(Message © by Rev. Larry A. Langer, First Presbyterian Church, Jasper, IN, January 30, 2011)

“7 Churches: Brickbats and Bouquets”

“2. God’s Message to Smyrna: Do Not Fear”

 Revelation 2:8-11 and Luke 12:13-34

“I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear…” (Revelation 2:9-10a)

Last week we began this series on the letters of God to the churches recounted for us in the Book of Revelation. We learned about the great, thriving church at Ephesus. According to what John was told to write, the ECC – the Ephesus Christian Church – was “doing church” quite well. By all outward appearances, the members were “toiling” – working hard. They were “patiently enduring.” What? They were able to be their strong, little church, despite being only a small part of the society in Ephesus. They were also “not tolerating wicked men.” In this church, these were not pagans – non-believers – outside the church, but these were folks inside the church who “claimed to be apostles of Jesus Christ,” but were not. So, those who were truly believers inside the church were working very hard and patiently enduring those also inside the church who were causing trouble.[1]

However,” said God to the ECC, “Even though you are faithfully fighting and withstanding, you have forgotten your first love. You are concentrating on the fight, rather than on the foundations. If you will concentrate on the foundations, on your “first love,” then you won’t be so tired and more positive things will happen in the church. Remember, Christ is in the middle of you; you have your own angel that Christ holds in his hand; and, you are like a “golden lamp stand” which is “highly valued” and “giving light.” So, hold onto your first love, Jesus Christ, and the positive things will come. The Ephesians Christian Church will grow!

That was last week’s church: One doing well, but being very tired because they didn’t fully rely on Christ.

This week’s church is the Smyrna Christian Church, the “SCC.” The letter to it begins, “I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich.” The Smyrna Church was the exact opposite of the Ephesus Church. The Smyrna Church had an extremely deep foundational faith in Jesus Christ, and this is what the letter meant by being “rich.” Rather than being “rich in things but poor in soul,” they were like the widow whom Jesus pointed out who gave her last dime to the church to express her love for Christ. The members of the Smyrna Christian Church were so rich in faith that they would give everything they had to show their love.

But because their love and loyalty was first to Jesus Christ, they did suffer terribly. In fact, the word translated “affliction” in our Bibles, as in “I know your affliction…” is one of the strongest words in the Greek language to indicate very serious trouble. Another word into which the Greek could be translated is “tribulation.” All of these words indicate a “crushing pressure; the church at Smyrna is under “crushing pressure,” and this from two fronts.[2]

The first front is the cultural and governmental front. Smyrna is a coastal city about forty miles north of Ephesus. It is extremely wealthy. It is not known for its faith in Jesus Christ; it is known for its very strong emperor worship. Worship the emperor and all will be very well! There is evidence that even some of the first-century Jewish settlers had given up worshipping only God in their synagogues and included also worshipping the Greek god Zeus. In addition, in 195 B.C. a temple to the Goddess of Rome was constructed, and in A.D. 26 a temple to Tiberius was also constructed. These and temples to Cybele were at opposite ends of the paved street known as the “Golden Street” from the temple to Zeus, and temples to Apollo, Asclepius and Aphrodite.[3]

The crushing pressure from the government came sometime between A.D. 81-96 during the rule of Roman Emperor Domitian, who dictated that emperor worship was compulsory for every Roman citizen under threat of death. Once a year a citizen had to burn incense on the altar to the godhead Caesar, after which the worshipper was issued a certificate that he or she did so.[4]

A commentator goes on to say, “such an act was probably considered more as an expression of political loyalty than religious worship, and all a citizen had to do was burn a pinch of incense and say, “Caesar is Lord.”[5]

Oops! The same Greek used for “Lord” in “Caesar is Lord” (kyrios) is the same word to describe our oath to Jesus Christ when we say, “Jesus is Lord…Jesus is kyrios.” So, most Christians in Smyrna refused to do this. Perhaps nowhere was life for a Christian more perilous then in the city of Smyrna with its zealous emperor worship. The early Christian Polycarp was martyred in A.D. 156 at the age of eighty-six for refusing to say, “Caesar is Lord,” but saying instead, “Eighty-six years have I served Christ, and he has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” (Euebius Ecclesiastical History 4.15.25).[6]

So, as a result of trying to live faithfully to Jesus Christ, the members of the Smyrna Christian Church were rich in soul but poor in things.

But there is one other, even more crushing load on the SCC, and this is that they were being attacked by Satan, manifest through folks who were slanderous. The letter says, “I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jesus followers and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”[7] The members of the Smyrna Christian Church, being “rich in soul,” were all the more subject to the attacks of Satan!

