Monday 26th October
A Trading Standards issue at Sardis
‘I know your deeds that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead’ Rev 3:1
Have you ever been out for breakfast and asked for the brown sauce hoping and praying it will be your favourite, say ‘HP’ for example, or maybe you’re a ‘Daddies’ fan? Cheaper brown sauces just don’t have the same taste do they? They are weak, semi translucent, no depth of flavour and far too sweet! On more than one occasion I’ve been presented with a HP bottle, as you do, I’ve squirted a good portion on the plate, only to discover that the bottle may have said HP on the label but its contents taste like they are from some ‘bulk buy’ catering bottle, it tastes just like I have described. The proprietor clearly wanted to create the look of quality, hence the HP label, but wanted to keep his cost down and so filled the bottles with the cheaper catering variety. You’re faced with a dilemma, you want to complain but you can’t really say anything because you can’t prove it! Anyway enough of my breakfast stories!
This short story, in a way, serves to illustrate the condition of the church in Sardis. They have a label, a reputation, but the contents are a far cry from the description on the bottle. Here is a church that has made a name for itself. You could say that they have a ‘brand’ that many others have come to know and respect. We can conclude that at some point the life of Christ was present among them in a tangible ways. Jesus takes a taste of the church in Sardis and concludes that there is a mismatch between the label and the contents. The label may say life, but He has tasted something different – death!
Jesus doesn’t mince His words, there is no gentle approach, and He simply says it as it is. Why can He do this? What gives Him the right to be so blunt? Because, as we saw in the first lines of the first letter to the church at Ephesus, He is the ‘One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven lampstands (Eph 2:1)’. He is the One who has absolute authority. Unlike me, He’s not faced with a dilemma; He can say something because He knows the truth. Such frankness often takes our breath away. When someone we know speaks so plainly we can find ourselves wincing as the words leave their mouths. It is only when we stand back from these verses for a moment that we can see that His telling the truth is an act of great mercy and grace. He wants a church that has integrity, a church where the taste matches the label. Reputation is not enough, experience needs to match reputation.
So, here are two challenging questions. First, if Jesus was to pour you out would He find that the contents match the label? In the book of Acts we read about the birth of the early church. Unbelievers attached a label ‘Christians’ to those who became follows of Jesus for the first time in Antioch, they used the Greek word Christianos which means” little Christs”; why? Because what they saw and experienced, what they tasted so to speak, was exactly the same as the original brand, they tasted Christ.
Secondly, we all need someone who loves us enough to show God’s mercy and grace by speaking the truth to us. Who have you got in your life who will speak as openly and honestly as Jesus did to the church here at Sardis?