Revelations 3: 7-13

Who are these people? The message to Philadelphia takes a very different tone than the message to the dead, oblivious, asleep of Sardis, the fallen of Ephesus, and the lies of Smyrna. The message to Philadelphia affirms these people. I see the good you have done, you have kept my word, you are exhausted for keeping my word, you are the “PASSIONATE PATIENT!” These are not the people of Sardis in a desperate condition and producing nothing but busy work. These people in Philadelphia are not the “pretentious pretenders” who call themselves believers. God’s message here is clearly calling out the success of the Church of Philly. The message to this church says, you have done it right. “you kept my word…I am opening doors for you that no one can shut…you didn’t deny me when times were tough…it’s you I have loved…Because you kept my word in Passionate Patience, I’ll keep you safe in the time of testing”

I have to admit I really like the sound of Passionate Patience. I’m currently talking myself into believing that this virtue describes who I am. I might be the most passionately patient person to ever walk the earth. I clearly do not have the “Reputation for Vigor” which was bestowed upon the church of Sardis. I must therefore be one of the Passionate Patient who is waiting for the time when God shows up and installs me a pillar in a place of honor. Then again, I may be taking some liberty with my definition of “passionate patience.” Not finishing that project at work…”passionately patient.” Sleeping in when I know the lawn needs to be mowed…”passionately patient.” My ability to read another chapter, while my To-Do list grows…”passionately patient.” Right??! Truth be told, I’m probably more of a combination of the two groups described in the letter to the church in Philadelphia: Neither a Passionately Patient nor a Pretentious Pretender, but rather a “Patient Pretender.” And for the record, I don’t like the sound of that at all!

Here is the good news. The message from God to the church of Philadelphia is consistent with the other messages. Although the truth of the condition for Sardis, Ephesus, Smyrna, Philadelphia… is a little different, the authority of God does not change. It is still God who is able to open or close doors. It is God who is able to protect them in a time of trials. God who is coming fast to make their enemies bow down. I have times that I am passionately patient, times that I am pretentiously pretending, times that I’m faking vigor, but living dead, times when my loving stops and I fall. I can be any of the descriptions that we read in Revelations about these churches. Fortunately for me God is consistent. When I fall God is Grace, Love and Pleasure in His creation. When I’m patient, when I have used my strength for good, and kept my word, God is Grace, Love and Pleasure in his Creation.

In 2018 our company had started the year very strong. We were having the first good year since going through one of the hardest stretches of my career. In 2013 I wondered if we might lose our company. The bank did not want to lend us money. Our financial statements showed that we were not healthy. I did not have any good ideas about how to fix this. Slowly through a lot of good luck and some hard work from my co-workers we dug out of that hole. In 2018 we faced a good economy, busy customers, and finally positive results. For the first time in years, I felt accomplishment and significance at work. I believed my vigor and patience were paying off. It certainly felt like God was opening doors, celebrating success, and saying, “…because you have kept my word…well done.” Just before leaving on a trip with my family, I received the report that a new construction job we had taken on was going to have devastating results for our business. At first review, it appeared it would wipe out all of the profit we earned in the first half of the year. We needed that profit to rebuild. I needed the sense of competence at work. As we boarded the plane to fly to Miami for a week, I felt more defeated than I can describe. I wanted to scream. I tasted bile from stress and anxiety in my stomach. I wanted to craw into a hole and quit. In a hopeless search for peace, as I began a “vacation” with my family, I desperately read the simple words from Henry Nouwen, “You are not the sum of your accomplishments, your worth, your value come from the Creator. By Christ you are loved unconditionally.” I always want to be the successful people of the church in Philadelphia. Occasionally I feel the joy of success and accomplishment, but far more often I am Ephesus or Sardis: Dead, Fallen, or Pretender. Fortunately for me and for all of us, God doesn’t change. In our success and in our failure, God’s Grace, Love and Pleasure are for us.