“The Church in Ephesus”

Sunday, March 17, 2019 — Rev. Douglas J. Kortyna, Pastor

Sermon Text: Revelation 2:1-7

Worship Theme: “Christians must order their loves properly.”

Introduction

All of us have bought a product that we become very enthusiastic about. We want to share it with everyone: our families, friends, and neighbors. For the Kortyna family, most recently this has been Alexa/Echo made by Amazon. My parents received an Alexa from their neighbors. It has several applications that are helpful for my mother with ALS, such as being able to play music and order different products. They believe so firmly in their Alexa that they bought one for Sara and me, for my sister and her husband, and for my grandparents. As a result, I have received Alexa video chat calls from my eighty-year-old grandmother! Today we encounter a church that was very enthusiastic about the gospel. When they first received the gospel, and repented and placed their trust in Jesus Christ, they turned their entire city upside down. We are even told in Acts that there have been riots in the streets because the temple guild to Artemis has been disrupted. In modern time, this might mean that Erie’s nightclub scene or casinos would be shut down. They would be very mad if this happened. And, they might complain to the city council.

Positive Opening — Revelation 2:1-2:3

2:1 – We must first tackle the issue of who is speaking in this week’s text. It is a bit confusing because the person who is speaking is using a middleman to speak His message. The middleman, as we learn in Chapter 1, is the Spirit. Jesus Christ is speaking to an angel. One of the more confusing aspects of the Book of Revelation thus far is the back and forth between God and Christ. I will try my best to point out who is being referenced throughout our current series. An interesting side note for this week’s text and throughout our series is that the angels in our series are watching over each specific church. Moreover, always remember that seven is a reference to the universal church. We will see the specific problem that the church at Ephesus is dealing with this morning. But, this is also a problem that every church will eventually face.

2:2 – We immediately get high praise for the church of Ephesus. And why is that? Because they stand up to false teachers. They are able to sniff out those who are false apostles and put them to test and find them to be at fault.

- 1 - 2:3 – Jesus continues to speak through the Spirit. The text continues in a pastoral tone. It is not going to just beat the congregation at Ephesus over the head. We will see Jesus speak and tell the congregation at Ephesus to repent. But, it is done in a pastoral manner just like the book of Jonah. Jesus will walk with the congregation through their trials and tribulations. He is always near.

Negative Opening — Revelation 2:4-5 (Lots of imperatives!)

2:4 – is the most important verse in today’s text. It’s the rudder that drives the ship for John’s rhetoric. How did they abandon their first love? Was it their love for Jesus Christ? I don’t think so because we are just told how they stand up for orthodoxy and even can endure hardships. Was it their failure to “love one another” as many others argue?1 I don’t think so either. We learned throughout 1, 2, 3 John that the churches in this area were excellent at loving one another. In fact, some said they were “sectarian.” Let me propose another way of understanding this verse through G. K. Beale. He argues that John believes the church at Ephesus has become introverted. They don’t want to be a witness to the world outside of them. He states it this way:

“The idea is that they no longer expressed their former zealous love for Jesus by witnessing to him in the world.”2

Remember we learned at the beginning of the sermon that the church at Ephesus was on fire for the spread of the gospel when they were founded, much like the opening illustration of Alexa. They were just like the Kortyna family: zealously sharing and promoting the good news of shopping while speaking and being able to voice command music! They turned the world upside down in many ways. But now, we find many years later that they have lost their way such that John says they have “abandoned the love” that they first had.

2:5 – What will happen if they do not repent? Christ will remove their “lampstand.” He will judge them and they will cease to be a congregation. The image of the lampstand is symbolic for both Israel and the church. They are to be a light to the nations and those that surround them. I would continue to emphasize their prophetic role. They are to be “in the world but not of it.” John’s Gospel states 17:14-15:

14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

1 Koester, Craig R. The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries—Revelation: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2015. P. 269. Koester argues that they have simply failed to love each other in the church.

2 Beale, G. K. The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Book of Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013. P. 230.

