Today’s word come from Revelation Chapter 3, in which we find a letter that Jesus sent to the church in Laodicea. And if you’ve ever studied Revelation—and really, if you’ve been in church for a while—you’re probably familiar with the well-known warning this letter contains. Jesus says to the church, “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.” (Rev. 3:15-16)

From there, of course, we tend to offer a list of all the think that we they think “lukewarmness” entails: People don’t believe the Bible the right way, or they aren’t passionate enough about evangelism. They’re not devoted enough to the church, or they commit sins that, for us, are on the “particularly naughty” list (which somehow rarely includes the sins that we tend to struggle with).

But it’s worth noting that, in his letter to Laodicea, Jesus goes on to say exactly what being lukewarm means: “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.” (Rev. 3:17) You see, the real issue, it seems, is our sense of self-sufficiency and our lack of dependence upon God.

Back when I was in college, I was a fan of a Christian musician named Steve Camp. And Steve wrote a song called “Living in Laodicea,” with a chorus that went like this:

I've been living in Laodicea
And the fire that once burned bright, I've let it grow dim
And the very One I swore that I would die for
has been forgotten as the world's become my friend

 

So today, let’s not live in Laodicea. And instead, may the fire of our passionate dependence upon Jesus lead us to understand that the only riches worth having are the ones that are found in him. Amen.