Just before the service we were having a discussion over weather the code in the image the left was in binary or hexadecimal code... I used it because when it comes to the letters to the seven churches they can seem to be written in code... maybe not machine code but code none the less and the letter to the church at Philadelphia seems full of
intrigue and mystery with its talk of a key and an open door and a pillar. We need to decipher the code that John uses
to speak to the heart of this church facing difficulties and suffering. It’s a
code worth deciphering so we can hear the message that this letter has for us.
That we can hear the message Grant Osbourne says “every small church in a
difficult area of ministry will find encouraging.” That we can hear the message that “every
Christian uncertain of his or her gifts and place in the church as a whole will
be comforted by” That we can hear the message that “God is more interested in
our faithfulness that success.” That we can hear what the spirit is saying to
the churches, and in particular what the spirit is saying to us.
We’ve just been doing a church survey and thank you to everyone
who filled out the survey, its part of the on-going process of honestly evaluating
where we are now so we can plan and look to the future. The seven letters to
the seven churches at the beginning of Revelations are like that review
process, like Jesus filled out the survey, looking at where the church was at,
assessing its strengths and weaknesses. Some of the things that are said may
seem rather hard and harsh, but they are not intended to write off the
churches, to judge or condemn them, but rather to right the church, putting
them back on track. The letter to the church at Philadelphia does not receive any criticism only encouragement about possibilities even in the face suffering and opposition.
Revelations is a book
designed to comfort and prepare the church to face what is to come… and it
starts by evaluating where the church is at, an honest assessment from the one
who walks amongst the seven lampstands, Christ who sees and knows their deeds. That
is why we are looking at these letters and seeking to hear what the Spirit is
saying to the churches… Christ loves us, Christ knows us and Christ is with us
and speaks to prepare us for what is to come or more importantly for the one
who is to come.
Philadelphia is about 44 km’s to the south east of Sardis,
and it is the next logical stop for the postman delivering these letters. It is
the youngest of the cities in the region. It was founded by Pergamum in 198bc
and given its name because of the love the king of Pergamum had for his
brother. If we were going to do
comparisons with New Zealand cities, you could say it was the Christchurch of
the province.
Firstly it was designed to be a little bit of Greek culture
transplanted to the province of Asia, I guess a little bit like Christchurch was
designed to be a taste of ol’England down under, or Dunedin was to be the
Edinburgh of the south. It was strategically placed at the cross roads of the
provinces in the interior of Asia, and was designed to showcase and spread
Greco-Roman culture throughout those regions.
Secondly, this is how the Greek historian and geographer
Strabo described the city
“Philadelphia has not
even its walls secure, but they are daily shaken and split in some degree. The
people continually pay attention to earth tremors and plan their buildings with
this factor in mind… It is a city full of earthquakes.”
As we’ve worked our way through the seven letters the 17ad
earthquake has often featured and while other cities had been damaged by the
earthquake Philadelphia was at its epicentre. People moved out of the city into
the country side around it in fear of earthquakes. AS a major winegrowing area
it was also hit hard when the roman emperor Domitian decreed that wine
production in the empire should be cut in half to encourage corn to be grown to
feed his army.
We don’t know much about the church in Philadelphia except
from what we have in this letter. It was a church that had little strength…it
was possibly small and did not have much status in Roman society. It had faced
persecution and suffering. We see the synagogue of Satan mentioned again, the
church was originally seen as a Jewish sect, which meant that it was afforded
some protection in roman society who valued civilizations that were older than
their own. But it seems that here the door to the synagogue had been closed,
the Christians are cut off, thrown out, Jewish believers were disowned by
family members and neighbours. They were said to no longer be part of God’s
people. Even in the face of this and the hardships of living in a quake filled
city their faith was not shaken, they had held on and not denied Jesus name.
It’s with this back ground that we look at what the spirit
is saying to this church.
We are introduced to the one who is speaking as the one, who
is holy and true, or more precisely to the Holy one and the true one, Old Testament
titles for God, the synagogue may have written the believers off but Israel’s God
the Holy one and the True one had not. He
is further seen as the one who holds the keys of David in his hand. In Isaiah
22:22 there is a prophecy against the Stewart in King Hezekiah’s court that the
keys of David will be taken away from him and given to another, to Eliakim son
of Hilkiah. The person who had the keys was the person who controlled entry to
the palace and also access to the king’s presence as well. Here Jesus is saying
that he is the one who holds the keys now to the kingdom of David’s descendant.
While the Synagogue of Satan may have said the Christians were cut off from God
but the truth is that Christ who has the keys has opened the door, and no one but
him can close it. It is encouragement to
the church that despite what they have suffered and been through that Jesus is
the door that leads to life, and by his death and resurrection he has opened
it, they are not shut out.
