Letters to the Churches of Asia Minor, Part 1

In his Revelation, Jesus has a personal message to the seven churches of Asia Minor.

The content of those short but succinct letters makes good sermon material. But better than just sermonizing, each of those letters is important to the individual as well as the church body.

The first letter is to the church in Ephesus. Revelation 7:1-11…

There are lots of good commendations in this one. Jesus acknowledges their history of hard work and good deeds. He commends their refusal to tolerate wicked behavior. He praises them for their perseverance in the face of persecution. And when life called for weariness, they refused to succumb.

Who wouldn’t want to be a part of a church like that?

And yet in spite of and maybe to some extent because of all their good qualities, Jesus had a problem with them.

Revelation 2:4, Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.

A lot of ink has been spilled in the centuries since by people who wanted to know exactly what Jesus meant. One fairly prominent theory strongly suggests that these church members had allowed their love for each other to be corrupted. And, that’s as good a conjecture as any other.

But, in the issue of fairness, let me make a different suggestion.

Could it be that in their zeal for good works, in their pursuit of good deeds, in their drive to be free from wicked people, and even in their determination to persevere, that somehow their focus or their reason for being slipped away from Jesus? Could their motivation have undergone a slight or major shift that made their work more about them than it was about their Lord?

If that were the case, I can guarantee–because of human nature–that the wrong motive in doing what they did would have eventually caused them to love each other less–to somehow treat each other in a caviler or outright ugly fashion.

As individuals–as a church family, it behooves us to consider not only what we do, but why we do it.

It might just be that we–at Orange Grove-and at churches all across our land–need to remember our first love…

Revelation 2:5, Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

May God grant us a church family whose light never goes dim!

Les, Jr.

Cattle Call Boarding?

The news today has a story about Southwest airlines. If you have never flown Southwest, they have a practice of not assigning seats to passengers. So when it is time to board, people line up in long lines for the opportunity to get on first and get the seat they desire.

Over the past several months, I have flown Southwest a bunch. I actually like the airline and on a couple of flights I was able to get on and get a seat in the very front of the passenger cabin. Leg room galore! And whatever it takes, please oh please let me sit on an aisle seat!

The key to the good seats is getting in line early, sometimes thirty to forty-five minutes before the scheduled boarding time. In the fast food I-want-it-now-and-deserve-it-sooner culture that we live in, a thirty minute wait can seem like a very long time.

However, when it comes to personal comfort, most of us are willing to sacrifice our time and anything else necessary to feel good.

I can’t help but wonder in my little preacher mind if there is not some theological significance to what we will sacrifice to get a good seat on a plane contrasted with how little we are willing to sacrifice for the cause of Christ…

Around my neck of the woods, we can’t get folks to line up early enough to get a good seat on Sunday morning–much less be on time about it.

The $100,000 question: Why is fellowship and service such a chore?

Maybe if we had real relationships with God and each other… maybe…

Les, Jr.

Waiting on the Spirit!

In Luke 7:11-23, John the Baptist wondered if Jesus was really the One.

In time, many of the other disciples would wonder also.

Locked up in prison we can easily forgive the doubting of John, but what about the disciples, are they such sympathetic figures also?

They were certainly witnesses.

In miracle after miracle: the lame did walk, the blind did see, the dead did come back to life-they saw it and in some cases were also empowered to make it happen.

But you’ll forgive them the shock and the shame of the crucifixion. Jesus warned them time and time again they he was destined for pain and heartache-and for whatever reason they could not see it until it was upon them.

You’ll forgive them as well for the confusion and the uncertainty when confronted with the Risen Savior.

For a time, their lives were certainly a wild roller coaster of physical feelings and emotional strain. You may imagine that what faith remained was stretched far beyond any normal credibility.

And then came the promise, the job description, the ascension, and finally the wait.

Acts 1:4-11…

After that, there was prayer. Acts 1:12-14…

We of course know the rest of the story. We know that the Spirit came upon them with power in Acts 2. We know that the preaching began. We know that church exploded out of Jerusalem.

There is great power in this story, but there is also power that we may not be so quick to recognize. In the last passage mentioned above, we find the disciples waiting patiently. Praying constantly. At one with each other.

This side of heaven, is there a better place to be?

We may not have all of our answers yet, but we have prayer and we have each other. And we also have the promise of God’s Spirit to guide and direct us–to comfort and protect us.

May God bless us with the ability to pray, to wait on His Spirit, and to be at one with each other…

Les, Jr.

Acts or Fruit?

Read a title like the one above and it might lead you to have a "huh?" moment. But when you add the appropriate scripture it all becomes clearer.

Galatians 5:19-21, (NIV) ¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Not many of us want to be characterized with those kinds of acts.

Paul presents the contrast in the verses that immediately follow.

Galatians 5:22-23, (NIV) ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

The absence of these fruits simply leads to sin: Sin like we first read about a moment ago–sin that hurts the sinner–sin that that breaks relationships between people–sin that places unfair burdens and requirements on others.

As family, we simply must never stop raising the bar on individual and corporate behavior and attitudes.

Frankly, I am tired of hemorrhaging people and friendships because one or two or all concerned couldn’t find it within themselves to practice a little love, a little patience, a little kindness, a little gentleness, and a little self-control.

Come on church! Let’s be fruitful! Let’s begin with one another!

Galatians 5:24-26 (NIV) ²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Les, Jr.