Sermon - 7 Churches of Revelation - The Letter to Thyatira

 

Some may wonder what our sermon series on the letters to the 7 churches had to do with Lent. Some may think, “how is all of this business from the Book of Revelation connected to the Passion – the arrest and trial, the suffering and death of Christ?” In truth, it's not directly connected to all that. 

But it is a very timely series for the season of Lent. Throughout these letters, Jesus calls the churches to repent. Repentance is a major theme of this season. Lent is the most penitential time of the church year. It is a time for all of us to reflect on our own sins, and listen to God's word which calls us to turn away from sin, and turn to him in faith.

When God calls, and when Jesus calls sinners to repent, he is very serious. And you'd certainly know that if you lived in Thyatira. There, they had a false prophetess among them who was sinning gravely, and also leading others into sin.

Hear the words of Jesus’ letter to the church at Thyatira:

To the Church in Thyatira

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

19 “ ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Jesus words are harsh here, jarring, even. He calls this troublemaking woman “Jezebel”, which even today is a name synonymous with wickedness. Jezebel, a daughter of a pagan priest-king from Phonecia, was married to Ahab, an Israelite king whose name is also notorious to this day.

Jezebel was the enemy of God's people in the Old Testament, an evil queen who promoted pagan worship. She persuaded her husband to introduce worship of the nature god from Tyre and Sidon, Baal-Melkart.  And she meant business.  She was responsible for the slaughter of many of the prophets of Yahweh.  In 1 Kings 17 we read about how Yahweh sends Elijah, who prophesies a severe drought as punishment for these crimes.  And it comes to pass, of course. 

Later, when Elijah had his great contest on Mt. Carmel with the prophets of Baal, he didn’t seem all that afraid of them or of wicked king Ahab.  But when Jezebel put a price on his head – he high-tailed it to the desert in terror for his life. 

Jezebel was also behind the murder of Naboth, the man who had the vineyard in the Jezreel valley that Ahab wanted to buy, but Naboth refused.  Jezebel took care of that – having Naboth framed for blasphemy and killed so her husband could just take the vineyard for himself.  But Elijah prophesied that Jezebel’s body would be devoured by dogs in that very valley.

About 10 years after king Ahab died, when Jehu became king, he meted out justice on the whole house of Ahab, and had some eunuchs throw Jezebel out the window of the palace to her death.  And though he then ordered her to then receive a proper burial (for she was the daughter of a king, after all), it wasn’t possible.  In fulfillment of Elijah’s prophecy, her body was ravaged by the dogs, and nothing was left to bury.  Divine judgment for this wicked enemy of God’s people.  So went the story of Old Testament Jezebel.

Here in his letter, Jesus compares the false prophetess of Thyatira with that Old Testament icon of evil. But he is not simply here to make a comparison, or do some name-calling. He has given this woman time to repent, but she has refused, and so he will punish her with suffering, and those who follow her as well. He even threatens her children.

So often we think of sin as no big deal. Little white lies. Peccadillos. Foibles. Almost lovable, laughable character flaws. But Jesus does not. He takes sin very seriously and wants us to as well. He does not turn a blind eye to sin, and to unrepentance. Some of the harshest words of fire and brimstone in Scripture, and most of what we know of Hell, comes from the lips of Jesus Christ himself. He is very serious about sin.

And it's not just our own sins, but the sins of others he wants us to be concerned with. He accuses the Christians at Thyatira of tolerating this great sinner. Tolerance! A watchword of our age. Tolerance has become a sort of god itself, an ultimate value. I saw a bumper sticker once that said, “I tolerate everything, except certainty”. This kind of tolerance for sin is not Christian or Christ-like. He takes sin seriously, and so should we. Ours, and our neighbor's.

Then what of Jesus' teachings like, “let he who is without sin cast the first stone?” or, “take the log out of your own eye before you bother with the speck in your brother's”. Doesn't Jesus want us to leave other people alone, and let God be the judge? Well, yes, and no.

Jesus said to his disciples in John 20, “If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” What? There are times when we are to forgive, and times when we are to NOT forgive?

Ultimately, God is the judge of all. No one can see the faith of the heart. But God does call his church and her pastors to deal with sin and sinners. Not in haste or without care. Not with the goal of bringing down God's wrath, but instead with the goal of repentance.... and forgiveness. Just as God wants all to be saved, so do we. Just as God wants all to be forgiven, so do we. Just as Jesus died for the sins of the world, so do we want the world to believe and live.

If we are quick to pick up stones and go digging for eye-specks, we are not giving the time to repent that God would give. If we judge according to man-made standards, we fall under judgment ourselves. But if we carefully apply the word of God to sinners, and to ourselves, we will see the need for repentance. And we will see that all sin is not the same. Some is repentant. Some is not. Some is private, and truly known only by the sinner himself and God.  But some sins are public, and may scandalize the entire congregation, and so must be treated differently.

Some sins are those we lay at the foot of the cross, and beating our chests, beg for God to forgive us. And he does! This is the very point of our faith. That Jesus takes our sins away – and gives us his own righteousness. So seriously does he take sin, that he dies for us, to take it away. Sin is a big deal. But Jesus dying for our sins is a bigger deal.

But not all will receive it. Not all will repent. Like the prophetess of Thyatira, some sinners harden their hearts, dig in their heels, and hold on to their sins. Jesus doesn't ultimately tolerate this, nor does his faithful church. To the extent that we look the other way with such sin, we too must repent, turn around, and ask his forgiveness.

The beauty and the blessing of our faith, is that God is slow to anger, but quick to forgive. And so should we be. Take the parable from last Sunday’s Gospel reading, in which the gardener comes to the defense of the fruitless fig tree… “don’t cut it down just yet – let me apply some manure and give it another season to bear fruit…”  Jesus truly wants to find faith, and truly wants to forgive even the most wicked and unrepentant sinner. He is patient with sin, but not forever. He gives time to repent, but not without limit. He calls us to turn away from sin and turn to him and believe and live. And we do, by his grace, and in the power of His Spirit. Thanks be to God for such a gift.

And so does he charge his church, and her pastors, to deal with sinners. Patiently calling to repentance, applying law and Gospel faithfully. Always with the goal of forgiveness. Could Jesus, would Jesus have even forgiven that wicked Jezebel? Yes. Of course. After all, he forgives us.

So once again, Christian, repent. Turn in faith to Christ, and be forgiven, and live. And pray that all would do the same, and share in the salvation that is ours in Christ. Amen.