Blind and Naked Laodicea
The Emperor’s New Clothes: Hans Christian Andersen (1837)
Once upon a time there was an emperor. All he ever thought about was himself: how smart he was, and more importantly, how good he looked. Rather than improving healthcare, infrastructure or defence, he spent all his money and time on his wardrobe and trying to look intelligent.
One day a man arrived at the palace and told the emperor that he was a tailor and specialised in making fancy clothes. “Emperor, everyone knows you are the most intelligent man in all the realm. I have brought you some new clothes that accentuate your good looks and accompany your intelligence. These clothes are so superior, that only intelligent people can see them. Stupid people are blind to them.”
The emperor was so impressed, he thought, if I wear these clothes, I will be able to see who is truly intelligent and who is indelibly stupid. I’ll never have to guess again. It will be as plain as day.
After measuring the emperor, the tailor dressed him with the new clothes. But the emperor couldn’t see anything. The tailor reminded the emperor that only intelligent people could see them. They were invisible to stupid people.
The emperor called in three friends to confirm he was actually wearing clothes. Not wanting to look stupid, the friends agreed with the emperor and said he looked marvellous. The emperor was so happy, he decided to wear them for the big parade the next day.
The next morning, two servants came to dress the emperor. They couldn’t see the clothes either but didn’t want to look stupid, so went through the pantomime of dressing the king in his new wardrobe.
As he stood in his open carriage among his people, the music stopped, the crowd was silent, not wanting to look stupid, no one said anything until a child called out, “The Emperor’s not wearing any clothes.” A bit of snickering grew to a raucous laughter. The emperor could no longer deny he was naked, and the tailor laughed at how he had robbed the king of his money and stripped him of his majesty and dignity. His stupidity on display, plain as day.
The Letter
Today we are looking at the final letter written to the Churches in Revelation.
- So far we have been to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and today we are looking at Laodicea.
- Laodicea was strategically placed where 3 highways converged. During Roman times it was the wealthiest city in the area.
- Sheep grazed on fertile grounds in the region, producing glossy black wool which was in high demand throughout empire. Their agriculture prosperity, and medicinal advancements—healing sight and hearing aliments—also generated banking interests and great wealth.
- One of their prime weaknesses was they had no source of pure water, making them vulnerable to attack. The city had to pipe water in from their neighbours.
- Laodicea practiced emperor worship the large Jewish community succumbed and joined in to this practice.
- Laodicea, in short was very wealthy and self-sufficient, except for water.
Dear Laodicea
14 “To the angel of the Messianic Community in Laodicea, write: ‘Here is the message from the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the Ruler of God’s creation: Revelation 3:14-22
To open His letter, Christ identifies as both the origin and Lord of the universe. This is a huge intro. We could park here for a bit and unpack this piece by piece. But instead, we’ll jump over to Paul’s letter to the Colossians, where he gives a bit more meat to put on these bare bones. Paul wrote: Colossians 1:15-18 Complete Jewish Bible
15 He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, 16 because in connection with him were created all things — in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities — they have all been created through him and for him. 17 He existed before all things, and he holds everything together.
18 Also he is head of the Body, the Messianic Community — he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might hold first place in everything. Colossians 1:15-18
This is the One who is writing this letter. Before we go any further, let’s set the foundation. The supreme ruler and authority, of the universe, is addressing His Church.
So, what does the letter say?
A lot. None of which is good.
15 “I know what you are doing: you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth! 17 For you keep saying, ‘I am rich, I have gotten rich, I don’t need a thing!’ You don’t know that you are the one who is wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked! Revelation 3:14-22
The church’s spiritual health was in sharp contrast to the city’s material wealth. Laodicea was prosperous, produced world-famous eye balm to improve eyesight, and luxurious wool clothing. But the church was spiritually poor, wretched, blind and naked.
The ugly truth
They had become blinded by the world: ease of living, abundant wealth, beauty and extravagance of life had detracted the church’s focus from Christ. In their greed and desire to be like everyone else, they became blind to Jesus and his truth, they turned their backs on him and chased worldly wisdom, physical wealth and cultural prosperity.
Apathy
One of God’s earliest decrees was to be holy, like He is holy: To be set apart—different—in order to reveal the truth, glory and love of God. This is the role of the church. Every church.
However, being different is costly on many levels. Fitting in is the easier path to follow because there is no persecution or prejudice against those who look and behave like everyone else: our world celebrates and rewards, “sameness”.
The flow on effect from this slide into blandness was apathy in the church’s spiritual life. They not only didn’t care about being different, the Laodicean Christians actively chose to be different. Sharing the gospel, worshipping God, standing apart was hard work and led to suffering. Where’s the wisdom in that?
Lukewarm
Jesus accused them of being lukewarm-like the water piped into the city. Neither hot—useful for remedial purposes: soothing, going deep into the pains and aches, nor cold — refreshing, thirst-quenching, resuscitating.
Think for a moment of a time when you have been cold or aching all over. You sink into a steaming hot bath, only to find it is not hot. Or a time when you have been working in the yard or been on a run or a ride, you are so parched, thick saliva glues your mouth shut. You go to take a long drink of a cold water, and it is lukewarm. Lukewarm water in these situations is not just unsatisfactory, for me, it’s anger-inducing. I am desperate for relief and the temperature (or lack thereof) adds to my suffering and frustration.
