Sardis: What's In A Name? - Revelation 3:1-6

On a new recruit’s first day in basic training, he was lined up in a row with other recruits.  Each was told, in turn, to shout their last names.

After the guy next to the recruit in question had yelled, "Florence," it was his turn.

Our recruit had no sooner called out his name when the training instructor was in his face, demanding to know if he was some kind of smart aleck.

Satisfied that he wasn't, the red-faced TI told him never to stand next to that other recruit again.

Our recruit’s name, Charles W. Nightingale.[i]

What's in a name? Names are important.  Names are what indentifies a a person, place, or thing.  You hear a name, and you get a reaction or an image.  For instance, you say Duke, and you get one or two reactions from most folks.  The sang can be said, if you say Tarheels.  New York, Dallas, and Las Vegas bring forth images in our minds. Even Milwaukee has a response from most folks, because the name is associated with Minnesota. Anita and I had fun with that years ago when I was appointed to a four point charge and we were moving to Milwaukee.  For family that didn't know how the conference limits of the United Methodist Church work, we simply told them we were moving to Milwaukee. When Anita's mom finished crying about how far away we would be halfway across the country, we told her we were only moving fourteen miles from out home in Rich Square to Milwaukee NC.  Think about names and images we have for those names...even when it comes to people...how often have you heard someone say, "he doesn't look like a Bill," or, "she doesn't look like a Patricia"?

Names were important in Biblical times as well.  Think of the name changes that folks went through, Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel, Simon to Peter.  Each of these name changes related to how these folks were seen.  Some folks didn't go through name changes but were assigned names based on events before their birth, at their birth, or who they would become: Isaac, Esau, and Jesus.

As Jesus addresses Sardis, if they didn't already know or remember, He makes it very clear how important a name is.  We'll get there pretty quickly, but let's begin going through this letter to Sardis in the same way we have with the previous churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, and Thyatira.

We begin with the address:  “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars…”

Remember from your "cheat sheet" that seven is the number of maturation or completeness as it has come to be at the present time.  Remember also, from chapter 1, we said that the combination of seven sprits is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, and that the stars represent the angels of the churches.  In other words, Jesus is the keeper of the Holy Spirit that gives life to the church, and the angels, who are the guardians of the churches.  As Jesus points out that He is the one who holds the seven spirits and the seven stars, considering what follows, we might be hearing Jesus already give warning to Sardis, saying "the one who is sending you this message is the one who is responsible giving you life (the outpouring of the Holy Spirit) and providing protection (the appointing of the guardian angel).  Why would Jesus be this harsh?  Let's continue through the letter to find out.

Following the pattern of the last four churches, we can now expect Jesus to offer a word of commendation for what Sardis is doing right.  However, that is not what we find. Evidently we are now encountering the worst of Asia Minor, for Jesus skips over the commendation and moves straight into the condemnation...and between Jesus and Sardis it is all about names.

Jesus says, "I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God.  Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent.  If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you."

Jesus doesn't mince words, He doesn't sugar coat it, or pull his punch.  He tells them, when people have heard of Sardis, they have pictured a church that is alive and well.  However, Jesus says, “your reputation is a lie.  You are dead.”  One scholar points out the intentional irony of this…Jesus was dead and is now alive, saying that this church that appears alive, is really dead.  Evidently Sardis was at some point a living, growing, thriving church.  But something happened.  We aren't told what. Jesus doesn't say that they have failed to endure, or that their faithful is wavering or waning, he simply declares them dead, and tells them that He has not found their works perfect in the sight of God.  It seems to speak of a church that has grown complacent.  We can imagine that.  We can picture the folks in Sardis getting to that point.  They've worked hard.  They have improved from where they once were.  They've developed the several programs. They've held a few Bible Studies.  They offer a worship time and have posted outside the church so that when folks ride by in their chariots, they can see it, and maybe they'll stop in.  They've renovated their church and keep the grounds well manicured.   People have seen all these things and say, "Wow, they're a living and moving church.”  Sardis hears the compliments.  They've done all this and simply sit back and say, “We're good. That's enough. We're done. We'll just sit back and wait for folks to come to us."

Jesus will not tolerate this sitting back and waiting…he has no room for complacency short of perfection, and Jesus quickly points out to them that they have not reach perfection:  “I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God.”  Does Jesus expect perfection from His followers?  Jesus expects us to, as John Wesley put it, strive for perfection.  In the Gospel of Matthew (5:48), Jesus tells those who are listening, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Paul tells the Romans (12:2): “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  And in John’s first letter (2:3-5), he writes, “Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments.  Whoever says, ‘I have come to know him,’ but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection.  By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says, ‘I abide in him,’ ought to walk just as he walked.”  Jesus tells Sardis, “you have fallen short, you are not walking like I walked, and you’ve stopped trying.  You are not living, you are not growing, you are dead.

