Still listening?
by Pastor Tim Klein
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Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together (Revelation 3:20).
Read Revelation 3:14–22
My congregation loves to sing ‘Shine Jesus Shine’ (by Graham Kendrick). There is a great line in the chorus: ‘Set out hearts on fire’. However, like remaining seated to sing ‘Stand up for Jesus’, I suspect our hearts are not always all that ‘fired up’ as we sing to the Lord: ‘Set our hearts on fire.’
As a pastor, my heart is gladdened when we (including me) respond with grace, mercy and generosity to the needs of other people. On the other hand, my heart is sometimes saddened when people (myself included) seem to ignore others or treat them poorly. That’s our humanity – our sin – we pick and choose. We can be both hot and cold for the Lord at the same time.
And that’s why we need to listen up today to Revelation 3:15,16 and take the Lord seriously when he says it:
I know everything you have done, and you are not cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other. But since you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth.
Do you want to be that lukewarm person, spat out from the Lord’s mouth? I don’t. Here’s our conundrum, which Paul expresses well in Romans 7:21–23:
So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.
Thank God that not only is he serious about how he wants us to live, but he is also serious about saving us: ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’ (Romans 5:8).
Another thing we love in our congregation is the Lord’s invitation to dine with him at the table. We gather, we confess, we are forgiven. He invites us to the table, and we eat together! It’s realised eschatology at work. Hallelujah! We are in the kingdom now!
Dear Lord and Saviour, thank you for your grace that forgives us lukewarm people. Keep working in us – don’t give up on us. Use us in your mission to reach beyond our self-imposed limitations to seek the lost, the lonely and the least. Amen.
Tim has served as a pastor for over 30 years in Australia and New Zealand and is currently at Faith Warradale in South Australia. Husband to his wife, father of three and grandfather of more than nine. Tim says he is living in hope. He enjoys gardening (especially his orchard of over 60 trees, succulents and flowering plants), making music (he loves to sing), beekeeping and taking photos.
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