Familiarity breeds...

Text: Revelation 2:1 - 7

Link to message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51ViPOkS8PA&list=PLYSdk4DAv_anFhxfY0u-bVYvh0vcgJIqn&index=2&t=5s


Intro: While I was preparing for this message I had a phrase keep running through my mind.  I launched off with a finish the sentence:  Familiarity breeds ______________________

Some said "Familiarity breeds complacency"  I was thinking "Familiarity breeds contempt."  Either are applicable and I wonder if that is what was going on in the church at Ephesus.  They knew Jesus....they loved Jesus and yet at the time of the writing of Revelation they had fallen into a legalistic pursuit of knowledge or right doctrine and were falling short.  Their love had grown cold.

My wife and I celebrated our 23rd Wedding Anniversary the day I preached this message...if I brought home flowers for her and she said "Thanks they are beautiful" and I said it was my duty or it is what I am supposed to do...how do you think she would respond?  The church in Ephesus knew the right thing(s) to do, but the question becomes did they practice the right things.  If they did them simply because they were the right things to do their love would grow cold.

When you look at this passage you should note again where Jesus is in reference to the lamp stands and where the stars are.  We (the church) are the lamp stands...Jesus is in our midst.  There are times in the midst of trials, including this season of COVID, where it seems like God is far off and yet here we have a picture and an image of Jesus in the midst or middle of it.  Jesus is not far removed from our trials...the question and the challenge for us is "Do we believe this?" We would not pray if we did not believe that God was intimately concerned with our lives, but we also have to wrestle with are we living like Jesus is right here in our midst?  If Jesus were standing right here next to you in this moment would your actions be different? 

Revelation is a both a book or warning and a book of comfort.  Jesus is in our midst that should bring comfort and encouragement, but we also need to pay attention because he is in our midst and knows our actions.  He is both watching over us and watching us.  The text does not say "I heard of your works" but rather "I know your works."  Again, Jesus is so intimately involved in your life that he knows your works as well.  Which begs the question "What robbed them of their love for Christ and what robs you of yours?"  They knew the 2 Great Commands....we know them as well.  The question becomes "Is familiarity breeding contempt or complacency?" Do we presume upon the grace of God? We know that grace is not something we earn...it is not given to us based on our actions and yet because of the grace poured out into our lives he calls us to a higher path...to right behavior.  Does knowledge of all the right answers equal right faith?  Take a look at Matthew 25:31 - 46 and Luke 18:9 - 14.  It is easy to be a "fat head" and miss the mark.

Going with a marriage illustration think of a couple where one spouse professes to be always right and lives like it.  Will that marriage be healthy?  If Christ is truly at the center how would life be different?  Which leads us to verse 4 and the call to action or to Remember, Repent, Act.  Every marriage at some point hits low points and in those moments one must remember the love they had at first and move beyond to an even greater love.  Familiarity does not have to breed contempt or complacency but rather can breed intimacy if we allow it.  Familiarity and the intimacy that it can bring over time can lead to such a richer relationship than it was in the beginning...if we allow it.  Somehow the church in Ephesus got sideways and we can do the same thing in our relationship with Jesus.  This is where we need to remember, repent and act.

Another way to look at this is an illustration by Jeff Vanderstelt when he talks about Fruit to Root and leveraging the gospel to expose the roots that are producing bad fruit in your life so that you can repent and get back to a restored relationship with Jesus.  The church in Ephesus knew the right answers and yet the fruit that they were producing was not in line with a right relationship with God.

Jeff's 4 Questions:

1. What I do? (fruit) flows out of the answer to 2. Who Am I? which in turn flows out of 3. What Jesus/God has done? which flows out of 4.  Who God is? (root).  The actions or fruit in my life flows out of who I believe God to be or the god I am worshiping.  If I am producing bad fruit then I am worshiping an idol and need to remember, repent and act.

Is it more important to share the gospel or demonstrate love?  Or maybe it would be better to ask Can you separate the two?  In this COVID season maybe we should look under the hood of the church in the USA and analyze the response to things like Safe at Home orders.  Hearing stories of church members who think that the church should sue the government seems out of line with scripture to me.  In the same vain I would have a hard time lining up living in fear of COVID with scripture as well.  I think the biblical response is what I have called "compassionate reasonableness."  Take precautions out of respect for those around you who may be in living in fear....challenge those around you who want to sue the government as well. 

Another issue that we need to think through is "How does society define love?" verses "How does the church define love?"  Sadly many times there is not a difference even though there should be.  The church's response ought to look sacrificial or humble...it ought to look like Christ would have responded...yet for many of us our response looks more like how we would expect society to respond.  If right knowledge does not lead to right action it is a waste of time.

Jesus is calling the church at Ephesus (and us) to hear, obey, conquer and endure...as they do this they are demonstrating their belief.  Over and over hear and then obey is God's call to us...in the end live out your faith...a life of faith must be lived out...we are all works in progress...the point of the letter is not that if we stumble and fall or walk around like we know it all that we get thrown out, but rather God allows trials in our lives as opportunities to do fruit exploration...an opportunity to remember, repent and do a course correction.  When Heidi and I get sideways in our marriage it is an opportunity to say "What is going on here?" to stop and remember how far our marriage has come....how far God has carried us through and course correct and move forward. 

Even in a season of uncertainty when it seems that God is far off he is still in our midst. He is still bringing about what he wants to bring about if we let him. The letter to the church in Ephesus speaks volumes to today...written so many years ago and yet it still speaks volumes.

Additional scripture to look at: John 13:34, John 15:12 - 17, 1 John 2:9-10, 1 John 4:16 - 21, 1 Thess 4:9, 1 Peter 1:22-23.  That all point to the idea that faith is more than right knowledge but also right actions.  Lean on God and he will bring about the right fruit.  Jesus is present among us both watching over and watching us.  Let us celebrate this.  Let us also celebrate all the things we need to be thankful for...namely all the fruit that God has produced in an through each one of us.  It is easy when we walk through scripture to always keep pushing for that one more thing...let us not get lost in the busyness of life, but rather celebrate Christ at work among us.