And he says,
I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish that you were cold or hot.
So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold,
I'm going to vomit you out of my mouth.
And I've got to tell you, when the subject of vomit comes up,
I cannot get past the memory of our family going home to Weewar
after holidays in Yamba.
We were inland, we had to travel over the Great Dividing Range to get home
and that meant five children in the car, winding roads and gentle heat.
And one of our kids didn't handle warm days and winding roads very well
and neither did I when I was a kid.
A lot of experiences won't even tell you about me.
You can ask my mum and I won't let her tell you.
But Kerry was prepared for the journey ahead.
She gave the child an ice cream bucket.
She gave them some chewing gum to keep them occupied and away we went.
And halfway up the mountain, the inevitable happened,
the pale and clammy expression,
the sudden noise and vomit all through the back of the car.
When I was at high school, we called that a technicolour yawn.
Why didn't you use the bucket?
Well, they did.
They took the chewing gum out of their mouth
and put it in the bucket for safekeeping
and vomited into the car.
Policeman pulled us over a few hours later.
One of the lights on the trailer wasn't on.
He stuck his head through the window.
He pulled his nose back and he said,
go.
Now, despite the humour,
there is nothing funny
about how the Lord Jesus describes his church at Laodicea.
You make me want to vomit.
You make me sick.
And it's pretty hard to understand at first
because Laodicea in those days was a very modern city.
Deb Gould's been there, she told us, the other day.
And she said that up the top of the hill
and the city above Laodicea,
there's another city called Hierapolis.
And up there, there's hot Turkish steam baths
fed by the natural spring water
that comes up out of the ground.
And down at the bottom of the mountain,
down below Laodicea,
there's a beautiful, fresh water river
with the water running from the snow melt
in mountains far away.
Beautiful water for drinking.
And the Laodiceans lived between the two,
halfway up the hill.
And they were very clever.
And they built a series of pipes and pumps
to carry the colder water up the hill
to meet the hotter water that was coming down the hill.
And so they gave themselves a diluted water supply,
a mix of the two,
lukewarm water to provide water for their town,
their city.
And people who were very clever,
good at taking care of their comfort
and looking after themselves.
But in mixing that water,
the Laodiceans had a reputation for water
which tasted disgusting.
Lots of minerals, terrible taste,
terrible smell, lukewarm.
Now Westfield warms their water.
You go to Westfield,
you want to refill your water bottle.
Lukewarm water tastes disgusting,
except it hasn't got the taste of minerals.
So when John writes that the Lord Jesus
would want to spit them out of his mouth,
they knew exactly what Laodicean water tasted like
and they knew exactly why he had written it like this.
And he's no longer talking about water,
he's changed from walking to talking about,
talking,
he's changed from water
to talking about people
who called themselves God's people in that place.
And so John is writing to a proud,
self-sufficient church
and he gives them this really frightening serve.
This is the only church of the seven
that he has absolutely nothing good
to commend them for.
I know your works.
Verse 15,
you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish that you were cold or hot
and because you're lukewarm
and neither hot nor cold,
I'm going to vomit you out of my mouth.
Laodicea is a proud city.
They are like a few of the others in Revelation.
They are a city that was absolutely destroyed
by a massive earthquake in AD 60.
But they were different from the other cities
because the other cities accepted
the emperor's help to rebuild their city.
Money from him,
you know the disaster relief fund
that rebuilt their city.
Well the Laodiceans said,
thanks but no thanks.
We're rich,
they're skilled,
they're self-starters,
they're initiators,
they're independent people
who achieve much by their own effort,
self-made men and women
who did not need handouts
even when confronted by natural disaster.
And so they would be getting
award after award in Australia
for their can-do attitude
in facing such a disaster
and incredibly difficult times.
But the huge problem in this passage,
and this is the crux,
was their self-assessment
was different from God's evaluation of them.
So verse 17,
you say,
I'm rich,
I have become wealthy,
I need nothing.
And you don't know
that you are wretched,
pitiful,
poor,
blind,
and naked.
They filled out a survey,
they've given themselves
nine out of ten,
and God fills out his survey
and he gives them two.
And this church is described
as incredibly needy
and desperate for charity.
My first four years
out of Mill College,
I was serving in a church
in the Campbelltown Valley
and it was probably
one of the neediest suburbs
in Sydney at the time
and to some extent still is.
And we were very dependent
on Anglicare's support
for ministry positions
at church,
for food,
for gas and electricity bills
for some of the people
in the congregation,
for counselling support.
In that parish,
people's neediness
was incredibly obvious,
everybody could see it,
and it was something
that had to be dealt with.
We as a parish,
we as people,
we knew we were needy
and we were hungry for help.
But I've also been
in wealthy churches
where need was hidden,
where people have problems
in their families
and their homes.
Sometimes we have the wealth
to hide them,
they're not obvious
and not easy to see.
