“When Worlds Collide: Dead Faith or Enduring Witness” by Rev. Cody Sandahl – August 20, 2017

Lay Reader = Revelation 3:1-6
“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. 2Wake 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. 3Remember 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.4Yet 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. 5If 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. 6Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
Introduction
Since we took a break last week we are going to cover TWO of the churches in the book of Revelation. What more could you want on a Sunday morning than twice as much Revelation? It’s like a second cup of coffee.
Bill read earlier about the church in Sardis. Jesus said to them, “I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains!” That’s a nice shot across the bow!
By contrast, listen to what Jesus says to the church in Philadelphia. Jesus says “I know your works” to them, too, but the rest of the sentence goes in a very different direction.
Revelation 3:7-13
7“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens: 8“I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. 10Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. 11I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. 12If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. 13Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
Complacent
One of my favorite authors is Jim Collins, known for a bunch of best-selling leadership books like “Good to Great,” but the one that has impacted me the most is “How the Mighty Fall.” He went back and looked at the companies he had profiled in “Good to Great,” and he noticed that many of them had continue their success, but many more had actually failed since he profiled their greatness.
And as he studied their decline, he teased out a pattern. The first step of decline is when you get overconfident. Pride goeth before a fall, they say. Then these companies gave in to undisciplined greed, followed by denial of their problems – complacency – because they seemed to be sitting on top of the world. Think Enron right before people realized they were scamming everyone.
This is a lesson that the people of Sardis should have known well. They were an extraordinarily wealthy and famous city. They were also very well defended. Many great armies tried to conquer them, but they all ran into the same problem: there was no way up the mountain to attack the city with force. It’s easy to become complacent when you feel invincible.
But they learned about the dangers of complacency when an overconfident guard fell asleep and didn’t notice the enemy commandos scaling the wall to open the city gates for the enemy army. Sardis fell the next day. Lesson learned. Until a couple of hundred years later when the same thing happened again. Whoops.
This history is important, because the church in Sardis was blessed – they were basically accepted in their city. The general populace didn’t mind them, and Jewish community was secure enough in its own right to be able to tolerate this new offshoot of their religion. Just like the whole city, the church in Sardis was letting the good times roll. No reason to worry.
Until Jesus tells you that you’re dead. Until Jesus tells you to wake up. Until Jesus says he might blot out your name from the book of life. Might want to worry then.
The church in Sardis was in danger of dying even though they had more resources than the other churches. They were in danger of dying even though they weren’t being persecuted. They were in danger of dying because they had grown complacent. They had become comfortable. They had started to make decisions based on how it made them feel rather than how it showed faithfulness to Jesus.
Think about that. Their church was DYING because their church was designed to make them feel comfortable, not spur them toward greater faithfulness to Jesus.
That should scare the bejeebers out of us. Because we are comfortable. We have resources. We don’t have to worry about persecution. Do we have a church that is designed to make us feel comfortable rather than spurring us toward greater faithfulness to Jesus? That is a sobering, soul-searching question, and one worth asking.
A church was putting together a job description as they searched for a new pastor. And in good Presbyterian fashion, they sought input from everyone. And they heard that some people wanted a young pastor who could identify with the next generation. Others remarked about the importance of experience. And some of the business people in the church were talking about the value of bold leadership, while some long-time members lifted up the deep traditions in the church. So the search committee put out a job description saying the ideal candidate is 30 years old, has 20 years of experience, and will boldly lead us to do what we have always done.
Don’t worry – that wasn’t a real church.
But it still has a ring of truth in it, doesn’t it?
How much should we identify with Sardis? How much do we want our church to make us feel comfortable, rather than spurring us to greater faithfulness to Jesus?
I don’t know the numbers for this church, but I do know about the broader church in America. Barna did some research with Americans roughly 35 and under. About 90% said they saw Christians as judgmental. About 2/3 said that churchgoers are hypocritical and fake. And about half said they wished the church would spend more time and energy and resources combatting extreme poverty – and they said they’d be happy to give more to that cause.
What about those younger Americans who DO go to church? They said they go to church primarily to be closer to God and learn about God. But only 6% said that happened the last time they attended church.
