Revelation 2:8-11 To the Church in Smyrna

 

Jesus, in a vision to John who’s exiled on the island of Patmos because of his loyalty to Jesus, writes a number of letters to different churches. Jesus reveals himself through images from the prophet Daniel; he’s dressed in radiant robes, head and hair white as snow, eyes like blazing fire, holding seven stars in his hand, a sword coming out of his mouth, his face shining like the sun. It’s all about power and holiness. Jesus is walking among seven lampstands which represent the churches; showing he’s with his people.

The second letter Jesus sends is to the church in Smyrna. This is one of two letters where Jesus doesn’t say he has anything against them. This is a letter of encouragement that holds a promise of life in the face of death. This letter’s all about persecution and not giving up. There’s a smell and taste of death all through this letter. The name Smyrna means myrrh, which is used in embalming dead bodies. Even the city’s name points us to the image of death.

Jesus calls himself the “First and the Last, who died and came to life again.” Jesus died for our sins, but he also rose from the dead. Jesus reminds them that death’s not the end of the story because he is the first and last, and is victorious over death. We don’t have to fear death because we will be raised up from the dead through Jesus. Revelation is a story of hope, even in the middle of persecution and suffering. The Bible reminds us that Jesus understands suffering and death and knows what we need to make it through. In Revelation 12, we’re given a picture of Jesus being pursued by the dragon who is trying to destroy Jesus. The dragon is part of the unholy trinity you find in Revelation, made up of Satan, the beast and the dragon, and they’ve set themselves up against God’s people. Through the Holy Spirit in us, Jesus experiences our pain and suffering with us and through us and gives us strength. He says we will face persecution for 10 days, a Hebrew way of saying it will be for the proper amount of time.

Smyrna was a place of beauty and contained a temple built to honour the emperor Tiberius and was a center of emperor worship. Titus Kennedy writes on his website, Jesus’ letter to Smyrna was “written during the time of Domitian and Christian persecution, the church at Smyrna faced even more opposition than most, due to the strong influence of emperor worship in the city, which at that time was required by law and punishable by imprisonment or death. An interpretation of the reference to the “synagogue of Satan” is tentative, but it may refer to Jews who not only opposed Christianity, but also participated in the imperial cult.” Calling Jesus Lord made you a traitor to the emperor. This was the charge Jesus faced and which led him to the cross.

How does that work today? We don’t have an emperor cult, or do we? Look at politics today There are more similarities to emperor worship today than we want to admit. The Bible reminds us, don’t put your trust in princes. All our leaders have clay feet and will disappoint us. Politics has taken on a religious fervor and passion over the past few decades. If you don’t believe exactly as the leader does, then you don’t belong. Their beliefs have become the new moral and ethical compass for people to be judged by. Denmark is looking to enact laws to make all religious leaders submit their sermons in Danish to the government to be monitored. Other European countries are watching and Canada is slowly moving in that direction with certain laws being considered in a number of our legislatures.

Should that lead to persecution, Jesus tells us to rejoice in it. Matthew 5:10–12, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Jesus tells us that we should expect persecution, and to rejoice when we do. I find it hard to imagine the North American church celebrating the prospect of persecution. North Americans fear suffering, all kinds of suffering. This is why medically assisted dying has become so acceptable. We use all kinds of things to escape pain, whether physical, emotional, mental or even spiritual pain. Television, the internet, entertainment, porn and other distractions are so popular because it helps us escape our pain and lose ourselves in someone else’s lives for a brief time.

Persecution happens regularly in the world today. Suicide bombers injured at least 19 people in a terrorist attack at a Roman Catholic church in Makassar, Indonesia right after Palm Sunday mass this year. “Thank God that no Christians died in the attack,” the Open Doors’ coordinator in South East Asia, said. “But some believers have been severely wounded, and all present have been traumatized. Their lives will never be the same. We ask the worldwide Church to pray for their brothers and sisters in Makassar.” Those in the churches in these places in the world are not asking to be rescued out of the persecution, but are asking us to pray for strength to stay true to Jesus and their faith. Their desire is to be a testimony for Jesus in their suffering, through how they suffer for Jesus.

Imagine that part of raising your children is to prepare them for the day you’re taken away because you are Christian? A mother in Iran shares how she prepared her daughter. She told the Open Doors coordinator, “I knew the day would come … the day they would knock on the door and take me and my husband to prison. Although everyone around me thought I was a housewife, I was, in fact, involved in full-time ministry. The authorities were bound to find out. We started preparing our daughter Lily* for persecution when she was still in primary school: “When they come and take mom and dad away, don’t worry,” we told her. “The Bible tells us it is normal to be persecuted as believers. They will take us to prison, ask us some questions, and hit us. Then we will come back.”

Then one day the parents were taken away by the authorities. The mother says, “On the way to prison, I thought about Lily and how she would know what to do when my sister picked her up from school and told her—Lily would pray for us. And when she was afraid, she would pray more. Not long after, I was released, as was my husband … through tears, I saw my Lily’s face again. She told me that she had been praying a lot for us. Spending these times in prayer and trusting the Lord in everything was a completely new experience for her. In hindsight, Lily says that she never grew more in her faith than during that time we were in prison. I prepared my Lily for what would happen when her parents were taken away. And I learned to put my Lily in the hands of the Lord, and He took care of her in miraculous ways.”

We don’t face persecution here in Canada. Yet Jesus warned us that following him cause people to hate us. Luke 21:16–19, “You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.” “Why would people hate us for living out our faith,” a young man asked me once. We talked about what would happen if we truly did justice, loved mercy and walked humbly with God, if we lived out the sacrificial life found in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew where Jesus calls us to a radical faith. We decided that by living this way we would threaten our political leaders’ power, along with the centers of financial power. They would attack us because ultimately, Jesus’ way is radically different and calls us to give Jesus our first love and loyalty. Jesus died, to save us from our sin, and to transform us so that we think, live, feel, and believe like him.

How should we react to persecution, or to being rejected because we choose Jesus? Don’t be afraid, Jesus tells the church, he is walking among the churches, he is there with them. Faithfulness, to remind ourselves who Jesus calls us to be, how Jesus calls us to live as his followers, to let our lives be a witness to Jesus’ love and grace. Pray, when Peter was put into prison for confessing Jesus as Lord, the believers gathered together to pray, so pray for the persecuted church. Love, Jesus calls us to love our enemies and those who persecute us. Praise Jesus and rejoice, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5, not just in the good times, but also in the hard times. Persecution has the power to reveal Jesus to our community by how we react and live into it. Jesus says in Luke 21:12–13, “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me.”