Revelation: Chapter 2, Verses 18 to 29 and Chapter 3, Verses 1 to 6
Two churches. Two different problems. Different warnings. Different promises. The picture grows of consequences to good and bad thoughts, words, and deeds.
I gotta speed up my reading, but reading Revelation is not easy. Rich imagery makes it difficult to create visuals and to verbalize even though each message to each church isn’t that long.
Note: I’m following N.T. Wright’s Revelation: 22 Studies for Individuals and Groups and his newest book 20th Anniversary Edition with Study Guide, Revelation for Everyone. See my post Prepare for Revelation for suggested materials.
Chapter 2 ends with a letter to Thyatira, around the corner and further inland from Pergamum, where pagan practices have infiltrated Thyatiran worship with a few resisters who have maturing faith; and Chapter 3 begins with a letter to Sardis, down the road from Thyatira, where complacency and lack of persistence, has rooted itself with a few staying alive in their works.
Thyatira Described and Warned
The letter to Thyatira references Jezebel, reminding readers of that villainess in ancient times, how she and King Ahab replaced worshipping God with worshipping Baal, a pagan god.
“Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.” (1 Kings 16: 29-33)
Jeroboam made for himself “other gods, idols made of metal…aroused [God’s] anger and turned [his] back on [God].” 1 Kings 14: 9.
The “Jezebel” in Thyatira called herself a prophet and taught the church that non-Christian spiritual practices and eating foods designated for pagan idols were part of following Jesus and worshipping God.
“It seems that, within the young and muddled Christian community, some had become convinced that their spiritual freedom could appropriately be expressed both in sexual licence…and in attendance at pagan shrines, cult meals and the more ambiguous fellowship meals (still with religious overtones) of the trade guilds. Some may even have embraced a teaching according to which the Christian’s freedom from sin means that he or she can, and perhaps should, explore the ‘satanic depths’ (verse 24), going boldly right into the enemy’s camp just to show how invulnerable one was.”
Human beings have a tendency to believe that the group cannot affect their thinking, that their thoughts stand independent of those around them who hold opposing thoughts. But like the proverb of the frog staying confidently in heating-up water until boiled to death, so, too, do humans who stay after entering a place whose beliefs and practices are abhorrent to them or whose place transforms from supportive to lynch-mob behaviour. In both cases, thoughts and words that once were anathema become rational, then acceptable.
In Canada, eugenics was popular, but after Hitler and WWII, it became anathema to the mainstream for decades. But authoritative and sympathetic figures advocated for it in disguise like a repeating drum. As advertisers know, a repeated message takes root unless countering messages drumbeat louder. But with no blunt counter arguments, the mainstream adopted the advocates’ euphemisms and succumbed to false emotions and fear of death. They joined the drumbeat and endorsed killing another if the other has an illness or disability. Now courts, politicians, and progressives — with the complicity of a silent church — have papered over eugenics and legally killing the suicidal and despairing under the euphemistic terms “Dying with Dignity” and “Medical Assistance in Death.” The mainstream has raised these practices above cures and basic income supports that bring life. No one admits that underneath these terms are fatal loneliness, the desire to save dollars for themselves, and to rid their lives of reminders of their own vulnerability and death.
A few didn’t plumb the depths of “Jezebel” the prophet’s teachings, although it’s not clear if they discerned her deceiving ways or they just couldn’t be bothered to practice what she was preaching. In any case, they stuck to Jesus’s teachings, and Jesus, through the letter to them, encouraged them to hold on tightly until he comes. That could be either the Second Coming or, more likely, growing and strengthening his kingdom on Earth.
How would those in the church who abhor killing others under the rubric of “dignity” or “painless” kick the church into advocating for life and for palliative care — a gentle, human death for all? It’s instructive to me that churches of all denominations had more of a vocal fit and prolonged protest over same-sex marriage than the mere squeak they gave to MAiD. Methinks the church is more concerned about sex and who has it than they are about life on Earth and its great arc into a truly pain-free, letting go, spiritual end to the material and entrance into the wholly spirit form.
The church lauds painful, humiliating death more than the glorious life after life after death.
After all, the church raises up the cross and talks about crucifixion — death as painful, humiliating, and best to be avoided by mere humans — far more than it raises up the Resurrection. Yet it’s the Resurrection that turned Jesus from one of many prophets into the promised Messiah.
Since the church worships the cross’s pain and humiliation, who wouldn’t fear death, want to control it, and paper over killing the ill and disabled as dignified?
Business and Christians
Thyatira had a booming trade in smelting copper and bronze. How can being involved in businesses and their related associations lead you astray? I present to you Premier Doug Ford’s version of Ontario as “open for business.”
An underground accessible subway ready to be built turned into an overground tinker toy version that uses niche trains, good for his reputation and business but not for the local communities being displaced by overground construction. And not good stewardship of present and future government funds.
Development of green lands that feed us and our watersheds. Until the public forced Ford to retreat, he worked with developers to turn the land over to their control. Developers who both attend church and wanted to make a substantial buck on selling their privately-owned publicly-controlled land for private profit served money, not Jesus.
Raising business to the level of being followed and obeyed without question, similar to some denominations that dictate following their dogma without question.
