Have more than just a reputation for being alive

Sermon for the First Day of Lent

Joel 2:12-19  +  Revelation 3:1-6  +  Matthew 6:16-21

This First Day of Lent, and the whole Lenten season, coincides beautifully with our series on the Book of Revelation, and especially with this fifth letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. As we focus on self-examination and reflection, the urgency of repentance, and the zeal of the Lord Jesus for our salvation, we see those very themes being emphasized in this letter. For the pastor in Sardis, there is no word of praise, only a stern warning, which we all do well to take to heart: Be sure to have more than just a reputation for being alive!

Jesus reminds the pastor of the church in Sardis that He is the one who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. Back in chapter 1, we identified the “seven Spirits” who were before the Father’s throne as the Holy Spirit with His sevenfold gifts, which He always gives in just the right measure. Here, Jesus says that He has the seven Spirits of God. He is the One who sends the Spirit to His churches and distributes His gifts to whomever He pleases. He also has the seven stars, which were identified in chapter 1 as the seven angels or pastors of the seven churches. Jesus is the Sender of pastors. They’re meant to be gifts to His churches. Like stars in the sky, they shine the light of Christ in their preaching, and the Holy Spirit does His work through them. Also like stars, they are to be fixed in place, not wandering about like the planets; their doctrine and life are to be solid and dependable. Since Jesus holds them in His hand, He has the power to protect them and the authority to remove them, if necessary.

When Jesus tells this pastor that He knows his works, this time it isn’t a good thing. I know your works, that you have a name for being alive, and you are dead. A “name” for being alive. If you noticed, the word “name” is used four times in these six verses. Here it refers to the pastor’s reputation. People think of him as being alive, but he is really dead. They think he’s alive, a true believer in Christ Jesus who shares in the spiritual life that comes from God, whose name is surely written in the Lamb’s book of life. But Jesus knows the truth: this pastor is dead on the inside, dead in trespasses and sins. He’s become an empty suit. He says the right things and outwardly does the right things, but he’s just going through the motions. On the inside, he isn’t penitent, he isn’t believing. And without faith it is impossible to please God.

So he’s given an urgent warning: Be watchful, and strengthen the remaining things that are about to die, for I have not found your works complete before God. Remember, therefore, how you have received and heard, and keep it, and repent. Be watchful, because you haven’t been. You’ve let earthly concerns and selfish thoughts slip in and take the place of Christ in your heart. You’ve allowed yourself to fall asleep. Snap out of this spiritual stupor and strengthen the bits and pieces that remain! That would include his knowledge of Scripture and of the duties of his office. He’s lost the trust part of faith. He’s lost the appreciation of God’s grace to him, a poor, miserable sinner. He’s lost the heartfelt love for God that accompanies genuine faith. But he still has all the knowledge part of faith. He knows the Law and the Gospel. He knows what he has received and heard from the apostles. And now Jesus is sending His powerful Spirit in the words of this letter to turn the pastor back to what he already knows, what he has heard, to what he himself has undoubtedly preached time and time again, to acknowledge his sins, to repent and trust in Christ for forgiveness, and to fulfill the duties of his vocation.

The warning is sealed with a threat: If you do not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. Notice, Jesus isn’t expecting the congregation to get rid of this pastor. They can’t see on the inside, can’t see that he is really dead. Jesus is the One who sees it, and Jesus is the One who will “come upon him,” that is, come against him, in His own time and in His own way.

The pastor’s deadness has had a negative effect on his congregation. His preaching has obviously been affected by his spiritual emptiness. But whatever Gospel still remained in his preaching was still effective. The Gospel is effective even if it’s preached by an unbeliever, just as the Sacraments are still valid, even if they’re administered by an unbeliever. And the Gospel that was still present was preserving a remnant in Sardis. Jesus says, You have a few names even in Sardis that have not defiled their garments; and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The pastor’s name was deceptive, a name for being alive, although he was actually dead. These few names, these few souls among the laity in Sardis, were genuine believers. They hadn’t defiled their garments, they hadn’t jumped into the common practices of fornication and idolatry. They hadn’t fallen into willful sin or wandered away from the faith or lost their love for God and for one another. By faith they were still counted righteous and pure before God, symbolized by the white garments. And Jesus promises here that they will walk with Him in white, they will spend eternity with Him in righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, as we say in the Catechism, in the Second Article of the Creed, for they are worthy. Not worthy because they were sinless, but worthy because they persevered in repentance and faith.

As for the one who overcomes, he will be clothed in white garments. Those who overcome, who keep their garments undefiled, who persevere in repentance and faith are all promised white garments, or white robes, that is, a permanent state of sinlessness in heaven, without the possibility of ever falling back into sin and shame.

He also promises this: I will not blot out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. The Book of Life comes up several more times in the Book of Revelation. It’s God’s figurative book that contains all the names of those who have been incorporated into Jesus by Baptism and faith. There are other books, too, the books that contain the works—that is, the thoughts, words, and deeds—of all men, and since all those works are tainted by sin, those who are judged by the books of works will be condemned. But God will cross reference the names there with the names written in the Book of Life, and if your name is found there on the Last Day or on the day of your death, you will be safe. And not only safe, but Jesus will confess those names before His Father and the holy angels. This one is Mine. This one believed in Me, and I claim him and her as My own.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

What, in particular, should we take to heart from this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis?

Well, any pastor who preaches on this text had better do some serious soul-searching. Do I believe what I preach? Do I have a genuine trust in Christ and a sincere love for Him and for His flock? At best, the answer will be an imperfect “yes.” But that imperfect “yes” is still the difference between being alive and being dead. And it is obviously a relatively common thing for a preacher to be an empty shell of a Christian, or Jesus wouldn’t have dedicated one out of these seven letters to addressing it (or two, if you count the final letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea).

Preachers must examine themselves, even as Jesus surely examines each and every one. But we have to be careful not to become judges of preachers, or judges of anyone’s heart, as if we could crawl into their hearts and see whether they’re truly alive or dead, whether they truly believe in the Lord Jesus or not. Here, as elsewhere, we have to put the best construction on everything and assume the best about those who outwardly confess Christ. We can judge false doctrine or sinful practices. But we can’t judge false faith or assume false motives. That we have to leave up to the One who searches the innermost thoughts and hearts.

Of course, what is said of the pastor in Sardis could also be said about everyone who claims to be a Christian, who has a “name” for being alive. Every Christian, Paul writes, is called on to Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. You should all be doing that regularly, weekly, certainly before you go to receive Holy Communion. And if you’re having trouble, you do have a pastor who can help you to examine yourself, as a doctor examines a patient, by asking certain questions and providing a diagnosis based on your responses. In fact, that’s one of the main purposes of both confirmation, when you become a member of the church, and of private confession, where you can continually come and seek the pastor’s help in your spiritual self-examination.

As for the promises Jesus makes here, about the white garments He’ll provide and the names written in the Book of Life and confessed before His Father, let those promises spur you on to keep struggling against your sinful flesh, to keep fighting the good fight, to keep your garments undefiled, and to keep living at odds with the world, at odds with our corrupt culture, and to remain faithful until the end, faithful until death. Those blessed saints who do will walk with Christ in glory. May our names be found among theirs! Amen.