“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
“ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’ (Revelation 2:1-7)
What Kind of Church Are We Getting Inside Us?
Our First Love: Remembering Why We Do What We Do
Revelation 2:1-7
As we work through Christ’s letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor over the coming weeks, we’re going to discover a lot of vocabulary that seems strange to us but would have been very familiar to John’s first readers. Apocalyptic literature was a popular genre for these first century believers and John’s use of vivid imagery helped them see the issues with which they were struggling through lenses of faith and trust in God’s ultimate victory through Christ. In this message to the church of Ephesus, Jesus mentions “the angel of the church” and “the seven stars” held in His right hand as He “walks among the seven golden lampstands” (vs. 1). The church’s “angel” is its pastor or “messenger,” which is another way of translating this Greek word; the “star,” is also a pastoral image in this context, depicting the church’s leader as one who shines God’s light in the congregation. The “seven golden lampstands” were the seven churches themselves, who made God’s light visible in their communities. These believers, who were facing persecution from without and the threat of false teaching from within, could be encouraged greatly by the thought that Christ had not abandoned them to endure these difficulties on their own, but was keenly aware of what they were dealing with and holding their pastors in His hand while walking among them.
As He walked among the Ephesian Church, Jesus saw a lot of things that pleased Him. This church worked hard and patiently endured in the face of hardship, refusing to turn away from orthodoxy to chase after the false teachings that were appealing to so many. The Ephesian Church had the right kind of programs and ministries and practiced sound doctrine, but, in their fervor for these good things, they had abandoned their first love. They had forgotten why they were doing what they were doing. Somewhere in the process of being a right-believing, morally upright congregation, the Ephesian believers had forgotten to simply love God, love each other, and love their neighbors, and, in that forgetting, Jesus makes it clear that they had left out the most important part. Without love, none of what they believed or did mattered much; love would be enough on its own. If they failed to heed Christ’s corrective word, He was going to remove their lampstand; a loveless church fails to shine with God’s light in the world, and, as such, fails to be a church. Christ warned that, if left unchecked, this failure would spell their demise. But, if they would remember their first love, repent of their lovelessness, and do the acts of love that once defined their fellowship, He would grant them the eternal nourishment of God’s paradise.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to get so focused on churchy things that we forget this basic ingredient ourselves. If we aren’t careful to keep our motivations in check, we can all be guilty of saying the right things, believing the right things, doing the right things, and missing out on the love that makes all that saying, believing, and doing worthwhile in the first place. Jesus’ message to the Ephesian church is a good opportunity for us to ask why we do what we do and to remember love, repent of lovelessness, and do the loving things that first defined our salvation story. If we do not prioritize love, there’s not much reason to keep being a church and Christ just might extinguish our flame forever. But, if we will get back to love, we will find that, even by itself, love is enough now and into eternity. How’s our love?