Gambling addictions,
destroying family finances.
Drug and alcohol abuse
to cope with unsustainable lives.
Uncontrolled temper,
somebody loses their temper
in the family
and somebody else lives
with dreadful fear
of them going off again.
Hidden addiction
to pornography
that many of us
have grappled with
where we pursue deep
inner need
in empty
and harmful ways.
We hide it,
we get trapped
in secrets,
and we all
have very deep
need and brokenness
and even for myself
I go back a few years
I needed two years
of fairly significant
support in counselling
for some of the things
that were going on
in my life.
We are broken
and we are needy.
Now privately
we know that we're
in desperate trouble
but publicly
we're too scared
to admit it.
and so we fake it.
Surely those things
couldn't be a problem
amongst the people of God.
We don't feel like
we can reveal those things
when we come into a group
of people like this.
We put on a face,
we don't cry out
needy for help.
We try to present
as though we're holding it
together in a self-sufficient way.
And Jesus speaks
to his church
and he says,
you say
I'm rich.
I've become wealthy.
I need nothing.
But you don't know
that you are
wretched,
pitiful,
poor,
blind,
and naked.
And the incredible
gospel truth
here is that
Jesus does not
condemn them
for being wretched,
pitiful,
poor,
blind and naked.
He's merely
pointing it out.
This is a universal
condition.
The gospel's
starting point
is that all people
are fallen.
All people have sinned
and fall short
of the glory of God.
Romans 3.23
The same gospel
is wonderfully
expressed in Ephesians 2.
As for you,
talking to us,
you were dead
in your transgressions
and sins
in which you used
to walk.
And then further down,
because of his
great love for us,
God who is rich
in mercy
made us alive
in Christ
even when we were
dead in our
trespasses
and sin.
I think some
of the saddest
and most difficult
people I meet
in ministry
are self-made
men and women,
often rich,
people that perhaps
we put up on
pedestals because
of their wealth.
I think of a man
I loved and respected,
a man who was
kind to me,
who was more moral
than some of the
Christians that he
dealt with in business
and some of the
moral issues that
were even going on
in our church family.
He was rich.
It was a principle
of his never
to borrow money.
He paid in cash
and he was a man
who bought some
really big stuff.
He was the biggest
giver to a new
church building
in the parish
that I was in.
And he died
earlier this year
as far as I know
he died without
Christ.
But brothers and
sisters,
he had a way
of life
that we would
sell ourselves
for.
Outwardly,
really connected
to church
but he didn't
know Jesus
and he built
walls around
himself that
stopped anyone
really knowing
him and getting
near what was
deep inside.
I loved him.
Jesus loved him
even more
but my friend
did not know
Jesus.
See,
we fear being
laid bare.
We fear rejection.
If other people
really knew what
was going on
inside us,
do they really
know how anxious
I am about
these exams
coming up?
Do they know
how difficult
it is for me
not to have
the boyfriend
or the girlfriend
that I've really
been hoping for
or the struggle
which is going
on in my family?
And we hide
although some
of us have
places that
we can share.
The Bible
is consistently
scathing of
our efforts
to present
ourselves as
something to
God,
faking it
with him.
Isaiah
chapter 64
verse 6
says,
all of us
have become
like one
who is
unclean
and all
our righteous
acts are
like filthy
rags.
God wants
our hearts
and throughout
the Bible
he calls us
to humble
ourselves
before him.
So in Isaiah
66 it says
this is the
one I esteem
he who is
humble and
contrite in
spirit and
trembles at
my word.
And you come
into the pages
of the Bible
and you see
that the way
of the cross
is a journey
from independence
and self-sufficiency
to dependence
and complete
reliance on
Christ.
Jesus speaks
to this proud
church with
an incredible
invitation.
