The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Correction and discipline aren’t fun but they are necessary to become more like Jesus.  Feeling the stab of conviction while reading a passage of Scripture and recognizing how far I fall short of it may be painful for a moment, but it’s a beautiful sign of God’s love for us as His children. With that in mind, it’s understandable that pastors preach on Revelation 3:15-16.

   “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (NIV)

The words for cold, hot and lukewarm are actually psychros, zestos and chliaros. Psychros means to be “sluggish and inert.”  Zestos means to have “fervor of mind and spirit or to be boiling hot.” Chliaros is a “condition of the soul wretchedly fluctuating between a torpor (a state of inactivity; lethargy) and a fervor of love.” I don’t know about you but I can map out my life by seasons of spiritual inactive or sluggishness and seasons of “fervor” for the Lord. I don’t actually think that God was referring to the obvious ebb and flow of our lives as humans. Navigating those seasons and learning how to shorten or eliminate them is part of becoming mature and sanctified.  The church of Laodicea had a bigger problem than just spiritual “moodiness”.  The Lord describes their problem like this…

“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” Rev. 3:17-18 (NIV)

The riches and wealth that they had were tangible and, no doubt, had an effect on their feelings of self-sufficiency. The real problem was one of the heart.  They had lost their need for God.  Somehow, they’d “arrived” in their own eyes.  A desperate need and dependence on God had given way to pride and contentment in their own efforts. I would assume that, because their religious activities were grounded in their own self-sufficiency instead of a desperation for God, it was easy to be “on” one day and “off” the next.  A really great speaker might spur them to passionate action for a week but the comforts of life might lull them to sleep the next week.  Devotion that is tied to emotions and feelings is a fickle thing. Devotion that is tied to societal actions or expectations is a deceptive thing. Sound familiar to anyone besides me?

I’ve seen those attitudes in my life and I’ve seen them in the Church. We humans have an incredible ability to go through life doing what we want while justifying it as “holy” by pulling Scripture out of context for our own purposes, affiliating with a certain political party or filling our schedules with the “do’s” of religion.  It’s astounding how quickly we can become self-sufficient and it’s terrifying how blind we can be to it.

Though all this is valid, the beauty of this passage is found in Revelation 3:19-20. Conviction and a need to be introspective about my motivations is necessary in order to find my way to the beauty of this section.

 “I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. ‘Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.’”(NIV)

The answer to my fickle plight is spelled out simply but can often be overlooked or explained away. The answer is communion with God.  It’s my choice.  He knocks and he calls out to me but only I can invite Him into the inner parts of my heart.  Only I can give Him permission to speak into my life. To convict me. To change me.  He allows the option of refusing this incredible gift of insight, power, and sanctification that is found at HIs feet. It blows my mind that I could refuse the God of the Universe when He wants to be near me. To share every moment of my day, to hear my most intimate thoughts and to speak life into me. But I know all too well how easily I can be lulled away by comfort, self-sufficiency, worldly pleasures or shame.(Among other things.)

I’m grateful that He loves me enough to correct me.

For the past 6 months I have been focusing my attention on learning what time with God really looks like.  What prayer can be.  Why the disciplines of silence, solitude and fasting aren’t talked about much in the Church. What the Bible says about meditation and why Christians get weirded out by that word. Even with all the thought and study I’ve put into these topics, I’ve still neglected to really DO IT.

Isn’t that odd? Why?

To be honest, based on this passage, it’s worth pondering whether a person is actually a believer if they aren’t communing with God. If a person isn’t sharing their heart with Him and spending time building that friendship, then what are they doing?  Building religious reputations?  Claiming a relationship that they don’t actually have?  I’m not saying I have the answers but I’m saying it’s a question worth wrestling with because the implications are huge! Being a friend means to know someone well.  To love and accept them into our lives.  The words of Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23 come to mind in a sobering way.

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,    but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say  to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” (NIV)

This intimate friendship and communion with God is the life-line of the believer.  It’s the source of faith, trust, power, joy, peace and every other spiritual blessing available to us through the Holy Spirit. I’ve learned that, like it or not, meditation has been a Christian practice of faithful saints for centuries and the Bible says a lot about it.  (I won’t recite them here because my purpose isn’t to argue, but I will list a few of the scriptures later if you’d like to go on this treasure hunt for yourself.) I’ve learned that prayer takes time and we, as “busy” people, have a very difficult time letting go of things so that we can make the time.  I’ve also learned that spiritual stability and passion are sustained in the presence of God.

Communion with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit is the answer to so many things.  At the risk of sounding simplistic, I would say it’s the answer to all things.

The fact that Christ’s sacrifice has offered us a way into the presence of the Father and access to the power, presence and wisdom of the Holy Spirit should never lose its power to send me into praise and gratitude.  When it does, I’m dangerously close to believing, like the Laodiceans, that “I don’t need anything.” When conviction ceases and I don’t recognize my poverty, blindness or shame I begin to walk in self-righteousness and minimize my access to the power of living by grace through faith alone.  Grace and faith breeds humility, humility breeds dependency on God and God fills His children with hope, joy, peace, power and love.

Communion is living, face to face, with the God of the universe who calls us His friends and children. It’s sitting and chatting with the incarnate Creator of all things and listening to what He has to say to us, personally.  It’s life and light and hope.

It’s the beautiful gift of the Gospel that we are called to open. This is the perfect time of year to see it for the treasure that it is.  Our Father is knocking at the door with gift in hand, waiting for us to welcome Him in.

Clear your calendar, set the table, light the candles, open the door and take the gift. It is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

(Verses on meditation and further resources: Psalms 19:14,  Psalms 1:1-2, Genesis 24:63, Psalms 27:4,  Psalms 63:6, Psalms 119:15, Romans 8:5, Colossians 3:2. Celebration of Disciplines by Richard J. Foster)

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™