Sardis - The Challenge of Purpose

If you’re a distance swimmer, it’s not easy to swim in the fog. Florence Chadwick found that out on July 4, 1952. Florence Chadwick was a world famous long-distance swimmer. She had become the first woman ever to swim the English Channel in both directions. Now her goal was to become the first woman to swim across the 30 mile San Pedro Channel that separates Catalina Island from the coast of California.

On that Fourth of July day in 1952, the Pacific Ocean was like an ice bath, and the fog was so dense that she could hardly see her support boats. Occasionally, a shark would cruise toward her, and had to be driven away by rifle shots. After sixteen hours of swimming, Florence’s body was numb and she was exhausted.

From the boat next to her, her mother and her trainer offered encouragement. They told her that it wasn’t much farther. But all she could see was the fog. They urged her not to quit, and she never had… until that day. With only half a mile to go, Florence begged them to pull her out. She was utterly exhausted and chilled to the bone.

Several hours later, still wrapped in blankets, she told a reporter: “I don’t want to make excuses, but if I could have just seen the shore, I might have made it.” It wasn’t fatigue or even the icy water that defeated Florence Chadwick—it was the fog. She couldn’t see her goal.

There are many churches that are swimming in the fog. They’re not really sure why they exist or what their purpose is. They are just going through the motions. They may have lots of activities and programs, but there’s no real sense of direction. They’re swimming, but they don’t seem to be able to see their destination.

There was a church like that in the Bible. Turn to Rev. 3.

We have been looking at 7 local churches which are described for us in the first 3 chapters of the book of Revelation. Even though these churches existed almost 2,000 years ago, we have found that they were wrestling with issues which local churches still face today.

• Ephesus - love

• Smyrna - opposition

• Pergamum - values

• Thyatira - leadership

• Sardis - purpose

In order to understand the church at Sardis better, we need to know a little bit about the city. Sardis was a city which had seen its best days. In many ways, history had passed it by. Six hundred years earlier, Sardis had been the great capital of the Lydian empire, ruled over by King whose name was Croesus—a man of such legendary wealth that he became the basis for the story of King Midas, the man with the golden touch.

The city was built on a lofty plateau, 1,500 feet above the valley of the Hermus River. It was built like a citadel, with steep rock walls. Over the years, as the city grew larger, it spilled down the slope to the valley below, so you had an upper town and a lower town, much like modern-day Quebec City. But the citadel on the plateau was regarded to be impregnable—invulnerable to any kind of enemy assault.

Sardis was at its height in 549 BC when King Croesus found himself at war with the Persians who were led by King Cyrus—the same Cyrus we read about in the OT. Cyrus and his forces had chased Croesus all the way back to the gates of Sardis and were now besieging the city. The Sardians were quite confident that they were safe in their great citadel on the plateau—so confident, in fact, that they failed to post watchmen on every section of the wall.

Imagine their shock when the Persians found a crevasse in the cliff, followed it up and under the undefended walls and into the city. And so it was that the most powerful, wealthy, and prestigious city in the world was overthrown because of overconfidence.

Sardis never again reached that level of greatness. By the time of the NT, the city was long past its prime. It had a great past, and a great reputation, but it was resting on its laurels, and was no longer really a prominent place.

And oddly enough, the church that was located in Sardis in the 1st century AD had much in common with the city itself. This church, like the city, was past its prime. It had a big reputation, but it had lost its impact. Let’s see what the Lord has to say to the church, in Rev. 3:1-6…

To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Jesus begins by reminding them of who He is: He is the one who holds the seven spirits of God (or, perhaps a better translation, the “sevenfold spirit of God”). The number seven is the number of perfection, or completeness in the Bible, and this is simply a way of saying that the Spirit of God is fully present in each church through the ministry of Christ.

And he holds the seven stars—remember in Revelation ch. 1, we saw that the seven stars represent the seven angels, or “messengers” of the seven churches. Christ is holding each church in his right hand.

So Jesus has a right, he has the authority, to say the things he is going to say to the church at Sardis. He is the Lord of the church.

And on that basis, he reviews their performance as a church…

I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Their reputation was greater than their reality.

When we lived in Pennsylvania, we lived in the Lehigh Valley, which is just south of the Pocono Mountains. At one time, the Poconos were one of the most prestigious resort destinations in the Northeast United States. The area was especially marketed as a prime spot for honeymooners. In fact, when Carolyn and I got married (which seems like just yesterday), I still remember the brochures advertizing the heart shaped bath tubs, the cozy honeymoon suites, and the candlelight champagne dinners.

Well, when we moved to Pennsylvania, we decided to take a couple of days here and there to try out some of these honeymoon spots. But we found that many of them were pretty much “down at the heels”. The paint was peeling, the carpets were threadbare, and there were cracks in the jacuzzi tiles.

But the brochures at the front desk still looked just as good as they did 23 years ago when we got married. They were resting on their laurels; their reputation was greater than their reality. The same was true of this church at Sardis.

Evidently, at one time this church must have been a dynamic church; they must have been doing great things for God. They must have started out on the right foot because, as you look at verse 3, they had heard and responded to the Gospel.

But those days of greatness and productivity and fruitfulness were gone. Now, they were just going through the motions. There was no impact, there was no spiritual life, there was no effectiveness to this church. Why not? The answer is in verse 2…

I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.

The word “complete” there means imperfect; inadequate. They weren’t reaching the goal.

There were deeds, there was activity—the church probably had a full slate of programs—but that activity was not accomplishing what God wanted them to accomplish. This church had stopped doing what churches are supposed to do. They had lost their purpose.

