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| The Prince and His Bride. |
John loved this former wife of his dearly. But they had been separated, and she had gone missing in South America over fifteen years ago. And after a bizarre trail of mysterious travels she finally surfaced, appearing first in Germany, then in Rome, then in Milan, and now, finally, she was going to be reunited with John at his home in Madrid, Spain. And John was excited and overjoyed at the news.
Isabel’s reaction to all of this was quite odd. She listened to John attentively, nodding her head, even smiling at times. And when John’s former wife arrived, Isabel welcomed her into her home and made a place for her at the dinner table. Night after night, year after year, John and Isabel and John’s former wife could be found in the dining room at supper time. Isabel took care of the other woman, combing her hair daily, applying makeup, even helping to get her dressed. But never once did John’s other wife utter a word of thanks or give a smile of gratitude.
It was a bizarre arrangement, to say the least. And no doubt you’ll think it even odder when you learn that John’s former wife wasn’t even alive. He and his current wife Isabel shared their dining room with a carefully preserved cadaver.
John’s full name was Juan Peron. He was the former dictator of Argentina. And his former wife, the beautiful Evita, the darling of Argentina’s working class, had tragically died at the young age of 33. It was she whom Madonna played in the 1997 film Evita, in which she sang those famous words, “Don’t cry for me, Argentina.”
Heartbroken over his wife’s death, Juan Peron immediately paid a forensic doctor $100,000, a very handsome sum in 1952, to preserve her body. And he commissioned a giant monument to be made in her honor where her body would be on permanent display.
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| Don't cry for me, Argentina! |
But in 1955 after a military coup, Juan Peron was run out of Argentina. Evita’s body remained, but the new regime was reluctant to destroy it, lest they incite a riot. So it was hidden away in various places, even spending some time stuffed inside the couch of an army major. It finally came to rest in a grave under a false name in Milan, Italy, where Peron’s supporters discovered it and retrieved it for him in 1971.
It takes a perverse and morbid mind to prefer the cold touch of a lifeless corpse over the warm embrace of a vibrant wife. Most of us would say that Juan Peron was a somewhat disturbed individual. I think Jesus would agree.
Revelation 3 begins with a letter Jesus dictates to the church at Sardis. It is the fifth church of seven to whom Jesus directed the apostle John to compose a letter. The former letters to the churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira have revealed to us that the church in John’s day, much like the church today, was beset with cultural compromise, hostile persecution, rigid legalism, and the danger of apostasy. The letter to the church at Sardis reveals that it was on the verge of losing its relevance in its community. Hear the word of God, starting Revelation 3, verse 1:
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. 4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
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| The seven churches in Asia Minor to whom Jesus directed John to write. |
The city of Sardis, located some 40 miles southeast of Thyatira in Asia Minor, was a rival of both Ephesus and Smyrna. The once-proud capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, Sardis had been destroyed by an earthquake in 17 AD, and quickly rebuilt. Having an estimated population of 80,000, it was a city of sophisticated paganism, housing temples to various deities and demigods. It also had a synagogue roughly the size of a football field, able to hold a thousand worshiping Jews.
In his letter to the believers at Sardis, Jesus makes no mention of their persecution, a good indication that the church there was not under attack—this despite the fact that the Christians were surrounded on one side by zealous Jews and on the other by polytheistic Greeks and Romans. While churches in Smyrna and Pergamum were facing hostility from their pagan and Jewish neighbors, the church in Sardis was safely secure.
The church in Sardis was safely secure because it was safely asleep. No one gets too upset at a church that does nothing, says nothing, that keeps to itself and minds its own business. No one gets too upset at a church with no witness, a church with no influence, a church with no relevance. According to one New Testament scholar, the church at Sardis was the perfect example of inoffensive Christianity. No one gets too upset at a church like that. No one, that is, except Jesus.
Jesus is not subtle when he holds up the mirror to the church at Sardis. They have the reputation of being alive, but in his eyes, the only eyes that really count, they are dead. The church at Sardis had become a lifeless shell. They continued to meet for services; they praised God, they recalled the good old days. Other churches knew of their existence, had heard of their reputation, but for some time that reputation had been like a large chocolate Easter bunny; it looked impressive on the outside, but on the inside it was just empty air.
