 Introduction:
When we come
together to pray, it is quite easy for us to know
what to ask God for. We ask for health, financial
security, successful study and work, relational/family
stability. We also know what to ask God on the church's
behalf. To some it could be spiritual renewal, or
money for various projects. Obviously, these requests
reflect what we consider as important for ourselves
and the church.
We may know
what we want from God. But do we know what God wants
from us? If we are to say to God, tell me one thing
you want from us. What do you think his response will
be? In chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation, there are 7
letters to 7 churches of the first century. The
messages in these letters will give us a clue as to
what God desires from His church.Let's briefly look
at the background of this passage. Around AD90,
apostle John, writer of the Gospel of John, and the
epistles of John, was exiled to Patmos Island. One
Sunday morning, God appeared and revealed to him
events that would occur in the future, including
special messages to the 7 churches. So John wrote
down what he saw and heard. When he finished his
writing, this book of Revelation became the last book
in the NT. So, within 70 years after Jesus' death and
resurrection, the entire NT was completed.
To day and
in the following weeks, we will be studying the
letters to the 7 churches. These 7 letters all follow
a similar pattern. Each letter is prefaced by an
instruction to write to one specific church, followed
by an identification of the author in very
descriptive terms. The body of each letter consists
of each church's positive characteristics, words of
encouragement, rebuke and warning. Each letter
concludes with a charge to listen, a promise to those
who conquer. The orderliness and symmetry of the 7
letters clearly suggest that they are intended not
only for the 7 specific churches, but the universal
church, including us.
In this
first letter, the author is described as the one who
holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks
among the seven golden lampstands. From the context,
this person is Jesus Christ. 7 lampstands refer to
the 7 churches. It's a little difficult to interpret
the 7 stars. The best way is to take the literal
meaning: the 7 messengers of the 7 churches. This
letter is written to the Esphesus church. If
tradition about John was correct, the moment he heard,
"to the angel of the church in Ephesus.."
his pulse must have increased, maybe even sweating a
little. Because tradition says that John was an elder
in that Ephesus church for many years. If I would go
to a seminar, and out of nowhere the speaker mentions
Houston Chinese Church as an example, I too would be
very nervous, wondering what he was going to say.
Good things about us or.... This is what John might
have felt that sunday morning.
Lets also
explore a little more about John. Church tradition
identifies John as first, son of thunder. Pointing to
his refusal to compromise doctrinal purity. He
refused to tolerate any heretics in his church. He is
also known as the apostle of love. This is evident
from his writings: Gospel of John, and 1,2,and 3 John.
It was said that in his old age, he reduced all his
sermons to one sentence which he repeated at every
gathering: love one another.
What do we
know about this church at Ephesus? In Acts 20, during
her early years, we read about Paul reminding the
church elders to guard the flock and to protect them
from heresy, false or half true doctrines. In
Ephesians 1:15, Paul commended them for their love
towards all the saints. Like her leader John, the
church at Ephesus was known for her doctrinal purity
and love. By the time this letter in Revelation is
written, many years have lapsed. John must have been
anxious to know what God had to say to this church to
which he was a leader for many years. So, what is the
church like now?
I. A church
in action.
First we
read about its positive characters.
1. Zeal
undimished
v2, "I
know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance."
They are still faithful to the truth, active in
ministry, busy with church work.
2.
suffered.
v3, "You
have persevered and have endured hardships for my
name, and have not grown weary."The christians
there had suffered for Jesus Christ's name. They were
persecuted because of their faith in Him. In those
days, the persecution or suffering frequently took
the form of economics. They were discriminated by
their society or government, being excluded from
certain jobs. They suffered financially.
3. Sound
doctrine.
v2, "I
know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you
have tested those who claim to be apostles but are
not, and have found them false..." v6,"you
hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also
hate.." The church at Ephesus still held onto
proper and pure doctrine. They were keen in
distinguishing any falsehood from truth. The
Nicolaitans in v6 was a sect with Nicolaus as the
leader. Some church tradition identifies him as one
of the 7 deacons in the Antioch Church. This group
retained pagan practices: under the banner of
spiritual liberty, they practised idolatory and
immorality. They had worked out a compromise with the
surrounding society. 3 churches were affected by
their teaching: Ephesus, Pergamum and Thyatira. This
heretical group was soundly defeated and rejected by
the Ephesian church.