The door to the kingdom is open and in Christ we are all
invited to come on in. It’s Christ’s invitation. But also for a church that has
faced such hardship and suffering it also encourages them that even though they
don’t seem that strong and big and important, that the door is open for mission
and evangelism and service. They had done a good job in the difficult times holding
on to their faith, but the one who knows their deeds is inviting them to see
that he has opened doors for them as well. It is easy when you lack strength
and are tired to simply find yourself with tunnel vision, focusing on the
difficulties and the problems and you can miss the opportunities that God has
placed before us. It is easy perhaps to have our eyes full of the doors that have
been slammed in our faces so we do not see the open doors. AS I mentioned
before Philadelphia was built as a missionary town, to pass on Greco-Roman
culture it was at the intersection of roads to the provinces around it that may
not have been as fully churched as the province of Asia and that was a
possibility it had before it. Verse nine
talks of some from the synagogue of Satan coming and bowing down to them and
acknowledging that they are indeed God’s beloved, it speaks not only of a
future time like in Old Testament prophecies when the gentile nations will come
and acknowledge Israel’s God, but speaks of the fact that even those who
oppress the church who seem closed to the gospel may well respond and come to
Christ. They may have closed the door but Christ is the one who has the keys
and the door to the kingdom of God is open.
The message to this church struggling and without much
strength is that Christ has opened door for them and they are to keep
faithfully witnessing to Jesus Christ. One of the good definitions for mission
is the reality that God is at work in the world by his Spirit and our call is
to go and find where the spirit is at work in the world and join in what the spirit
is doing, in terms of people being open to the gospel, in terms of showing love
on a personal level, in service in the community and in the wider world. We can
keep on banging our heads on doors that have been closed, on ways things used
to be, or we think they should be and actually miss the open doors that are
before us. When I worked at the university I spent time with Harry Morgan at St
Andrews Symonds Street and the church there had been wrestling with the change
of demographics in the area around them, it was so different than the
traditional congregation of anglo-scots. Harry’s response was that it was a
door of opportunity not a closed door… so they changed the service title to an
international service in English, which was very welcoming and inviting to a
very cosmopolitan and international community in the city centre. They started
conversational English class and bible study. They asked the international folk
who had started coming to the church to make suggestions on how they could be
more inviting and welcoming… It’s still
a church that struggles but it has had an impact on people all round the world
from seeing that simple opportunity…
In the end Jesus command to the church at Philadelphia was
patient endurance, to keep on being faithful witnesses to the gospel, to the
door that Christ had opened for all to come to him and to keep on looking for
the doors of service and witness that Christ had opened for them to step
through. I tell you what it’s easy to try and look for a silver bullet that
will solve everything, but we are not offered that rather open doors
opportunities for patient endurance.
Then in verse 10 there is the assurance that the Holy one
the true one will keep them through the trials that the whole world is to go
through. This has been interpreted in different ways. Some see it as Christ’s
assurance that while they go through trials and suffering now he will spare
them the final judgement. Others have seen it as a reference to what some call
the rapture, a belief that God will come back and take his church away before
the final tribulation comes… But in keeping with Christ’s call that they endure
patiently it is more likely a promise that Christ is able to keep them through
what is to come. They and we although we may not have much strength can rely on
Christ to be with us and bring us through. It’s not even an assurance that bad
things will not happen to us, it is the experience of God’s people down through
history that there is death and martyrdom, the seven churches mentioned in this
book and even the cities have not stood the test of time. Rather it is the
assurance that Christ will be with us and see us through, just as God was with
Christ and saw him through the cross and raised him from the dead. The call is
to trust and to continue doing what we are called to do… to witness to love and
to serve. The success of that is not in our hands but in Christ’s.
The letter finishes with a promise to those who overcome;
they will be accepted into God’s temple and his presence. Not only that but
they will be made into a pillar in the temple and never again will they be made
to leave it. What great encouragement and promise to a church that had suffered
being shut out, for a church without much strength being given pride of place
and seen as a pillar. What comfort for a people from a city where they have had
to move out to be safe from earthquakes, that they are welcomed in to a place
of security. We live in a time of celebrity pastors and mega churches and
people look at them as being places of great success and many of them are the
result of lots of prayer and hard work, but in God’s kingdom I wonder if we
will not see those who have faithfully worked and witnessed in the hard places
and difficult and sometime unrewarding places take pride of place. I’m not
saying we shun actually growing and succeeding in the world today, I just think
we are to realise that Christ’s call is to faithfulness…
Those who overcome are also promised that they will receive
a name. In biblical times it was a common practise to write inscriptions on
pillars… In 2 chronicles 3 Solomon planted two pillars in the temple and
inscribed a name on each Jachin which means ‘he establishes’ and Boaz which
means ‘in him is strength’ and for the people in the church at Philadelphia to
be reminded of those inscriptions would have been encouraging as it is for us
to be reminded of that… maybe we should inscribe that on our front pillars
here… But also to the church that had been ostracised for the sake of Christ
they are promised that he will write his name, and the name of the city that is
to come God’s city on them, that they belong to him. We belong to him.
I want us to stop… and be still… to take stock and hear what
the spirit is saying to you individually and to us as a church…
Christ offers an open door into his kingdom and in to his
presence… this morning is the spirit telling you, “you need to step through
that door”, you need to come to Christ
accept him as your lord and saviour.
As you look around you at your life and around the community
what are the open doors that Christ is calling you to step through for service
and witness.
Finally we may feel weak and have little strength but do you
hear what the spirit is saying to the church… Christ has the keys… Christ has
opened the door… Christ will bring us through… Christ will welcome us home and
establish us.
No comments:
Post a Comment