He says in
verse 18
I advise you
to buy
from me
gold refined
in the fire
so that you
might be
rich
and white
clothes so
that you
may be
dressed
and your
shameful
nakedness
not be
exposed
and ointment
to spread
on your
eyes so
that you
may see
this is a
rich trading
city
and these
people are
the Chinese
of Chatswood
and I'm
not using
it in a
derogatory
way they
know about
money they
know how
to do a
good deal
and they
have gold
supplies and
they're famous
for their
black woolen
rugs
they're sold
all around
the world
and their
ear and
their eye
treatments
everybody knows
about them
and Jesus
offers them
something that
they already
feel self
sufficient in
what do you
do when
somebody offers
you something
which you
already think
you have
enough of
you don't
want anymore
you say
something like
what do I need
that for
I've already
got it
and it's
almost an
expression of
pride of
self sufficiency
of saying I'm
okay thanks
I don't need
it
and Jesus
looks deeper
than they are
capable of
looking he
knows their
need and he
says he says
to them he
says that you
are wretched you
are pitiful you
are poor you
are blind you
are naked
come to me and
receive real
wealth true
cleansing removal
of shame he can
help them to see
what they are
completely blind
to
it's the
gospel
it's the
cleansing power
of the cross
it's the work
of the Holy
Spirit which
takes the
eye scales
away and
helps us to
see
can you see
the dynamic
Jesus has
absolutely nothing
good to say
about this
church and
yet he stands
there and he
offers them the
most magnificent
and generous
invitation
verse 8
19 as
many as I
love I
rebuke and
discipline so
be committed
and repent
listen I
stand at the
door and
knock if
anyone hears
my voice and
opens the door I
will come into
him and have
dinner with him
and he with
me
Jesus is
speaking to a
church he's
speaking to church
people you and
me people who
call themselves
Christians who
hang around
churches who are
proud of their
standing in the
church community
speaks as a
father to a
wayward son or
daughter that he
is still in
relationship with he
has not given up on
relationship yet
those I love I
rebuke and I
discipline wake up
he speaks a word to
insiders not to
outsiders and he
says let me in
last week when I
preached on the
letter to the
church in
Philadelphia Jesus
was portrayed as
the faithful steward
of God's house he
has the swipe card to
every room in heaven
and he opens and he
closes doors of
opportunity to ministry
and ultimately to
heaven itself if he
opens it you can't
close and if he
closes it you can't
open it awesome
power but the door
here in Laodicea is
different this door is
a door that we have
the ability to open
and that we are
ultimately held
responsible for if we
don't open it and
Jesus says to us to
his church be
committed and repent
it's a call to
commitment to stand
in Christ to move
from lukewarm fence
sitting and
half-heartedness to a
life which is devoted
to Christ to repentance
to a turning back to
what we already know
a turning back to the
gospel giving up the
faking it and allowing
Jesus to do his
cleansing work in us
it's a call to humble
dependence and
repentance and it's a
completely undeserved
invitation into a
renewed and refreshed
relationship with Jesus
I will come into him
or her and I will have
dinner with him or her
and they with me
it's the intimacy of
knowing Jesus the
closeness of having a
meal together
real relationship with
him
being able to pour
your heart out to him
and knowing him
personally and knowing
that he cares for you
it's not about doing
and performing
it's about abiding
and resting
and refreshing
in joyful obedience
of our saviour
Jesus Christ
I thank God for the
man who taught me
when I was first a
believer to relate to
God in a real and
intimate way every day
in coming to his word
and speaking with him
in prayer and also
sharing the faith with
my friends
and I grew
and I was refreshed in
my relationship with
Jesus and I felt alive
and I felt dependent on
him and it was just a
deep thrill being his
person
and after a few years
and some of them in
theological college and
it's not college's fault
but it became a chore
and a task
and a duty
and more about getting
over my guilt
than enjoying Jesus
and I was very
half-hearted
and lukewarm
in coming to the
scriptures
and I used the
language of commitment
but was trading on the
past not on the
present
and it's a really
lonely place to be
and Jesus invites us
into something which
is rich and
intimate and
relational with him
and so I thank God
for the woman and
not Kerry another
woman I thank God
for Kerry let me tell
you but this other
woman who 25 years
later helped me back
into joyous times with
Jesus in his word
and in prayer and in
understanding that I
was his son and who
helped me to
experiencing the
intimacy and the
grace and the
exceeding joy of
dining with him and
living for him
of being able to
come safely into his
presence despite being
a person who was
wretched
pitiful
poor
blind
and naked
it's the greatest
thing in life to
know that we are
loved by Jesus
it's an enormous
privilege to treasure
him together
there's incredible
encouragement from
coming together as
the people of God who
just love him
and Jesus stands here
with this church that he
has nothing to commend
to or to commend them
for and he offers them
extraordinary grace and
mercy and kindness
I think it's
incredibly similar to
the sort of teaching
which is going on in
Luke's gospel from
round about Luke
chapter 18
you know the rich
young man who comes
up to Jesus and he
says to Jesus what's
the what's the good
thing what's the one
good thing that I must
do to inherit eternal
life
and he says Jesus
says we know the
commandments he said
I've kept all the
relational commandments
look I've never
committed adultery I've
never murdered anybody
I've never lied I don't
steal and I really
honour my mum and dad
and the whole community
listening on they would
have looked at the
bloke they would have
known his history and
they would have said
yeah he is like that
that's the sort of bloke
he is but Jesus drew
