Last month, on the weekend, the day dawned bright sunny warm with less humid temperature provided for most pleasure to walk outdoors for fresh air and exercise.
After a gentle stroll in our complex in the morning, a pleasant afternoon put me in a read and writing mood. Therefore, I picked up my laptop bag and drove to my favorite local restaurant to sit and write since most of the Township libraries closed due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
As I parked my car in front of the restaurant, I glanced around the outdoor seating area to make sure a quiet, empty place with an umbrella table and chair available for me to sit and focus on my thoughts to write.
Soon I spotted an empty table with an umbrella and chairs in a quiet outdoor seating area. I left my laptop bag on the table and went into the restaurant to buy a fresh hot coffee to refresh myself.
A friendly waitress looked at me and asked if I needed anything else other than a fresh cup of hot coffee. I squinted my eyes and looked at her and said, let me start first with a fresh hot coffee, and later, if I feel hungry will be back for my favorite salad and sandwich.
I paid for the coffee and grabbed my hot fresh cup of coffee strolled through the door to the outdoor seating area. I pulled out a chair and sat down. At each sip of my hot coffee, I rocked back and forth in my chair; my forethought on the topic seemed to puzzle over the decision.
I leaned back in my chair and glanced at the blue sky and surrounding trees with colorful autumn leaves. Suddenly, my attention diverted as two American Robin birds flitted from branch to branch in the adjacent landscape shrubs next to my table. I fixed my gaze at these birds for a few seconds and smiled!
“Aww, what an adorable bird!” I said to myself.
I paused and thought for a moment and opened my laptop and logged in to write my blog post titled “Are We Awakened.”
I took a few coffee sips and wrote each paragraph of that post as my flow of thoughts let me do so!
As I wrote about John Wesley’s ministry influence in our family, my thoughts wandered back to my childhood in the middle of the post.
I paused and leaned back in my chair, closed my eyes, and inhaled deeply! At that moment, I recalled attending my Middle and Sunday Schools to my memory with friends from Methodist Boys’ Boarding School in Yadagiri, Karnataka State, India.
I recollected those School days where I first memorized a well-known Bible verse from Revelation 3:20 in my mother tongue (South Indian), the Kannada language. For most of us, this verse and an image of Risen Jesus Christ standing at the door and knocking are embedded in our memory.
I rocked back and forth in my chair and fell silent!
“Ahh, it’s cold!” I uttered after another sip of coffee. I strode into the restaurant and grabbed another cup of fresh hot coffee. After a few sips of fresh hot coffee with a focused mind on the topic. That day by evening, I completed and published the post titled “Are We Awakened.”
At bedtime on the same day, I reminisced about the School days once again and a memorized verse of Revelation 3:20. I gazed at my Bible on the adjacent bed lampstand and opened Revelation Chapter 3 to read more carefully. As I read the entire Chapter that night, for some reason, my eyes focused on verse 16.
Are there lukewarm churches in our communities? I asked myself. I pondered what a lukewarm church member’s attitude and behavior would be? Are lukewarm churches and their members dangerous to the communities and nations? I drawled!
Due to my busy work week, I could not further focus on this subject; however, my recalled memory was neither frozen nor diverted from my busy work schedule.
Sunday, December 6, 2020, the second week in the Advent season, a beautiful morning to worship in the church. Soon after my wife and I attended the church service with Holy Communion, I decided to complete my last month’s recollected thought and article on the lukewarm church topic.
Therefore, I picked up my laptop bag and drove to my favorite local restaurant to sit and write.
I spotted an empty table in a quiet corner area in the restaurant and bought my favorite flavor of fresh hot coffee, and after a few sips of fresh coffee, I started to recollect my thoughts to write.
As I logged in to my laptop to realize that so far neither have I listened nor heard a sermon or read the topic on “lukewarm church.”
Moreover, neither am I a theologian nor clergy who studied in-depth on this topic. As a result, all kinds of thoughts raced through my mind!
Finally, I prayed and started writing based on my last month, recollected, and today’s fresh thoughts as I wandered back to my childhood on this subject.
As I remember my childhood days and Christmas Day celebrations in the past, for various reasons, the season of Advent in the year 2020 seemed to be unique!
Is not Advent both to celebrate the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming?
