“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:
‘I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
‘Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.
‘Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.'”
Again, we being today’s reading by asking, “What does this passage tell me about who God is?” I constantly have to remind myself to start there so that he is the main character of the story instead of me in the lead role. It seems clear that God does not like things halfway — go big or go home. Throughout the Bible there are contrasts to earthly riches or earthly wisdom and supernatural riches and wisdom. We see here God’s heart to offer a better way.
It is amazing how many times I have heard this “lukewarm” concept and the idea of God spitting us out of him mouth. What a picture of disgust and anger. And yet reading this today I was surprised by what comes next: an invitation into a supernatural life. He’s offering them supernatural gold, offering to cover their shame, offering to share a meal as a friend. This picture reveals a lot about the nature of God that gets missed when we only look at him as disgusted with us.
This passage does say that God will spit this lukewarm church out of his mouth. But it’s not because he is repulsed by the people themselves. The focus here is on the ways that they have bought into earthly ideals. They’ve compromised and he has something more for them. I don’t know if you’ve ever used the bitter pet spray that is supposed to stop them from chewing on things (side note: it doesn’t work). When you get that stuff on your hands, it’s hard to get off. I have thought my hands were clean only to pick up a bite of food and taste the residue of that bitter taste. Imagine if my response to that was to cut my own hands off and throw them in the trash! I would be momentarily disgusted by my hands but not because I dislike my hands. Instead, I am disgusted by what is on my hands and my desire would be to clean them once again. This is God’s heart: call out what is evil and then restore. Thankfully, he returns to our house and waits for a friendly invitation in every time.