In this case they were being slandered (and we know this means that lies were being spread about them) by folks who held themselves out as being “true Jews,” being the “true synagogue members.” However, as Alan Johnson points out,

They say they are Jews, but are not, shows that even though these men claimed descent from Abraham, they were not his true descendants because they did not have faith in Jesus Christ, the “seed” of Abraham. These unbelieving and hostile Jews probably viewed the Jewish Christians at Smyrna as heretics of the worst sort, deserving ridicule and rejection.[8]

So, these Jews who don’t believe in Jesus Christ are telling lies about those who do believe. And, as we know from our life-long experiences, lies are very wearing on us. First, we are devastated that someone would think so little of us that they would want to tell an untruth about us. Second, we really are sad for the one lying about us. Third, we really do want to retaliate against the lies, fighting back with all our might, using everything at our disposal to “make it right.” Fourth, if our cooler head prevails and we have prayed to the Lord about it, then we consider the source and end up praying for those who would slander us. The lie could be a control issue, an “out of control” issue, jealously, a medical or psychological issue, or a spiritual issue, a “the devil made me do it” issue.

However, to get from the devastation of being lied about to praying for one’s attackers is an extremely wearing and taxing process. This is what had worn out the good people at the Smyrna Christian Church. Every time they turned around, there was another untruth being told about them because of their faith and faithfulness and the foundation of their faith, Jesus Christ.

At least Jesus let the folks know that all their suffering wasn’t their fault, that it was coming from the outside. Sadly, but truthfully, he told them that there would be even more suffering, perhaps even to “the point of death.” Now, for church people in the U.S. today, this most likely would not mean a physical death, but to Christians in the “stan” countries, like Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, the mostly Moslem countries, being a Christian is certainly to risk one’s physical life. The “Great Deceiver” Satan and the “Slanderer” the devil are certainly active in these countries where a believer in Jesus has to fear his or her own family, his or her neighbors, his or her government, spreading rumors about them. Believers in Jesus are routinely rousted out of their homes, beaten, tortured and killed for their faith that “Jesus is Lord,” rather than “Allah is Lord.”

For the members of the SCC, Jesus is helping them recognize that some of them may be imprisoned for standing firm in their faith. Now, it isn’t known whether the 10 days mentioned are actual or just an indeterminate but relatively short amount of time. No matter the length of time, though, in the first century Roman world, prison was usually not for punishment, but the prelude to trial and execution, hence the words in our text, “Be faithful, even to the point of death.”

So, what Jesus said in Luke 12:32-34 is comforting:

Be faithful, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“Be faithful little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” How many churches, how many individual believers, how many persecuted Christians are sustained by these words from Jesus though Luke’s gospel?

The Smyrna Christian Church is assured by the Lord’s letter to them that they are very much in his hands to be cared for and to even thrive. Remember, the angels of all seven churches are in the Lord’s hand and each church is a golden lamp stand which gives light. So, to the SCC, the Lord reminds them that he is the First and Last, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega, that he was dead, but is now alive forever more. On the SCC’s part, they are to be faithful, even unto death, and Jesus will give them the crown of life with this additional promise: “They would not even see the “second death.” Of course, here the second death refers to God’s eternal judgment. Faithful believers in Jesus Christ have nothing to fear of any judgment.

Such is the “crown of life” for a believer. I mean, isn’t this what we look forward to, Jesus placing a crown of life on our heads?

Imagine yourself in the midst of Smyrna, though, standing looking at the “crown of Smyrna” – the beautiful skyline formed around the city by the “hill Pagos, with stately public buildings on its rounded sloping sides” (Ramsey, Seven Churches, p.256). Look at all the temples built to the Greek gods and goddesses and to the emperor. Notice the folks going in and out, to and from the worship of these gods and goddesses. These folks literally have a garland of flowers on their heads. Then look at a coin in your pocket and see the god Cybele or Bacchus pictured with a crown of battlements on their heads. Look at your other coins and see faithful servants of the city pictured on them with laurel wreaths on their heads.[9]

Then close your eyes and remember that your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whom alone you worship and serve, has promised you the imperishable crown of life.

James 1:12 reminds us “Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

And, I Peter 5:4 adds, “When the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never, ever fades away.”

And as we read at the end of each letter to the churches in Revelation: “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

Amen!

[1] Alan Johnson, Revelation (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary), (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1981), p. 433

[2] Earl Palmer, Revelation (The Communicator’s Commentary), (Waco, Texas, Word Books, 1982), p.131

[3] Johnson, 436-437

[4] Johnson, 436-437

[5] Johnson, 436-437

[6] Johnson 436-437

[7] Johnson, 438

[8] Johnson, 438

[9] Johnson, 438-439

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