Things are Better and Worse Than They Seem

It's easy to feel like the seven letters in Revelation have too much to say to us, or too little to say to us. We can be guilty in this book, as with any other, of reading things that aren't there, and missing the things that are. So what is missing in the letter to Smyrna? A rebuke. One of only two letters where Jesus has nothing to say against the church. These were a committed bunch of believers, and we can learn from them.

Imagine being a Christian in Smyrna towards the end of the first century. You have a small but vibrant church, people are getting saved and baptised, people are sharing their faith and working out how to live faithfully in their pagan culture. Things are great. But then...people start losing their jobs, someone's property is vadalised, when you go the market you hear all sorts of accusations made against you and your family, people in your church are disappearing. Things are not so great.

And then, a letter arrives from John. And as you read this letter, your hands shaking, your breathe quickening, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary letter, but it comes from Jesus Himself. What a joy! What does the Lord have to say to us in our persecution? Well, He's with us. He's lived and died and lived again! He stands by the church in tribulation, He knows. Tribulation doesn't equal abandonment, it just equals tribulation.

But then... 'some of you will be thrown into jail for ten days...' What? I thought this was supposed to be encouraging? Things are going to get worse? It seems that this letter is telling us that there will be a dedicated time of persecution against this church. It will be short, but long enough. Some of these Christians will have to be faithful in the face of death. I wonder how that was received. When this letter was read on the Lord's Day, i wonder what the reaction was. Maybe there wasn't one, maybe they knew that this was coming, maybe the reaction came from the end of the letter.

'...I will give you the crown of life...you will not be hurt by the second death...' Whoah! Things are better than they seem. Life might be 70 years years of sin, sickness and suffering, but then...the crown! Then, immunity to the second death. Then? Life, with Jesus forever. So the synagogue of satan can do what they want, i'm sticking with Jesus, life can get worse than I dread, i'm sticking with Jesus, and waiting for the crown.

This isn't 'pie in the sky when you die,' this is real, concrete, solid ground hope. This is knowing what the future holds and holding onto it. This is what kept the church in Smyrna growing.

And this is what has to keep you and me going. This week, things might be worse than they seem. Bad news, bad accidents, bad diagnoses might crush us. But things are better than they seem. Much better. For those who overcome, the crown of life awaits, for those who are faithful till death, there is a joyful eternity with Jesus waiting.