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| Is our reputation only surface-deep? |
These weren’t bad people. They hadn’t compromised their faith. They still loved Jesus. They were just asleep, inactive, for all intents and purposes, dead. By means of contrast, Jesus says those who have remained awake are walking with him in unsoiled, white garments. That’s a sign for purity. It seems to me that Jesus is saying here that those who have dozed off are sleeping in dirty clothes. Can it be that a silent church is as offensive to Jesus as a sinful church? I think perhaps the answer is yes.
Implicitly, Jesus also seems to indicate that those who will not carry his name boldly will have their own name removed from the Lamb’s Book of Life, that those who will not openly confess his name to others will discover that Jesus will not confess their name before the angels or His Father. Now, you might think to yourself, that just means they were never Christians in the first place. I'm not here to dance on the end of a pin with you. I say tomayto, you say tomahto. The result is the same.
Sadly, I think of the seven letters Christ wrote to the churches in Asia Minor over 1900 years ago, this letter is the one that would most closely resemble the letter he would write to the church of small town America today. I wonder if Jesus would tell us that we are focused more on the glory days of a bygone age than we are on our ongoing commission today?
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| You're right! This is way cooler than my iPod Touch! |
Many small town churches have lost their relevance and their voice in their communities. The world has shifted around us, the landscape of small-town America has changed. Gone are the days when everyone knew their neighbors and most everybody farmed for a living. Although 25% of Americans live in small towns, only 2% of those living in small towns are actually farmers these days. The small town has become globally aware and socio-economically diverse. And yet we continue applying principles that were effective sixty years ago and wonder why our congregations continue to dwindle. In a wireless, high-definition, three-dimensional, surround-sound culture, the church continues to bring a flannelgraph mindset to the marketplace of ideas and wonders why no one cares.
One of my seminary professors, Dr. Paul Boatman, once remarked: “I have visited congregations where the buildings are well cared for, the people are friendly, at least to one another, and they have a schedule of ‘churchy’ activities. Yet as I left, I found myself asking, ‘Why would anyone choose to be a part of the church?’ The faith was not presented winsomely, the worship had an air of lifeless ritual, and the whole experience was akin to visiting a family museum.”
The church must continually assess and adapt its methodology in presenting the good news about Jesus Christ. In an ever-changing world, the church must ever change the way it presents the unchanging gospel. We cannot be so stuck on the past that we ignore the people of the present.
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| If we don't stop apathy, it will stop us. |
But I think even more than that, the church must first regain its passion for the gospel. Like the church at Sardis, we must remember what we have received—the incomparable riches of God at Christ’s expense. And we must cling so tenaciously to the gospel that we cannot help but share it with others. If we really believe that Jesus is the only means of salvation, hadn’t we ought to act like it?
Edinburg is changing. It’s changed in the seven short years that I’ve been here. Not all the changes have been positive; in fact, many have been for the worse. But two things have never changed: the gospel of Jesus Christ and the church’s mission to share that gospel with others. Now, more than ever, Edinburg needs the church to be the church.
There are hundreds of people in this community who desperately need Jesus. Why is it that, when those who need Christ the most finally realize it and they begin to seek the Lord, they go to a church outside of our community to find Him? What is it about our churches that they find so unappealing? Can’t they find Jesus here?
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| It's not our size but His that matters. |
We can say it’s simply a numbers game, that our churches are too small to make a difference. But that’s not the problem. It was Dr. Howard Hendricks who once said, “The problem is not the size of your church, it is the significance of your church. The reason many churches are small is that they are comprised of a group of small people with a very small God, a very small faith, and a very small confidence that God wants to use them in a significant way in their community.”
Are we troubled that Christ might perceive our community’s churches to be alive by reputation but are dead in evangelistic zeal, that our buildings are well-maintained, but we never venture out of them, that our idea of mission is to send money to foreign countries while we neglect the needs of our next-door neighbors? Are we disturbed that Christ might say of us, “They go through the motions, but it’s been a long time since they have expected me to do anything in Edinburg?”