Do you think our expectation and preparation of both Jesus Christ’s First Coming and His Second Coming are two sides of the same coin?
If so, are we prepared this year for both celebrations of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and His Second Coming?
Is there any correlation between the lukewarm churches and the season of Advent?
Do you think there is a positive (i.e., direct) or negative (i.e., indirect) relationship between the lukewarm church and Advent?
I wondered whether we are members of the lukewarm churches? Or who attends the lukewarm church? Do you and I know who attends a lukewarm church? Why does God hate the lukewarm church and its members? I asked myself!
Most of us have seen the pictures with written words where Risen Jesus Christ stood and knocked at the door (Rev. 3:20). Even though I read this Chapter a few times in the past but never deeply absorbed it as it happened a few weeks ago when the full context of this Chapter sunk into my thoughts.
King Solomon thoughtfully stated that “everything has its time (Ecclesiastes 3:1), and even Paul, the Apostle reminded us that “when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things (1 Cor. 13:11 NKJV).”
Yes, I was a child when I first memorized Revelation 3:20 and I thought and understood this verse as a child; but now I am a grown-up man studying the word of God prayerfully every day!
When I read Revelation Chapter 3 once again in various versions of the Bible, I pondered whether or not in the 21st century, we are members of the “lukewarm churches?”
Because what I understand our memorized verse, which is, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with me (Rev. 3:20 NKJV)” written in the full context of a “lukewarm church.”
Before this (i.e., Revelation 3:20) verse, there is a shocking and frightening verse. Risen Jesus Christ says, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth (Rev. 3:15-16 NKJV).”
As we can see, the use of the words “cold, hot, lukewarm, vomit, and door” are natural figures of speech of our great teacher Jesus Christ. When we dissect each word, phrase, or sentence to find the meaning of Revelation chapter 3, I think it is clear that the “lukewarm” church and its members’ efforts are halfhearted, lacking in spirit, and interest.
Did I ask myself as to what characteristics distinguish the cold from the hot nature? Do the lukewarm church and its members show a lack of cold or hot nature in their families and communities? Or does the lukewarm church, and its members have nauseating quality? Or does the lukewarm church transmit its characteristics to its members?
I wondered if the lukewarm church and its members are religious chameleons, that is, people who often change their beliefs and behaviors to please others or to succeed? I pondered, is it the lukewarm church trained to herd sheep and goats together?
If that is the case, do you think lukewarm churches and their members caused any social, psychological, economic, physical, health, political, and religious turmoil in the families, communities, and nation due to their own ascribed characteristics?
For instance, in the recent General Election in the United States of America (USA), churches and their members got an opportunity to evaluate two separate major political parties (i.e., Democratic and Republican) platforms to assess and vote prayerfully. You may know that there is a vast difference between these two party’s platforms. Only God knows about how each church and its members rated these two platforms based on the Biblical principles and prayerfully voted!
Over 30 years, we lived in the northeastern part of the United States, where life without heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer seasons in the house is tough to survive.
To live and monitor in this environment, we required both thermostat and thermometer devices. A thermostat performs the function of controlling the temperature, and a thermometer is used to gauge the temperature inside the house.
If a lukewarm church is neither cold nor hot, I wondered are there any devices to check or detect and find its inside temperature or environment? If so, which device do we need to analyze and test the lukewarm church and its members? Is it possible to set and control the churches’ temperature either to a cold or hot, but not to lukewarm?
As I understand, our Risen Jesus Christ’s knock at each door appears an action after an inside temperature evaluation of the church and its members’ hearts to check whether it is cold or hot!
Don’t you think it’s a frightening thought?
Two years ago, on Sunday morning in Roanoke, Virginia, I attended one of the large congregational churches for service. Soon after the church service, a few senior members requested me to attend their adult Bible study class. First, I hesitated and waited for a few seconds to say “yes or no” due to my tight new workweek schedule. I didn’t want to go, but they insisted on me!
“Oh, all right, come on; let’s go if you insist!” I said. We strolled into one of the classrooms inside the church building. As I sat in a chair, the class leader asked me to introduce myself as a first-time attendee.
Soon after my introduction and prayer, the class leader stated that he would first read an article published in the social media about the “judgment days,” as stated in Matthew 25:31-46, then he let us share our thoughts on the subject.
