Lukewarm - Revelation 3

3:1-6 - To the “angel” or “servant” in charge of Sardis, a JST comes into play when the Lord tells him “we watchful therefore, and strengthen those who remain, who are ready to die.” Kind of ominous words there, and I’m not exactly sure what “ready to die” means, if it indicates that they are tired of this life, or if it refers to their faithfulness in not fearing martyrdom. But overall Jesus is not pleased with this guy, “for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” The Lord continues that if he does not repent, he will not be prepared in “what hour I will come upon thee.” I don’t think He’s talking about the second coming here, I think he’s probably referring to the personal death of this leader in Sardis. It seems as though there are only “a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments,” so overall Sardis isn’t too strong in the obedience department. But for those who “overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment,” and will remain in the “book of life” and be confessed by Jesus “before my Father.” This term “white raiment” is cross-referenced to mean they will be forgiven of their sins. 3:7-13 - Next we have the leader of the church in Philadelphia, in which the Lord describes Himself as having “the key of David.” The word “key” is cross-referenced to mean priesthood keys but the IM explains further by quoting Isaiah 22:22 then explaining, “Isaiah was speaking about one of King David’s chief ministers, Eliakim, who was given the keys to open locked doors of the holy temple. These keys can be seen as a symbol of power and governing authority. In Revelation 3:7, Jesus referred to Himself as the one who holds ‘the key of David,’ meaning that He holds the key to the heavenly temple and ultimately to life in the presence of God.” This leader in Philadelphia is in better shape than the previous guy, because he has “kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” The Lord promises him many things including “an open door, and no man can shut it,” and for the people who are pretending to be Jews, “and are not, but do lie, I will make them come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.” When I read that, it really hit me, to have the love of God so strong in your life that other people can see it; that is a very powerful way to live. Because of his obedience, Jesus promises “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation.” Interestingly, in verse 8 the Lord mentions to this leader, “for thou hast a little strength.” What’s notable here is that this leader wasn’t lauded for his “much” strength, but simply given a nod to his “little” strength. All these promises of protection and powerful love was given to a man who was a “little” strong. We don’t have to be spiritual powerlifters in order to be blessed for our efforts, we just have to be a “little” strong. The general promise for those “that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God… and I will write upon him my new name.” The IM comments, “A name can suggest many ideas about a person, including the person’s identity, reputation, family, associations, attributes, role, and abilities. Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote about one of the meanings of this statement: ‘God’s name is God. To have his name written on a person is to identify that person as a god… Those who gain eternal life become gods!’” That’s an interesting way to look at it, and kind of abstract, but apparently the concept of God’s name being written upon us is a theme throughout Revelation, so we’ll be coming back to it here shortly. 3:14-22 - Finally we get to the last leader addressed by the Lord here and that’s the leader of the Laodiceans. This guy is doing better than the guy in Sardis, but not as great as the guy in Philadelphia. Jesus says “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” It’s important to note here that Jesus is only commenting on this guy’s personal performance, not how well his congregants are doing or anything like that, it is only him. Jesus makes an interesting statement that I’ve thought about many times, saying, “so them because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Imagining Jesus puking is not exactly what I would consider “inspiring,” but let’s see what we can come up with. The IM notes the “hot springs at Hierapolis, a short distance north of Laodicea, sent steaming waters into the streams that flowed southward. Those waters were still lukewarm when they reached Laodicea.” As far as “spue out of my mouth” goes, there is an interesting commentary on connectusfund.org which says, “the use of ‘lukewarm’ and ‘spit you out’ in this verse invokes imagery of lukewarm water turning one’s stomach and provoking vomit. Jesus is saying that lukewarm people make him sick. By spitting those people out of His mouth, Jesus is rejecting those who do not decide whether to follow Him or reject Him.” I hadn’t considered this verse in that context, but it really makes sense, lukewarm water making someone feel ill, lukewarm people making Jesus sick. The IM says, “President Gordon B. Hinckley taught that since the Church is either true or it is false, one canot logically adopt a ‘lukewarm’ position toward it… ‘Each of us has to face the matter- either the Church is true, or it is a fraud. There is no middle ground. It is the Church and kingdom of God, or it is nothing.’” This “lukewarm” issue is tied to a specific problem that the people and leader of Laodicea have, which is wealth. Jesus contrasts the physical “rich, and increased with goods and have need of nothing, “with their spiritual “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Physically, they might be well off, but spiritually they are struggling. This article mentioned previously says, “This verse is part of the seventh letter, delivered to the church in Laodicea, which was the most corrupt. The people of the church in Laodicea were indifferent about whether they became better people or not because they had all they needed and wanted to be fulfilled on earth. Because of the plentiful lives they lived, the Laodiceans did not see or appreciate the importance of the poverty of their spirit.” Jesus urges them “to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed.” Clearly Jesus was not selling physical gold or white raiment, and they probably wouldn’t have needed to buy it from Him anyway because they already had so much. But what he was “selling” is “gold” that has been refined “in the fire,” and this is the gold that will make them spiritually rich. Jesus is the source of refinement, and if we take our contaminated selves to Him, he will purify us so that we can become wealthy in spirit. He claims His motivation is “as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent.” He’s saying these things because he loves them (and us) and wants them to repent so that they can be happy. And as an encouragement but still giving them a choice, He says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him.” This is the least invasive way for him to say “I’m here to help you do better.” They still have to make the choice to do something about it. Finally, the last promise to these seven churches is “to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” I think that Jesus compared our work to “overcome” to his own struggle to “overcome” the horror of the atonement. Even though Jesus suffered infinitely more than we ever could even imagine, he still respects our own difficulties enough to give us the same reward that he got. The IM says, “Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained that sitting with the Lord on His throne means receiving the blessings of exaltation: ‘Through (the Atonement of Jesus Christ), all who believe and obey the glorious gospel of God, all who are true and faithful and overcome the world, all who suffer for Christ and his word, all who are chastened and scourged in the Cause of him whose we are- all shall become as their Maker and sit with him on his throne and reign with him forever in everlasting glory.” I’m the oldest of 5 kids, I didn’t grow up with cousins or aunt or uncles or anyone like that. I have been on my own pretty much my entire life, so maybe I don’t understand because I have no context for what it’s like to have someone want to share something with me out of the goodness of their heart. I don’t understand Jesus suffering more than anyone else ever could and still wanting to give me everything that he has. I don’t understand him paying for my sins and pain, facilitating my ability to return to him, and still wanted to give me everything that he has. Maybe it’s because Jesus is the King of Kings and our Savior and the prophesied Messiah that it feels like there is a power imbalance. Maybe it’s because we live a life with such finite resources and hunger for any type of power and control that it is difficult for us to understand why the God of the universe would not only plan a way for us to be saved, but execute that plan at the cost of great personal suffering and then STILL want us to have everything that he has. It’s really mind blowing if we think about it like that.