Good afternoon, everybody.
This time of year, I'm always so thankful when the light is just streaming in the windows.
It just transforms this space.
If you're just joining us for the first time, welcome.
I'm Tommy.
I'm one of the pastors at Church of the Advent.
And for the last couple of weeks, we've been looking together at this amazing book in the
Bible.
It's the last book in the Bible, the book called Revelation, the Revelation of St. John.
And it's fascinating.
It is confusing.
It is at times intimidating.
There's a lot going on.
It's hard to make sense of it.
But we've been looking at this letter because it's incredibly relevant for us as the church.
Because this letter is all about, this book is all about the role of the church in God's
plan to renew the world.
Or we might put it this way.
If the Gospels tell us about the death and resurrection of Jesus, then Revelation tells
us about the death and resurrection of the church.
The book of Revelation tells us about the great wedding at the end of all time where the church
is joined to the bridegroom of Christ.
It's a grand and marvelous book.
And so we've been looking together at it, asking this question.
Who are we called to be as God's church in the world?
There are so many different kinds of churches.
What does Jesus want from us?
What does Jesus call us to focus on as His bride, as His people?
And so we've been asking that question.
This week we're going to be looking at Revelation chapter 2, verses 12 to 17.
The first couple of chapters of Revelation contain seven letters that Jesus writes to His church,
to His bride.
These are letters of preparation for all that is to come.
And the letter to Pergamum is particularly relevant to us because Pergamum was, in many
ways, like the Washington, D.C. of Asia.
And so we're going to look more closely at this.
And Jesus tells us two things in this letter.
First of all, He tells us about a two-pronged attack that we as the church need to be on
guard against, a two-pronged attack.
And then the second thing He shows us is He gives us a two-part promise, hope to sustain
us through all that is to come.
So let's pray, and then we'll open God's Word.
Lord, we thank You for Your Word, and it would be such a temptation to take Your Word and to
put it on a dissection table and to dissect it and to parse it out and to cut it apart
and to evaluate it.
But Lord, we need most desperately to sit under Your Word, to be on the table.
And we need Your Word to dissect us and to open up and expose those deep places where
we most need Your love and Your grace.
And so, Lord, we pray that that's what would happen tonight and that through that we might
see Your Son, Jesus Christ, the living Word, face to face.
And it's in His name that we pray.
Amen.
So first of all, Jesus, in this letter to the church at Pergamum, warns them and us.
These are open letters.
They're meant for all the churches.
He warns us about a two-pronged attack that we need to be on guard against.
The church faces two threats.
One is external and one is internal.
The first that we see is the threat of persecution, overt persecution.
So I'll read from verse 13.
Jesus says,
I know where you dwell, speaking to His people in Pergamum, where Satan's throne is.
Yet you hold fast to My name, and you did not deny My faith, even in the days of Antipas,
My faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
So Jesus is describing Pergamum as the place where Satan dwells, where His throne is.
Now, that's pretty strong language.
And it makes a little more sense when you understand that Pergamum was the seat of Roman power in Asia.
This was the place of Roman authority, the center of Roman authority in Asia.
And along with that, Pergamum was also the center of the imperial cult.
So these are people who worshipped their political leaders as gods.
They worshipped the emperor as a divine being.
And so that's what defines this culture in Pergamum, the worship of political power.
And so it makes sense if you think about that kind of culture, men and women who are worshipping their political leaders,
it makes sense that Christians would not be very welcome in a place like that.
Because anywhere you find a Christian community, anywhere a Christian community dwells,
they are inherently subversive to the political powers.
They're inherently subversive.
Because Christians submit to their political leaders because they are called to, they're commanded to,
and so they submit.
But their true allegiance remains with a higher king.
And they know that for now they submit.
And yet they also know that even as they submit,
they know that one day that regime will come to its end.
Its days are numbered.
And so Christians are seen as a threat to political leaders,
especially totalitarian leaders.
Christians are subversive.
Subversive.
And so they are persecuted.
