Tag: Revelation

He’ll Leave the Light On For You

Background Passages: Revelation 3:7-12, Isaiah 22:17, Matthew 23:13, John 10:7-10

Holiday Inn-Express is our hotel of choice when we’re traveling in the United States. We’ve stayed in that chain often enough that we generally know what we’re going to get when we arrive.

These smaller, convenience hotels began to spring up about 15 years ago. Now, if one opens in your area, you can almost be assured others will build within a three-block radius.

As one with a background in advertising, I know you measure the effectiveness of an ad campaign by sales and market position. While they didn’t sway me, I always enjoyed the Motel 6 ads.

Motel 6 is a motel franchise with over 1,000 locations that started in Santa Barbara, California, in 1962 as a lower cost alternative to Holiday Inn. Motel 6 may be best known for its series of commercials that aired beginning in the mid-1980s. I’m sure you remember them.

The motel chain hired National Public Radio personality Tom Bodet to read the commercial script because of his warm and friendly vocal style. When he made the first commercial, Bodet extolled the virtues of the motel’s hospitality and warmth. Then, he ad-libbed and unscripted line, “We’ll leave the light on for you.”

The slogan was an instant and lasting success, winning the grand prize at the Radio Mercury Awards. More importantly to the franchise owners, it boosted sales and market share.

There was something comforting in the slogan. “We’ll leave the light on for you” reassured travelers that they would be welcomed and accepted. That there would be a room for them.

That’s one of the joys about being a Christian. When you put your faith and trust in Christ, you know where you’re going and you know Jesus will be there to welcome you. Still, it’s nice to hear a word of reassurance from time to time.

I’m near the end of my study of the seven churches to whom Jesus spoke in the second and third chapters of Revelation. The brief letter to the church at Philadelphia is all about reassurance. It’s as if Jesus is telling us, “We’ll leave the light on for you.”

It’s a good word to hear. Let’s look at the passage.

“These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have but a little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of earth. I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. The one who is victorious will make a pillar in the temple of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, and I will also write on them my new name.” (Revelation 3:7-12)

Philadelphia, founded in 150 B.C. by King Attallus of Pergamum, whose nickname was Philadelpius, meaning “lover of a brother.” The king was noted for his deep affection for his brother Eumenes. Oddly enough, driven by a king’s ego, he named the city after himself to honor his love for his brother.

The church in Philadelphia is a little unique from the seven churches because it is the only one for which the Lord levels no complaint. Despite some serious attacks from the local synagogue, they remained faithful.

The Jews from the “synagogue of Satan” made life miserable for the Christians in Philadelphia. The Jews in the city had unwittingly aligned themselves with Satan and had little use for this offshoot religion of the one they felt was a false Messiah.

The Jews claimed to be spiritual descendants of Abraham, worthy of the blessings of God, when they were only ethnic descendants. Their attitude toward the truth of God and his new revelation in Christ was far removed from Abraham’s unwavering faith.

The Jews had Moses and the Law. The Jews had David. The Jews had God’s promises. To the Jews, these Christians were unclean Gentiles, pretenders and corrupters of truth.

Undoubtedly, these Philadelphia Christians experienced the same personal and economic hardships inflicted upon them by the Jews as did other early congregations. They were ostracized from the community, pressured and slandered, and labeled as political enemies of Rome because they would not worship Caesar.

Despite the opposition they faced, they endured. Jesus praised them for their perseverance while acknowledging their situation. Look at his words.

“I know your deeds…I know you have but a little strength.”

Jesus was not condemning them for being weak in faith. He was proud of them for remaining faithful when they were almost powerless to do anything about the opposition that confronted them. Small in numbers and influence, they had little ability to counter the hostility they faced. No political leverage. No social standing. Everything was stacked against them, yet they endured it all without sacrificing their faith.

These Christians from Philadelphia were hammered day in and day out by the Jews saying they were God’s chosen people…That God loves the Jews and them only…That God has no place for those who profess a faith in Jesus.

Though they never denied their faith in Christ, don’t you imagine these early Christians needed to hear a word of reassurance?

“You have kept my word and not denied my name.”

Don’t we all hope Jesus could write those words about us? The Philadelphian Christians heard that word. It’s as if Jesus was whispering in their ears, “I know you. You made your reservation when you believed in me. And, even if you’re not sure right now, I know where you’re going. I’ll leave the light on for you.”

That’s what all that verbiage about holding the key of David and the open and shut doors means. Jesus reminds them that he is the fulfillment of prophecy. Isaiah 22:17 says,

“I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David. What he opens, no one can shut, and what he shuts, no one can open.”

During the first Jesus and his followers battled the Pharisees about the true faith. Jesus used a similar thought to condemn the Jewish religious leaders.

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.” (Matthew 23:13)

The Pharisees acted as gatekeepers to God’s kingdom. While they would not allow others to enter the kingdom, they never walked through the door either.

Jesus called himself the door in the third of his “I am” statements in John.