The church in Laodicea was chasing the wrong gold. Worldly wealth was robbing them of eternal wealth. As they bought in to the cultural and worldly lies, they became more blind to the truth. The more they lost sight of Christ and who He is, the more they traded their royal robes for Satan’s transparent lies, leaving them naked, wretched and ill-equipped to serve their purpose as children of God: conduits of living water to a weary, thirsty world. John 7:38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Wisdom?
The more we allow other things to steel our focus, the further we step away from God’s truth and wisdom. But… the wisdom of God is foolishness to the world. 1 Corinthians 2:14 CJB
14 Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God — to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit.
Just like the emperor
The Christians in Laodicea were like the emperor in the fable, blind to the truth standing right in front of them. Like the emperor, they were chasing the wisdom of the world rather than God’s wisdom. They exchanged the riches of heaven for spiritual poverty. And just like the emperor in the fable, they exchanged their royal robes for Satan’s lie. In the end, they were left standing naked, poor, blind and ineffectual.
What could they do about it?
18 My advice to you is to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich; and white clothing, so that you may be dressed and not have to be ashamed of your nakedness; and eyesalve to rub on your eyes, so that you may see. Revelation 3:14-22
In all his authority and power and might and majesty, God is not heavy-handed. He is not commanding, demanding or overpowering. To begin with he is… counselling, “My advice you is to buy from me.”
Our God honours the gift of free will he’s given and invites his people to choose Him. And not only that, he invited them to trade with him.
What did they have to trade with the God of the universe? Nothing.
What was he offering in return? Everything.
He said, give me your sin, I will give you my righteousness. Give me your filth, and I will give you my purity. Give me your failings, your mortality, your brokenness, and I will, in exchange, give you my all.
The Exchange
How does this trade work?
19 As for me, I rebuke and discipline everyone I love; so exert yourselves, and turn from your sins! 20 Here, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If someone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me. 21 I will let him who wins the victory sit with me on my throne, just as I myself also won the victory and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Messianic communities.”’” Revelation 3:14-22
God disciplines those he loves and counsels his children in wisdom.
- Exert yourselves – look in the mirror, be open to being confronted by the truth
- Turn from sin – acknowledge a) our nakedness and wretchedness, b) our need God, c) our poor choices
- Let Him in – God is offering an all in trade. Life for a life – his for ours.
So What?
This letter was written 2000 years ago to a church that no longer exists. But we are studying these letters trying to discern what God is saying to us today. We want to know, as individual children of God and as a church, how we live in these rapidly changing times what are our Goals?
From this letter we learn, our goals are to see, hear and keep our focus on Jesus. To acknowledge the sovereignty, authority and right of our God to rule the church, the nations, and our lives. He is 14the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
Opposing paths
We are living in interesting times. Opinion of the church and Christians is ever decreasing. More than ever we are seen as stupid and blind for believing in, and relying on, a figment of our imagination. We are seen as irrelevant, judgemental, and narrow-minded. The world looks at us and sees the emperor in the middle of the crowd, a joke. Our stupidity on display, plain as day. And Satan laughs.
But what the world thinks is irrelevant. And this is the whole point. We are not to seek the world’s opinion, or its favour, or its endorsement. For when we concern ourselves with this, we lose focus on Christ. He is the one who matters: His opinion, favour and endorsement is relevant. What does He think? How does he see our efforts?
Blind spots
Unfortunately, we all have blind spots, and we all struggle with pride and are susceptible to losing focus. Thankfully, Scripture offers help through David, who wrote Psalm 139:23-24
23 Examine me, God, and know my heart; test me, and know my thoughts.
24 See if there is in me any hurtful way, and lead me along the eternal way. Psalm 139:23-24
God knows none of us are perfect. He is fully aware we all make mistakes and praise God, just like the Israelites who were vomited out of the Holy Land in the Exile, just like the Laodiceans who were spat out of God’s mouth, and just like David after his epic sins, we are offered a way back.
When we repent, we receive forgiveness. When we accept help, the Holy Spirit enables us to get back up and keep tracking along the narrow path. When we look, we see The Word is a lamp unto our feet revealing the way forward.
Tunnel vision
Tunnel vision on Jesus doesn’t limit us. On the contrary, when we focus on the the visible image of the invisible God. [the One who is] supreme over all creation, it widens, deepens and clarifies our perspective.
We have a choice: Pursue God’s foolishness or buy in to the world’s wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:25
25 For God’s “nonsense” is wiser than humanity’s “wisdom.” And God’s “weakness” is stronger than humanity’s “strength.” 1 Corinthians 1:25
When his focus was on himself and or the world, Peter sunk beneath the waves, cowered before a slave girl and denied knowing Jesus. With his narrowed, laser-like focus on Christ, he walked on water, stood up to the authorities, walked out of a guarded prison and stood up to a hostile city preaching a sermon converting over 3000 people.
Where we direct our focus will determine our outcomes, our effectiveness and, most importantly, our relationship with the Living God. And as always, the choice is ours.