And here we see that the persecution has gotten quite fierce,
and one person has actually been violently killed as a result of this antipathy.
And so Jesus says,
you're facing persecution, and yet he commends them.
He says, you're holding fast to the faith.
You're staying faithful even in the midst of overt persecution.
So he's encouraging them.
So that's the external threat, persecution.
But what really concerns Jesus, and the focus of this letter,
is the other attack, the internal threat,
the second prong of attack which we might call seduction,
or spiritual seduction.
Verse 14, he says,
But I have a few things against you.
You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam,
who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel,
so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality.
Now he's referring back to a specific time in Israel's history.
And as a matter of fact,
these seven letters written to the seven churches in Asia,
each letter actually corresponds to a period of time in Israel's history,
beginning with creation and going all the way through the intertestamental period.
It's pretty fascinating, actually,
when you realize that these letters are a recapitulation of Israel's story.
That's something we'll get into down the road,
but just a little preview of what's to come in Revelation.
But for now, I want to focus on the fact that
he's referring back to a specific time in Israel's past.
This is the time where they were wandering in the wilderness.
They had been in the wilderness for almost 40 years at this point,
and they had had a series of great military victories in Canaan.
And so the king of Moab is named Balak,
and he sees what's happening with Israel,
and he's afraid, and I think rightfully afraid,
that the Israelites are going to come for him next.
And he realizes that he needs to do something
because it doesn't look like he's going to be able to defeat them
if they decide to attack.
And so he sends word to a man named Balaam.
And Balaam is a pagan prophet.
And Balak sends word to Balaam and says,
Hey, I'm going to pay you a bunch of money
if you come where I am,
and I want you to curse my enemies.
I want you to curse Israel and weaken them
so they're no longer a threat to me and I can defeat them.
And this is a fascinating story.
We don't have time to get into all the details.
But the short version is Balaam agrees,
and he comes to curse Israel,
and he goes out and he looks upon Israel,
and he goes to speak a curse.
But instead of a curse,
a blessing comes out.
And he blesses them.
And he's confused, and Balak is furious.
So Balak says, What are you doing?
And he says, Let's try again.
And so he takes them to another place.
He says, All right, there's Israel.
Curse them.
And he says, Okay.
And he goes to curse them again.
And again, he blesses them.
So Balak gets even more angry.
And so Balak says, A third time.
Let's try one more time.
Let's go to another place.
So they go to another high place.
They look down on Israel,
and for a third time,
Balaam blesses the people that he's been paid to curse.
And so Balak is furious.
And he says, I paid you all this money,
and you've blessed my enemy three times.
Now they're stronger.
And what we find out later in Numbers chapter 31
is that Balaam responds,
and he says, Okay, the overt attack is not going to work on these people.
But I've got a plan.
Seduce them.
Seduce them with idol worship.
Seduce them with sensuality.
Seduce them, and then they'll fall apart from the inside.
And in fact, that attack is quite devastating.
And so by referring to this,
what Jesus is saying to the church is,
he's saying this,
he's saying the real danger that we face
in a place like D.C.
is not external.
The real threat is not the secularization of the West.
Right?
The real threat is not limits to religious freedom.
The real threat is not the social rejection
that we might experience by our neighbors and coworkers.
Now these are important issues,
and some of you work on issues like religious freedom.
So they're important,
but that's not the real threat to the church.
The real threat is not external.
It is internal,
from the inside out.
It's like termites in your home.
The real threat is the spiritual seduction
to idol worship.
And there are a couple of things
that this shows us that we need to see
about the seductive power of idols.
The first thing that we can see is this,
that the spiritual seduction that we're talking about
is not something that happens through our intellect.
It happens through our body
and how we use our body.
So in verse 14,
Jesus mentions eating food sacrificed to idols,
and He mentions sexual immorality.
And the word that is translated sexual immorality
is actually a broad word
that can mean indulging in your lusts,
any one of your lusts,
in a kind of unlawful way.
And so the focus here is on bodily indulgence.