“Oh, it’s a scary thought for me!” I shrugged and said when my turn came to share. I paused and told the class that this separation scene frightens me since He is the only judge to identify as a sheep or a goat and separate me on that day according to His decision. At that moment, most of the seniors stared at me and admitted with a nod!
I wondered if there is a close analogy between a cold or hot, and goat and sheep? Or, is there a comparison of the way He separates sheep from goats and the way He vomits lukewarm church and its members out of His mouth due to lack of either cold or hot nature?
In my opinion, either way, it is a frightening thought for one to encounter!
Is there any way we can escape from this final judgment and an encounter from the Son of God?
I don’t think so! Because His word is clear. He said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away (Mat. 24:35 NKJV).”
I think most of the modern-day churches and their members focused on their “deeds” or “social work” rather than “repentance.” His word reminds us that His sacrificial love on the cross for our sins saved us! As it is stated in the Holy Scriptures that “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood (Rev. 1:5 NKJV).”
In my opinion, the social aspect infiltrated and replaced the Biblical principles in most modern-day churches. As we know, Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, and His teachings should prioritize the church. He said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinner, to repentance (Mark 2:17 NKJV).”
If social issues take precedence over Jesus Christ’s teaching in the churches, how would one interpret and understand the Gospel mentioned above of Matthew Chapter 25: 31-46 (i.e., Son of Man’s Judgment)?
I think these verse should frighten everyone because “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and gave Me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me (NKJV).”
It shocked me when I read Revelation Chapters 2 and 3, where Risen Jesus Christ says to seven churches (i.e., Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicean) that “I know your works” or “deeds” in various translations. If we noticed, this is one of the keywords in these two chapters, which indicates that He is not interested in the work or deeds. But He clearly stated, “repent (Rev. 2:5; 2:16; 2:21-22; 3:3 and 3:19).”
As children, we memorized Revelation 3:20, but it took me all these years to understand that this verse is a “conditional statement” by Risen Christ to churches and their members.
Meaning, churches and their members should not have a “nauseating quality” in His sight.
What makes Risen Jesus Christ nauseous from the church and its members?
No surprise, He has already provided us the reasons for His vomit of lukewarm church and its members in verses from 17 through 19 of the same Chapter.
Moreover, Jesus Christ also told us with His figure of speech that “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire (Mat. 7: 16-19 NKJV).”
Likewise, Jesus Christ informed us that “they are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to me, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (Mat. 23: 27-28 NKJV).”
Even Paul, the Apostle also stated that “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work (Titus 1:16 NKJV).”
Based upon Risen Christ’s teaching on Revelation 3:15-16, it is clear that no matter how big, rich, famous, or popular the churches and members are, they do not address “repentance” or sin as the priority, and it nauseates Him. He said, “And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that (Luke 6:33 NIV).”
Do you think our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has already vomited either of our churches and its members based on the “repentance” as a decisive factor in evaluating whether it is cold or hot nature?
Martin Luther, the great Protestant Reformer, who changed the course of Western civilization rightly said that “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.”
It appears to me that in the 21st century, most of the churches let in so-called “social activities” or social club became their “nest,” if you will, in the church and ignored the main thing, which is the teaching and preaching of “repentance.”
As we know that conceit is associated with stupidity and ignorance. We can’t be ignored because He first loved us and washed our sins once for all with His precious blood on the cross!
Therefore, Risen Christ says either you’re cold or hot, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne (Rev. 3:20-21 NKJV).”
Our Risen Christ showed us that the lukewarm church and its members would not hear His voice. But either cold or hot church and its members, who are His sheep will listen to the voice and opens the door so that He can come in and dine with Him because He said:“ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me (John 10:27 NKJV).”
During this season of Advent, most of our front main house door is decorated with a wreath that symbolizes Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy, respectively.
Imagine, if Jesus Christ knocks in front of our main door during any time of this season, and you and I are inside or other side of the door looking at our reflection in a hung mirror to see whether we are cold or hot with a repented nature so that we can hear His knock and voice, and open our doors for a Christmas dinner!
If so, I believe that it is possible to prepare and celebrate both the Nativity of Jesus Christ at Christmas and His Second Coming during the Advent’s season.
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And Heaven and nature sing.”
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