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Examine Your Deeds — The Church @ Sardis

1. Connect

   What motivates and fills what you do? Is Judas Iscariot in heaven? His name is always mentioned last in the list of Jesus’ disciples and is followed by, “the one who betrayed him.” Even so, Judas has fascinated people for centuries as we try to explain why he betrayed Jesus. Was he just greedy, or had he become disillusioned with his Rabbi? Some claim he was actually so dedicated to Jesus' mission that he heroically pushed it forward to a climax. Regardless of what you think about Judas’ motives, do you remember the turning point in his relationship with Jesus? It happened in Bethany, a week before the Passover. A woman anointed Jesus with expensive perfume, and Judas harassed her saying,

   “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages” (John 12:5).

   Jesus rebuked him,

   “Leave her alone” (John 12:7).

   He went on,

   “She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her” (Matthew 26:10-13).

   After this conversation, Judas went to the temple and asked the chief priests,

   “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” (Matthew 26:15).

   Judas and the woman didn’t calculate the cost or the benefit of their actions. They each followed an impulse that was the overflow of their heart, and in the end, they reaped the consequences. Judas loved himself and loved money. His life ended with bitter regret. The woman loved Jesus, and he lifted her from obscurity into the spotlight of praise. These lives remind us that where an action begins and what fills it as we carry it out matter. This is what Jesus calls the church at Sardis, and us, to hear.

   To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
   
   These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
   
   Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Revelation 3:1-6)

2. Personal Reflection

   Jesus' evaluation of the church at Sardis focuses on their deeds. In contrast to some of the other churches in Asia Minor, what they are doing doesn't look sinful. In fact, it looks so good from the outside that Sardis has a reputation for being alive. But God doesn’t evaluate things the way we do. As he told his prophet Samuel, when he was about to anoint the new king of Israel,

   “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

   Jesus' diagnosis revealed that in God’s eyes the deeds of the church at Sardis were “unfinished” (the Greek says “not full”). What was God looking for? Well, as he told Samuel, he was looking at their hearts. First Corinthians 13 reminds us that from God’s point of view, even the most extraordinary spiritual gifts and impressive sacrifices are empty and worthless without love. Jesus' letter to the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2 highlights the priority of our love for God. Scripture teaches that authentic love for God expresses itself in love for others, love for what we do, and love for self.

   1. As you meditate on what each of these means through the lens of the Scriptures below, ask God to show you what your deeds are full of.
      1. Love for God
         • “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
           
           Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:36-38).
         • “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12, NLT).
      2. Love for others
         • “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
         • “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you… My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:9,12).
      3. Love for what you do
         • “’My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work’” (John 4:34).
         • “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23).
         • “I take joy in doing your will, my God” (Psalm 40:8, NLT).
      4. Love for yourself
         • “For the joy set before him [Jesus] endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2).
         • “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it” (Mark 8:35 NLT).
         • “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).
   2. What stood out to you as a result of this activity?
   3. Read 1 Corinthians 13:4-6.* Which characteristics of love listed in these verses are most challenging for you in your relationship with:
      1. God?
      2. others?
      3. what you do?
      4. yourself?

   *“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:4-6, ESV).

3. Watch

4. Discuss

   • What is something you want to remember from the video?
      
   • How does what you have learned encourage you to persevere in your relationship with God?

5. Take Away

   In his letter to Sardis, Jesus lays out the steps to get back into a flourishing relationship with him: Wake up! Strengthen what you do have before it dies. Remember what you received and were taught. Hold on to it. Repent. If we follow Jesus’ advice, we will get a foretaste of what he promises the overcomers of Sardis: intimacy with him and glorious righteousness (“They will walk with me, dressed in white.”). And since Christianity is not a religion of self-improvement but is good news about a relationship with God, he doesn’t expect us to generate this love on our own. He offers it to us:

   “This is real love — not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us” (1 John 4:10-12 NLT).

   • Judas tried to hide his selfishness behind loud concern for the poor. Can you think of a time recently when you have hidden selfish motivations behind something that looks good? Confess it, and ask God to replace your selfishness with his love.
      
   • What is one thing you want to remember from this devotional?
      
   • What does this mean for your life this week?

   — Annette Gulick