A letter to the Church of Laodicea

The last of the seven churches that Paul wrote to, and that we visited, is Laodicea. The city was located in a fertile valley at the intersection of two rivers with the nearby cities of Heiropolis and Colosae. We heard from Dr. John Yeatts in the theater, from which you can see the calcium cliffs of Heiropolis.

Eric is showing us how close Colossae and the rivers that intersect near there are to the ancient city of Laodicea.

John in the Theater of Laodicea. From here you can easily see Hierapolis (with hot water spring and white calcium cliffs) as the small white patch behind him.

The Witnessing Church VI: Poor, Rich Christians

Revelation 3:14-22

“For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’  You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”

            The world has always been fascinated with the spending habits of the fabulously wealthy.  About thirty years before John wrote Revelation, at the banquets hosted by Emperor Nero the roses could alone cost $100,000.  His successor Emperor Vitellius loved rare delicacies like peacock’s brains and nightingale tongues.  In one year, most of his $20,000,000 outlay of funds was for food.  One Roman, after squandering his fortune, committed suicide because he could not live on the mere $300,000 that remained.

            In more recent times, King Farouk of Egypt fled his country leaving a stamp collection worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and various expensive pieces of gold and diamonds.  The rest he spent in resorts around the world.  Frank Sinatra was reputed to have hired a man whose only job was to distribute solid gold cigarette lighters to people Sinatra liked.  Comedian Jerry Lewis is said to have owned twenty-three automobiles, and purchased four Lincolns at one time. 

            Many other stories could be told about people who can squander fortunes and still have plenty more to spend.  We often envy those people.  Yet it is often the case that the richer a person is materially, the poorer he is spiritually.  Sociologist Peter Berger says that affluent youth who have been sheltered from suffering and poverty do not seek out the comfort of religion.  On the national level, the wealthiest countries have experienced a severe decline in church attendance while people flock to churches in the poorest countries of the world. Indeed, the church has always seemed to grow more among the poor that the rich.

            So it seems clear that material riches are no guarantee of spiritual wealth.  Indeed, the opposite seems to be true.  Material wealth often brings with it spiritual poverty.  At least, that was true of the Christians John addressed in Laodicea.  Laodicea was one of the wealthiest cities in the ancient world.  The town was so wealthy that it could finance its own rebuilding after the great earthquake that also destroyed Philadelphia about thirty-five years before John wrote Revelation. 

            Originally built as a fortress, Laodicea was located better for trade than for war because it lay on the great road to the East at a point where three roads met.  It was a crossroads trade center.  Several characteristics of the commerce of Laodicea are relevant to the letter John wrote to them.  Laodicea was a great banking and financial center, a manufacturing center for black woolen cloth used in mass-produced clothing and carpets, and the location of a medical school famous for eye powder called tefra frigia. 

The church in Laodicea may have been founded, along with those in Hieropolis and Colossae, by the Colossian Epaphras during Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.  Epaphras’s name has been found on a marble block in Laodicea.  Paul may have visited there and wrote a letter to the church (Col.4:16).  Nevertheless, by time of John, the church in Laodicea was lukewarm spiritually.  Like the church in Sardis, they were nominal Christians, complacent and self-satisfied.  Laodicea is the only church for which Christ has no word of praise.  Some believe that Laodicea is most like the church in the twentieth century, but that is to look at the world through the eyes of the rich church nations like the United States.  Indeed, as we have seen, each of the seven churches has characteristics of the church today.

            The names chosen for Christ in this letter are not in the vision Christ in chapter 1.  The “Amen” and the “faithful and true witness” both affirm that Christ’s witness is reliable, which  contrasts with the Laodicean’s ,whose witness was compromised by materialistic concerns.  Christ is also the origin and source of God’s creation which will be restored when Christ’s kingdom comes.  The Laodicean Christians are criticized for their failure to bear witness to that kingdom.

            Christ uses the metaphor of lukewarm water to characterize their unfaithfulness.  They are neither hot nor cold.  The word “hot” is used for boiling water, and “cold” for freezing water.  Violent opposition to the Christ’s kingdom would have been better than a lukewarm support.  They can me contrasted to the Ephesian Christians who are holding firm in the face of opposition. 

Christ says that he will spew them out of his mouth.  That reaction seems too strong.  Lukewarm water may not be as soothing as hot water or as refreshing as ice cold water, but it is not nauseating.  Indeed, many people in the world prefer a lukewarm drink to one that is hot or cold.  The image likely comes from the mineral springs in Heirapolis, six miles away, which was the water supply for Laodicea.  The water left a lime deposit on the aqueduct through which it was transported.  This may have created the image of nausea that Christ uses. 

            Christ’s message to the Laodiceans is ironic when we understand it in connection with the wealth of Laodicea.   He tells the rich Christians in this banking and financial center to come to Christ for gold purified by divine fire so that they can become spiritually rich.  Christians in Laodicea, a town famous for mass production of garments must come to Christ for pure white robes to cloth their nakedness.  Christians in the city that produced the most famous eye powder in the world must come to Christ for salve to anoint their eyes so that they can truly see.  In summary, Christ says, “For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’  You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”  What powerful indictment!

            Christ announces that because he loves them, he will discipline them to call them to repentance.  No matter how cold and lifeless the Laodiceans are, the persistent initiative of Christ calls them to repent.  Their punishment is not punitive but corrective.  The motivation for the discipline is love, and its purpose is repentance.  The image is powerful: “Listen!  I am standing at the door knocking.”  Christ is constantly knocking.  If the Laodiceans hear and open, he will enter and eat with them.  This clearly refers to the marriage supper of the lamb which Christ will share with his witnesses who are faithful to the end.

            Moreover, the faithful witnesses will join Christ on God’s throne.  By conquering in persecution, the witnesses follow Christ who likewise conquered in the face of crucifixion.  Christ inaugurated the kingdom when he died on the cross, but we continue the battle to establish Christ’s kingdom until he returns to bring it to completion.

            A Christian mother listened as one of her sons describe his brother’s accumulation of wealth.  He spoke of his brother’s money, his luxurious home, his cars.  Finally, he summarized, “He is really getting on in the world.” 

            The mother looked at her son seriously and asked, “Which world?”

            The Christians in Laodicea were rich by this world’s standards, but by Christ’s standards they were poor, naked, and blind.  North Americans are the wealthiest people in the world, but our wealth has made us lukewarm witnesses.  Christ will spew us out of his mouth  to punish us for placing our riches ahead of his kingdom.  The good news is that we can repent and become faithful witnesses for Christ the Lamb.

 

Sing: Beneath the Cross of Jesus

Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand, the shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land;

a home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noontide heat, and the burden of the day.

Upon that cross of Jesus mine eye at times can see the very dying form of One who suffered there for me;

and from my stricken heart with tears two wonders I confess: the wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow  for my abiding place; I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of his face;

content to let the world go by, to know no gain nor loss, my sinful self my only shame, my glory all the cross.

Elizabeth C. Clephane

Pray:  O Christ, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation, we confess that many of us have everything that we can afford.  Yet these possessions have robbed us of our witness for your kingdom.  We renounce our materialistic bent and ask that you will make us conquerers who will join you on your father’s throne.  Through your name we pray, Amen.