Something’s wrong. Now is NOT the time to be complacent and comfortable. Now it’s time to wake up. In just a few minutes, I’ll tell you how we’re trying to wake up here at First Pres Littleton.
Enduring Witness
But first, I’m tired of the bad news. Are you? Let’s change focus to our other Revelation church today – Philadelphia.
Jesus says to this church, “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” That’s a little better, isn’t it? We can breathe a little easier now, right? Jesus continues his praise later, saying, “you have kept my word with patient endurance.” That’s more like it!
As with Sardis, the context matters in Philadelphia. The most important thing to know about Philadelphia is its location – smack dab on top of one of the most active fault lines in Turkey. And just a few decades before Revelation was written, the entire town was leveled by a massive earthquake. Beautiful temples collapsed as their pillars fell over. Homes were leveled. They briefly renamed the city in honor of the emperor who gave them the money to rebuild. A little flattery never hurt, right?
So when Jesus said, “If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it,” they would have heard something important. Unlike the pillars in all those temples that fell over in the earthquake, their God was unshakeable. And when Jesus said, “I will write on you the name of my God,” they would have heard something important, too. Unlike the city that had to change its name while it needed the emperor’s money to have any hope, they have the everlasting name, they have the everlasting hope, they have the everlasting God.
And why do they get such praise from Jesus? V8 – “you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” They were faithful to Jesus. And because of that faithfulness, Jesus says that he has set before them an open door – that’s a code word in Revelation for a ministry opportunity.
Two Year Vision
So let’s put these two churches next to each other. Sardis is known for being comfortable…and they are dying on the inside. Philadelphia is known for being faithful…and they have opportunities from Jesus. Dying in comfort versus opportunities in faithfulness. Got it? Say that with me, “dying in comfort versus opportunities in faithfulness.”
At my last church, the head pastor said that our job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. This sermon falls into the latter situation.
I hope you would rather have opportunities in faithfulness than dying in comfort as a church. I hope that when you envision this church’s future, you don’t see a pastor calmly turning out the lights after the last member’s funeral. I hope you see life and vibrancy and faithfulness.
Let me tell you what I see. And I’m not talking five, ten years from now. Let me tell you what I see in the next two years. I told you two years ago that I thought we were two years away from financial health, and we got there. Let’s see if we get to this vision in two years, too. This isn’t just a vision of spiritual health – I think we’re mostly spiritually healthy. This is a vision of spiritual vibrancy.
Rooted in Christ
First, I believe we can be a church that is Rooted in Christ. That survey said that people come to church to be closer to God but only 6% said they experienced that the last time they came to church. Dear Jesus, I hope we’re better than 6%. The worship survey we did a couple of months ago suggests we’re a lot better than 6%, but we still have room to grow.
Really, out of everything going on in the church, this one’s my job. I have basically two things that are uniquely MY job: it is my job to help you get closer to God on Sunday, and it is my job to cultivate a whole church system that helps you get closer to God the rest of the week. That’s my job.
If a bunch of people come to worship, and get involved in our church, and they’re not getting closer to Jesus, I’m probably doing something wrong either personally or systematically.
The highest praise I can hear is when someone says, “I was thinking about what you said on Sunday…” No matter how that sentence finishes, I know I did my job. Now, I can’t follow Jesus for you – you can’t outsource following Jesus to lower wage labor in Laos, but it’s my job to provide the spiritual meat for those who want a nourishing meal. I believe we can be a church that is Rooted in Christ.
Growing Through Relationships
Second, I believe we can be a church that is Growing Through Relationships. There are two parts to this. One, I’ve shared before that I sent a spy when I was interviewing here and her primary impression was, “those people really like each other!” That’s fantastic. Since then, I’ve talked with people who visited our church and decided to stick around because of the warmth of the people. You can give yourselves a pat on the back for that – that’s all you. Well done, good and faithful servants.
The second part we also demonstrated at the Hot Button Theology class. We talked about guns, we talked about the military, we talked about Israel and Palestine, and we talked about sexuality and marriage, and I didn’t hear insults flying. The best thing I heard was someone who said, “I still disagree with you, but I see where you’re coming from!” Hallelujah!
I was at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit last week, and pastor Bill Hybels was talking about a crisis of civility around the world today. That was the number one topic request he got from churches all over the globe. We have forgotten how to disagree without becoming disagreeable. And we are increasingly just huddling with people who agree with us.
