Your First Love: Revelation 1:9--2:7 - Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Every now and then, I will go on Google and read all of the reviews that people leave about our church. As of today, we have a 4.7-star overall rating! But a few years back, somebody left a one-star review. I didn't know who the person was, and they didn't leave any explanation as to why they rated our church so poorly. So, I really wasn't sure what to make of it.

Oftentimes, criticism can be very helpful. It's how you grow it's how you improve.

If somebody was hurt, and you take the time to hear them out, and you make the effort to make it right, you can earn their trust and respect. On the other hand, there are people whom you can never satisfy, no matter how hard you try. And there are people who just enjoy being mean. 

The book of Revelation begins with seven letters to seven churches. Each letter provides affirmations and admonishments for each one.

photo credit: churchart.com

Any time I read these, I always stop and ask, what would John of Patmos or Jesus have to say about our church?

I’m sure we would receive praise. We have a lot to be thankful for here. 

But what are our hidden faults and our failings? Are there truths about how we are living as people of God that we do not recognize or refuse to acknowledge? Would we receive his judgments with gratitude, or would we get defensive or beat ourselves up over it?

John praises the church at Ephesus for its good works, its toil, and its patient endurance. They have been careful to guard against false teachings and false teachers, and they are persevering despite living among people who didn’t like having them as neighbors. 

Ephesus was a prosperous port city located in modern day Turkey. It was home to a magnificent temple dedicated to Artemis, the goddess of fertility and childbirth. This temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. People came from all around to worship her, offer sacrifices, and purchase idols made in her image. This made Artemis was a major driver of the local economy. The presence of Christians within the city was bad for business. People were afraid that if Christians became too numerous and powerful, then Artemis was going to deny them her blessings.

But the Christians there kept the faith. Yet, John writes that they had “forgotten their first love.” They weren’t disobedient or even uncharitable. The problem was that their spiritual lives had grown cold. Their church had begun to function as an institution rather than as a living, growing body. Their eagerness to do things was not balanced by an eagerness to pray, to worship, and enrich their faith. 

This is something I feel our church, and many like ours, have in common with the church at Ephesus. We are very effective at getting things done. When there’s a need, we meet it. We work hard. We give generously. We love God’s people. 

But I’m not sure that we are as eager to worship as we are to work. That our zeal for prayer and bible study matches our zeal for outreach. 

Make no mistake, our work is worship. You will grow in faith as you God’s work. Faith without works is dead, but faith that is only works cannot go on forever. This reminds me of people who work so hard that they refuse to take breaks even to eat and drink. That’s not a mark of faithfulness in the Kingdom of God. You must drink from the well of grace and eat the bread of life. The Christian cannot be faithful without prayer.  A disciple cannot follow Jesus without knowing his word. 

“Remember the Sabbath Day” is a commandment, not a suggestion! 

John recognized that the faith of the Ephesians could not be sustained by their works alone. The pressures, the frustrations, the dangers of discipleship were eventually going to get the best of them. That’s why he calls them back to their first love. Not just a working faith, but a living faith. 

We’ve mastered the art of practicing our faith with our hands and feet. Where we must grow is in practicing our faith while sitting still. We’re good at working with each other, now it’s time to speak, to listen, and to learn from each other. We’re good at praying privately. Now, let’s pray publicly with each other. Instead of being intimidated by the bible, let’s get excited about learning the bible. Instead of being private with our faith, let us speak openly about what God is doing in our lives. Instead of hiding our pain behind our smiles, let us bear one another’s burdens so that we can heal together. Let us eat and break bread together and feed not just our bodies but also our souls. 

And finally, let us never be too proud to receive a rebuke from the Lord. God disciplines those he loves. That’s how we grow. God rebukes us not he is against us, but because God is for us. 

Yes, they will know that we are Christians by our love, but we are Christians because of who we love: the one who loved us first and gave his life for us, Jesus Christ. We’re not just here to serve Jesus. We are here to love Jesus.

I, John, your brother who share with you the persecution and the kingdom and the endurance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet ¹¹ saying, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

¹² Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. ¹⁴ His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire; ¹⁵ his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters.¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last ¹⁸ and the Living One. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever, and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. ¹⁹ Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this. ²⁰ As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands:

² “I know your works, your toil and your endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them to be false. ³ I also know that you are enduring and bearing up for the sake of my name and that you have not grown weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. ⁵ Remember, then, from where you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. ⁶ Yet this is to your credit: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷ Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God. (NRSV)