And so the issue is not simply
that these things are wrong or bad
or they're on God's list of things
that we should avoid.
The real issue and the real concern,
and this is the insight that the Bible gives us,
that you're not going to find
in a lot of other places.
Here's what it tells us,
is that the way we use our bodies,
what we do with our bodies,
is tremendously important.
That most of us don't realize
that our bodies are actually the gateway
to our hearts and to our desires.
And what we do with our bodies,
particularly the repeated habits
and patterns and rituals
that we live within day in and day out,
those have a massive formative impact
on our hearts and on our desires.
Our bodies are the gateway to our hearts.
And so what happens is,
over time,
as we unthinkingly,
unthinkingly and uncritically
imbibe the pleasures of a culture,
we come to love the idols of that culture.
When we are uncritically
enjoying the pleasures of a culture,
we can very easily come to love
the idols of that culture.
Right?
So people hear about idol worship
and they think,
well, what's the big deal?
I would never worship an idol.
You know,
the idea of worshiping an idol
in this day and age
feels very primitive
and ancient
and pagan
and weird.
And people say,
well, I would never do that.
But the problem
with that way of thinking is,
we are assuming
that idol worship
is an intellectual decision
that we make.
We're treating it
like we treat all religion,
including Christianity.
We're treating it
as though it's just a belief system
that we decide to adopt intellectually.
And the truth of the matter
is it has very little to do with that.
It's not something that happens
at the level of consciousness.
Idol worship is much more subtle than that.
It happens in us
without us realizing.
And most of the time,
you realize it only when you look back.
It's in retrospect
that you look back
and you realize
how much an idol
has taken hold of your heart.
Right?
So I never consciously chose
to worship the idol of consumerism.
You know,
I didn't look at that belief system
and say,
that looks pretty good.
I think I'll sign up for that.
You know,
I mean,
what happens, right?
I just got used to
and started to like the fact
that I could go to the grocery store
and there were like,
you know,
600 different salad dressings
I could choose from.
You know,
or I just got used to the fact
that there are,
you know,
1,500 different churches
that I can choose from
that will exactly meet me
and do exactly
what I want them to do.
And I just started
to get used to the fact
that I could just swipe left
or right on human beings.
You know,
I got used to being able
to customize my order
at Chipotle.
I got used to listening
to my music with Spotify
and then I just started to
think that the rest of my life
should work like Spotify.
So we just sort of become
idolatrous without even knowing it.
It just sort of sinks in
on an unconscious level.
So that's the first thing
is that idol worship
is not something
that's an intellectual decision.
It happens through our bodies
and the way we use our bodies.
It's very pre-conscious,
subconscious.
The second thing
that we need to see
about this seductive power
of idolatry is this.
Not only do idols tear us away
from the God who made us,
but idol worship gives rise
to all kinds of beliefs
and practices
that devalue
and dehumanize people.
So you look at any culture,
you look at any culture,
and you look at the beliefs
and practices
in that culture
that devalue
and dehumanize people,
and chances are
behind those beliefs
and practices
you will find idol worship.
Right?
So the Canaanites,
the reference in our passage
to the Canaanites,
they regularly practiced
child sacrifice to Baal.
And the reason they did that
is because in their culture,
fertility was an idol.
They had come to worship fertility.
Good weather,
abundant crops,
lots of kids,
that was their idol.
And it makes sense
in a world that they lived in
why fertility would matter.
But it wasn't just a good thing,
it had become an ultimate thing,
and it was worth any sacrifice.
It was worth whatever it took
to guarantee fertility.
It was worth sacrificing
the life of your child.
That's what it took.
Right?
So there was an idol
underneath this
dehumanizing practice.
But every culture
has examples like this.
Right?
So you see
some cultures
around the world
still practice stoning.
We say,
well, how in the world
could anybody do that?
Well,
underneath that practice
you find
that family honor
has become an idol.
To have honor
and to have a good name
as a family
is a good thing,
but that's become
an ultimate thing.
And when that's
the ultimate thing,
it's worth any price
to maintain that honor.
