Be faithful unto death, and you will not die

Sermon for Midweek of Advent 4

+  Revelation 2:8-11  +

Last week we considered Christ’s words to the angel of the church in Ephesus and we heard both praise and rebuke: praise for their hard work in insisting on purity of doctrine and life, rebuke for the love they had lost. Of the seven letters, three have a mixture of praise and rebuke, two have only rebuke, and two have only praise. The letter before us this evening to the angel of the church in Smyrna, has only praise from the One who walks among the lampstands.

To the angel of the church in Smyrna, write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who was dead and now lives. There are two things about Himself that Jesus wants the church in Smyrna to focus on: That He is the First and the Last, and that He is the One who was dead and now lives. Those are comforting words, Gospel words, intended to comfort and calm these suffering Christians. The First and the Last, similar to the Alpha and the Omega. We talked about that a few weeks ago. Nothing came before Jesus and nothing will come after. No one will get rid of Him or outlast Him. Even when His enemies thought they had gotten rid of Him and defeated Him and outlasted Him when He died and lay in the tomb for three days, they were proven wrong. He was dead, seemingly defeated. But now He lives, and has shown the world why He allowed Himself to die in the first place, not because His enemies defeated Him, but because He chose to die as the once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of the world. And now He lives and is seated on His throne, and He laughs at the powerful men and women of this world who think they’ve defeated Christianity once and for all. “Science has prevailed,” they say. But Christ is the Last. He’ll be standing, together with His Church, the members of His body, when all His powerful enemies come to ruin in the end.

I know your works, Jesus says. Just like He knew the good works of the Ephesians. In fact, it was to the Ephesians that St. Paul wrote: By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. All Christians have been saved by grace, through faith, and all Christians have been recreated in Christ Jesus for good works. He is the Vine, we are the branches. If a man remains in Me, Jesus says, and I in him, he will produce much fruit. So the Smyrnan Christians were clearly remaining in Christ, because they were doing the good works for which they were created, living as penitent, believing Christians, walking the path of God’s commandments.

I know your tribulation. I know your troubles, everything you’re suffering, especially what you suffer for the sake of being Christians in a godless world. Jesus knew it, but, notice, He didn’t immediately remove their tribulation from them, even though He reigns over all things. Tribulation, trouble, is exactly what He told His people ahead of time they would face in this world. St. John wrote Jesus’ words in his Gospel: In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. The tribulation will end someday, and it will end well for all who endured it.

I know your poverty—The Christians in Smyrna were poor; they didn’t have much money or the security that comes with it. The context suggests that their poverty may be the result of having their livelihoods and resources stripped away from them because of their faithfulness to Christ. But you are rich! Jesus says. Rich in the things that really matter: in faith, in God’s favor, in spiritual gifts and spiritual possessions, including a treasure stored up in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy.

And I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. The Christians in Smyrna were being slandered and lied about by the local Jews. The same thing had happened in many of the cities where St. Paul did his missionary activity; the synagogues would turn on him and any who followed him into the Christian Church and would do their best to get the Christians in trouble. The Jews were once, of course, the people of God, the people who were given the first chance to know and to receive the Messiah. But once they had heard the Gospel of Christ and rejected it, they were no longer considered by God to be the people of God. Instead, they’re called here a “synagogue of Satan,” similar to what Jesus said of the unbelieving Jews in John 8, I know that you are Abraham’s descendants…But if you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father…You are of your father the devil, and you wish to carry out the desires of your father.

Then Jesus encourages the Smyrnans in the face of the persecution they still have to face: Do not be afraid of any of those things that you will suffer. Behold, the devil will throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested; and you will have tribulation for ten days. So He tells them they’re not done suffering yet, and that He isn’t going to step in to prevent further suffering. He just tells them not to be afraid of it. Why? Because Jesus is still in control of it and will use it for His good purposes. One of those good purposes is that you may be tested, not tested so that Jesus can see whether they’re genuine believers or not, but tested as fine gold is tested in the fire, to reveal its purity to everyone. There is a great benefit to the world when people see Christians willing to suffer loss, and prison, and even death for the sake of Christ. It has a healthy impact on the world, just as it has a detrimental impact on the world when someone who claims to be a Christian refuses to bear the cross. But Jesus will limit the Smyrnans’ suffering to “ten days,” to a short period of time. He’ll cut it short before it can do any damage to their precious faith.

Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Be faithful. Faithful in Greek means both “full of faith” and “faithful,” as in, proving yourself worthy of what has been entrusted to you. Here it really captures both meanings. Be believing, even up to the point of death. Don’t lose faith when it gets hard. Keep trusting in the One who walks among the lampstands. And, be faithful even to the point of death. Minister, fulfill your calling without shrinking back in the face of persecution. Hearers of the word, keep confessing the faith even if it means you have to die for it. Because, in the end, you won’t die. I will give you the crown of life. The crown goes to the victor, to the one who wins, to the one who overcomes. Except that, in this fight, you don’t overcome by saving your earthly life. You overcome by being willing to lose it for Christ’s sake, and your reward in eternity will be great.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be injured at all by the second death. The first death is the death of the body. And yes, we grieve when people die that first death, even for Christians. But our grief is softened by this truth, that a Christian who overcomes, who faces death having remained faithful, will not be injured at all by the second death, which is eternal death, separation from God, and suffering in hell. For the one who overcomes, who is faithful unto death, his or her victory is sealed. They can never be harmed again, never be tempted again, never risk becoming unfaithful ever again. It is the final victory for the Christian to reach death having been faithful, which is why we say that, at that moment, their soul enters the Church Triumphant—triumphant and victorious over every evil, every enemy, every danger, every tribulation. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Paul writes. Only a crown of life.

How can we apply this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna to our congregation? Would Jesus say that He knows our works? There are certainly good works being done. But here each one has to evaluate his or her own fruit and consider each day how to work as the Lord’s servant. Would He say that He knows our tribulation and our poverty? There is some tribulation, to be sure, and some blasphemy against you and against me for the beliefs we hold and the lives we live, but not yet to the point of having our jobs or income stripped away, and certainly not yet to the point of being thrown in prison. Our “poverty” is relative. I wouldn’t say we’re poor. We have a beautiful building that’s now paid off, and our members and our pastor’s family are well-fed, with food to spare and with luxuries we don’t need. We’re rich compared to many, and yes, also rich in spiritual things like the pure Gospel, God’s favor, and a spirit of cooperation.

Without a doubt, we will suffer more things for being faithful to Christ, maybe even real poverty at some point. We need to be ready to suffer those things patiently. But we have the word of Jesus, Do not be afraid of those things that you will suffer. We have His promise that He will put a limit to it, that He won’t let us be tested beyond what we can bear. And we also have both His call to be faithful unto death, as well as His promise that all those who are will receive the crown of life and will be entirely unharmed by the second death.

Carry these encouragements and promises with you into our Christmas celebration over the next several days. And even though we’re leaving the Advent season behind, don’t leave the Advent mindset behind. Keep living each day as if it might be your last one on this earth, knowing that Christ is surely coming soon! Amen.