Have you ever been so tired that no matter how hard you tried you just couldn’t hold your eyes open and you were not somewhere you wanted to be caught sleeping? On one particular day during my junior year of high school I was sitting at one of the long science tables in physics class trying very unsuccessfully to stay awake. Mr. W. was a great teacher who entertained his classes with hilarious stories, but he spoke very monotone and the steady tone of his voice worked on me just like a lullaby does to a baby. I don’t remember who had the pleasure of waking me up that day, but I will never forget being startled awake and feeling so embarrassed. I felt like the focal point for the entire class whether they were paying attention or not.
If you follow my blog or happened to read my last post, you may remember that it was about the individual person being distracted by the things going on in his or her life and the distractions found on the news or social media. In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 13, verses 32 through 33 Jesus says, “No one knows the day or hour when these things [His return] will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. And since you don’t know when they will happen, stay alert and keep watch.”
I don’t want to be embarrassed again by falling asleep somewhere I shouldn’t, but the thought of Jesus catching me asleep when I am supposed to be a living example of His love is… I don’t even have words to describe how horrible that would be. There have been many times in my life during which I have watched for His return and there are other times when I have allowed distractions to take His place as my focal point. I have recently realized that during some of the times I thought I was being watchful for Him I was actually being distracted by what I thought was His service. I was doing the “right things” as I understood those things in Scripture, but I wasn’t really living those right things in the right way. What if I’m not the only one? What if Jesus comes back and finds not only me sleeping but whole congregations sleeping as well? What can slip past the sleeping congregations and sit right down on the pew beside each member?
The book of Revelations, chapters two and three consist of letters dictated by Jesus to the churches of Biblical times and they tell us exactly what can happen when the congregation is sleeping. The first letter is written to the church in Ephesus and should be a wake-up call to churches today. “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people… But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen from your first love! Turn back to me again and work as you did at first.” In His letter to the church in Sardis Jesus said, “I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive – but you are dead. Now wake up! Strengthen what little remains for even what is left is at the point of death.”
The accusations against these churches were written in letters to those congregations, but they were included in Scripture for a reason. God doesn’t simply want us to know what He said to these churches that have been gone for centuries. He wants us to realize He is talking to the churches of today, too – my church, your church, the church around the corner and the church across town.
The churches of today need to wake up and open their eyes to the things going on around them and even within their own congregations. In His letter to the church in Thyatica Jesus speaks of a woman, Jezebel, doing and encouraging sin within the church. All churches have a Jezebel at some point in time. Most churches have a Jezebel right now whether they realize it or not. Jezebel could open the church up to many things such as gossip, lies, theft, or even drugs, sexual immorality or idolatry and false teaching. The important thing with all church Jezebels is that the church handle the situation Scripturally. Is she allowed to continue her behavior while various people pray for her to change? Is she spoken to about her behavior but allowed to continue with it? Is her behavior addressed according to the instructions presented in Scripture? There may be times in the life of the church that His children look around themselves with concern and fear because their Jezebel seems so strong or out of control, but rest assured God will not allow Jezebel to continue forever. In His letter to the church of Thyatira Jesus warns, “I gave her time to repent, but she would not turn away from her immorality. Therefore, I will throw her upon a sickbed, and she will suffer greatly with all who commit adultery with her, unless they turn away from all their evil deeds. I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give each of you whatever you deserve….” I’m not sure how you feel about that part of His letter, but I find it a little scary for the church. Jezebel’s children are not necessarily the ones she has physically given birth to. They could just as easily be other members of the church family who have become actively or passively involved in her behavior.
Jesus always leaves us with hope, however, such as the promise in his letter to the church in Philadelphia. “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can shut. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me. Look! I will force those who belong to Satan [including Jezebel and her children] – those liars who say they are Jews [children of God] but are not – to come and bow down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love. Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.” What an awesome promise!
This post jumps around a bit in topic, but it can be applied to both the individual person and the church body. Stop doing the right things because they are the right things to do; and start living, really living the right way. Would you rather stand before Jesus at His judgement seat and hear Him say you obeyed Him, or would you rather hear Him say you lived your life in a way that other people saw Him through you? The choice is yours.
forgiven faith 