[AI translation] We have reached, Brothers and Sisters, the seventh letter in the series we started a few weeks ago. This is now Jesus' last letter to the churches in Asia Minor. This is the letter with the strongest tone. In the church at Laodicea, the Lord finds nothing to praise. Remember, in the others, if there was any rebuke, there was always some praise. But here he finds nothing to praise. The condition of this church is evidently the most distressing, the saddest, the most desperate from the letter: this is the church He chides with the harshest words. And yet it is interesting that it is to this church that Jesus addresses himself with the greatest tenderness. Somewhat like a good parent would do to the sickest child, because he knows that he is the one in the greatest need of care and tenderness. Now, then, we are really talking here about the most insidious disease of the Christian faith and its cure. Perhaps the same sickness is lurking in our own hearts, and we need the same healing. So let us look more closely at the contents of this letter!The accusation against this church is: 'neither cold nor hot'. Jesus says, "though you were cold, or hot. So we are talking about people who are neither cold nor warm, people with an indifferent spirit, who, if not in their words, then somehow in their whole attitude, seem to be saying what Jesus is saying to them: 'I am rich', and because I am rich, I now have no need of anything. They are content with themselves - that is the accusation against them. It is not a complaint that they have denied their Christian faith and fallen back into their heathen faith, nor is it a complaint against them that they have fallen into some great sin of a corporate nature and are immersed in it, nor even, as in other churches, as in the Colossians, that they have perverted some of the Christian truths of faith and preached certain heresies - there is no such complaint against them. These people are not bad, but are just people of neither cold nor warm spirit. They are filled, that is, people who do not desire more, who do not seek to advance more in life. That is all that is complained against them, that is their trouble - but that is just enough.
Would this be as very abominable in Jesus' eyes as lukewarm water, as stale water, that a man spits out of his mouth? Yes, it seems to be. At first sight it does not seem such an odious thing, but, Brethren, to use an analogy to try to give a sense of what such a lukewarm state of affairs means in the Christian life of faith, imagine if a scientist were to say, "I know everything now, I know enough of the science I have been doing, I have no further need to study. Such a scientist, no matter how much he has learned, will be so far behind the real scientists that he will look almost uneducated. Or imagine if a violinist were to say: I've reached my peak, I now know everything there is to know in this profession, I'm not practising any more. At his very first concert, such an artist would fail without fail. I cannot imagine that there is anyone, either among scientists or among artists, who would say that I no longer need anything. The wonderful thing is that in our relationship with God, in our knowledge and experience of the things of God, we so quickly reach a state where we say that I don't need anything more, that this is enough for me. Imagine if I, as a pastor, were to say that I have read the Bible so many times, why should I read it again? Or would one of you say - as so many of you say: I have been confirmed, so what more can I do? Or: I go to church and say my prayers and I don't hurt a fly. What else can go wrong? What more trouble can I be in? What more can I have to lose? For me, a life of faith, of religion, of the Bible, is enough. I need no more. What for? I am not a monk! Well, Brethren, this is the kind of accusation I sense behind these words, "you are lukewarm", that is, you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot. And behind this statement, I am rich, I need nothing, is this: it is well as it is! This is not evil, but quite bona fide self-deception! A man who is full of himself is convinced that he is right with God and right with other men. There is nothing wrong here! Or at least nothing seriously wrong! And indeed, there is nothing wrong but not longing for the better, not striving for greater moral purity, deeper faith, truer love, truer following of Christ. But then that is a great enough evil!
That is why Jesus exposes such an indifferent spirit with such harsh words. As if to say: You Christian man, content with yourself, know for once that you are wretched! Perhaps it is more understandable: oppressed. Your Christianity is a repressed, oppressed form of Christianity, a caricature of the true. You approve of everything, you nod your head, you make polite promises - here at the Lord's Table on the last Sunday of every month, for example - but you never really get excited, your eyes never really sparkle with inner joy, you never really try to obey the command you hear from God. Thou prayest, but thy prayer hath no power; thou speakest sometimes of the things of God, but thy testimony hath no credibility; thou professest to believe, but thy faith hath no fruit... The lukewarm state means that you have mixed cold and heat. Well, a lukewarm man is one in whom faith and unbelief, gratitude and complaint, purity and fornication, love and hatred, thoughts of revenge, resignation and selfishness are mixed. There are no sharp contours to the Christian way of life, it is not distinctive, it is not recognisable, it is blended with the world. Is it not a repressed Christianity? And you are content with that? Is that what you are comfortable with?
Jesus goes on, terribly harshly, "You are a wretch! Let's put it this way: you have a mortal affliction, a disease. I know, everyone instinctively protests against this: why should I be a wretch, what have I done, what great sin, mortal sin have I committed? Well, the merchant does not have to make much effort to go broke: he only has to neglect his business a little, if he does not make even a little effort, he becomes slothful, lazy - he will certainly go broke. Or the farmer: it is not necessary to put particularly harmful plants into his land, the land will produce the blight itself, it is enough for the farmer to look on with his hands folded, it is enough for him not to fight it relentlessly - his farm will inevitably go bust. Well, it is not necessary to commit any great sin, scandal, or villainy, to do harm to a man's soul. It is enough to neglect the Bible, not to take prayer seriously, not to watch his soul run wild, not to struggle against his sins, not to care for his soul, not to long for, not to strive for more, for better, for deeper, for truer things: he will inevitably soon be ruined spiritually. Is Jesus not right when he says: "You are the wretch! Is it not the Christian life that is not a miserable one, which, by invoking the name of Jesus, is on the road to damnation? My brethren, I am sometimes so concerned for you, knowing that there are those here who have been listening to the preaching for 25 years and still have not faced the question of their own salvation very seriously! To which one of us does Jesus say: don't you know that you are the wretch who is still deluding yourself, still thinking that you are right with God?!