“I am the door (gate) for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the door (gate); whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” (John 10:7-10)

Jesus offers reassurance to the battered souls of Philadelphia. Jesus has the key to the house of David. He sits on the throne. When he opens a door neither the Jews nor Caesar can shut it. If Jesus shuts the door, neither the Jews nor Caesar can open it. Jesus tells them, “I know you don’t have the political clout to stop the harassment, but, in the end, I hold the key. I’m at the door.” They are powerless against him.

I’d like to say I’ve never needed to hear God’s calm reassurance in my own life. I’d like to say I’ve never had others throw up arguments against my faith that left me questioning my eternal destiny. I’d like to say that, but it would not be true. Those who argue against faith can be convincing at times.

When pressured by opposing forces to abandon our faith, when it feels we wield so little influence against those whose influence seems so powerful, our hope is that we would respond as the Christians in Philadelphia responded…by keeping his word with absolute obedience to the teachings of Christ and by never denying the name of Jesus.

Jesus holds the key and stands at the open door. Nothing man can do or say and no one with earthly power and influence can hinder those who believe from entering the kingdom of God. That’s a word of reassurance we all need to hear at times.

How do we feel that sense of reassurance when everyone else is telling us we’re wrong? Jesus told the Christians in Philadelphia and he tells us, I think, three things.

“Since you have patiently endured, I will keep you from the hour of trial…”

Trials will come. All of us get to experience them. When we keep his word and honor his name, when we persevere through tough times, God keeps those tough times from being worse than they could be. He walks beside us and with us. He protects us from some of the ugliness of life because our eyes are focused on him.

“I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have so no one will take your crown…”

I’ve never worried too much about the second coming of Christ. He will come when he comes. In God’s eternal time frame “soon” is a relative term.

My task is to “hold fast.” To hang on to his teachings and live life accordingly. I am to be so grounded in his word that no one can persuade me to abandon my faith (take my crown).

“The one who is victorious will make a pillar in the temple of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God, and I will also write on them my new name.” (Revelation 3:7-12)

None of that makes as much sense in this context without knowing the whole of Revelation. Near the end of the book, John is sharing more of his vision of God’s kingdom as his temple and the New Jerusalem. It is a vision about being sealed within his protective care for all eternity. Jesus promised the church in Philadelphia. He promised us. Every believer has a home waiting for them. We are citizens of this heavenly city.

So, we find comfort when we endure the trials with him beside us. We find encouragement when we hang tough in the face of spiritual opposition. We find hope and reassurance when we understand that he has promised us a place in his kingdom.

When I read this passage in Revelation, that’s the line that kept jumping into my head. Jesus, speaking in that warm and friendly vocal style, reminds us that he his holding the door open. He praises the faithful for being obedient and never denying his name. Then, he urges all of us to hold on until he comes again, whenever that may be, with a simple reminder, “I’ll leave the light on for you.”

It is the promise that I know where I’m going. I know I’ll have a warm room waiting for me. I thank God I can see the light.

Kaizen!

Background Passages: Revelation 2:16-29

The concept of continuous improvement in the work world took hold during Toyota’s initiative to innovate its manufacturing process. The company introduced the term “kaizen,” which, in Japanese, means “change for the better.” In doing so, Toyota focused its employees’ attention on finding ways to improve the business.

Toyota’s success in turning its business around, spread the idea of continuous improvement into almost every aspect of organizational leadership in corporate and institutional culture over the past 25 years.

When introduced, it was not a new concept, however. The early Christian teachers were all over it. Almost all of Paul’s letters to the early church exhorted them to change for the better. To grow continuously in their faith.

“Therefore, let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, (not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead toward death) and to faith in God…” (Hebrews 6:1)

“When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things. For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (I Corinthians 13:10-12)

“…until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13-16)

The clear call of scripture is to grow in Christ. To put away childish things, the immature thoughts, that allow us to be drawn away from our faith and witness.

For the past several weeks, I’ve focused my Bible study on the seven churches to whom Jesus spoke in Revelation 2. I’ve written about Ephesus, who had such zeal for sound doctrine and holiness, but forgot how to love. The believers in Smyrna showed us how to live faithfully amid suffering. Those Christians in Pergamum stayed faithful in the big things, holding on to their witness for Christ, but flirting with sin in the way they lived.

Take all the good things being done in Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum and you’ll see the church in Thyatira. It was a healthy church, growing in spiritual maturity. Diving into the teachings of Christ, they found themselves praised by Jesus for their good deeds, their love and faith, their acts of service to others and their perseverance in the face of difficulty.

It could not have been easy given their circumstances. Thyatira did not carry the same importance in the region as Ephesus or Pergamum. A small craft and trade center known for its dyeing, garment-making, pottery and brassworking. It was governed in large part by its trade guilds. Trade guilds were powerful organizations that made it difficult for a merchant to pursue his or her trade without belonging to one of the guilds.

Each guild in this pagan culture worshipped its own patron deities, complete with feasts and seasonal festivals that often included sexual practices counter to the teachings of Christ. Christians practicing the trade were placed in a compromising position under pressure from the guild to participate in their immoral rituals. Failure to participate meant exclusion from the guild and little to no access to the profitable markets.

