Diary of a Young Pastor

Yesterday, I started a sermon series on an interesting subject: Apathy. My text was Revelation 3:14-22 and it was my first sermon I’ve ever preached out of the book of Revelation. The text is the last letter of the Seven Letters to Seven Churches - one of the most intriguing parts of scripture. The letters address real spiritual issues that the people were facing and relate those issues to real (physical?) events that were going on in the town.

The seventh letter is addressed to Laodicea and the issues for Laodicea are as follows:

1. They were wealthy

This wealth was gained by selling the wool of their famous black sheep

It was also made by the selling of an eye salve that was developed at the medical center in Laodicea. They were very proud of this salve, and according to history - it worked on a number of eye conditions

2. They experienced an earthquake

This earthquake leveled the town. But because of their wealth, they were able to rebuild without any help from the government of the day. Real-life equivalent? Imagine New Orleans saying, “We don’t need any government help - we’ve got the resources we need right here to rebuild.” Amazing!

3. They had a bad water supply

Apparently, the water in Laodicea was awful. So they came up with an ingenious solution. A few miles outside of town, there were these hot springs with great water - only there was a problem - they were far away, and they were hot.

So, they decided to build an aqueduct to cary the water into town - the town would get fresh water, and the water would be cooled as it traveled.

It wasn’t a perfect solution - the water was quite tepid when it arrived in town. Not cool and refreshing like water from a deep well.

Now, having that background, take 3 minutes and read Revelation 3:14-22.

Amazing.

~Pastor Matt