This is a
positive description of the church. A church in
action. Hard working, busy with church work,
upholding doctrinal purity.
II. A church
in crisis.
Then there's
a change of tone. v4,"Yet I hold this against
you..." The Ephesian church worked hard, pure in
doctrine, but something was wrong, something was
missing. "..You have forsaken (lost, let go) of
your first love." The love they first had, was
no longer there anymore. They lost it. There was a
sense of urgency in these words. "Yet I hold
this against you. You have forsaken of your first
love." The Ephesian church was in crisis. There
is a two fold meaning to this love.
1. Love
for God.
A reference
to loving devotion to God. Jeremiah 2:2 can help us
understand this word better,"I remember the
devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you
followed me in the wilderness." This love for
God is like that love between two newly wed couples.
There is devotion to the other person. This love is
rational, logical and also emotional.
What is the
origin of this love? John knows this well. When we
recognize our sinfulness and brokenness before God,
that before this holy God, we are filthy and worthy.
Yet he still loves us. He came into the world and
died on the cross for our sins and the punishment we
deserve. He unconditionally loves and accepts us.
When I see this love, then my only possible response
is to love him with all my heart, all my mind and all
my might. And this is what John writes in his
epistles, "We love because he has first loved us."
This love for God had inspired christians to write:
| My
Jesus I love thee, I know thou art mine; |
| For
thee all the follies of sin I resign; |
| My
gracious redeemer, my saviour art thou; |
| If
ever I loved Thee, my Jesus tis now. (#301) |
or
| There
is a name I love to hear, I love to sing its
worth, |
| It
sounds like music in mine ear, the sweetest
name on earth. |
| O
how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus, O how I
love Jesus, |
| because
he first loved me. (#302) |
This love is both rational and
emotional. It is intense and intimate. But the
christians at Ephesus had lost it.
2. Love
for one another.
Another
meaning to this word love is, love for one another.
There was a time when the Ephesian church was known
for its love and help for fellow believers. In John
13:35, Jesus says,"If you love one another, the
world will know that you are my disciples."
Loving one another is that distinctive hallmark in
Christian faith. Our love for one another is
expressed in caring, praying, bearing other's burdens,
forgiving each other. Schaeffer wrote many years ago
that our love for each other is christianity's final
apologetic.
Sadly, the
believers at Ephesus had lost both their love for God
and for each other. Do you see how they are inter-related?
When one's personal love for God cools off, loss of
love for one another is inevitable. When my loving
devotion for God is gone, I would no longer care for
the person next to me. He or she is just another
object. I wouldn't really care about what's going on
in his/her life. Not to mention helping him.
The church
at Ephesus had allowed busy church work, sound
doctrine to replace that first love they had for God.
What does God want from his church? He wants that
first love, that loving devotion to be their center,
their focal point. Why? What is the essence of the
Christian faith? God desires a loving relationship
with his people. For this, he came into the world and
died on the cross so we can be retored to him. He
first loved us and we responded by loving him. This
is the core/center of our relationship with God. And
out of this center, we are motivated to search and
love for pure doctrine, active involvement in the
church and loving one another. But the Ephesian
church had lost its center.
I certainly
feel uncomfortable when my preaching arrives at this
point. Its hitting home. This letter is no longer a
letter to that church at Ephesus, it has become a
letter to the church at 10305 S. Main, a personal
letter to William Hsueh or to anyone listening this
morning,"He who has an ear, let him hear..."
As a church
or individually, we still hold on to doctrinal purity.
We may not all agree on some of the finer points in
some of the doctrine, yet we consider our doctrine as
proper and orthodox. We are also busy in the various
ministries in the church. But we have lost our first
love for God. That loving devotion, that intimate and
intense love for God is missing. To many of us, we
too have lost that center.