And so you have practices
like stoning that result.
Some cultures
treat foreigners
with contempt,
and they treat other people
who are of different races
or ethnicities
with contempt.
They're unwelcome.
And under that
you see the idol
of nationalism.
Right?
So these idols exist
and they give rise
to all kinds
of dehumanizing,
destructive beliefs
and practices.
Now,
now think about
our own culture.
And I just spent
a little time
thinking this week
about what are the issues
that people
in our church
have been discussing
with me.
What are the concerns
that people
have talked about
with me?
And I just,
you know,
a few examples
just from the last
couple of weeks.
Number one,
the fact that we ship
millions of tons
of waste overseas
to some of the poorest
countries in the world
who have no ability
to deal with
or process our waste,
including e-waste.
And we're literally
burying communities
of the poor
in our garbage.
Or the reality
of divorce.
You know,
there's been some
really painful
struggles recently.
People I know
struggling,
fighting to save
marriages,
people wanting
to walk out.
And what you realize
is, again and again,
you see people
who abandon
their spouse
and abandon
their children
because they're
looking for
personal fulfillment
elsewhere.
Or look at
gentrification.
Just this past week,
some of us got together
and had a very hard
conversation about
gentrification.
And you know,
gentrification is
a mixed bag.
And yet,
what we see
is that all too often
development,
urban development
happens with no
regard for justice.
And all too often,
the poor are the
ones who suffer
and are dislocated,
ejected from their
communities that they
grew up in.
Think about the
ongoing reality
of abortion.
A lot of people
in our church
have been very
concerned about
the legislation
that is being
pushed and passed
around abortion.
We've talked a lot
about the Me Too
movement and what
that has exposed
in our society.
This pattern of
men in power
abusing that power
to sexually assault
and take advantage
of women.
And you think about
all of these issues
and they all seem
unrelated and yet
I want to ask you
this, what do all
those issues have
in common?
They all have
something in common.
See, people on the
left are concerned
about some of these
issues.
People on the right
are concerned
about some of
these issues
and yet all of
these issues
have the same
core cause.
They are all
rooted in idol
worship and in
fact it's the same
idol across the
board.
It's I think one
of the most
powerful and
seductive idols
of American
culture which is
the idol of
radical individualism.
It gives rise
to all of these
and in every case
you see beliefs
and practices
that are devaluing
and dehumanizing
people.
Beliefs and practices
that are declaring
some people are
more important
than other people.
Some lives are
more important
than other lives.
This is the symptom
that lets us know
that there is an
idol at work.
And so here's the
thing.
It is much easier
to spot the idols
in someone else's
culture than it is
your own.
We are almost
completely blind
to the idols
that we are
enthralled to.
And this is the
brilliance of
Balaam's strategy
because he says
here's what Balaam
is really saying
and here's what
Jesus is worried
about.
Balaam is saying
if I can't curse
the Israelites
what I can do
is trick them
into cursing
themselves
because that's
what idol worship
really is.
When we give
ourselves to an
idol we are
cursing ourselves.
We're giving
ourselves to
something that
will destroy us
and rob us
of our humanity.
So this is why
Jesus in this
passage comes
with the sharp
two-edged sword
as it says in
verse 16
the sword of
his mouth.
Because only
God's word
is able to
cut through
and pierce
our hearts
and expose
the idols
that have
colonized us.
Only when you
hold your life
up next to
God's word
and when you
compare
your reality
and your
experience
and your
priorities
and your
loves
and your
desires
with God's
word
with God's
calling
with God's
description
of what a
human being
is and what
we're here to
do.
When you begin
to make that
comparison you
begin to
realize how
far off the
rails we
have gone.
And so
Jesus warns
us about the
two-pronged
attack of
persecution on
the one hand
and seduction
on the other
and while we
might be able
to resist
persecution
we can easily
be taken in
by the idols
of our age.
And yet Jesus
doesn't leave us
in this place
he also gives us
a promise
and it's an
amazing
two-part
promise.
