The Round Church

at St Andrew the Great

Cambridge

A Sermon Preached

on Sunday 18th May 2003

by Mark Ashton

Revelation 2:8-17 The Church in Time and in Eternity

We are working our way through the Book of Revelation and last week I did promise some further comment on how this final book of the Bible engages with our imagination, as a picture book to be admired and pondered rather than a puzzle book to be solved. But I now think that would be more appropriate when we get beyond these seven letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor that fill chapters 2 and 3 of the book. So today I'm going to get straight in to the second and third letters, to Smyrna
and to Pergamum,
both important and large cities, particularly with regard to their close relationship with the Roman Empire which ruled the area at this time (and that may be significant for the persecution of these churches, as we'll see).

All seven letters follow a similar pattern and I want to structure this sermon round that pattern. They begin with a reminder that that church is being (1) addressed by Jesus. Then they consider how the church is (2) tested in time. And they end with the truth that the church is (3) promised heaven.

(1) The Church is addressed by Jesus – 8,12

“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.” (v.8)

“To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.” (v.12)

At the beginning of each letter Jesus is described in terms that had been used of Him in chapter 1, where the risen Lord is described in all His majesty and glory. A church is always a gathering addressed by Jesus. If we do not hear the voice of Jesus while we are together in this building now, we waste our time here. It is not my voice or the voice of others in the service, or of the person singing flat in the row behind; it is the voice of the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God Who made us. “These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.” “These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.” In a Roman city the magistrate had the iûs gladii, the right of the sword – the power of summary execution over any of its citizens. But a greater power lay in the words of Jesus. Are you aware of the power of a voice?

I was once at the Keswick Convention in the Lake District and a man I'd never met before came up to me and asked me if I was the vicar of the Round Church in Cambridge. Then he said he had a story I must hear – Before retirement he had been a policeman here in Cambridge and there had been a spate of thefts from Cambridge church buildings, so the police had decided to stake out the Round Church building (which is where this congregation met for the first 859 years of its existence). This policeman was sent up a ladder to hide up in the little gallery under the dome, from where he could see the wall safe by the door, but he himself could not be seen. Sure enough, on the second day two youths came in and started to unscrew the safe, but at that moment he found his radio had gone dead and he could not contact his colleague, who was waiting across the road in the St John's College porters' lodge. He couldn't get down because they had put him up there by ladder. By the time he could get his radio working, the two lads had just slipped out. But his colleague asked him for a description of them and said he'd go down the road and try to nab them anyway. A few minutes later the colleague reappeared, grasping one of the lads by the collar, held his face up towards the dome, and said, "Is this one of them?" From out of the darkness in the roof above the boy's head came a disembodied voice: "Yes, he is one of the thieves." After that, said the retired policeman, they hardly needed the Magistrates' Court to deal with that lad.

Unnerving as that experience may have been for that petty thief, we too are addressed by an unseen voice, when we gather like this, when we open the Bible, when we turn to God in earnest. If we will listen, that voice will change our lives. Have you heard it? Will you listen for it? We will find that it is a voice that speaks of suffering, of

(2) The Church tested in time

(a) "Jesus/Caesar is Lord"- 9-10 (Smyrna), 13 (Pergamum)

“⁹I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

“¹³I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.”

Death and imprisonment had happened, or were about to happen, to these first-century Christians. The Roman Empire had begun to deify its supreme ruler, Caesar, the Emperor, as a way of encouraging loyalty. So every citizen was required to burn incense to the Emperor and make a simple declaration – "Caesar is Lord". This was not an attempt to convert the population from other belief systems. The cult of the Emperor was just meant to sneak in alongside them, a bit like the Pope canonising our prime minister, and us all having to call him "Saint Tony" instead of "The Right Honourable Member for Sedgefield."

But unfortunately the fundamental declaration of Christian faith was "Jesus is Lord" (in fact, it still is). And Christians understand that to be an exclusive claim – if Jesus is Lord, then no-one else is. So they could not say, "Caesar is Lord." That would be to deny Jesus Christ. But those who would not worship Caesar were regarded as enemies of the state, to be imprisoned and killed. (Now the Jews were excused Emperor-worship and guarded their privileged status jealously, doing everything they could to disassociate themselves from the Christians, lest the Christians managed to cash in on the Jewish immunity as well. That may lie behind verse 9 – “I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” While the Jews were declaring to the Roman authorities that the Christians were not Jews, and so were not entitled to be excused emperor worship, Jesus declared that the Jews were themselves not true Jews,... or they would have recognised their Messiah.)

