A Sound Church
(Rev 1:12~20)
No one leader has ever built a community in any ages. A community is made by God. It was meant to exist by his will and maintained by his mercy. In todays chapter, the Lord continues to talk about a sound church because he wants us to revive through it. Lets see what a sound church is.
1. It is one that turns and meditates on the Word. We can understand others through changing our mindset by turning around and laying down our fixed ideas. The 'seven stars' stand for the seven angels of the seven churches and the 'seven golden lampstands' the seven churches (v 20). The church is compared to 'golden lampstands' because it is what God has paid for with Christs blood for. Thus the church built by God is powerful, glorious, and important. God reveals his glorious world through Jesus when we make our small application of turning and standing in some elses shoes. In a sound church, we come to focus on others rather than ourselves with a wider perspective even in the midst of our Patmos circumstances.
2. It is one that meditates on ‘Who is Jesus?’ every day. The master key to all trials is the question, 'Who is Jesus?' QT is the questions that God kindly asks us and our answers to them. Jesus is the royal priest who wears a golden sash around his chest, standing among the seven lampstands, the seven churches. The royal priest visits us today, caught in our deadly circumstances, in order to intercede for us. Jesus, whose hair is like a blizzard of white, sees through everything with his eyes like blazing fire. He shows the best example of serving others with his feet like furnace-fired bronze and his voice like a cataract, which delivers the Word of salvation in the midst of great trials. God holds us firm with his powerful right hand when we proclaim to be Jesus follower no matter how awful we are in faith. A sharp double-edged sword comes out of Jesus mouth. Yet Jesus, whose face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance, condescends to talk to us through the people around us.
3. It is one that has healthy fear of God. John fell at his feet as though dead (v 17). Those who see the glory of God need to confess their self-identity, saying 'I am a sinner.' We all have different fears of our own. We apprehend that God may want more of us than we are even though God is the one who actually does everything. Some of us might fall at their feed after bankruptcy or failure in their ministry. However, God consoles us all, who fall like dead men in their places, saying, 'Dont be afraid. Im the one who began this and I will also finish it You know I was also dead and was raised. Now Im holding the key of death and Hades.' Thus God shows us who Jesus is. Yet why does he do this?
4. We need to find our greater mission. Why did God give us the Word? He put the Word in our mouth so that we can experience trials first, then go and share them with others who are suffering, and take care of their souls. In our trials, we should recognize our mission, which is bigger than the trials. The core of the gospel that covers the past, present, and future is Believe in Jesus and choose the kingdom of God at the crossroads of judgment or salvation. Those who light the golden lampstands are the angels of the seven churches, the mystery of the seven stars. The angels of God look humble and menial. Thus God uses ordinary people like his seven angels under his protection, not great people, as the channel of his message with the mission of interpreting the wars in the world as Gods redemption history.
Heres a confession of our community. One deaconess was so hurt when her husband confessed in his Mokjang that he was addicted to porno that she couldnt forgive him. She added that she used to understand others when they confessed their shameful affairs. Yet, when it came to her own story, she felt so shameful that she didnt want to open her story. However, her husband confessed his story in his community, decided to repent of his sins, and cut them off. Later, she recognized that she had cherished her pride, which would wither overnight like Jonahs vine (Jon 4:10), confessed her sins, and shared Gods grace with others. I pray that we all will find our great mission in our incidents, regarding our trials as shining stars. The one small light of our recognition will surely brighten our whole family, church, and country.
'The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches (Rev 1:20).”