Verse 17
he says this
to the one
who conquers
I will give
some of the
hidden manna
and I will
give him a
white stone
with a new
name written
on the stone
that no one
knows except
the one who
receives it.
So let me just
explain these
images so we
understand what's
happening here.
First he says
I'm going to
give the one
who conquers
hidden manna.
Now what's
that?
Well again
this is referring
us back to the
time when Israel
was in the
wilderness.
When they were
in the wilderness
they were
starving and
so God
sustains them
with manna
right?
Bread that
comes from the
sky and
God instructs
his people to
take some of
this bread from
heaven and to
put it in a jar
and to put that
jar in the ark
of the covenant.
Hide the manna
away.
No one is allowed
to touch it.
Not even the
priests are allowed
to touch the
hidden manna
because God
says this is for
future generations.
You're going to
save some of this
for future generations
so that they
know and remember
that I'm the
Lord your God
who brought you
out of Egypt
and set you
free.
Right?
So it's set apart
for future generations.
So what is
Jesus saying?
He's saying to
his church,
he's saying to
us, that hidden
manna that was
set apart so long
ago, that's for
you.
It was for you.
He had you in
mind when he set
it aside to begin
with.
And Jesus is
saying to the
one who conquers,
you will eat of
that manna,
that heavenly bread.
And you know
again, we every
week we can't
come to this
table and we
eat the bread
that comes from
heaven.
We eat not just
bread and wine,
but we eat the
body of Christ,
the blood of
Christ.
He sustains us
within himself,
the hidden
manna.
And the promise
that Jesus gives
is that we will
eat this meal
together every
time we gather
until that great
wedding supper of
the Lamb.
And so the
invitation corresponds
to the warning
that we saw a few
minutes ago.
Right?
We talked about
how our appetites
and our desires
can lead us to be
seduced by idols.
And they
dehumanize us.
And Jesus is
saying if you can
hold out, if you
can resist the
seductive power of
idols and instead
of trying to get
nourished, instead
of trying to get
your needs met
there, eat the
bread that comes
from heaven.
Eat the food that
doesn't dehumanize
you but rehumanizes
you.
Come to the table
and eat a meal that
will make you more
truly and fully
human.
That's the invitation.
The hidden manna,
it was set aside,
it's for you.
Come and eat.
And then the second
promise Jesus makes
concerns a white
stone.
He says you'll be
given a white stone
with your name on it.
And again, this
points us back to the
wilderness.
We remember that the
high priest, the high
priest of the people
of Israel had a breast
plate.
And on that breast
plate, there were
stones and on each
stone was a name of
one of the twelve
tribes of Israel.
And so Jesus is
saying, I am the
great high priest and I
have a stone with each
of your names on it.
And you know, when the
Bible talks about your
name, it's not just
talking about phonetics,
right?
The Bible is talking
about your entire
character, your entire
personality, your
identity.
And so Jesus is saying,
I have a stone with
your true name on it,
with your true identity
written on it.
And so the invitation
is when we come to
him, we are given
that stone, we are
given that name and
that identity.
And so again, it's an
invitation away from
idols.
He says if you give
yourself to an idol,
that idol will
dehumanize you.
It will rob you of
your identity.
It will convince you
that you're someone or
something else.
You know, this is the
great irony of idols.
If I worship beauty, if
beauty is the thing that
matters most and I want
to be attractive and I
want to be the most
beautiful person in the
room, what happens?
I will always feel ugly.
If I worship intelligence
and I want to be the
smartest guy in the room,
I'm going to spend every
day feeling stupid,
feeling like a fraud,
terrified that somebody's
going to find out that
I'm not as smart as they
think I am.
And on and on and on.
That's how idols work.
They convince us to
believe lies about
ourselves.
But Jesus says if you
come to me, I will give
you your true identity.
I'll give you your true
purpose.
You'll finally figure out
who you really are.
And this name is
infinitely particular.
He says no one knows
it except the one who
receives it.
And me, Jesus.
And that means that you
are infinitely particular.
