Do you ever look at someone’s life and want to shout: “what on earth are you doing?”, and what if that question is aimed at you as well? This sermon opens the letter to the church in Laodicea, which receives the harshest rebuke in all of Revelation: you are neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm (Revelation 3). It draws on the city’s history, its banks, its textiles, its eye ointment and the tepid water in its aqueduct, to show how wealth can blind believers to their own spiritual poverty. And then comes the line no one expects: here I stand at the door and knock. Listen.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Revelation 3:14 Jesus calls himself the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. What might these titles have meant to Christians in Laodicea, a city that worshipped the god Men?
- The people of Laodicea piped water into the city, but it arrived lukewarm and became disgusting. What does this picture say about a faith that neither sets anyone on fire, nor refreshes, nor heals?
- The Laodiceans said, I am rich and need nothing, yet Jesus calls them poor, blind and naked. How can prosperity and comfort blind us to the truth about our spiritual condition?
- The sermon described a lukewarm person as comfortable at room temperature and unwilling to stand out. In which areas of your life is it easiest for you to settle for a safe, lukewarm faith?
- The harshest rebuke ends with an invitation: I stand at the door and knock, and the one who overcomes will sit with me on my throne. What does it tell you about Jesus that the worst church receives the best invitation?
- Jesus wants to come in and eat with you like a friend. What can you do this week to open the door to him, so that your faith warms or refreshes someone near you?
