The Seven Churches of Revelation - Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7)
EPHESUS: RETURN TO YOUR FIRST LOVE
Do we hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches? Each letter to the Seven Churches ends with this challenge: Listen to the Spirit. What is he saying?
In our new series on the Seven Churches of Revelation, we are studying seven real churches that had real problems. These are not churches of the future; they are first century churches that faced difficult challenges in their time. What makes this relevant to us is that not much has changed for 21st century churches.
Just as Jesus spoke to the churches of Asia Minor (Turkey), he speaks the same message to us today. I know this because of how John composed the letters to the seven churches. From a literary perspective, there is a pattern we cannot ignore. The first and seventh churches are in danger of losing their identity as Christian. The three center churches contain members who have remained faithful and those who have compromised with pagan culture. The second and sixth letters are written to churches that have proved themselves faithful to Jesus even in the face of persecution. The significance of this is that the Christian church as a whole is in poor condition – not only are the healthy churches a minority, but the churches in the worst condition form the bookends and the churches with serious problems are in the center. In short, the church is in trouble and needs to address the problems.
What is true for all seven churches and what is true for RFC today is the same issue: Witnessing for Christ in the midst of a culture that is hostile to the good news of Jesus!
Do we hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches?
We begin with Ephesus and the call of Jesus to return to our first love. When I first considered this phrase, my thoughts went back to a blonde-haired, green-eyed lass in my college days who grabbed my romantic attention. That experience caused me much heartache and issues that haunted me for years. To return to your first love…is not that.
To the Church of Ephesus (2:1)
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands,” (1).
Ephesus was not the capital of the Roman province of Asia, but it was the most important city. Its influence was like Toronto or Vancouver on Canada. It was a center of commercial life and a crossroads where people from other nations met. Ephesus was also home to a huge temple dedicated to Artemis that covered two football fields in length. It was one of the seven wonders of the world. About 200,000 people lived in Ephesus. An ancient poet, however, lamented that the city was full of immorality and horrible acts.
Into this cesspool of sin and degradation, Paul planted a church. In Acts 19, you can read about how Paul met some people who knew the baptism of John, but nothing about the Holy Spirit. Paul spent two years there teaching them about Jesus. (It is worth noting that our Mennonite forefathers chose Steinbach and Rosenort due to their distance from the city of Winnipeg and the railway which connected most towns to the city. This was an attempt to remain somewhat disconnected from the world. Meanwhile, Paul went straight into the cities to preach the gospel in those dark places).
The Christian message stirred up some resentment after a while since people stopped buying statues of Artemis. Two companions of Paul were seized and taken to the great 24,000 seat arena and were nearly martyred on the spot. Sharon and I traveled to the ruins of this city in 2007 and I got to place a hand on the spot that these two Christians possibly stood.
Nevertheless, the church at Ephesus grew and became a leading center of Christianity. It was here that Timothy was appointed pastor of the church. It was also here that John brought Mary, the mother of Jesus, while he ministered there.
To this church, Jesus reminds them that he is the man who walks among the golden lampstands. Referring to John’s description of the man in chapter 1, we see that to each church Jesus reminds them of a different aspect of his character as it pertains to their need. This church at Ephesus needs to know that Jesus is present and knows what’s going on.
“I know what you do” (2:2-3; 6)
There is an American slasher movie titled, “I know what you did last summer.” Four teens drive over a man at night and out of fear dispose of the body. Someone knows what they did and terrorizes them with that knowledge. It’s a frightening thing to hear, “I know what you did.”
Jesus says it twice, “I know…I know…,” but it’s a good thing (see 2-3). Perhaps it is a fearful to realize that Jesus knows RFC and all that we think and do. He knew Ephesus. He knew the good things that they did. He knew that they were very keen about being doctrinally sound and were committed to do Christian charity. They took their faith seriously and guarded against false teachings.
When Timothy was the new pastor in town, Paul wrote two letters to the young minister counseling him to beware of false teachers. (check out 1 Tim. 1:3-11; 4:1-8; 6:2-7; 2 Tim. 3:1-17). If someone came to Ephesus and claimed to be an apostle or some important messenger from God, this church was careful to compare their sermons with the scriptures. It didn’t matter how charismatic a speaker the person was, if they heard something unbiblical, they called him on it.
The church at Ephesus was what many call today in the US and Canada, a Bible Church. We saw that one time while traveling through Wyoming, a church that advertised itself as a “Bible Church.” I was at first delighted, then disturbed, because I wondered what they meant. If they were like Ephesus, they were very careful about what was preached.
Later, in verse 6, Jesus commends them again for this attention to good teaching. He says, “…you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate,” (6). We don’t know much about the Nicolaitans and what they did. But their name comes from two Greek words which mean “conquer” and “people.” This is interesting because in the church at Pergamum, they are linked with those who hold the teaching of Balaam (Balaam's story can be found in Numbers 22-24. This contains the famous talking donkey event. Balaam was hired to lead the people of Israel astray from Yahweh's law.). And Balaam could be derived from two Hebrew words which mean “conquer” and “people.” The two names thus describe an evil teacher who has won victory over the people and brought them under a heretical teaching. That teaching led to a lifestyle of playing Christian on Sunday and living how you felt like through the week. It abused the grace of Jesus that saves us from sin and was used as a license to sin.