Then Jesus speaks to the church with words that would echo in their minds the Gospel of Matthew.  Here Jesus says, “Wake up…Remember what you received and heard; obey it, and repent.  If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.”  Matthew (24:42-44) says: “Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.  But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.  Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”

Before we go any further, my brothers and sisters, I want to make sure you heard this: Revelation—“You do not know at what hour I will come to you.”  Matthew: “…you do not know on what day your Lord is coming…for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”  Did you catch that?  The Word of God…it says, “You do not know…”  My friends, Harold Camping of the international “Family Radio” does not know.  Marie Exley, U.S. Army Veteran, does not know.  Allison Warden of Raleigh, NC, with her “Save the Date: WeCanKnow.com” car, does not know.  All of these have predicted that your summer plans are a moot point…forget about camp, forget about baseball games, forget about sunning yourself at the beach, because Christ is going to return on May 21^st of this year.  Jesus says, God’s Word says, “You do not know.”  They claim to know.  Who are we supposed to believe?  Take a guess…which one is eternal?

Now that we have that straight, Jesus says, “You don’t know when I am coming back….”  The call to wake up, to stay awake in both Revelation and Matthew suggests that we cannot be like Sardis and just sit around and wait for His return.  We have to be busy about the work He has called us to do.  We can’t dismiss His commands…to love God…to love neighbor…and to go into all the world making disciples.”  If we are not about loving God, loving neighbor, and making disciples, then, my friends…just as the folks in Sardis, we may appear alive…we could fill the parking lot, we could fill the pews…but if we are not doing these three…then, like Sardis, we are dead.  And then Jesus, the keeper of the Holy Spirit, and Lord Commander of the angels, will come like a thief in the night, and take our power and protection away.

Yet…even in this church that has found itself declared six-feet under…even in His condemnation of this congregation, Jesus offers words of hope.  Jesus twice tells them to “wake up” and he calls on them to repent.  If it were too late, if they were so bad off that nothing could be of hope to them, then would Jesus call them to repent?  No…he most likely would have said…sleep on…you are doomed.  Instead he calls them to wake up…they still have a change to get their act together.  Just like the little girl that was dead in the gospel of Matthew, and Jesus said that she was only sleeping…even Sardis is only asleep…Jesus speaks the Word, and calls them to live and to move…

And then, in a very brief commendation, Jesus offers these words of encouragement: “yet, you still have a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.”  The word translated here, as “persons” is the same word translated as “name in verse one.”  So this could actually read, “Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, who have not soiled their clothes….”

Jesus tells the folks in Sardis…you have not all messed things up.  According to Jesus there are still a few who are faithful…who have kept striving to love God, love others, and make disciples.  They have stayed true…they have not soiled their clothes…they have been obedient to god’s Word.  Jesus says, these, these are the folks who will get to be dressed in white.  Now remember, what is it that white represents in Revelation…it is not necessarily the good guy, but to be dressed in white means that “You have claimed the victory.”  White represents victory.  Jesus is telling the folks in Sardis that there are some, a small remnant, who have remained faithful and true and have claimed the victory…and they are the ones who will have been deemed worthy to walk with Jesus.

Following that brief commendation, the recognition that not everyone in Sardis is dead, is the promise.  Jesus says: “If you conquer…if you wake up and live, not just in reputation, but in action…then you will get a white robe too…you will be declared a worthy to walk with me…we will be like God and Adam and Eve in the Garden before the Fall, walking and talking together.”  Think of that, my friends, to actually walk and talk with Jesus…what a blessing, what a promise, what hope.

This promise, though, also contains a warning.  “If you conquer…I will not blot your name out of the book of life….”  Sometimes, I think we fall into the trap of the some of those in the Gospel of Luke (3:8), who, John the Baptist confronted saying, “Do not say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham.  Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”  Evidently some of those who had gathered at the river where John was baptizing had begun saying, “why do we need to do anything, different, we are children of Abraham, God has chosen us, we are safe.”  John tells them that their bloodline does nothing for them…God can fulfill his promise by raising up stones to be descendants of Abraham.

Jesus tells the folks in Sardis, if you stay awake, if you repent, if you conquer and walk with me, then I will not blot your name out of the book of life.  My brothers and sisters, Jesus promising to those who conquer that he will not blot their names out of the book carries with it a warning…if they do not straighten up, love and live, it doesn’t matter if they are part of the church, He will blot their names out of the book.  This warning seems to back up Wesleyan theology which dismisses the “once saved, always saved” way of thinking and suggests that we can sin away our salvation…at some point, whether it was before the beginning of time as we know it, or some point later on, names have been written into the book of life…the names of those who will spend eternity in the presence of God…and here Jesus says, if you love and live then I won’t take your name out of that book, and not only will your name stay in the book, but when you stand before my Father…when it comes time to stand before the judgment throne, I will confess your name…I will tell my Father that you conquered and that you are true, and He will welcome you into the kingdom…

My friends, what’s in a name?  If it comes to whether our name is living or dead…whether our name is faithful…whether our name is written in the book of life…whether our name is confessed before the Father…then there is a lot in a name…maybe we should all pay heed to an account by Methodist missionary, Earl Stanley Jones, who tells the story of an African who changed his name to “After” immediately following his conversion.  “After” told Jones that “all things were new and different after he met Christ, so he was going reflect that new reality in his name as well as in his thinking.”[ii]

Let those who have an ear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

            In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

---

[i] The Cybersalt Site, Clean Jokes

[ii] Homeletics Online.