But this relentless unmasking goes on and on. Behold Jesus says: you are the poor! You are not poor in what you think you are poor in: not in earthly goods, money, wealth... We think we wouldn't be so poor if we had more money, if we had more of this and that. Well, there is another poverty, more oppressive than material poverty: an inner poverty, perhaps I should say: a self-reliant, self-caring spirit! Do you know the best way to measure whether someone has an indifferent spirit towards the things of God? By how indifferent he is to the miseries of his fellow men! That "what do I care" spirit! Not my problem! I don't know where the atomic bomb will fall, but it won't fall on us! It is a sign of terrible poverty when one can look with indifference on the joy or sorrow of others! Can you be happy when you see a new housing estate being built somewhere in Budapest, are you happy that a lot of people and families are once again getting the housing they have long wanted, or are you indifferent to such things? Does it pain you when you read in the newspaper that somewhere in the Far East, perhaps even at this very moment, bombs are exploding and people's blood is being spilled? Or does that also make you feel cold? Can you rejoice when your colleague receives a medal, or can you beg for your neighbour's help when there is a family storm that has given rise to much sniping? Or do you say: none of my business! It is a great spiritual impoverishment when someone closes himself off from people so that he is indifferent to the other person's joy and pain, and does not feel it in his heart. Neither cold nor hot. It neither inspires nor depresses! Of course, this is a more comfortable state, because man protects his own peace of mind - but he is not a Christian! There is nothing that enriches life so much as taking on the cares of others. He who has never done this seriously, does not know how poor he is!
Jesus goes on with his harshly revealing words, saying: you are the naked - referring to the naked and nakedly widowed; you are the blind - because it is the most pathetic blindness when one does not see one's own misery, does not see into oneself, has never really awakened to who one is, and how hateful one must be in the eyes of Jesus! And, behold, in spite of all this, Jesus comes after even such indifferent souls with the greatest love, and says to them, "I counsel thee, that thou take of me gold tried with fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the nakedness of thy nakedness may not appear; and anoint thine eyes with ointment of healing oil, that thou mayest see." In any case, it is something of timeless and precious riches, the true riches of life - a value that remains valuable in the fire, in the trial, in the plunder, in the deprivation. What is it? Well, I've come to realize that there is only one such real value, which is worth more than thousands of banknotes and all other riches, which really remains in the fire: and that is the friendship of Jesus, the nearness and reality of Jesus, the communion of life with Him! As one of our hymns says: "Yet I remain a rich man: God and heaven are mine." (Song 426) Whoever can call Jesus his Saviour has everything! For Jesus is life!
I, when I think of Jesus, Who, with His pure life, His human love, His divine power conquering sin and death, walked among us here on earth, and Who now, in His divine dignity, holds in His hands the threads of the small and great persons of the world: my heart is filled with confidence, hope, joy, serenity. Somehow I see the world and my own life in it, people and my own relationship to them, in a whole new light. He is the One who makes the indifferent heart warm and sensitive! Yes, He Himself is the gold tried in the fire, precious riches, true life's opportunity! And He Himself is the white garment He offers here! Of course, it is also a symbol, a symbol of His purity, His innocence, which He puts like a white mantle on those who ask for it. Who know that without it their souls are naked. His perfect obedience and atonement for sin is the white garment with which He covers me, protects me, and makes me henceforth shine not with my own sweat and toil, but with the beauty and goodness of Jesus. There is no need to make an effort to do something good, because everything happens almost of its own accord: it makes the Christian life true, authentic, victorious. And He also gives me that eye-healing Irish that makes me see. The mysterious effect of His Spirit is that man can see into the turmoil, the disorder, the horror of his own heart on the one hand, and into the love of God's heart on the other, with which He can forgive even a wretched, despicable person like us, like me, can lift me up and give me new life.
Take from me, says Jesus! Not for money, for free! Just as he says to the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper: take and eat, so here he says: "take from me gold tried by fire"! Jesus wants you to return home now, from here, with these beautiful gifts, and to show them at home to your children, your spouse, your friends, your enemies. It is also possible for you to take with you now a living faith, a purified soul and a clear vision: to return home different from the way you came. Go to Him, but really to Him! Not to one of his servants, not to me. I cannot give to any of you, I am only an employee whose job it is to call you to Jesus.
He is above me, waiting for you, right now, even at this moment. So go boldly beyond me, and receive from Him that gold tried in the fire, that white new garment, and that eye- healer in writing! Come, let us tell Him together:
You are all I need, my Lord,
In thee I find all things;
Support him who falls,
Heal the blind and the sick.
I listen to your holy word,
Error is my trouble,
I am falsehood and sin,
Thou art justice and mercy.
(Canticle 300, verse 3)
Amen
Date: 14 August 1966.
Lesson
Jel 3,14-22