In Love with Truth and Love
Bible Passage:
Revelation 2:1-7
Pastor:
Pastor Mike
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Sermon Date:
2010-08-14
No one loves going to the doctor. Sterile room. Paper gown. Cold stethoscope. Latex gloves. Invasive questions. Sharp needles. Not exactly a vacation destination. But sometimes the worst is the diagnosis. “I’m sorry, but with cholesterol like this, no more chips (what?!)…and no more cake (huh?!)…and no more pizza (oh no!).” “And the brats?” you whimper. And the health Nazi shakes his uncompromising head. No one loves the doctor because his diagnosis can mess with our lives. It asks us to change and change, for all of us, is uncomfortable.
Maybe that’s why so many of us skip it. Because if you don’t know what’s broke[n], you won’t have to fix it! If you don’t know your heart is wheezing with every beat, your conscience keeps quiet when you grab two raspberry-filled long-johns after church. If you don’t know your blood is squeezing through your veins like cars in a construction zone, you can shovel down three scoops of Oreo Chocolate Volcano without the guilt. Ignorance can be bliss! Skipping the diagnosis has benefits.
But ignorance is only bliss for so long. You can avoid the doctor, but you can’t avoid the shooting pains down your arm. You can avoid the physical, but you can’t avoid the stroke. And when your wife is spoon-feeding you grape Jello after your double-bypass, she will agree--Ignorance is not bliss. It’s foolish. It’s selfish. The wise thing is to get uncomfortable, listen to the diagnosis, and change what needs to be changed.
This sermon series is called “Diagnosis” for a good reason. It will be uncomfortable. It will examine us, measure us, poke us, prod us, and tell us what needs to be changed. But just like a real diagnosis, the gowns and needles and discomfort have a good purpose—our comfort in the future. And what makes this diagnosis bearable is the Doctor who steps into the office—Not a stranger with a stethoscope, but Jesus. And we trust he will only break us in order to reset our bones so they can grow. He will only cut us to remove the tumors of guilt and shame so we can have joy again. So don’t skip this visit. If you have ears, then hear what God says about your heart.
Jesus’ diagnosis is found in seven letters he wrote to seven different churches in the 1st century A.D. We read today from Jesus’ letter to the church in Ephesus. 1"To the angel [probably a reference to the pastor] of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands [a reference to these seven churches]: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. 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. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary…6you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”
Dr. Jesus has some good things to say about the Ephesians. Especially good when you know where they lived. Ephesus was a pagan city of a quarter million people. Today a single pillar stands where Ephesus once was, but that pillar used to be part of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world—The Temple of Artemis. The goddess Artemis was so worshiped there a riot broke out when Christianity arrived. The city exploded! 25,000 people rushed into the theatre, picture the Kohl Center packed, with thousands more trying to cram through the doors. They all screamed, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Ephesus was not a Christian city.
And yet the Christians of Ephesus didn’t compromise. “2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.” Jesus knew the Ephesians didn’t let go of the truth. They didn’t bend to their culture and put Artemis pictures on their church brochures. No, they worked and persevered in the truth and suffered for it. And no one would slither in and change their beliefs. Men showed up claiming to be apostles. So the Ephesians tested them, “But what do you believe about…?” And the imposters didn’t pass the test. And the Nicolaitans showed up, followers of a teacher named Nicolas who used Jesus’ forgiveness as an excuse to be sexually immoral. But the Ephesians stood their ground. “We hate what you teach because God’s hates sin.” Dr. Jesus looked at that city and their lives and diagnosed, “You Ephesians love the truth.”
Would Jesus say the same to us today? If he got out the charts with our words and deeds, would he applaud us as he did the Ephesians? In many cases, I think he would. We, too, live in a big city where a temple has been built—a temple dedicated to Acceptance where thousands worship. They cry, “Great is the Goddess Acceptance! Judge not! Only accept!” And yet you have persevered. You have only accepted what God accepts—the repentant heart and not the proud sinner. You have rejected what God rejects. You have worked and tested and examined and sometimes suffered. You know, like I do, things would be easier if we just left out that part, but you haven’t. You have loved the truth. And Jesus knows it.
By an odd “coincidence”, my phone rang as I was studying these words. A friendly voice greeted me when I picked up. “My name is Mary,” the woman began, “and I would like to speak at your church. I’m part of a mission that reaches out to children in northern Canada. We fly in, do a vacation Bible school, love the children, and share God’s Word with them.” “That’s fantastic!” I replied. “I can tell you have a great love for those kids and this ministry.” Mary jumped in, “Absolutely. This has changed my life and I’d love to come to your church and tell your congregation all about it.” “Well, Mary,” I answered, “it sounds great, but it’s important to us to know what you believe and teach. Are you connected with any church?” Mary paused. “Well, I go to a Lutheran church, but it doesn’t matter to us what church you belong to—We have Catholics and Methodists and Lutherans and all kinds. The church doesn’t matter. It’s the Word that matters.”
