“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

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“The words of the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.” The words of the faithful and true witness… The Son of God. The One who witnesses about His Father’s kind and loving heart and about His gracious works.

The Faithful Witness of God the Father. Remember Jesus’ words? “Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father.” And, whoever listens to me, listens to the One who sent me. In Jesus, the Faithful Witness, we hear and see the Father.

But then, before ascending back to the Father, Jesus appointed the Church, His body to continue His work, to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. So that when someone sees us, they can see the kind heart of God the Father, and when someone hears us, they can hear the gracious and life-giving message of Jesus.  

What kind of witnesses are we? Faithful and true? When someone looks at us, do they see the caring heart of God the Father in our actions? When someone hears us, do they hear the Good News of God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ in our words? How well do we witness about our Triune God?

Christians in Laodicea had failed their Risen Lord. The words that the Faithful Witness, the beginning of God’s New Creation speaks to them feel like an ice-cold shower. Like rejection. Like painful shaming. This letter is like Paul’s letter to Galatians. No pleasantries. Straight to the rebuke.

“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” What is the Risen Lord saying?Neighboring cities of Laodicea were known for the quality of their water. Hierapolis for its hot springs and the healing quality of their water. Colossae for its cold, refreshing and life-giving water. Meanwhile Laodicea – for its lukewarm water, no good for anything.

This is harsh. Jesus compares Christians in Laodicea with such water which is really good for nothing. Their witness wasn’t good for healing and restoration, neither was it good for refreshment nor can it give new life. Useless witnesses.

What is worse, that was not how they saw themselves. “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” How different are those two depictions! What Christians in Laodicea thought about themselves, and how the Lord of the Church describes them.

Unfortunately, this is what often happens. When we are distracted from what really matters, and when our attention is mostly focused on the external things of this life. We may make this connection; people tend to do that. If I am well off materially, if I am successful, I must be wise and insightful, and I must be rich spiritually as well.

When coveting and running after the things of this world consume us, when we neglect to seek for the Kingdom of God first, when we neglect our mission to be Christ’s witnesses, we don’t realize how miserable we are in Christ’s eyes.

Eye doesn’t see itself. Neither do we see our spiritual state. We can’t on our own. We are not neutral observers of our lives. We live our lives. We need someone from outside to give us an objective assessment. The Faithful and True Witness.

For He is the Truth. And He is also Love and Life. All of these speak to us: “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.”

This invitation is like that from Isaiah. “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” [Is 55:1-2]

Come, the Risen Lord invites you: “Come and I will give you divine treasures that will make you truly rich, that will cover your shame, that will open your eyes to see the truth, that will quench your thirst and satisfy your hunger for good things. Come and I will give you spiritual food that nourishes you for life eternal, come and listen to me, feast with me, walk with me!”  

“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” The harsh tone and the accusations that we have fallen short to live, to serve, to witness according to God’s expectation may cut us to the heart. Especially when we realize that none of us can be found innocent. We all have failed. We all have been lukewarm; we all deserve the rebuke and … even much worse.

And that is good if these words cut us to the heart. Because it is the loving Lord who reproves and disciplines. He doesn’t do it from a distance, from the heights of His heavens. He has come to you, and He knocks at the door of your heart. He is right where you are. He asks you to let Him in. He wants to be with you. He wants to dwell with you and have fellowship with you.

This is where you can see the kind and caring heart of the Faithful Witness Jesus Christ. He may be disappointed, even angry at us and deservedly so. But He doesn’t give up on us. He mourns for those who are useless, lukewarm witnesses. But He doesn’t leave us there.

He comes, He knocks, His harsh words awaken us, He keeps calling us back to Himself. “Repent and be zealous witnesses!” This is the Risen Lord speaking, the beginning of the New Creation. He is the One who speaks and as He speaks, He creates a new reality. Now He speaks to us.

His words cut us to the heart, for we have failed Him, and as He continues speaking His words bind up our wounds and fill us with new life. “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

Don’t get upset by His rebuke! Be grateful to be pulled out from your spiritual indifference. Rejoice for this is your loving and faithful God speaking to you. Once He has gotten your attention, He reveals His motivation – why He was so harsh.

When you conquer, with the help of the Lord, He will grant you sit with Him on His throne and reign with Him. As the Father sent Jesus to be His witness, Jesus sent us to be His. As Jesus conquered in the power of the Holy Spirit and sat down with His Father on His throne, so He will help you to conquer, sending His Spirit to be with you, so that when the last day comes, you too can sit with Him.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” It’s good to receive letters from the Risen Lord. It is even better to know what His loving motivation is, and it is so comforting to know that even when we fail Him and let Him down, He stands with us, He fights for us, and with Him our victory is assured. 

May He help us to be as zealous witnesses of Him as He is zealous for our salvation! 

Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! 

Amen.