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When is the last time you met friends at your favorite coffee shop for a much-awaited conversation? You ordered your favorite steaming hot flavored drink, picked it up when it was ready, joined your friends and took that first anticipated sip only to find it room temperature. Yuck! How disappointing! That’s how we might be to Jesus—lukewarm, bringing no more pleasure to him than lukewarm coffee at a cafe. Rather than remain of little worth to our Lord, he invites us to welcome him into our lives wherever we currently shut him out. This weekend we’ll hear the invitation of Jesus to open the door to him in repentance and fully welcome him in our lives.

 

Prayer of Confession [at the close of the sermon after time for personal repentance for all who are prepared to pray]:

Lord, we’ve been lukewarm toward you and the things of your kingdom. We’ve kept you at arm’s length, shut out of parts of our lives. Instead of relying on you, we’ve been self-sufficient. Instead of being humble, we’ve been full of pride. We don’t want to shut you out anymore. Forgive us for refusing you entry. Please come and fellowship fully with us once again. We pray this in the name of the one who stands and knocks. Amen.

Assurance of Forgiveness [to follow the prayer of confession on a separate slide]:

Forgiveness comes from the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. The Lord promises to richly bless those who repent. When we open our hearts to Jesus where we have closed him off, he comes and fellowships fully with us once again. We thank, you, God, for the victory that is our in Christ Jesus! Amen!

Connect to the wonder of this text planned months ago for this Sunday, the Sunday after our Senior Pastor read his resignation to us which included words of confession and repentance!

Children’s message: The five most important words, three, two, one. “I’m sorry” among them?

At end, invite people to stay in the room as long as they like, gathering with whomever they like, sit, stand, kneel, lid down for whatever time of repentance you need.

Postcards with the prayer of confession and assurance of pardon available at the doors.

Can we keep the prayer/affirmation slides up and “running”/changing every thirty seconds or so for about five minutes following worship for those who wish to stay and pray?

Welcome:

Use a scriptural call to worship.

Children’s Message:

The words we say. Start with “I” and work to the six most important words in the world.

The Most Important Words

The six most important words in the world: I ADMIT I MADE A MISTAKE

The five most important words in the word: YOU DID A GOOD JOB

The four most important words in the word: WHAT IS YOUR OPINION?

The three most important words in the word: IF YOU PLEASE

The two most important words in the word: THANK YOU

The most important word in the word: WE

The least important word in the word: I

Author unknown

It has been quite a week. Last weekend in this worship service and in all our other weekend services, our founding pastor Glenn McDonald announced his resignation. He did so with words of confession, gratitude and hope. Since then, we have found ourselves wondering what this means. There is more time to come between now and the congregational meeting on December 1st when we will have an opportunity to hear from Glenn, to do our best to clarify our questions and concerns and to vote on whether or not to receive his resignation. I pray, and I hope you pray, that God will fulfill his purposes in us that evening and in every single moment between now and then.

While we focus so much attention on our church life, we do not forget that we are called to represent Christ in our schools, workplaces, neighborhoods, families and homes. We are still being shaped more and more into the likeness of Christ. Our calling is to live in absolute obedience to our rabbi Jesus. He assured his first followers that living his way was light and easy. He also promised them living his way would be immensely challenging.

In September the preaching plan for the rest of 2009 was mapped out. We already had plans to finish our church wide study “The Life You’ve Always Wanted” that focused on spiritual practices to help us grow as disciples. We looked ahead to the Christmas season, to Advent, and planned a series called “The Journey.” We’ll start that series next weekend. The focus will be on people of the bible as they prepare for the birth of Jesus which will help us focus on how we prepare for our celebration of Jesus’ birth. We also planned this “Open Door” series about a few key moments when God’s people were invited to walk into a life of greater faithfulness. Sharon Azbell showed us the open door to being equipped in order to grow to maturity in Christ. Stafford Walker helped us hear the call to be strong and courageous in the face of fearful odds. Scott Shelton, just two weeks ago, assured us that we can face the greatest of challenges with faith and determination.

This morning we come to the last of the texts chosen those several months ago for this series. And this text describes not an open door but a closed one.