What would the Ephesians have said to Mary? What would you have said to her? Doesn’t your heart burn to say, “Mary, you’re exactly right. It is the Word that matters. And it breaks my heart to say it, but those churches don’t all believe the same thing about salvation, sin, baptism, and faith. And I humbly want to warn you about being part of a ministry that doesn’t take those differences seriously. Because Jesus does.”? That wasn’t an easy conversation, but by God’s grace we have persevered in the belief that all of God’s Word matters. By God’s strength we have worked hard and sometimes suffered, but I believe Jesus would diagnose us well in our love for the truth.
“But.” Jesus diagnosis wasn’t done for the Ephesians. Before they hopped off the table and changed back into their clothes, Jesus’ voice tensed, “4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen!” They were so outwardly orthodox, so faithful in their doctrine, so in love with the truth, but they weren’t in love with God. “You have forsaken your first love. You have fallen from the height of your past.” When the Apostle Paul wrote to this same congregation 35 years earlier he spoke of their deep love for the living God, not dead doctrinal truths. But over time they had forsaken that first love. They had their doctrine right. They were correct. But they were cold. They were in love with truth. But they weren’t in love with love.
Would Jesus say the same to us? Have we fallen out of love with God? Has that plunge changed our love for others? Do you have a reputation for sacrificial love born out of you love for God? Or have we fallen from that height?
Perhaps a few stories would give some perspective. Acts 2 tells us, “All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together… 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” Such a burning love for God that the needs of everyone were met. Fast forward 300 years and read the diary of the Roman Emperor Julian, a man who hated Christians—“[The Christian faith] has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers…It is a scandal there is not a single Jew who is a beggar…the “godless” Galileans [that is, the Christians] care not only for their own poor but for ours as well!” Such a burning love for God the unbelievers were cared for. Jump ahead to 1920 where one of our seminary students lays dying during the influenza epidemic. The highly contagious disease means isolation. But Seminary President John Schaller knows the young man is dying and needs God’s Word. So he visits him and comforts him and prays with him. Schaller shares his faith with the boy and the boy shares his disease with Schaller. Soon after, our seminary president dies. Such a burning love for God death itself couldn’t stop it from expressing its love.
Sacrifice. Service. Generosity. This is the radical, feet-washing, lay-down-your life-for-even-your-enemies kind of love Christ has called us to. Is that you? Do you love God so much it spills out of your heart and changes lives? Or have you fallen from that height? Are we the priest in Jesus’ story who passes the dying traveler on the other side of the road? Or are we the Good Samaritan who “wastes” his afternoon and a few hundred dollars to love him? I don’t know the answer to that question for you…but Jesus knows. I suspect for too many of us, the diagnosis is, “Plenty of truth. But little love.”
So what now? If the diagnosis is true, what next? Well, you can ignore it. Excuse it. Defend it. Deny it. And die. Or we can take the Doctor’s orders. “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.” Repent. You’ll hear Dr. Jesus use that word in every diagnosis he makes in the upcoming weeks. Repent or he will come and remove you from your place in heaven.
What is repentance? It has two parts—First, we turn away from our sins in shame. Then we turn to Jesus in faith. It’s the only remedy for sin that Jesus prescribes. It’s not too different from breathing. We breathe out. We breathe in. And we live. Repentance is breathing out in confession. And breathing in God’s forgiveness. Hold your breath, refuse to confess, and die. Breathe repentant breaths and live.
But please don’t see these as cruel orders from a cold doctor. Jesus says in Revelation 3, “Those whom I love I rebuke…so…repent.” Jesus showed up for this diagnosis because he loves the truth and he loves us. Love so deep he stepped down from heaven. Love so wide he took our spiritual sickness to the cross. Love so high he suffered the sting of death in our place. Love so amazing he cared for us when sin had robbed us and left us bleeding on the side of the road. Love so divine he didn’t just diagnose us. He cured us. “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” Through faith in Jesus, who is Truth and Love, we do overcome. And we will live forever in paradise where sickness and sin will plague us on more.
“Repent and do the things you did at first.” That’s Jesus’ diagnosis—Be in love with truth and love. So get up. Breathe. And live. Only God’s cured people will want that. That’s you. That’s me. So without compromising the truth, how can we be in love with loving God? How can we be the Good Samaritan? Here’s how: Reach for the height of love you have seen in God’s love for you. Be a neighbor to the nearest need. If she’s stressed, be a neighbor and encourage. If they’re broke, be a neighbor and send an anonymous check. If he’s overwhelmed, be a neighbor and lend a hand. If she’s sitting alone, be a neighbor and pull up a chair. Be a neighbor to the nearest need. That’s Jesus’ diagnosis—Be in love with truth and love. Get up. Breathe. And live. Amen.
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