out his heart and he
said you still lack
just one thing sell
everything you have
and give to the poor
and you will have
treasure in heaven and
then come and follow
me and he walked
away from Jesus very
sad because he had
great wealth he would
not let go of one
treasure to lay hold
of a better treasure
the Laodiceans are
being called to let go
of something which was
a treasure to them but
which made the Lord
Jesus want to vomit
and in his great grace
he wasn't just calling
them to leave something
precious or what was
precious to them he
was calling them to
something precious
something far more
precious he wanted
them to have something
so much better he
wanted these wealthy
self-satisfied people
to have him as their
greatest treasure to
repent to see that
they needed to let go
of the false treasure
and lay hold of him
and Jesus was very sad
when that man walked
away from him a great
gift was being offered
and he didn't take it
because he thought he
had something better
no thanks I don't need
it really is what he's
saying even though he
didn't say it like that
and Jesus said how hard
it is for a rich person
to enter the kingdom of
heaven it is easier for a
camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a
rich person to get into
heaven and the people who
were listening and the
people were looking on
they were astonished at
what Jesus said they were
shocked and the disciples
who can be saved
and the question gets an
astonishing answer with
the encounter with the
chief tax collector
Zacchaeus in Luke chapter
19 wealthy greedy rip off
merchant trader he's all
those things a great story
for a current affair you
know do one of those
ambush interviews with
Zacchaeus coming out the
corner in Jericho up the
tree gotcha Zacchaeus as he
gets out of his filthy
looking Mercedes Benz or
whatever it is to climb the
tree what's it like to
live the high life on
what you've stolen from
other people in Jericho you
dog
that's how you do it
isn't it
he's a true Laodicean
wretched
pitiful
poor
blind
and naked
and he encounters Jesus
and he is transformed
isn't that incredible
Lord I give back half of my
possessions to the poor
and if I've ripped off
anybody in the year I have
I will pay back four times
what I've stolen from them
so he does he exchanges one
treasure for another he is
received and accepted and
loved by Jesus shame is
removed his eyes are open
he's loved by Jesus who
declares the impossible
Jesus says today salvation
has come to this house this
guy gets it
church in Laodicea is called to
exchange one treasure for
another they're called to
overcome
you see the starting point
the starting point for all of
us here is one of our value
statement humble authenticity
seeing ourselves as Christ sees us
and the way that Christ sees us
is all we've begun at this point
wretched
pitiful
poor
blind
naked
incredibly needy
somebody asked me a question
the other day about how I would
cope as a minister if I was
leading a church with a number of
attenders who live
an openly gay lifestyle
and it threw me for a bit
and I spent quite a bit of time
reflecting on the question I'm
going to continue to do so
but part of the answers in this
passage
to see myself as Jesus assesses me
to see me before I see them to
see me as wretched pitiful poor
blind
naked
very needy of the grace of
Christ
starting point for us all
because it puts us in a place
where we won't be too quick to
exalt ourselves over others and it
reminds us of the grace that we
all need
that's not a complete answer to
that question but it is a
starting point
and I think going with that I
hope that our church and I think
that our church is a safe place
for people from all sorts of
places and struggles
to consider the claims of the
Lord Jesus Christ
a church where we understand that
we are all a work in progress
that we haven't arrived
and that we're at the mercy of the
Lord Jesus Christ and he is the
one who has lifted us up from
where we were
where the Lord Jesus looked on us
and saw us as wretched pitiful
poor blind
naked
deeply broken before him
I've only got to go to the
Sermon on the Mount to expose my
heart
and reveal me to be
I read the Sermon on the Mount
and I see straight away that I'm
in God's eyes a thief
a murderer
an adulterer
an immoral man
and I don't glory in that
but it drives us to be like the
tax collector in the temple in
Luke 18 whose starting point in
relationship with Christ
is to beat his breast and to cry
out Lord have mercy on me the
sinner
Revelation 3 finishes with the
words of Jesus to this church
to the one who overcomes
verse 21
to the one who overcomes I will
give the right to sit with me on
my throne
just as I also won the victory
and sat down with the father on
his throne
now it's pretty clear through this
passage that the the overcomer is
not the self-made man or woman
they are the person who takes up
Jesus invitation
and buys from him gold refined in
the fire so that they may be rich
and white clothes so that they may
be dressed and their shameful
nakedness hidden
and ointment to spread on their
eyes that they might see
so the overcomer that we are
called to be is the one who turns
to Jesus who comes to Jesus who
receives from Jesus who depends on
Jesus
and we can do that because he is the
great overcomer he is the one who
has overcome for us
and he says
I also won the victory and sat down
with my father on his throne
he overcame
God in the flesh
allowed his creation to reject him in
the most wicked and final way that
they could at the cross
he overcame he is the resurrected
Christ the first to overcome sin and
death
he overcame right now he sits with
his father on the throne of heaven
ruling over the universe
we overcome when we give way to him
when we see ourselves as God sees us
as wretched as pitiful as poor as blind
and as naked
we overcome when we turn from
self-sufficiency to independence
to turn from self-sufficient independence
and we overcome when we humbly receive
the grace that God wants to shower
us with
we overcome when we treasure Jesus
Amen
wam
Maps
master
os