When my dad wrote letters to me, I always paid attention. In fact, since he was a Marine Colonel, I paid attention at attention. After one of his visits when our boys were small, I received one of his letters. It was with warmth and love that I opened the letter and began to read his gracious words of thanks for our hospitality. And, then he took a different track. He wrote, “I believe you are being too harsh with your sons.” And I was confused, a little hurt, definitely taken back and challenged by his words. I knew my dad loved me deeply. I decided to consider his words carefully for my sake, for my sons’ sakes and for God’s sake. I came to believe that he was right, and I am forever grateful for his loving rebuke.

Today we read a letter from the crucified, resurrected and ascended Jesus to the church at Laodicea. The people of Laodicea most likely first heard about Jesus during the time the Apostle Paul lived in Ephesus. In Acts 19 we find that he taught there about Jesus first in the synagogue and then in a lecture hall. The record shows that “This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province . . . heard the word of the Lord.” On this map you’ll see the province of Asia on the northeast coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Ephesus sits just on the coast on the west side of the province. To the east is Laodicea. I believe we can reasonably assume the gospel came to the citizens of that city in about 47 AD.

Here’s what Laodicea looks like today. But in Paul’s day, Laodicea was a bustling metropolis. It was the wealthiest city in the province. Major trade routes intersected here. So its prosperity is due in large part, just as in our own time, to location, location, location. It was a banking center. A key product commercially was glossy black wool used to make clothing and carpets. This black wool was the rage everywhere. The city also had a medical school. One of its chief specialties was treatment for eye problems. They marketed collyrium made out of what was called Phrygian Powder. It was a much touted salve for many optic ailments. An earthquake rocked the region in 60 AD. By that time, the Laodiceans had so much wealth that, unlike their neighboring cities, they were able to finance the work to rebuild their city without any relief money from Rome.

The only drawback to life in Laodicea was that it did not have a source of good water. Six miles to the north was Heirpolis which built its success around its hot springs. Colossae was ten miles to the east and they had cold water springs. Laodicea had nothing. So, aqueducts were built to pipe in water for all their daily needs. But the water was lukewarm, high in soda content and more than a little disgusting.

That’s what we know about Laodicea. Her citizens were amazingly prosperous. Some of them were followers of Jesus.

Now let me read this letter to the Laodiceans. I invite you to open your bibles to Revelation chapter three. Revelation is the capstone to all of God’s written word. It is an amazing vision that portrays how the whole story of creation ends. Right up front are seven messages to churches in the region. Our text is the last of the seven letters. I’ll start reading at verse fourteen. Remember, this is God’s holy word.

READ REVELATION 3:14-22.

Chapter one of Revelation tells us the author of these letters is “the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” He declares, “I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” In our text he identifies himself in verse fourteen as “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.” He is the final word of affirmation, the one who doesn’t get anything wrong and who knows the truth about everything and everyone. He gives the exact, correct testimony about God and God’s creation because he reigns over it all. There is no mistaking who this is. He is Jesus. And when the one who promises and fulfills his promises speaks we better pay attention.

Jesus has nothing good to say about the Laodicean church. Nothing. They have closed the door to their master. In verse sixteen, He tells them they are just like the water they drink everyday. They are utterly distasteful to him. If they were hot they would be of great worth just like the hot waters of Heiropolis to the north. If they were cold it would be the same, just like the cold waters of Colossae to the east. But they are like their water, brackish and calcified. He warns them that he is preparing to put them away from himself like a man who spits out a mouthful of distasteful water.

What does he have against them? They are self-sufficient. Look at verse seventeen. Their actions, words, thoughts and attitudes continuously affirm they are their own sufficiency. They have worked for wealth and attained it. They’ve got it all or at least think they do. But this message Jesus brings is about their spiritual reality, not their physical circumstances. This is about their hearts and minds and souls, because he himself is witness to the reality that while they think they are just fine in their walk with Jesus, they are actually wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. They think they are something but they are not.

Now, while you may be quick to nod your head and think, “I sure know churches and followers of Jesus who are just like this,” let me ask you to just think of yourself this morning. The place to begin is you. Perhaps you are, as Peterson paraphrases, “oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.” This letter says that Jesus wants me to recognize my tendency to self-sufficiency. He wants me to stop fooling myself and others and Jesus. While self wants to hold on desperately, ignorantly, Jesus wants something far different. So do I. Wherever I or you or we hold Jesus at arm’s length, wherever we wallow still in self-sufficiency, we have closed the door and shut Jesus out. Don’t we want to enter the fullness of all of Jesus? Don’t we long for all of Christ’s blessing? Why would we want to be in charge of any part of our lives for one minute more when we have so much to gain?

