I don’t have a toenail. But I do have an ear.
A couple of weeks ago, a doctor took off my toenail because it had been infected. Apparently it is never supposed to grow back. I won’t have a toenail, but I will have an ear. And that’s important for reading the beginning of Revelation.
If you’ve ever opened up John’s Apocalypse, aka the Book of Revelation, you’ll find that it starts off in an interesting way. John addresses the revelation to seven churches all in what we would consider modern day Turkey. They are often the part of Revelation that we skip over because it seems like information that is specific to those churches themselves – and they are, but they are also letters written to us. It’s a part of how God’s word works – He can address situations happening in places like Thyatira because those situations are going to pop up again in another place.
All of the churches have their differences, but they also have something in common, they are all churches that find themselves in the midst of crisis. While they share crises, they all respond to their crises differently. Because of that, all of us can look at the 7 churches of Revelation and consider ourselves and our local church and consider how we are responding to this age of crisis that we live in and how we respond to the more individual and personal crises that impact our lives.
One other thing that all of the churches of Revelation have is that they all receive the phrase, “let the one who has an ear, hear what the Spirit says…” It’s a great line. Go ahead and reach up to your head and check. Go on, nobody is looking. Just check. Still there? Do you have two? Because Scripture says you only need one – “an ear” is singular. So you got one? Great. Then listen to what the Spirit says.
And what does the Spirit say? Well, we’ll spend the next few weeks looking into what He says exactly to all of those churches, but in general – what the Spirit tells us is Law and Gospel. He convicts us and the world for our sin – that’s the Law. But He also brings us good news of Jesus’ rescue and redemption of our lives – that’s Gospel.
So check again. Got an ear? Then hear what the Spirit says: Yes, you are a sinner and you have committed sins. But you are also God’s beloved, so much so that He sent His only Son to rescue you. May the reception of that news from the Spirit change your life today and every day forward.