“Not an Easy Place to Be”

Revelation 2:8-11

Control is an illusion. Four years ago today we discovered the hard truth of that. Our wealth, our role as the last remaining superpower, our billions of dollars worth of armaments, and the best military, law enforcement, and intelligence forces in the world were of no avail. An evil beyond our comprehension murdered over 3,000 people. Our illusions of national control were shattered.

Two weeks ago Hurricane Katrina came ashore. Thousands of lives were lost. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced. Billions of dollars in damages were sustained. The mighty forces of nature reminded us just how out of control we are. Control was an illusion.

For better or worse, prior to those events, we, at least, had the luxury of our illusions. We could still pretend that we were in control. There was no such luxury for those early Christians in Smyrna. They knew that they had no control over the culture in which they lived. They were a righteous minority in a pagan culture. Their faithfulness to Christ stood over against the might of the Roman Empire. Their economic wellbeing was dependent on hostile forces. Friends and members of the city’s well-entrenched Jewish population were spreading false rumors about them. These rumors led to a lot of unwanted and unfriendly attention from the Roman authorities.

Being a Christian in First Century Smyrna was not easy. One never knew when one’s business would be padlocked or destroyed. Economic disadvantages brought on by such actions led to chronic poverty. There was always the threat of imprisonment – and even death. One had to live every day with a passive yet hostile undercurrent of social and political oppression, never knowing when this undercurrent might flare up into active persecution. There were no illusions of control.

There were, however, clear choices for those early Christians. They could maintain their allegiance to Jesus Christ. They also had the choice of renouncing Christ. For a Christian that’s really no choice at all. Renouncing Christ would ease the short-term stresses of persecution. Homes, businesses, and wealth would be preserved. Lives would be saved. Pain would be avoided. Smyrna would no longer be such a difficult place in which to live. No more hostility. No more hatred. No more bigotry. No more fear. And maybe, just maybe, some control over one’s life.

That is the worst kind of illusion. It is in fact a delusion. We can renounce the lordship and authority of Jesus Christ. That does not change the eternal realities of God. We may deny or refuse to acknowledge it, but God is still in control. He rules. His will prevails. We can opt out of his Kingdom, but that does not exempt us from his judgment. We can exercise a bit of short-term human freedom. We can pretend to be in control of our ultimate destinies. But the will of God always asserts itself. When it does the short-term gains from renouncing Christ become eternally long-term losses.

Jesus made that very clear to his disciples: “… those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it… [those] who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

The final words of the risen Christ to the Christians in Smyrna echo and affirm those words from Mark’s Gospel: “Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death.” Jesus will not be ashamed of those who remain faithful. In losing their mortal lives they will save their immortal souls. The short-term costs of persecution, fearful and horrible though they may be, will be of no eternal consequence.

God is in control. Rome is not. The Lord rules. Satan does not. No nation, no empire, no ruler, no culture has ultimate control over God’s people. As uncontrollable as they may be, even the harshest forces of nature have no ultimate control over us.

The devil may cause us to be thrown into prison. He can afflict us for a while. But hear these words spoken by the risen Lord: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Yours will be the unfading joy and glory of eternal life. If, on the other hand, you choose to turn your life over to that illusion of control that is the Devil’s, all that awaits you is eternal death.

We are not First Century Christians living in Smyrna. There is no mighty earthly empire seeking to stamp us out. We are not persecuted for our faith. Although we live in an increasingly secular, hedonistic, and even pagan culture, there are still some vestiges in our nation of a Judeo-Christian heritage. Christianity is not in its infancy. The church is not powerless. Here and there we can find pockets of hostility toward Christianity. This hostility is not yet a national phenomenon.

There’s good news in that – real good news. But as is often the case, there is some bad news lurking around and even within the good. We Christians in America are too comfortable. We are insulated from the dangers that threaten many of our Christian brothers and sisters in other places. We’re just safe, secure, and protected enough - we still enjoy enough of our culture’s good will – that we are tempted to harbor illusions of control.

We assume that what happened in long ago Smyrna cannot happen here. While we pray for and fear for our persecuted brothers and sisters in other lands, we can in no way identify with them. The reality of persecution simply does not compute in the mind of the average Protestant Christian living in North America or Western Europe. We cannot comprehend it.

And thus we forget a basic truth contained in one of William Barclay’s commentaries: “Into the budget of every Christian’s life there must be written the possibility of loss.” We forget that harsh truth those long ago Israelites in Egypt had to learn the hard way: “… a new king arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph.” Our ancestors may have enjoyed cultural status and favor in the past. We may enjoy them in the present. We cannot assume that such favor and status will always be ours. Things change, sometimes quickly, oft times violently.

We can no more predict persecution than we could have predicted what happened on 9/11. The threats were there. The warnings were there. In our national complacency and sense of control we either ignored them or failed to take them seriously. The notion of highjacked jumbo jets being flown into buildings was preposterous. But it happened.

To rather badly paraphrase the words of Jesus, there will always be disasters and rumors of disasters. Hurricane season comes every year. Once in a blue moon it spawns a storm of mythical proportions. But people still live on the coast, their heads buried in the sand and their fingers crossed. Maybe the hurricanes won’t come, and if they do we’ll find a way to lessen or minimize the damage. Technology, architecture, and good old American know how will protect us. We’ve got things under control. Wrong!

Terrorist attacks happen, even in America. Hurricanes happen, bringing horrible pain, suffering, and loss, even in America. Persecution happens. It is happening. It will continue to happen until the Lord comes again. No Christian is immune to it. There is always the possibility that what happened to Christians in First Century Asia Minor can happen to Christians in the Twenty-First Century Washington Metro area.

Once all our illusions of control have been shattered and everything that has befallen Christians in other times and places happens here, then what? We will be presented with the same choices that Christians have always had. Just like saints we’ll either have to profess Christ or renounce him. Faithfully endure short-term persecution, and thus inherit a crown of unfading glory and joy, or accept short-term safety only to find ourselves in hell.

We know the message that our risen Lord sent to Smyrna: “Do not fear what you are about to suffer… [be] faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life… [whoever] conquers will not be harmed by the second death.” We also know what choice those Christians in Smyrna made. If the time comes, will we be willing to do the same? Amen.