What are we to do? In verse eighteen we have what some of you will claim as a new life verse. Jesus says the solution to all of life is to go shopping! We’re told the specific store to find what we really need. It is the Jesus store. To get in the door of this store we need to acknowledge we have been wrong. We have to come to grips with the truth, that parts of our behavior, words, thoughts and attitudes make God want to spit us out. As we own up to that, we are then ready to shop at Jesus’ store where he gives us all that is true and honorable and good and lovely. This is described in beautifully fitting word pictures for the Laodiceans: the purest gold, the best clothes and clarity of sight. When we still rely on self we are spiritually bankrupt. When we rely on what Jesus gives we are spiritually whole.

And so, Jesus rebukes us. Why? Because he loves us. Because he loves us he goes on to say, he disciplines us. This means he uses whatever it takes to teach us to live the Jesus way. This is precisely why he includes such strong rebuke for the Laodicians. He rebukes because he cares.

Under such rebuke, we are to earnestly repent. Through the years I have defined repent as a turning back, turning one hundred eighty degrees in the other direction. But, in the last couple of years a friend pointed out something significant about this word. He referred me to a parable of Jesus that he believes illustrates what repentance really is. The parable is the story Jesus tells about a sheep that wanders off. Bless its little sheep heart, it is the epitome of self-sufficiency. The story is told in Matthew 18. We most often think of this story as an evangelistic story. But, it is a story of a sheep that wanders off from the rest of the flock that already belongs to the shepherd. This sheep belongs to Jesus but lives its own way.

If you remember that story, what does the wandering sheep do? It allows its master to pick it up. It doesn’t turn. It doesn’t come running. It just yields. Listen to sheep Job: “Now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (42:6). Listen to God’s instructions to sheep Israel: “If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me.” What is required? The requirement is to yield, to surrender and allow Jesus his way with us.

I had the privilege of spending a couple of weeks studying in London some years ago. When there was free time I wandered the city visiting various historic spots, museums and cultural attractions. It was a great experience. One day I rode the tube to the Blackfriars station and walked to St. Paul’s Cathedral. While making my way through that magnificent, awe inspiring place of worship, I was startled to come to this painting, Hunt’s “The Light of the World”. Symbolism abounds in this depiction. Crowned with thorns, nail prints in his hands, this is obviously the crucified, risen and ascended Jesus. He stands and knocks. He can’t open the door since there is no latch on his side. The door can only be opened from the inside, our side.

READ v. 20

What a magnificent promise to a church, to us, who have been so very self-sufficient! All we have to do is recognize where self still reigns. Then, with earnestness and repentance we are to open the door to yield to the way of Jesus. And he gladly comes in and eats with us in the close communion and wonder of a long, wonderful meal, face to face, sharing, eating, drinking, talking, listening, caring, shaping, changing, giving us pure spiritual riches, clothes and sight. When we open the door to wherever we have shut him out, he graces us with his presence. What a beautiful, beautiful promise.

If I may, I’d like to point out one other detail in Hunt’s painting. The lighting suggests that it is evening. We might detect a certain weariness on the face of Jesus. If you could see this painting clearly as I did in St. Paul’s, you would see Jesus’ feet. They are turned sideways depicting that Jesus is about to leave. For a follower of Jesus this could never be an eternal leaving. But, is a powerful statement of the power of the moment. When Jesus knocks, we ought to pay attention.

Where are the closed doors in your life? Where are you living your way still? Where are you, for all your appearance, quite lukewarm? Jesus is knocking. Won’t you be earnest and repent? Won’t you yield and open the door? Won’t you let him in?

I’m going to give us several minutes to talk with God about the ways our lives don’t match up with the way of Jesus. You can stay in your seat, you can kneel, you can come out into an aisle or up here to the front of the room. This is our time to repent.

INVITATION TO CORPORATE PRAYER—INVITE EVERYONE TO READ THE PRAYER FIRST AND JOIN IN PRAYING IT ONLY IF YOU ARE READY.

INVITE TO DO THE SAME WITH THE ASSURANCE OF PARDON AND THEN READ.

INVITE PEOPLE TO STAY AS LONG AS THEY WISH. PEOPLE ARE FREE TO LEAVE WHENEVER THEY ARE READY.

THE PRAYERS WE’VE SAID TOGETHER ARE AVAILABLE ON CARDS OUTSIDE THE MAIN DOORS IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO TAKE ONE WITH YOU.

BLESSING