If we are troubled by these thoughts, we must also take comfort that Christ is the Living One, who was once dead himself but is now alive, who holds the keys of Death and Hades in his hand, who by the word of his mouth can raise the dead. He is the resurrection and the life, and the grave is no bar to his call.
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| Jesus is in the resurrection business. |
The is the One who raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead, who breathed new life into the son of the widow of Nain, the One who at the tomb of his dead friend shouted, “Lazarus, come forth!” Jesus is in the resurrection business. That’s what he does. And if we ask him to, he will roll back the stone of our ecclesiastical tombs, rip away the grave clothes of our complacency, and shout out, “Churches of Edinburg, come forth!” If we want him to, Jesus can raise us from the dead, too.
If you go over to our church and walk down the hall to my office, you will notice two signs on my office door. Both are pertinent to our present time and situation. The first one simply says, “Perhaps today.” It’s a constant reminder to me that time is short, that at any moment, the sky could be torn open, and with a shout of command, with the voice of an archangel, with the sound of the trumpet of God, Christ could return and the end of days be upon us. And there are still many, many people here in Edinburg who do not know him. Before the Lord comes like a thief, we ought to do our best to see that everyone possible is keeping an eye out for his return.
The second sign says, “Yes, there is a God, and no, you aren’t him.” That’s a reminder to me that I cannot, that you cannot, that we cannot, our churches cannot accomplish this mission on our own. If we want to win this community to Christ, we’re going to have to lean on his grace, be transformed into his likeness, and be empowered by his Spirit.
So here’s where the rubber meets the road this morning. If you look around Edinburg and don’t like what you see, if you look inside your church buildings on Sunday morning and you don’t like what you see, if you look at your family and your extended family and you don’t like what you see, if you look at your own walk with Jesus and you don’t like what you see, it is time to take action. Here’s what you do:
Pray.
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| The church is the only army that advances on its knees. |
I want you to pray for revival. I want you to pray for revival in your own walk with Christ, pray for revival in your families, pray for revival in your churches, pray for revival in this community. Pray, starting now, and keep praying all the way to Pentecost Sunday—this coming Memorial Day weekend. Pray every day. Pray expecting something to happen. Pray to a big God, a God with a big heart and big hands who would love to see something big happen here in Edinburg.
But be careful, brothers and sisters. If you pray like that, with intensity, intentionality, and conviction, God will honor your prayers. He’ll start to work in your life, he’ll start to work in your family, he’ll start to work in your churches, and he’ll start to work in this community. He’ll take you from where you are to where he wants you to be and where you need to be. He’ll move you ever closer to him. Your path to Jesus will be difficult, fraught with peril, but it will be the most rewarding journey you’ll ever take.
Juan Peron was a sick man. After recovering Evita’s body, he would often encourage his current wife Isabel to spend some time lying next to the cold and lifeless cadaver resting on the dining room table. He thought that somehow, through this close proximity to the dead love of his life, Isabel might somehow absorb her charisma and beauty.
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| Intimacy with Christ transforms us. |
Jesus is a much better bridegroom. He does not ask his beautiful bride, the Church, to lay next to something dead so that she might incorporate the qualities of a corpse. No, he lavishes love on his bride, and he tells her, “Come close to me, spend time with me, follow me” because he knows that the closer we are to him, the more like him we will become.
Sleeping Beauty touched the spindle of a spinning wheel and fell into a deep sleep. Soon everyone in the castle fell asleep, too, and a hedge of briar roses grew up around her castle until it was completely obscured and impregnable. And there they lay for a hundred years, silent and all but forgotten as the world passed them by. That is, until a persistent Prince decided that nothing would stop him from seeing Sleeping Beauty. He eventually broke through to her, woke her with a kiss, and they all lived happily ever after.
Perhaps we have touched the spindle of complacency, have fallen into the slumber of irrelevance, and the hedgerow of indifference has grown up around our sanctuaries. If that’s the case, the Prince of Peace will not let us rest. He will pursue us with his relentless love. He will chase us down until he makes us his. We still have work to do, Sleeping Beauty! Have you not felt the kiss of your Prince? Have you not been warmed by the embrace of your Master? Wake up! Be his Bride, be his Church. Pray for revival. Love God, love people, save the world!