And isn't that ironic?
We live in this
individualistic culture
and we think that the
way to gain a sense of
identity is to assert our
rights and to express
ourselves to the world.
And anybody who gets in
the way of that needs to
be battered down because
only I, only I can
determine who I am.
That's the road to
identity.
And Jesus says no.
If you try to keep
yourself, if you try to
define yourself and hold
on to yourself, you're
going to lose yourself.
But if you give yourself
away, if you give
yourself to me, then the
day will come when we see
each other face to face
and I will give you the
identity that you've been
looking for your whole
life and it will make
sense.
And you will know that
you are so infinitely
particular that there
never has been nor will
there ever be anyone
quite like you.
You know, I was just
recently at a gathering
celebrating the life of
Fred Rogers.
And somebody talked about
the power of that message
that Mr. Rogers would
always talk about how
unique and how special
each child was.
What was interesting is
this is a room full of
adults.
But as this person
described that message,
the adults were hanging
on every word.
Right?
With bated breath.
Every single grown up
child in that room was
still longing to know
that.
I do matter to somebody.
I am infinitely
particular.
The way I'm made up
somehow has value and
meaning.
I'm not like this by
accident.
And so what Jesus is
saying is I'm going to
give you this name and
it's going to show you
that no one has ever
been like you.
No one will ever be
like you.
And what that means is
when God created the
heavens and the earth,
he had you in mind.
The world needed someone
exactly like you.
So these are the promises
that were given by Jesus.
So this is the two-pronged
attack and the two-part
promise.
The church must be on
guard not only against
persecution but also
against seduction.
The church has held up
quite well over the
centuries against
persecution.
By the way,
persecution tends to be
a good thing.
It's seduction that does
damage.
And then we have this
two-part promise.
To the one who conquers,
Jesus will sustain us
with his own body
and he will give to each
of us our true name.
So let me ask you this
final question as we
prepare to pray and move
on with our service.
as you think about your
own life, and you know,
I've done a lot of
thinking this week.
I think, you know, I
just, I don't think I've
experienced that much
direct persecution.
You know, maybe some
here and there, but I
mean, nothing like what
the Bible talks about
and you think, is
persecution really that
big a deal?
I really haven't
experienced that much.
And here, if we're
reading this passage,
here's what I think we
need to ask ourselves.
If I look at my life
and I'm totally honest,
is there anything in my
life worth persecuting?
Is there anything in my
life worth persecuting?
Or have I been so seduced,
so taken in?
Is my faith so
compartmentalized and
privatized and squishy
and compromising and
perpetually agnostic that
it's not worth time and
energy to persecute?
That's a hard question,
but I think we need to
reflect on that.
But here's the hope that
if there's anyone here who
does desire to stand in
the faith and the hope of
Jesus Christ, if there's
anyone here who does
desire to be the one who
conquers, as this passage
talks about, this is why
the gospel is such good
news.
Because, you know, in the
days of Balaam and
Balak, when the Israelites
were taken in with idol
worship, you know how they
put a stop to it?
Phinehas, the priest,
realizes what's going on.
He goes, he gets a spear,
he comes up to one of the
Israelites, and he jams the
spear through him.
He kills him.
And that puts a stop to it
right quick.
But we realize that Jesus
is the greater Phinehas.
He's the greater priest.
He's the true high priest.
And that when Jesus saw his
people totally taken in by
idols, and when Jesus saw his
people utterly compromised and
seduced and inert and
spiritually dead, he didn't
take up a spear and threaten
his people with a spear.
In fact, he allowed himself to
be killed by a spear and by
nails on the cross at Calvary.
And because of that, anyone who
comes to Jesus in faith, no
matter how compromised or how
seduced you may feel that you
have become, if you come to
Jesus in faith, if you ask for
his forgiveness, and if you ask
for him to spiritually strengthen
you, he will do that.
He will forgive you and he will
set you free.
Because the truth of the matter is
that Jesus Christ is the one who
conquers.
He's the one who has conquered.
Let's pray.