees the state of our souls. He sees the state of our hearts.
If we ask him, he will tell us the truth about our hearts. If you will listen, he will tell you the state of your soul. If there is a place that is unhealthy – he is willing. If your relationship is distant, he will invite you closer.
Here is what he says.
Revelation 3:20 (NIV)
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
Remember, this is about friendship.
Revelation 3:19 (NIV)
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.
Those who are my friends, I rebuke. Jesus calls us out on our stuff. Why? He wants the very best for you.
Now I will remind you that Jesus was writing to Christians here. These were people who had already accepted Jesus into their lives. These were people who were in the church. These were people – well – people like you and me. And Jesus is asking – do you want to be my friend.
There was a well-known painting that hung in the basement of the church that I grew up in depicting this verse. It was Jesus standing at a door and knocking. The curious thing about this painting was that the door had no latch on the outside. It could only be opened from the inside.
Jesus has two criteria for friendship.
Revelation 3:20 (NIV)
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
The first is, “If anyone hears my voice.” So, not only is he knocking on the door, he is calling out. My friend, will you open the door and let me in.”
Lynda and I don’t have a big house, so we don’t have doorbells on our doors. If you come and knock on our door, we will hear you. Unless one of us is gone and the other has Airpods in and listening to music really loud. If that is the case, you may be knocking, but we may not hear you.
I suspect that many of us have AirPods for the soul. The noise is so loud that we may miss the knocking; we may miss the calling. That is why it is so important to quiet your soul regularly. If we don’t do that, we will miss the knock.
The second criterion for friendship is that you need to open the door. Again, the latch is on the inside. Jesus will never force his way in.
I tend to be messy. My kids, when they were living with us, were worse. Lynda is the neat one in the house. There were times when the kids were growing up that the house was a disaster zone, and then you would hear a knock on the door.
I know my thought process at that moment. Do I really want to answer it? The dishes are piled on the counter. There are toys and clothes on the floor. I know that I am not ready to receive guests.
I am sure none of you have ever been there, but I’ve been there. Worse than that, I have been there spiritually. You hear this knocking on your soul, and you peer around the curtain of your soul, and you see it is Jesus.
Then you glance over your shoulder at the state of your soul. There is that unconfessed sin that is sitting over in the corner that is a little smelly that you don’t want to deal with. In fact, there are all kinds of things that you know you should deal with, but you haven’t. And if Jesus wants to go into the kitchen or worse, some of the closets – well, it is just not good.
But Jesus didn’t say, “If you open the door and your house is clean, I will come in.” No, he said if you open the door, I will come in. Jesus takes the state of your soul just as it is.
Lynda and I have a friend named Caroline. She has an amazing gift of hospitality. When she attended our church, she was doing her medical residency. But almost every Sunday, she would invite people home after church. The thing about Caroline is that she was one of those messy people. Her apartment was a disaster zone. But that didn’t stop her from inviting us over. We had some wonderful fellowship around her table.
If your soul is messy, be like Caroline. Invite Jesus in anyways. He says if you come in that he will eat with you and you with him. Eating together in middle east culture – especially the way it is expressed here – was a sign of friendship.
The Laodiceans were rich in goods and poor in soul. They thought they were doing all right, but these Christians left Jesus on the outside looking in.
He says
Revelation 3:17–18 (NIV)
17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 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.
Now he is asking to come in. They are in a sad state. But he is asking to come in. He wants their souls to prosper like their bank accounts have. The only way that will happen is if they spend time hanging out with Jesus.
Did you notice that Jesus says, “I counsel you?” The meal that you eat with him may turn into a counselling session. Here is what you need so that you can move forward in your life.
But all of that comes out of relationship. The purpose of the gospel is relationship with God. The reason that Jesus died is that you could walk into a relationship with God. Here we have Jesus pursuing a relationship with each of us and asking us to reciprocate.
If you don’t know how to pursue a relationship with God, I want to encourage you to take our abide course next fall. But before that happens, take some quiet time and speak with Jesus as you would with a friend. Take some time to ask him to speak to you. Read his word.
Jesus wants to be your friend. The question is, do we want to be his?
How about you? If Jesus knocked – is your soul quiet enough to hear him. When you do hear him, will you let him in?
Can you imagine a church full of people who were talking about the fellowship they had with Jesus that morning?
This is what life is meant to be.
Revelation 3:20 (NIV)
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.