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Two Types - March 5, 2008

Two Types

Fifth Wednesday in Lent

March 5, 2008

Rev. Dave R. Garwick

Now that some of us have finished our soup supper, we can talk about White Castle.  You'll notice that the back of the bulletin has the sign for White Castle.  That is because in this world there are two kinds of people:  those who love White Castle and those who despise White Castle.  There ARE no people in between.  And of those who love White Castle, there are two types:  those who will admit it in public and those who show better judgment.

They way that fools walk where angels fear to tread, so I will come right out and admit that I am a fan of the Slyder, where they start with a cushy bed of steaming, sizzling onions, and fry up thirty to a grill, two and a half inches square, where the oniony steam wafts up through the five evenly spaced holes which bathe in heavenly flavor the 100% beef patty, which is tucked in a soft, custom-baked bun that is warmed by the maximum amount of onion mist...

...which, if I eat it, may inspire my family to make me sleep in the most distant part of the house.

And so you may well ask what in the world this has to do with church, other than the fact that we will probably never serve these for a Wednesday evening.  Well, it has to do with the fifth of the seven churches of Revelation to which the risen Jesus sent letters.  That church is named Thyatira.  Like the other six churches, this one is also located in modern day Turkey.  Only it is no longer called Thyatira.  When the Moslems conquered it more than a thousand years ago they renamed it Ak-hisar.  And guess what Ak-hisar means?  It means "white castle".  Cool, huh?

When Jesus wrote to the Christians in Thyatira, He said that, on balance, there was a lot to be said for them:  "I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first."  Not too shabby there.  If only He had stopped with that.

But that town would soon be named "White Castle."  like I said earlier, when it comes to White Castles, there are two types of people.  Likewise, Jesus said that in this church there were two types of Christians.  There were those who tolerated leaders within them who were teaching sexual immorality and idolatry.  And then there were those who trying to hang to faithfulness to Jesus and His teachings.

I am almost gun-shy to dare mention that many, if not most, of the leaders in our own church denomination are either teaching sexual immorality or tolerating those who teach it was they are encouraging the church to bless homosexual behavior even among its pastors.  I am reluctant to even get into this because there are people in this congregation who are more comfortable in tolerating the BEHAVIOR than having their pastor even talk about it, much less oppose it.

But if I refuse to talk about it on the very night when we read what Jesus said to Thyatira, then I myself stand judged by His words:  "I have this against you:  You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess.  By her teaching she misleads My servants into sexual immorality.  ...I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.  So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her way. ...Then all the churches will know that I am He who searches hearts and minds, And I will repay each of you according to your deeds."  THAT is why I refuse to keep silence when our own denomination is all bet named in this letter.

But in this same letter Jesus also said that within the same church, there are those who are risking their very careers to hold the line.  Thyatira was a craft industry town.  You could not have a career there unless you belonged to the trade guilds.  And the grade guilds routinely gathered in feasts, often in pagan temples, that included acts of sexual immorality.  If you opposed their traditions, you were not of the guild and were out of a job.  There was a cost to NOT tolerating the teaching of sexual immorality that had become the norm.

So Jesus said, "Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do NOT hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets....only hold on to what you have until I come.  To him who overcomes and does My will to the end, I will give authority over the nations ...I will also give him the morning star.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Again, two types in the church:  those who tolerate leaders who teach sexual immorality and those who remain to hang on and overcome and do God's will that has been so clearly and repeatedly explained in His Holy Word.

Of all the seven churches, Thyatira was the smallest and least important.  Yet Jesus had more to say to Thyatira than to any of the others.  There is no indication in the Bible or elsewhere in the documents of history just how the church in Thyatira responded to Jesus' letter.

Likewise i have no idea how Christ Lutheran Church will respond when it becomes her turn.

I am fairly certain that the larger church with which we are associated has long been committed to pursuing the blessing and encouragement, or at the very least the toleration, of sexual immorality in homosexual behavior and will continue to teach this at every opportunity in all our gatherings, youth events and at our church colleges.

But the denomination can never make this congregation do any of this here...unless WE decide to allow this, to tolerate this or to teach sexual immorality in the name of God.  THAT is what I do not know:  how THIS church will respond to Jesus' warning and encouragement of Thyatira.

All I can say is the very last thing Jesus himself ever said to the church of Thyatira:  " He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Pay special attention to the third verse of the Hymn of the Evening (#369 "The Church's One Foundation").