Having attended a few social gatherings where attendees discussed business and politicians promised cooperation, I can attest to their siren song. Human beings are social animals. We forget that belonging is a basic evolutionary need; business lunches and gatherings create an infectious camaraderie I’ve not experienced in church gatherings. If people who attend these for the first time don’t feel they belong anywhere or their social life isn’t as inclusive, they’ll be easily seduced. Wright wrote:
“As far as Jesus is concerned, this whole approach is an absolute disaster. The church has no business compromising at any point with…practices that reflect and embody [pagan worship]” aka reflect and embody beliefs counter to Jesus’s teachings.
Don’t derail a subway accessible to all for the sake of boosting your reputation.
Don’t divert the public good to private profit.
Don’t worship and elevate businesses, political parties, and politicians above Jesus.
Question 12
“How might we ‘hold on tightly’ in the face of [challenges]?”
Church leaders often instruct their congregations to read the Scriptures, for that will remind them of what being Christian is about. But people are pretty good at rationalizing the indefensible to fit into what Jesus teaches. I think critical thinking skills need to be brought to bear.
Some methods seem easy.
Don’t join a political party but remain non-partisan so that a feeling of loyalty and the commitment of money doesn’t seduce you down a road that, for example, ultimately justifies leaving people with disabilities without proper health care and with an income of half the poverty line.
But what happens if you must join an association for your work? It’s up to you how active you are in it.
Being blunt with yourself and acknowledging that money and the accolades of others are more important to you than holding fast to Jesus’s lessons will get you to rethink your choices.
My grandfather refused to join a required association on ethical grounds. I don’t remember him practicing as a lawyer, and from what I understand, he didn’t achieve great heights of success, which joining that association would’ve fostered. But he could look at himself in the mirror and know that he hadn’t taken part in iffy practices.
On to Sardis!
I noticed on the map that Sardis was across from Ephesus. Like with Ephesus, Jesus describes himself as the one with seven stars. But unlike Ephesus, he also describes himself as the one with the seven spirits of God. Perhaps that difference reflects how the church in Ephesus vanished, while Sardis’s church remained.
A long period of peace or of having a good reputation often leads people into no longer doing the work that lead to that peace and good rep. It’s easier to coast than it is to renew oneself continually. On a superficial level, it’s easier to design a stunning website that garners millions of visitors and never change it than it is to renew it every three to five years. The latter requires a lot more work and facing the fear of messing with the original design’s effectiveness. The former leads the site to look dated while still attracting people based on its original glory; but eventually the millions will become thousands, then none. Only renewal creates vitality.
Question 2
“What does it mean that this church’s works were ‘incomplete’ in God’s sight?”
“Strengthen the things that remain — the things that are about to die — because I haven’t found your works to be complete in the sight of my God.”
Wright believes that “may be a tactful way of saying that their performance of the gospel, their Christian way of life, ‘leaves a lot to be desired’.” But the wording reminded me of people who start but never finish projects. It’s not a half-assed job or phoning it in; it’s more like starting something all eager then a new shiny thing grabs their attention and they leave the first project to go to another and another and another, finishing none of their works.
Starting a project like an eager beaver but not finishing it creates a semblance of active life.
People hate change. But the history of God working in the world is about constant change — whether it’s geographical, a maturing faith, changing their sexist beliefs to inclusive, expanding their definition of who belongs, recognizing when cultural practices are no longer required, and so on.
Complacency and incomplete works oppose change.
Just as the Resurrection is about new life, so is change about renewal of how we think, speak, and act as we grow in faith and understanding of what Jesus requires and what life is about.
Question 4
“How might we heed the call to wake up and strengthen what remains of our own works before it’s too late?”
Two Zoroastrian edicts come to mind. Walking hand in hand with God. And good thoughts, good words, good deeds.
Thoughts lead to words which lead to deeds (actions or works). Analyzing one’s thoughts isn’t just about creating good thoughts, but also about recognizing and resisting bad ones.
Both these edicts require one to continually question one’s thoughts and where one is headed. It also opens one up to seeing new opportunities, assessing them whether they fit in with where God is leading, and seizing them when they will benefit both oneself and others in the way that Jesus taught. By keeping oneself open to opportunities and not being afraid of change, is how you stay awake and strengthen yourself.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gets into the details of what it means to walk hand in hand with God and to participate in bringing Jesus’s kingdom to Earth. He also illuminates what good thoughts are in the Sermon, in his actions and responses to the Pharisees, and in his parables. Reminding yourself of these things helps you to not slide into complacency.
I mean, what does it mean to be a light on the hill? Just pop a metaphorical LED into yourself and never change? Or does it mean aiming one’s conscious thoughts on fostering a flame that needs continual feeding?
Last Words
Like in my last post, the message is don’t be a sheeple and hand over your thinking ability to groupthink and human leaders.
Jesus will give authority over the nations to the ones who hold tightly in Thyatira or repent. God gave Jesus authority to rule the nations; Jesus will give his identity to the victorious, and they will co-lead the nations with him.
Jesus will present to God by name those in Sardis who wake up or who haven’t flagged in their faith. He will rub out the names of the rest in the Book of Life.
I’ll have to give some thought to these promises. What do you think they’re saying?