Christmas in Laodicea
Over 2000 years ago, near the end of his life, the disciple John had a vision. In that vision, Jesus dictated to John seven letters, one letter for each of seven churches. The seventh letter was to the Church at Laodicea in Asia Minor.
Jesus was unhappy with that church. They had become rich and in their wealth they had become spiritually lukewarm. They boasted that because they were rich and had acquired wealth, they did not need a thing. Surrounded by a pagan culture, they had turned away from Jesus and didn’t even know their own spiritual condition. Without knowing, their lives had become almost indistinguishable from the lives of unbelievers around them.
Into their self-sufficiency, self-confidence, pride, and self-centered church life Jesus spoke a hard truth: “You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.”
Jesus was not just speaking about the Laodicean church in first-century Asia Minor. These words echo across the ages. In many ways, they are true for much of the Church and millions of Christians in the world today, especially in the western world where Christianity first flourished and grew, but has since grown spiritually lukewarm, even cold.
As 2017 comes to an end, we see the Church in an increasingly secular world battling division, diminishing membership, dying denominations, allegations of sexual abuse, accusations by unbelievers of intolerance and irrelevance, inability to agree on who Jesus is, the significance of the Bible, or what it means to live holy lives. We see the corrupting influence of wealth, the preaching of prosperity instead of “deny yourself”, and a reluctance to preach the hard truths of the faith, like “repent and obey”, for fear of driving even more people away.
If we could strip back the façade of tradition and religion in the western Church, I think we would see that below the surface the Church and many of the men and women in much of the world who call themselves Christians, are spiritually and perhaps morally, “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked”.
This cannot please Jesus! Did we lose our way? No, through the millennia many have followed Jesus (the Church has done many wonderful things in its 2000-year history. And in much of the world, the church is thriving, especially in persecution). But also, today many call themselves Christians, yet their attendance at Christmas Eve mass or a worship service will be their only visit to a church this year. And many who worship each week are like the Laodicean Christians Eugene Peterson describes in his commentary on Revelation:
The church attracts to itself persons who like to live in the atmosphere of the holy but have little interest in being holy themselves. They find delight in working on committees and find security in ordering their lives within the reassuring traditions of the fathers. They are faithful in showing up in church on Sundays and are fortified by listening to the moral instruction of their leaders. But they have no appetite for holiness, or joy, or love. They are wholly conventional and entirely dull.”
What should Jesus do for much of His Church today, which on the surface seems to me to be like the church in Laodicea?
He will do for His Church today what He did for the Laodicean church 2000 years ago – He will love them! He will love them, not just with agape love, but with phileo love – intimate, warm, cherishing love. He will counsel them to buy gifts from Him: gold – representing the gifts of true faith and power; white robes to hide their nakedness and shame – representing the gift of holiness; and eye salve to open their blind eyes to the beauty of their inheritance in Christ, including the gifts of joy, peace, and hope for eternity.
He will call them to trade their self-lives for His life. He will call them to be enthusiastic and passionate for Him. He will call them to repent! He will tell the Church that although they have left Him, He has not left them. Jesus is standing just on the other side of the door knocking – if they hear His voice and open the door – if they receive Him – He will come in and eat with them.
Eating with Jesus! What a picture of intimacy, fellowship, acceptance, warmth, and love. It is a beautiful picture of restoration. There is so much power in sharing a meal, that it is one of the enduring images and practices of Christmas. Families coming together over Christmas dinner, even families where there is anger and resentment. Families coming together trying to reclaim, or celebrating in some cases, what everyone wants – love, acceptance, and value; a sense of belonging to something greater than themselves. “Maybe”, they say, “this year will be different.”
These are the gifts that Jesus is offering Christians, especially those who have drifted away from Him. These are the same gifts Jesus offered the Laodiceans over 2000 years ago. Our Father in heaven loved the world so much that He sent His son to rescue and redeem us. Jesus – born in a barn, scorned, abused, and crucified for us that we should be called children of God, and all that title implies.
“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children not born of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband, but born of God” (John 1: 12, 13 NIV).
Two thousand years ago Jesus ‘visited’ a proud, spiritually lukewarm, and self-sufficient church that “had acquired wealth, and did not need a thing”. To the Laodicean-like churches today and to many of us, followers of Jesus to one degree or another, Jesus says, “I stand at the door and knock. I bring gifts of great joy. Repent. Open the door. Receive me and believe in my name. And then believe that you are a child of the family of God – valued, loved, and accepted”.
All possible because of a baby born in a manger.
Merry Christmas,
John