To read: Revelation 3:1-6
New Revised Standard Version Bible,"And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: 'I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.'"
copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
To think about:
This
lesson surely speaks to me as a lay minister and as one who has sat in the pew of many different churches. The words of being asleep or dead rings a bell. All my life, since a baby, I have been attending church and doing "church" things. All this time I believe I was sleepwalking - going through the motions. Nothing was really taking hold until I was into my 50s when my wife and I were invited to attend a Cursillo. This is where our lives changed. God spoke to us and we woke up.
God has called me to a small aging congregation. We have no major problems, no money concerns, God has provided. The problem - with everything going well, there isn't any reason to wake up. We have relatively easy going. Have we fallen asleep? Have we grown lethargic? Falling asleep can result in death.
The church in Sardis was living on a reputation it had developed in former times, but now even the life it had remaining was ebbing away. You can fool yourself into thinking everything is okay while everything is decaying. We can choose to be part of the Lord's plan to save our congregation and our lives, or we can remain asleep and be destroyed. He will come like a thief in the night. Be ready!
We can walk with the Lord and he will confess our name. The question is, have we been lulled to sleep by the things of the world so that we are Christian in name only, so that nothing remains but the shell of our former commitment? Awake, therefore, and strengthen the things that remain.
To pray:
O most gracious heavenly Father, I ask that your spirit fill me and give me the strength to walk beside you in all circumstances. Please do not let me fall prey to sleeping sickness in your church, but let me remain alert to enjoy the blessings of serving you, my God. Amen.
Northern Great Lakes Synod Council member
Trinity Lutheran Church Stonington-Rapid River, Mich.