Perhaps it was this kind of pressure that compelled Lydia, a God-fearing maker of purple cloth from Thyatira, to resettle in Philippi where she first heard Paul’s preaching and became a follower of Christ.

In the face of such pressure, Jesus put his stamp of approval on the Christians of Thyatira, praising them for their spiritual growth.

“I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” (Revelation 2:19)

Despite the pressures upon them to conform, the church grew in its spiritual maturity. Whatever good works they were doing when they first came to know Jesus, they were now doing more. The love and faith they demonstrated from the beginning of their conversion experience had grown deeper and more inclusive over time. They cared more deeply for each other and those in need, not just through their emotional expressions, but through their kindness, fellowship and sharing of their faith.

Service and ministry became a part of their spiritual DNA. It was who they were. They found ways not only to teach the gospel, but to tend to the sick, feed the hungry and assist those who were struggling financially.

When their faith was challenged, when they found themselves booted from the guild for their refusal to compromise the call of Christ, they leaned on each other. They weathered the storm. They stayed strong.

The great thing about that, according to the words of Jesus, is that all those things they did in the beginning, they were doing in greater measure as time moved on. They adopted Paul’s message to the Ephesians by declaring, “We will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

Isn’t that what every Christian life ought to be? A life of constant improvement in which our tomorrow is a better representation of our today? That our lives grow more abundant in all that is good and noble and holy.

We talk about our firm foundation of faith, but what good is the foundation if we don’t build upon it? We talk of the seed that has been planted in us, but what good is it if we never become the tree? We become a branch of the one true vine, but what good is it if we never bear fruit?

All Christians ought to have a growth mindset, to strive tomorrow to be better disciples of Christ than they are today. Paul said as much to his protégé Timothy as he wrote about the pursuit of godliness.

“To this end (godliness) we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” (I Timothy 4:10)

So for every believer in Christ, we live out a demand for “kaizen,” to “change for the better.” What is continuous improvement for the Christian look like? What does it take to change for the better?

A commitment to spiritual growth requires us to develop an honest habit of cultivating those traits exemplified in Christ. Love, which Christ himself declared the greatest of all commands. Faith, a continuous trust and reliance on God and his spirit to guide our decisions and place our steps. Service, our acts of ministry that demonstrate that we can use his teachings to better the lives of others. Perseverance, that desire to ensure that our understanding of the demands of discipleship grow deeper with each life experience and each passing day. That we finish the race we started.

Such was the commitment of the church in Thyatira…that they were now doing more than they did at first. Our commitment must be the same. To continue growing. To change for the better. To begin to understand with each passing day the truth of the old hymn. “The longer I serve him, the sweeter he grows.”

Despite all the good they did and despite all the growth they experienced, all was not right in Thyatira.

“Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So, I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.” (Rev. 2:20-22)

Some Bible scholars infer from scripture that these early Christians in Thyatira struggled with living for Christ while the world around them demanded their involvement in the activities of the guild. The idolatrous practices of the guild would have involved immoral sexual practices and pagan religious observances that feasted on meat offered to their idols. For some believers in the city, the temptation to comply with the world’s demands drew them away from their commitment to Christ.

Every generation of Christians faces the same temptation. It is the fine line to “live in the world, but not of the world.” The cause of Christ cannot be served if Christians retreat completely from the rest of society. The lure of unchristian business practices is a constant tug. The temptation to go along to get along, to accept sin as a way of life, is never ending.

As we live out our calling under the watchful eyes of our neighbors, our lives become a testimony to the reality of Christ in our lives. They either see him in the way we live and work or they don’t.

The Jezebel of Thyatira convinced others in the church to conform to the practices of the pagan culture around them. They placed financial considerations over faith principles. True discipleship demands a higher standard of moral conduct.

So, the passage begs the question. Who or what is your Jezebel?

Jezebel is anything or anyone who suggests that you can compromise any aspect of your faith and still be in good standing with a holy God. It is an easy gospel. A convenient faith. We don’t have to listen too hard today to hear the siren call of a “feel good” sermon, steeped in psychology rather than theology.

It’s easy enough to be pulled off course as a growing Christian, but one who does not regularly study God’s word will find it almost impossible to resist the lure of the easy way out. Christians must constantly test what they hear against scripture in an effort to discern God’s truth. Paul lauded as “noble” the men and women of Berea because they searched the scriptures to test whether his message aligned with what was written in the Old Testament.

Our overzealous pursuit of wealth, our misguided ambitions for success in business, our quest for popularity, our desire to fit in…it’s easy to hear Jezebel whispering in our ears, “Go ahead. It doesn’t really matter.” But, in truth, it does matter.

When we slip away from the path God has laid out before us, he calls us to repent. When we stay the course, obedient to his commands, growing in our understanding, he offers this encouragement.

“Now, to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her (Jezebel’s) teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’” (Rev. 2:24-25)

The lesson of Thyatira applies equally to us today. Kaizen! Get better every day. Grow in spirit and truth. Never stop learning his will and way. You and I will be tempted to give up and give in. When you feel your grip slipping away, listen for his encouragement.

“Hold on to what you have until I come.”