A letter to the Church at Ephesus

Yesterday we visited the ancient city of Ephesus, the ruins were quite impressive. We enjoyed putting our Greek and Latin reading skills together when reading the inscriptions on the ancient monuments. 

We picked out "devotions" from this Latin inscription.

Can you find EFESO in the Greek letters?

Later, at St. John's Basillica, Dr. John Yeatts shared this devotion with us.

Listening to the devotion in the apse of the basilica.

The Witnessing Church I: When Being Right Costs Too Much

Revelation 2:1-7

“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”

            In the mid-nineteenth century, there was a division in my denomination – the Brethren in Christ or the River Brethren as they were known then.  Matthias Brinser had joined the River Brethren at an early age and became a bishop much in demand for his enthusiastic preaching.  Brinser and his followers decided to construct a small building to accommodate the zealous worshippers.  Although the building was quite unpretentious, the River Brethren had always worshipped in member’s homes like the Amish do today, because that is how the New Testament church met.  So the proposed building stirred up opposition from other River Brethren communities.

            On a day of torrential rain, a council meeting was convened to address the issue of church buildings. The debate continued until about two o’clock in the morning, when Brinser left, saying he wanted to avoid being cut off by swollen streams.  The opposition interpreted his leaving to be an act of defiance.  So a statement was formulated and unanimously accepted asking Brinser and his followers to cease construction of the church building.  They refused, and the church proceeded to excommunicate Brinser from the River Brethren.  Brinser’s group formed a new denomination which has come to be called the United Zion Church.  The irony of the schism is that by this time the River Brethren had already constructed several meeting houses in other regions. 

The two denominations created by the controversy have remained separate to the present.  There have been attempts by both groups to reunite, and there has been some cooperation.  A request for forgiveness was formulated by the Brethren in Christ and accepted by the United Zion Church, but only informal fellowship has existed between the two groups. 

            A similar situation existed in the church John addresses in Ephesus.  He says: “you have abandoned the love you had at first.”  That may mean that they have lost the original enthusiasm that they had for their faith in Jesus Christ.  Yet the rest of the letter seems to indicate that there were disagreements among the Ephesian Christians.  Therefore, it is more likely that what they lost was the love that they had for each other.  Disagreement over the truth of the gospel had driven out the love that they once had for their Christian brothers and sisters.

            John’s letter to Ephesus begins like the other seven letters, with a title for Christ.  Like many of the other titles, this one comes from the vision in chapter one: “These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.”  Remember that “the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches” (1:20).  Christ’s words remind us that he walks among his churches like God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden that he had created for them.  Moreover, he holds them in his right hand of protection.  What a blessed thought!

            Christ knows intimately each of the seven churches he addresses.  The letters give evidence that they are addressed to real congregations in Asia Minor.  In the case of Ephesus, Christ says: “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance.”  “Toil” refers to “labor to the point of exhaustion” and speaks of missionary activity.  A common theme in Revelation, “patient endurance,” refers to perseverance in the face of persecution.  Ephesus was a town where evil spirits and idol worship were common (Acts 19:8-40).  The Ephesian Christians are praised for their consistent witness even in tribulation. 

            The Ephesians were so zealous for the truth that they “tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false.”  The word “apostles” literally means the “sent ones.”  In the church of John’s day, as at all times, there were both true and false apostles.  The Ephesians were outstanding in their ability to tell the difference.  Ignatius of Antioch, a student of the apostle John, commends the Ephesian church in a letter because no false teaching could gain a hearing among them. 

Although the Ephesians were zealous for the truth, as is often the case, their greatest flaw grew out of their greatest strength.  Their zeal for the truth caused them to be so concerned to be right that they lost the love that they once had for fellow Christians who disagreed with them.  Christ says: “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”  Christians can be so concerned to protect the truth that they reject those who differ with them.  Let’s be clear: being right is important, as we will see in the letters to Pergamum and Thyatira.   Being right is important, but more important is the love that we should have for our fellow Christians because that is how the world will know that we are Christians (John 13:35). 

So, what should we do if we have allowed concern to root out false teaching to destroy our love for each other?  John gives a three stage process – remember, repent, and do.  “Remember then from what you have fallen.”  We are to be constantly aware that our human nature may cause us to be critical rather than compassionate.  Second, we are to “repent” – change our minds.  We must commit ourselves now to change our minds from judging to loving.  Finally, we are to “do the works [we] did at first.”  We are to love even fellow Christians we believe to be wrong. 

Christ gives a warning to those who refuse to repent: “I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.”  The lampstand is the church.  If persons do not repent of their commitment to being right at the expense of brotherly love, Christ will allow their church to be removed from its place.  Do you know of churches that have been destroyed by persons who were sure that they were right – that they were the true church?  That is when being right costs too much.

Yet, being right is important.  Christ says: “this is to your credit: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”  We’ll see the Nicolaitans again in the letter to Pergamum.  For now, it is enough to say that their practices were seen as inconsistent with the Christian faith.  The Ephesians were right to reject such teachings and hold to the truth.  They will be rewarded for this with “permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.”  Revelation teaches that the paradise of the garden of Eden will be recreated in the end.  In symbolic language Christ is telling us that if we repent of our lack of love for Christians who disagree with us, we will receive eternal life in God’s paradise.  Such love is the basis for our worship together with our fellow Christians. 

Sing: We Are One In The Spirit

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored

Chorus:
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we’ll spread the news that God is in our land

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we’ll guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride

Pray:  Our Lord Jesus Christ, who holds our church in the palm of your hand, give us renewed commitment to the truth to which we have been called to bear witness.  But help us not to be so narrow in our understanding of that truth that we lose our love for each other, so that in the end we will be given permission to eat of the tree of life in the paradise of God.  Amen.