Now here in the UK we do not have to offer worship to the state today. But let's not miss the point: Smyrna and Pergamum were suffering churches because they were uncompromising churches, and, if we compromised less, we too would suffer more. But we might also draw more strength and courage from our belief. “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (v.10) “I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.” (v.13) Does it sometimes amaze us that Christians have faced and are, even today in some countries, facing martyrdom for their faith? Do you ever think, "How could anyone have that sort of courage?" To make Jesus my only Lord will certainly attract persecution, but it will also release untold comfort into my life. It's like this [Fig.1]. If that represents my life, I will be full of a sense of His presence and His rule. But if this represents my life [Fig.2], a life worshipping many gods, then see how little sense I have of Jesus. Can I ask you? Which diagram represents your life most accurately? [Fig.1] or [Fig.2]?

But in Pergamum there is another sort of test for the faith of the church. This business of

(b) Balaam and the Nicolaitans – 14-16

“¹⁴Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. ¹⁵Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”

That 'likewise' at the beginning of verse 15 probably means 'In the same way,' rather than 'In addition'; so Nicolaitan teaching (which we also came across last week in Ephesus, where we heard that Christ hated it) was similar to the teaching of Balaam. Now Balaam is an Old Testament character who, back in the Book of Numbers, chapters 22-24, tried to curse the people of Israel and failed. It is a great story (including a loud-mouthed donkey) and you will have to read it for yourself if you want to. The point is that Balaam, having failed to turn the truth on its head (he was unable to pronounce a curse on those whom God had blessed), did nevertheless succeed in doing great damage to the people of God. He did it, not by opposing the truth, but by seduction – “Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.” What failed by the intellect, succeeded by greed and sex.

Balaam knew that what we believe and how we behave are intimately linked [Fig.3]. Those two lines do not continue parallel to one another.

If our behaviour does not begin to conform to our beliefs [Fig.4], then our beliefs will start to conform themselves to our behaviour [Fig.5]. We cannot live exactly like the non-Christian world around us, without beginning to believe exactly what it believes. If our creed does not shape our lifestyle, then our lifestyle will shape our creed. Although it is hard to tell which leads to which sometimes: Two friends were looking round a country church once, and one of them stopped in front of where the creed ("I believe in God the Father Almighty" etc) had been written up on the wall. He shook his head sadly and said, "I just wish I could believe it." But his friend led him across the chancel to where, on the other side, the Ten Commandments had been written up ("Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet" etc) and the friend said, "Are you sure your problem does not lie there?"

How often problems of belief are only an intellectual smokescreen for problems of obedience. [Fig.6] Balaam knew that if Balak, the king of Moab, got the Israelite men sleeping with the Moabite women, then the faith of Israel would be undermined (Numbers 25:1-3; 31:16). We all know people whose Christian faith dried up when they started to sleep with their boyfriend or girlfriend; or started to go out with a non-Christian; or started an adulterous affair. There may be somebody like that here now. Don't worry, I don't know who you are. I have no specific target. But the word of God may have. And if it is you, you know it.

Now, as Christians we all live with a tension between what we believe and how we behave. But, for our Christian lives to be healthy, they must look like [Fig.4]. Oh, the gap grieves us! Jesus is calling you and me all the time to a far better life than we are yet managing to live: to be holy as God is holy. But we can cope with our moral failure because of grace [Fig.7].

Our behaviour fluctuates, but God's grace, God's forgiveness, allows us to get up again every time we fall, and carry on. That's why the call is always to repent. “Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” It is only God's grace that makes repentance possible again and again and again. God never tires of my new starts. Do we realise that? And it is grace, not guilt, that rules the Christian life [Fig.8].

And notice those lines always end in an arrow. Because you see, finally, every one of these seven churches is

(3) Promised heaven – 11,17

Or rather the individuals within those churches who overcome are promised heaven. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.” (v.11) “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” (v.17). The promises are always different and always the same – whatever the picture language – whether it is being safe from the second death, or receiving hidden manna and a white stone with a new name – they all point to the fulness of life with God, which is where those arrows are pointing. And to overcome, remember, is not to conquer an earthly enemy by force; it is to go on trusting in the victory that Christ won for us, when He rose from the dead, having dealt with the consequences of my sin for ever.

(All scripture quoted is from the New International Version of the Bible unless otherwise stated.)