- 2 - Perhaps this is a second generation of church people who have not been as zealous as their parents. But if they do not repent, they will cease to exist as a church body.3 Even for a high churchman as myself, a church is born and a church will die. Institutional churches, unfortunately, have an expiration date. This warning section of today’s text reminds me a lot of what I recently heard at the Presbytery meeting. The Church Vitality Committee speaks often about the life cycle of a church, and this is one such phase. But what we see in today’s text is that judgement comes knocking at the door if the church does not change her ways. She needs to repent and become the beacon of light that she once was.

Positive Conclusion — Revelation 2:6-2:7

In a pastoral conclusion, John commends the church for sticking up to false teaching again. And, for those who hear Christ speak to them and repent, they will eat from the Tree of Life in paradise. What we see here is again and again that God is slow to anger. The problems that the church at Ephesus is dealing with are second generational problems. They must regain their church’s zeal for the promotion and proclamation of the gospel. John’s statement—“he who has ears let him hear”—sounds similar because it is taken from Jesus. It lets us know that some will follow the words of Jesus in today’s message and others will be turned off from it. It stands within the prophetic tradition that Jesus and the Apostles belong to. The reader/listener needs to respond in repentance.

Application

The question remains, why did the church at Ephesus lose its zeal to proclaim the gospel? I think it is because they accommodated themselves to popular culture. Perhaps they grew large enough where they didn’t feel the need to “turn the world upside down” and cause riots like those who planted churches in the area they were located. I cannot say with certainty. But I think that is perhaps a good hunch. It is no surprise that those who are first generation converts tend to be the most zealous for their faith. It comes natural to them. The new pastor of Bay Presbyterian Church in Cleveland was asked about evangelism at the last Presbytery meeting. He said because he came to faith through Young Life, he just assumed all Christians were energetic about sharing their faith with others. What are some ways that the church can be like the church at Ephesus today?

Practical Universalists: I have been to many funerals over the years and often the theme that comes out is “practical universalism.” People’s lives are boiled down to what they did good and how they deserved to go to heaven. My closest friend Sean was at a funeral recently where a Presbyterian Elder got up and said in front of everyone, “We are all just trying to get to heaven.” No, we are not working our way

3 Beale, G. K. The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Book of Revelation. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2013. Pp. 232-233.

- 3 - to heaven and not everybody will be there. Scripture teaches us that judgement is real and that Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats. Juxtapose this with my grandmother’s funeral. We literally talked about Jesus nonstop for an hour. We heard testimony about her conversion, her love of reading her Bible for several hours a day, and her energy to share Jesus with others. We even heard testimony from those that she had led to Christ. My grandmother was not a practical universalist.

Polite: In continuation with the practical universalism, Barna released a study recently about my generation “being down” on evangelism. Fifty percent said it was wrong. Where did this come from? I think it comes from the fact that as Americans we love being polite. For us to be a prophetic witness means we will have people get defensive about our claims as Christians. The idea that there is but one God and the only mediator to Him is Jesus Christ is offensive. But what better way to love somebody when eternity is at stake than to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with them? If you go back and read the texts about Paul in Acts, he was anything but polite. He was prophetic as he preached the gospel.

Church as club: Finally, I think we need to be careful that the church does not become a club. For example, this has happened to churches that become ethnic clubs. My grandmother used to say this all the time about the Greek Orthodox church she attended as a child. (My grandmother was Greek, ethnically.) I have seen this happen in Hispanic churches. Somebody once said about our church in Mexico that it was a “Venezuelan church” because we had a disproportionate number of folks from Venezuela. No, it was a church for all the nations just like the Great Commission states.

Conclusion

Do we sometime, as individuals, share the gospel of Alexa with our neighbors more than the true gospel? I know I have in the past and it’s a continue struggle. Having “the talk” and presenting the gospel to our family, friends, or neighbors is terrifying to us because we live in such a polite culture. Imagine if we as a church become as enthusiastic about sharing Jesus personally with others and inviting them to worship with us on Sunday mornings as the church at Ephesus originally was? I truly believe we could see Erie flipped upside down. Imagine if we planted several churches throughout the Erie area? But, we must always fight against the urge to be practical universalists, polite, and making the church a club. We must always remember that evangelism/prophetic witness is done with the intent for people to become true worshippers of the true God.

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