Jesus said, “You hate that; I do too.”
“You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling” (2:4)
That’s a song by the Righteous Brothers, isn’t it? It fits. Jesus loves that the church at Ephesus is a Bible-believing church, but something’s missing. Jesus said, “…you have abandoned the love you had at first,” (4).
What does that mean? From studying the context, I believe the NLT got it wrong: “You don’t love me or each other as you did at first.” This reads too much into it. The Greek says simply, “you have lost your first love.”
What the NLT misses is the “witness” aspect of the letter as a whole. I truly believe that the Ephesians loved Jesus. What is implied in this “lost love” is that the church has lost its zeal for telling the world about Jesus. They are no longer witnessing about the crucified and risen Lord.
As Simon Kistemaker tells us, the church that Paul planted, and Timothy pastored was now in its 2nd and 3rdgeneration members. They may have lacked the enthusiasm of their parents and grandparents, the faith and love that they demonstrated in the early days (Eph. 1:15). This next gen functioned not as propagators of the faith but as caretakers and custodians. What was missing? Their evangelistic outreach! They loved the Lord, but no longer with heart, soul, and mind.
When the Lord Jesus first appointed the twelve disciples, Mark tells us that Jesus had two main purposes for his followers: “…that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach…” (Mk. 3:14). This is the same invitation we have today: To be with Jesus and to go out in his name and tell people about him. I love how the enemies of the apostles in Acts commented on them, “they could tell they had been with Jesus.”
It is one thing to say "I love Jesus," but do we talk about him? Sharon and I have a regular practice of calling Katy on Saturday morning to catch up on family news. What does she talk about the most? Andrew, her beloved. That's what you do when you love someone, you talk about them.
Last week, you may have noticed, Stanley had sparkles all over this three-piece suit. Emily, our dean of women, said that she hugged him one time and was brushing off sparkles from her clothes all day. You could tell she had been with Stanley. That’s what we want the world to see – that we have been with Jesus, and he just rubs off on you to others.
But the church had lost this fervor to share Jesus. They were content to guard their walls and keep out false teaching, the messiness of a depraved culture, the stain of sinners. A church that does this will soon die out. That’s what’s frightening about the church today – if we are content to act as custodians and caretakers, we will wither away and become like the church at Ephesus…oh wait, there is no church there!
Remember – Repent – Rinse – Repeat (2:5)
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent,” (5).
What is the answer to this spiritual laziness? Jesus wants us to remember where this journey all began. It begins with the person of Jesus. We can get lost in the “doing” and the “busy work” of the church and eventually become exhausted with Christian service. It is tempting to equate service for the Lord with love for the Lord. Our labors become mechanical, however, when we forget why we are doing all this service stuff.
Remember, Jesus says, and return to your first love. It’s me, he says. Sometimes there is too much “doing” and not enough “being.” Remember that childlike wonder Jesus loves when people come to him; remember to be like Mary and just sit at Jesus’ feet. Take time to listen to Jesus speaking to you from his Word.
Repent then and do the works you did at first. Jesus “threatens” (more like “has to”) to take away the church’s lampstand if they do not repent. The lampstand is the clue that this is about being a witness. The lampstand gives light but what is the point of a lampstand that doesn’t shine? Why have a lamp in your living room with no bulb? It’s not working. Jesus has to take it away.
Repent, repeat the works you did at first. To repent is to change your mind or purpose. In other words, as a church and as individual followers of Jesus, we need to rethink how and why we do church. Why are we here? Why did we start a fellowship called RFC? Many of us don’t know because we came later. What SHOULD we be doing?
Our acronym gives us a good direction:
R – Radically following Jesus. Honestly, we may not seem radical, but it is our hope that spending time with Jesus will make us more and more like him and thus less and less like the popular wisdom of the world.
F – Furthering the Good News. Here’s the tough challenge. Are we telling people about Jesus? The other day when Sharon was having her eye examined post-surgery, she overheard a woman telling a stranger that God loved him, and she explained the gospel in the waiting room. What about your waitress? What about the gas attendant? Can we just tell them, Jesus loves them. Yeah, they’ll think your weird. Yup! And?
C – Caring for the Community. New people are coming into the Rosenort community, and we have the opportunity to welcome them to a home. More than a place to sleep, this is a community unlike many in Southern Manitoba. And that through the love of Jesus!
Do we hear what the Spirit is saying? (2:7)
This expression reflects what Jesus said about parables and his other teachings. When his disciples asked why he spoke in parables, Jesus replied with a quote from Isaiah saying,
“To you has been given the secret of the Kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that…
They may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:11-12)
Do we hear what the Spirit is saying to RFC?
To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God!
AMEN
Comments
Post a Comment