How often this is true of the church today. We have programs and events and we go through all the motions of ministry, but do we really accomplish much of lasting value for the Lord?

William Barclay said that a church “is in danger of death when it begins to worship its own past…when it is more concerned with forms than with life…when it loves systems more than it loves Jesus Christ…when it is more concerned with material things than with spiritual things.”

Jesus said that the remedy is to WAKE UP! A better translation is to “be watchful”. Remember how the city of Sardis fell? It was because they hadn’t been watchful. They weren’t paying attention.

Verse 3 says: Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.

Remember, obey, repent. Remember the message of the Gospel. Obey the teaching of the Gospel, and all of the implications that has for what a church ought to be doing. And repent of this empty, purposeless activity.

Jesus says: if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

Jesus will come in judgment, and before you know it, the church’s candlestick will be removed. Did you know that in North America today, 80% of all evangelical churches are plateaued or are declining? More churches are closing than are opening.

Here’s a pop quiz for you: True or False? It is easier to be a member of a church that is declining than to be a member of a church that is growing. True

• A growing church takes us outside our “comfort zone”. (leaders, people have more challenges to face, more problems to solve, more praying to do)

• A growing church challenges us to trust God more, to give more, to work harder

• A growing church requires more of its members than a static church does

• A growing church is a changing church; change means loss; loss means pain.

So if you want to feel comfortable all the time, don’t join a growing church—join a static one, or a declining one.

Now all was not lost at the church at Sardis—Jesus says that there were a few people there who had not “soiled their clothes” (v. 4). You know what that tells me? That tells me that when I become complacent as a Christian, I become a dirty Christian in the eyes of the Lord. I soil my clothes, just like a baby soils its diaper and needs to be changed.

But Jesus says “If you overcome this temptation to be complacent and self-satisfied, you’ll walk with me, you’ll be dressed in white, and I’ll never blot out your name from the book of life, but I’ll acknowledge you before my Father and his angels.”

These are the kind of Christians Jesus wants in heaven! Purposeful, productive Christians.

Well, what does all that have to do with us today at EBC? What is the relevance of this teaching?

We had better make sure that we understand our purpose as a church. And we had better make sure that our program reflects that purpose.

Q. What is the purpose of the church?

A. It is found in Acts. 2:42ff

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

This is a template or a model of an effective church. And if you look carefully at that passage you will notice that there are four areas of ministry happening in that church. This gives us the blueprint for the fourfold purpose of the church…

1. Worship - they celebrated the Lord’s Table together (the breaking of bread - v.42). They prayed together. They were filled with awe—there was a sense of the Lord’s presence in their midst. Miracles were happening. And they praised God together. That’s worship.

3. Teaching - it says “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”. What did the apostles teach them? They taught them about Jesus—what he said, what he did, how he died on the cross, how he rose from the dead. That teaching of the apostles came to form the basis of the New Testament Scriptures. And the apostles also taught them how Jesus was Israel’s Messiah; how he fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. So they integrated their understanding of the OT with the NT truth about Jesus. They were learning the whole counsel of God.

5. Fellowship - they devoted themselves to fellowship. And that fellowship—that communal spirit—took many forms. They met together every day in the Temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts. They were together and had everything in common. If anyone had a need, the others would share their resources and meet that person’s need. So there was a spirit of practical fellowship and love in that early church.

7. Outreach - the number of believers didn’t stay static. The church grew. It says in verse 47 that “the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” And that was happening because the church was attractive—it was making a favorable impression upon the community. People knew about these Christians and thought well of them. It says in verse 47 that they enjoyed the favor of all the people. They were building a positive image in the community at large.

So the Lord is telling us here that a healthy, productive church is going to have these four components: worship, teaching, fellowship, and outreach. This is our purpose—our raison d’etre—our reason for being a local church.

And it’s all four—not just one of the four. Some churches get out of balance in that they put all their emphasis into teaching. Or everything into fellowship. Or everything into worship or evangelism. But the Lord gives us a picture of balance here. All four purposes are vital.

This means that every single program of a healthy local church is going to reflect one of these four purposes: worship, teaching, fellowship, or outreach. If there is a program in the local church that doesn’t directly tie in to one of those purposes, then that program shouldn’t exist!

Furthermore, every program needs to be regularly evaluated as to how well it is contributing to the fulfilment of the purpose of the local church. You see, the problem we often run into in the local church is that programs outlive their effectiveness, but we have no graceful way of shutting them down. Someone has said that if the horse is dead—dismount!

Henry Ford was a genius. He introduced the Model T in 1908, and it became one of the most successful cars in history. Ford sold 15 million Model T’s. But did you know that the Model T came within a whisker of putting the Ford Motor Company out of business? It happened because Henry Ford refused to change the Model T for almost twenty years.

As other car makers were improving and changing their models, Ford kept building Model T’s until 1927, when it was finally discontinued. But during that time, Ford’s share of the automobile market dropped steadily from over 50% in 1908 to just 28% in 1927, and the company almost went bankrupt in the 1930’s. All because of a great car that outlived its effectiveness.

A growing, healthy, purposeful church is going to be a place where programs and ministries are constantly changing—to keep up with changing times and changing needs, and to address new opportunities.

But every program and every change has to be justifiable in that it helps us do a better job of achieving one of our four purposes as a church: worship, teaching, fellowship, and outreach.

The church at Sardis had lost their effectiveness because they had lost sight of their purpose. Theyhad stopped paying attention to why they existed as a church. So they were just going through the motions.

God forbid that that should happen here!