For at least those few weeks, we were able to be different. We were able to talk about hard things about which we disagree, and we didn’t just dismiss each other as inferior beings because of our disagreements. We maintained civility. We aren’t a homogenous church. We have some meaningful divides in theology, not to mention politics. But if we can maintain that civility, we have a chance to be something special. The rare place where PEOPLE are respected even if their ideas are different. To the 66% of my generation who think Christians are hypocritical, we have a chance to be special with our authenticity and the civility of our relationships.
Or I could drive the car into the ditch on that one, who knows. It could go either way. But I believe we can be a church that is Growing Through Relationships.
Branching Out to Serve
Finally, I believe we can be a church that is Branching Out to Serve. Karley, our new children’s director, told me that she’s already heard about the Community Dinner from her Denver Seminary classmates when she told them she works here. Music to my ears.
Or I’ve told you about our homeless friend Brian who hangs out around our church, and I do what I can to help him. If you’ve seem him recently, you know his clothes are falling apart. He knows it. He wants to get rid of them, but his brain is stuck on a very particular sequence of events that need to happen before he can get new clothes. And so I took down that list, and two members of our church combined to meet every item on the list – a house West of Santa Fe where he can take a shower, wash his clothes, trim his beard with two separate sets of common house scissors, patch his pants, and repair the holes in the pockets of his pants and jacket. THEN he can get new clothes once all of that happens. We had it lined up. But then he added a final requirement that I couldn’t meet, and we’re back to square one.
Why is this important? Well one of the guys I play basketball with knows Brian, and I told him that story, and his response was, “Well God love you for trying.”
I occasionally get angry questions like, “Why isn’t your church helping Brian with his clothes?!”, but most people who have attempted to give him clothes, which he refuses, they know that we’re working with Brian. It’s a way we are known for serving.
In a few weeks, Roberta is going to share an incredible story of God’s provision and timing as a result of our relationship with Field Elementary through the Whiz Kids tutoring program, as well as the school supply backpacks this church provided. It’s another way we are known for serving.
To the half of my generation who believe that the church is too self-absorbed and not doing enough to make their communities better, we have a chance to have a positive example and witness. We can be a church that is Branching Out to Serve.
24 to Double
But what can you do to help?
Next week we are starting a two-year commitment to helping our church maximize its potential. A two-year commitment to investing in making our church Rooted in Christ, Growing through Relationships, and Branching Out to Serve. We have a series of 24 videos, each about 45-60 minutes long, and we’re going to watch one a month in Ficklin Hall for the next 24 months, starting next Sunday. It’s open to everyone. We especially want you to come next week to get the overview, which is why we’re bribing you with food.
Some of the things we’ll hear in these videos will be uncomfortable. Some of the things we’ll hear will call us to make difficult decisions to be faithful to Jesus. But we just talked about two churches. One was dying in comfort while the other had opportunities in faithfulness. Which one are we going to be?
Now, I’m not talking about changing everything we’re doing here. I’m not going to bring in a laser light show and a smoke machine and a cable rig so I can fly around the sanctuary…OK, the flying thing would actually be pretty cool. Bill, let’s get on that! But no lasers! I promise!
Over the next two years, we are going to try some things to help our church get really focused on helping people get closer to God, on making a difference in our community, and on serving in a way that is life-giving, not soul-sucking. Whenever you try to do things differently, you are guaranteed to see at least two outcomes: #1 sometimes what you try won’t work, and #2 sometimes what you try will work, but people will complain that it’s different.
But here’s my challenge. Give me a little extra leash on this. We are trying to help this church be the best version of itself, not make a copy of someone else’s church. We are trying to help this church be who it is, while ALSO reaching the next generation. We ARE going to try some new things, but they WON’T be out of the blue – they’ll come out of who we have always been.
So the challenge is to dampen down the feelings of discomfort, because we are trying to find our opportunities in faithfulness to Jesus. I believe everyone here will have a lot of reasons to be excited, not scared of what’s coming. And if you come watch these videos and participate in the conversation, you’ll be a part of the solution. You’ll be a part of making sure the next chapter of the life of First Pres Littleton is about faithfulness, not just comfort. Amen.