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Resources - Meditations
May 2000
A Millenium Message
for the Church
Smyrna – Rich in Christ! (Rev. 2:8-11)
Rev. Bill van Schie
As you walk through the ruins of the ancient city of Smyrna you are
struck by how little remains from the New Testament era. Most of what we
know about Smyrna comes from inscriptions and writings of the time.
Smyrna was a thriving and wealthy port city with a population about
200,000 people. It was located with beautiful views overlooking the gulf
of Izmir, about 47 kilometers north of Ephesus. It had a harbour that
could be closed to the elements and had an abundance of docks and
commercial buildings.
At the harbour archeologists have found the State Agora, which included
a rectangular piazza about 150 meters by 85 meters in size. On two sides
there were two story porticos and at the northern end was a two story
Basilica with a basement leading off to shops. The city of Smryna
boasted in having straight streets paved with stone. One such street,
that has been excavated, is ten meters wide with a covered walkway for
pedestrians on one side.
Smyrna was known as ‘the glory of Asia’. It was a center of education,
culture and sports. Smyrna had a 20,000 seat capacity theater where many
of its cultural events took place. Smyrna prided itself on being the
first Asian City to have a temple for the goddess of Roma. Emperor
worship was strong and permeated all of life. The provincial temple to
Tiberius gave the city special place of honour in the Roman Empire.
It is in this wealthy, proud and powerful city that the Lord planted His
small church. A church that, because it refused to bow to emperor
worship, was afflicted by persecution, slandered by her Jewish rivals
and suffered poverty because of their exclusion from the
religious-economic life of the city.
The question could have been asked by the members of that church,
“What’s the use of being Christians? We are so small, so poor so
ineffective in this community! It seems like evil is in control and
things are just getting worse.”
‘Ever feel like that? Or asked, “What’s the use of being a Christian? We
get the raw end of the deal. We are so small, so poor, and so
ineffective. It seems like evil is in control and things are getting
worse. Well, what does the Lord say to His struggling church?
He says, “I know your afflictions and poverty!” The Lord who is the
first and the last, who was raised from the dead, who has the whole of
history in His hands, He knows what they are going through. He knows!
The Lord who is the Victor says that they are rich, rich beyond
comparison. They are rich because they have the ‘crown of life’, the
wreath of victory. They have it already because Jesus has earned it for
them and has given it to them already.
They are not losers missing out on the good life. They are winners who
have already won the eternal victory. They are not ineffective. Their
story, their faithfulness will even be recorded in the Word of God and
they will be remembered even when the Roman emperors have been
forgotten. The church in Smyrna was small but the Lord has a habit of
using the small, the insignificant to make a major impact for His
kingdom.
So, friends, when you look at your congregation and you see that it is
so small, with so few resources, with so little impact on the community
around you… when you look around you and see the riches and the power of
the corporations, the sports clubs the arts centers and the politicians
today, do not despair. You are not poor. In Christ you are incredibly
rich with riches that will not spoil or fade, riches that no one can
take from you. You are not ineffective! One plus God is the majority.
Many times the Lord has used an insignificant person or congregation to
change the course of history.
And, friend, if you are in a thriving and growing church, a church
blessed with a growing budget an abundance of resources and talent, a
church blessed with great facilities, with an effective ministry into
the community, then be very careful where you see your riches. Your
riches are based in Christ alone, your influence is a result of His
Kingship alone, and your success is because of His blessings alone.
So as we go into this new millennium let us say, “Let the weak say, ‘I
am strong!’ Let the poor say, ‘I am rich!’ Let the blind say, ‘I can
see!’ ...because of what the Lord has done for me!”
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