“The Letter to Philadelphia: Opportunity” (Revelation 3:7-13)

Three Men

Perhaps some of you have heard the story of three men who were working on a stone pile at a construction site. A curious passerby was eager to discover what was going on. He asked the first worker, “What are you doing?” “Chiseling stone,” was the reply. Trying for a better answer, he asked the second worker, “What are you doing?” “Earning a living.” Another unsatisfactory answer. He asked the third worker, “Sir, what are you doing?” He dropped his sledgehammer, stood erect, and with a gleam in his eye exclaimed, “I’m building a great cathedral!” On the surface all these three men seemed to be doing the same job, but only one of them saw how his work fit into a larger, greater vision.[1]

The Purpose of Life, the Purpose of the Church

Some of you may wonder, “How does today’s passage, Jesus’ letter to Philadelphia written 2,000 years ago, relate to us and our church?” Some of us are struggling with health issues. Some are worried about paying bills or debts. Some are juggling busy schedules. As a church, we are struggling with small membership and few resources. But how does today’s scripture help us who wrestle with these practical problems? In order to answer this question, we need to first go back and be reminded what the purpose of Revelation is. Its purpose is to open the eyes of our hearts and to see things - our life and our church –  from an eternal, heavenly perspective. This heavenly perspective practically helps us to deal with life’s difficult trials.

If we read the Book of Revelation very closely, we cannot but ask these two following questions: “What is the purpose of life?” “What is the purpose of the church?” First, what is the purpose of life? It is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever! (cf. Westminster Catechism). Then, what about the purpose of the church? It is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever! In Revelation 2 and 3, we hear Jesus’ pastoral letters sent to the seven churches in Asia, which were suffering and struggling. But then, in Revelation 4 we turn from the church on earth to the church in heaven. We see a throne at the center of the universe. The Eternal Father sits on his throne, surrounded by the church in heaven. A great multitude that no one can count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the lamb. They cry out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!” (7:10-12) We see the church in heaven glorify God and enjoy him forever and ever. The church exists to glorify God.

What Does It Mean to Glorify God?

But what does really mean to glorify God? The word glorify (Kabod in Hebrew, and doxazo in the Greek) means to reflect. According to the Bible, to glorify God means to reflect how awesome, how great God is through our actions and attitudes. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus said to his disciples, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” We glorify God when we point others to God through how we think, how we say, and how we act. We can glorify God in the way we treat others, in the way we eat, in the way we dress, in the way we post on our facebook. Basically, every choice we make is an opportunity to glorify God (cf. 1 Cor 10:31). John Wesley rightly said, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” We glorify God when other people can see him because of the way we live our lives. In John 15:8 Jesus said, “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” When we bear the fruit of the Spirit in our daily life, we reflect God’s image. And people see it. People see God. That brings glory to God.

In the same way, when the church bears the fruit of the Spirit, when the church becomes a loving church, joyful church, peaceful church, patient church, kind church, good church, faithful church, gentle church, self-controlled church, people see it and are drawn to God. That brings great glory to God. In this respect, the church of Philadelphia was a God-glorifying church. Philadelphia church was a small congregation with little strength. At that time there was a serious conflict between church and synagogue in Philadelphia. Jewish Christians were excommunicated from the local synagogue. They had little power, little resources, were persecuted, and had not made a major impact on the city, whereas Jewish leaders in the local synagogue were wealthy, influential, had the authority over many things. Although Philadelphia Christians had a little power, they remained faithful. They endured persecution and hardships. They obeyed Jesus’ word and didn’t deny him. And now Jesus commends them and promises them, “Those who are in the synagogue will come and fall down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love” (9). In other words, those who were against Philadelphia Christians would come to realization and repentance. Some of them would come back to God. Indeed, Philadelphia Christians pointed other people, even their opponents, to God through their faith and their love and their suffering. They did glorify God.

Making Much of God

John Piper once asked the following question at one conference (“Getting to the Bottom of Your Joy,” Passion 2011), “What’s at the bottom of your joy (what makes you happy)?” All of our joys have a foundation. Let me give you an example. Recently, Lydia got her report card – all A’s. That made her very happy. Suppose I would ask, “Lydia, why are you happy about making an A on a test?” She would say, “Because it helps me to get into school to be a teacher.” Then I would ask, “Why do you want to be a teacher?” She would say, “Because I want to help children.” I would ask, “Why does that make you happy?” If we continue this “why – because” conversation, we get to the bottom of what makes us happy. At the bottom there are two possibilities of our joy: making much of me, or making much of God. Self or God.

Are you making much of you or making much of God? In his book Jesus>Religion, Jefferson Bethke says, “Too often, instead of acting like mirrors pointing back to Jesus, we try to act like billboards, advertising ourselves.” It’s quite possible that I am still at the bottom and I love to be made much of, while doing all the good works. In my first ministry as youth pastor, I got burnt out after first six months. As I look back, the main reason why I got burnt out that soon was because I didn’t know the purpose of the church, because I didn’t see the big picture. To me, the church was a working place. I worked very hard. I was expected to lead young adult group on Sundays. I did more. I led a small group leader’s meeting during the week. I went out to the street for evangelism. The young adult group grew in numbers. I got the praise of the pastor and church leaders. So I worked harder. But when rough times came, when the group didn’t grow in numbers, when the commendation died down, I just burnt out. We worship. We make disciples. We evangelize. But why are we doing all this? Why do we meet daily for our prayer meeting? Why do we have a church bazaar? What’s at the bottom of what makes us happy? The church exists to make much of God, not make much of us. The church exists to glorify God through worshipping him, equipping his people, and evangelizing the world.

Open Doors

Dennis Byrd was a professional football player. He was an up-and-coming defensive superstar for the New York Jets. On November 29, 1992, Dennis was about to sack the quarterback. But then he collided with a teammate and his spinal cord was snapped. In a split-second, his football career ended. He was paralyzed from the neck down. From a worldly perspective, Dennis was no longer able to reach his potential. But in God's eyes, Dennis Byrd is capable of much more than sacking quarterbacks. In God's eyes, Dennis Byrd is capable of giving him glory, and Dennis has done that in a tremendous way. At all the times he could Dennis told the media that Christ was his source of strength and comfort in his time of tragedy. The doctors announced to the media that Dennis may never walk again. But less than a year after tragic collision, millions of television viewers watched Dennis Byrd walk out to the middle of the Meadowlands Stadium while 75,000 fans stood cheering in ovation. The miracle in his life is not that he broke his neck and walked again. The true miracle is that he did glorify God in times of trouble.^[2]

We are made, we are able, we are called to glorify God wherever we are in our spiritual journey. If we are on the right track, we can glorify God by remaining faithful just like Philadelphia church. If we have drifted away from God’s paths, we can glorify God by repenting and coming back to him. Our Christin journey is from “my way” to “God’s way.” Our Christian life is a God-centered life, God-glorifying God. Let us be faithful; Jesus is coming soon. Let us repent while the door of salvation is wide open. Let us glorify God through what we are and what we have. “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” (Ps 115:1)

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[1] Steven J. Cole, “Lesson 21: God’s Eternal Purpose and You” (Ephesians 3:9-13), https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-21-god%E2%80%99s-eternal-purpose-and-you-ephesians-39-13

[2] Preaching Today, “Paralyzed Athlete Brings Glory to God,” https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2006/january/16302.html