What had
happened? Its really not that hard to trace it. You
see, when we discovered Jesus Christ and His love for
us, we responded by following him. We loved him with
all our heart and might. We talked about him to
others. As we grew in the church, we also began to
get involved in various ministries. We taught SS, led
BS, fellowships and small groups. Then more
responsibilities were put upon us. We may be incharge
of different ministries or committees. We may become
a deacon or an elder. We are nourished or pushed by
organizations, meetings, plannings and goals. In Earl
Palmer's words,"Taking the place of that first
love for God, is a starchy high cholesterol diet of
activity and church work, that will never nourish one's
soul."
You see, the
irony is: What in the first place attracted us to
Jesus Christ: His love for us, and christians love
for God and for each other, is now replaced by
activities, arguments on the fine prints of certain
doctrines, by-laws and style of ministry. These
things in the first place would have never attracted
us to God. I still have not met anyone who is
attracted to God, because they see the Christians so
busy with the church activities and the way they
discuss and argue about certain doctrines, or how
things should be done in certain ways. But somehow,
these things have become the center, and we have lost
our first love. Sometimes when we deliberately do
something displeasing to him, or misplace our
priority, will also cause us to stray away from him,
losing our first love for him.
Like the
church at Ephesus, some of us too, may be in a crisis.
III. A church
at crossroads.
The Ephesian
church had lost it first love. But before this letter
arrived at their mailbox, they probably were busy
doing their ministries, defending doctrinal purity.
But as they opened up this letter, they were
presented a choice. Vs 5, "Remember the height
from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things
you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come
to you and remove your lampstand from its place."
They had lost the center, and God was calling them to
return, to repent, to regain this center.
They could
either remember where they had fallen, repent and do
the things they did before, or carry on with business
as usual. If they remembered where they failed,
repented and did what they did, that is, loving God
whole heartedly, and loving each other, in vs 7, they
were promised the right to eat from the tree of life.
This is an assurance and confirmation of one's
participation in God's eternal kingdom.
But if they
failed to obey and repent, insisting on business as
usual, refusing to change, then Jesus Christ, the
lord of the churches will come and remove the
lampstand. That is, the removal, or destruction of
the christian witness from that place.
What did the
Church at Ephesus choose? We don't know. But this we
learn from history: both the city and the church
vanished. Instead, it's now a place called Ayasaluk,
meaning "saint theologian". It commemorates
not the church but the apostle John.
Before we
came to church this morning, we could definitely
continue our life as usual. But now, if we have been
listening for the past 40 minutes, we are presented
with a choice. We too are at a crossroads. We have to
decide for ourself whether or not we have lost this
first love. That fervent, loving devotion for God,
and love for one another. If this love is missing in
us, God is now calling us to return to this center.
To regain that first love.
If we
deliberately refuse to return to that first love, the
warning to the christians at Ephesus still stands
today. Eventually we will lose our christian witness.
Our light will be dim if not diminished, and our salt
will be tasteless. God can certainly raise other
churches and christians to take our place.
I think of
the churches in Europe. Once a stronghold and
fortress of Christianity, they were a base from which
thousands of missionaries were sent out. But today
its like a spiritual desert. We don't have to let
this happen to us. God still waits for us to turn
around.
Conclusion:
What does God want from us? Yes,
doctrinal purity is important, active service is also
important. But above everything else, He wants us to
come back to the center, the core of our Christian
faith. That is, His loving relationship with us. In
this relationship, our love for God and for each
other must remain at the center of our existence. God
wants our life to be motivated by this love.
How can we regain that first love?
I have a simple suggestion. We need to come before
God and listen to the gospel message. The message
that tells us of how this holy God came into the
world and died for us filthy sinners. So we can be
reconciled to Him. We are to listen again and agin to
his unconditional love, acceptance and forgiveness.
Sometimes we Christian make the
mistake of thinking that the gospel message is only
for the non-Christians. Once we become Christians,
then we move on to some deeper message, and begin to
focus on ministry. Yes, these are important. But what
is even more important is to continue to listen to
the gospel message. To let God's love constantly
compel our hearts and minds.
Rev. William
Hsueh Feb 27, 2000
Houston Chinese Church, Houston, Texas
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