Sardis, built on the side of Mount Tmolus, was strategically
located for both commerce and defense. Gold was the natural resource of the
area—found in one of its rivers. Sardis boasts the reputation of being
the first city in antiquity to strike gold and silver coins. The city had
an illustrious history. For instance, Sardis had the distinction of being
the first place where the art of dyeing wool was discovered. It also had the
ignoble fact that on two occasions, while the guardians slept, enemies climbed
up what were thought to be impregnable natural defenses—nearly perpendicular
rock—to capture it. Wealth, natural security, and a sense of overconfidence
seemed to have plagued this city leading to its eventual deterioration and
mediocrity. At the time of the writing of Revelation, Sardis’ greatness
was in its history and monuments, although it remained very wealthy. The patron
goddess Cybele was a variation of the Greek goddess Artemis. This was a deity
of the fertility cults and the worship of the fertility cults was infamous
for its outlandish hedonistic practices. This environment along with the focus
on the arts, music, song, and dance made Sardis a society of decadence and
complacency.
The letter to the church in Sardis takes place as the fifth
of the corpus of seven letters. Thus far, we have noticed that the letters
have been concerned with the priority love, unconditional faithfulness, and
purity of doctrine and ethics as non-negotiable characteristics required of
the resurrected Christ’s church. In this letter there seems to be a
concern for authenticity. The letter to the church at Sardis has the dubious
distinction of being the only one in which the risen Christ offers no word
of commendation or congratulations.
The essential ethos of this church (“the angel”)
is addressed by the risen Christ in terms of the inaugural vision: “the
one who holds the seven stars” in His hand. There is to be no thought
that He is gullible or might be impressed by a façade. He has His finger
on the pulse of their reality at its most fundamental level. He then uses
a description that is not derived from the inaugural vision: “the one
who holds the seven spirits of God” (v. 1). This term may be better
understood as the sevenfold Spirit of God—utilizing the symbolic significance
of “seveness” to indicate completeness. Of course, the book of
Revelation, in addition to symbolic language, is also characterized by Hebraisms.
In this regard, the Hebrew language has the phenomenon of indicating the superlative
by means of the plural. In a radically monotheistic culture, like that of
ancient Israel, the magnitude and the magnificence of God is conveyed by the
plural word Elohim in the sense of the superlative not in the sense of a plurality.
“The seven Spirits of God” then indicate the omni-competence of
the Spirit—an idea which also has messianic allusions which would possibly
bring back to the minds of avid Old Testament Bible readers the text of Isaiah
11:2.
In the body of the letter, the church is told that it is essentially living
a lie. It enjoys a reputation that is not reality. In fact, it has a name
indicating it is alive but in reality it is dead. This church had been thoroughly
influenced by its environment; the complacent ethos of the city had become
that of the church. The risen Christ seeks to awaken this church out of its
lethargy with His stern rebuke and admonition to remember, obey, repent, and
stay awake.
Remarkably, in contrast to the churches in Pergamum and Thyatira,
where there was a delinquent margin and a solid core in pursuit of Christian
virtue, here the core was complacent. Only a minority in Sardis had not “soiled
their clothes.” It is of note however, that this minority is not overlooked
by the risen Christ but is guaranteed a reward of the highest status.
As in the other letters, the resurrected Christ challenges the
church to become “overcomers” with a promise of reward of apocalyptic
proportions. Their names will never be blotted out of the Book of Life. They
would be acknowledged before His Father and the angels. The “overcomer”
would be fully restored and given the ultimate honor. The letter ends with
the Spirit, in partnership with the resurrected Christ, urging the church
to give heed what has been said.
The need indicated in this text is that of being authentic in
a conscious and current participation in the life of God. There is the pressing
need to avoid the pitfalls of spiritual complacency (a false sense of adequacy),
spiritual coma (an unawareness of one’s real situation in relation to
the life of the kingdom), and spiritual malaise. This is all reflected in
a reliance on past spiritual experiences which one may be deceived into erroneously
thinking has bearing on one’s present and future position in relation
to the life of the kingdom of the risen Christ.
God in Christ addresses complacent, inauthentic lives in terms
of His complete and thorough knowledge of the real situation (“stars”
are “in His hands”). This is also the case with the powerful (“Seven”)
Spirits of God—the omni-competent Spirit of God, which like the church
is also in His hands. The proximate availability of the powerful life-giving
Spirit to the complacent church is palpably evident. It is directly related
to the presence of the risen Christ in the midst of the church. God’s
response in the text is to awaken the church out of its lethargy, self-deception,
and its false sense of being that which it is not.
The appropriate response called for by this text is a realistic
assessment of one’s current experience as it relates to the life of
the kingdom. It must be an active awakened reflection on one’s current
experience differentiated from one’s past experiential knowledge. There
is a call to repentance from a false sense of security and a warning to display
continued vigilance in light of the eminent return of Christ. One’s
dissatisfaction with spiritual malaise facilitates a longing for the presence
of the resurrected Christ and the life-giving impact of the powerful Spirit
that He brings.
(For the full manuscript of this sermon
go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons.”)
The resurrected Christ, who knows intimately the comatose complacency
of the disingenuous church, carries the powerful life-giving Spirit. He challenges
the church to be authentic. The church is called to wake up and be real regarding
its past experiences and its future destiny. If the church responds, it may
access, through the Spirit’s power, the guaranteed ultimate reward.
The sermon is to offer to persons an opportunity to honestly assess their current spiritual state. They will also have the opportunity to access spiritual life and power from the risen Christ, which assures one of a future of ultimate safety and satisfaction in God’s eternal program.
