Sardis: A Church on the brink of death
"You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not four your works complete in the sight of my God." -Rev. 3:1b-2
Sardis was a city in Asia Minor settled in the oval of cities mentioned in the Revelation church letters. Just 30 miles SE of Thyatira, it was a city located 1500 ft. in the foothills of a mountain range, surrounded by steep inclines with only one major roadway that led in and out of the city. It was practically impenetrable. Sardis also boasted advances in gold and silver minting as well as in the textile industry, specializing in dyeing wool products.
As if this wasn't enough to boast about, Sardis was located near a river with large gold deposits, making it one of the richest cities in the ancient world. Essentially, Sardis had it all: Protection, security, economy, and wealth.
Sardis was also very much pagan. It's primary goddess of worship was Cybele, originally a hermaphrodite turned fully female and proclaimed 'mother of the gods,' whose worship involved orgies.
In AD 17, this great city experienced a massive earthquake which totally leveled it however, as the Roman Empire spread, Emperor Tiberius rebuilt the city and became another object of worship for the Sardis populace.
With a history and culture like that, it isn't too difficult to believe the issues Sardis Church experienced, even to the point that Jesus proclaimed they had a "dead name." They were built on self-sustaining wealth, power and security. They were a culture built upon faith in themselves rather than on the God of the Bible. What issues did they have that caused them to become a "dead church?"
Jesus points out two primary causes for their dead-ness:
1) Blindness: They didn't see that they were dying. (v.1b-2a)
This can come about in several ways or in combination - carelessness, indifference, sin, and/or denial. Apparently, they had a great reputation, so much so that outsiders and those within the church thought everything was fine just the way it was. Jesus told them, "you have a name (reputation) that you are alive...", however, He quickly attested, "but are you dead. Be watchful..." It is quite possible to be a vibrant, populated, fully functioning church, after all Jesus said He "saw their works," and yet still be as dead as a door nail on the inside. Attendance, programs, and activities don't constitute church health. The people at Sardis Church were casting a blind eye to their real issues, primarily their spiritual deadness, because they were an unrepentant people who were living off of their past glory - what their name used to mean. But here in this letter, those days were long gone. This is a humbling lesson for us today: Living off past glories will limit the present and kill the future.
2) Laziness: They let things in their church go. (v2b)
Jesus makes another point: "strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect (complete) before God." Apparently, in their blindness and laziness, Sardis Church had allowed its programs, teaching, preaching and all-around Gospel efforts to fall to the wayside. They had basically quit moving forward. They had gotten comfortable. Laziness cannot be a part of the local church. As soon as we stop moving forward, as soon as we get comfortable and complacent, we begin dying - regardless of church size.
What was the solution to this? Jesus prescribed 3 things to get out of being a "dead church":
a) Keep remembering the Gospel (v.3a)
b) Repent (v.3b)
c) Watch (v.3c)
In our comfort, or laziness, or worry, we tend to forget what Jesus has already done for us. We also tend to forget the mission.
We allow ourselves to grow cold to the Word of God.
We allow ourselves to grow deaf to the voice of the Spirit.
Let this be a reminder to us as Christians and as local churches that we need to constantly be aware of what's going on around us and in us. The Christian life and the local Church are not places of complacency and laziness, casting a blind eye to what's happening around us. We're called to a life of growth and action. Let's be about the Lord's business.
Sardis was a city in Asia Minor settled in the oval of cities mentioned in the Revelation church letters. Just 30 miles SE of Thyatira, it was a city located 1500 ft. in the foothills of a mountain range, surrounded by steep inclines with only one major roadway that led in and out of the city. It was practically impenetrable. Sardis also boasted advances in gold and silver minting as well as in the textile industry, specializing in dyeing wool products.
As if this wasn't enough to boast about, Sardis was located near a river with large gold deposits, making it one of the richest cities in the ancient world. Essentially, Sardis had it all: Protection, security, economy, and wealth.
Sardis was also very much pagan. It's primary goddess of worship was Cybele, originally a hermaphrodite turned fully female and proclaimed 'mother of the gods,' whose worship involved orgies.
In AD 17, this great city experienced a massive earthquake which totally leveled it however, as the Roman Empire spread, Emperor Tiberius rebuilt the city and became another object of worship for the Sardis populace.
With a history and culture like that, it isn't too difficult to believe the issues Sardis Church experienced, even to the point that Jesus proclaimed they had a "dead name." They were built on self-sustaining wealth, power and security. They were a culture built upon faith in themselves rather than on the God of the Bible. What issues did they have that caused them to become a "dead church?"
Jesus points out two primary causes for their dead-ness:
1) Blindness: They didn't see that they were dying. (v.1b-2a)
This can come about in several ways or in combination - carelessness, indifference, sin, and/or denial. Apparently, they had a great reputation, so much so that outsiders and those within the church thought everything was fine just the way it was. Jesus told them, "you have a name (reputation) that you are alive...", however, He quickly attested, "but are you dead. Be watchful..." It is quite possible to be a vibrant, populated, fully functioning church, after all Jesus said He "saw their works," and yet still be as dead as a door nail on the inside. Attendance, programs, and activities don't constitute church health. The people at Sardis Church were casting a blind eye to their real issues, primarily their spiritual deadness, because they were an unrepentant people who were living off of their past glory - what their name used to mean. But here in this letter, those days were long gone. This is a humbling lesson for us today: Living off past glories will limit the present and kill the future.
2) Laziness: They let things in their church go. (v2b)
Jesus makes another point: "strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect (complete) before God." Apparently, in their blindness and laziness, Sardis Church had allowed its programs, teaching, preaching and all-around Gospel efforts to fall to the wayside. They had basically quit moving forward. They had gotten comfortable. Laziness cannot be a part of the local church. As soon as we stop moving forward, as soon as we get comfortable and complacent, we begin dying - regardless of church size.
What was the solution to this? Jesus prescribed 3 things to get out of being a "dead church":
a) Keep remembering the Gospel (v.3a)
b) Repent (v.3b)
c) Watch (v.3c)
In our comfort, or laziness, or worry, we tend to forget what Jesus has already done for us. We also tend to forget the mission.
We allow ourselves to grow cold to the Word of God.
We allow ourselves to grow deaf to the voice of the Spirit.
Let this be a reminder to us as Christians and as local churches that we need to constantly be aware of what's going on around us and in us. The Christian life and the local Church are not places of complacency and laziness, casting a blind eye to what's happening around us. We're called to a life of growth and action. Let's be about the Lord's business.
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