Revelation 2:8-11

⁸ “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:  These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. ¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

Today we are looking at another group of God’s people who are about to face suffering. These are the people who were part of the first century church in the city of Smyrna a 250,000 strong, beautiful city located on a harbour and known for its architectural wonder. It was modern and boasted the largest amphitheatre in Asia. It had a famous library and a stadium. It was known as the ‘glory of Asia’. It reminds me a bit of my city – Brisbane – but smaller. Smyrna also had a plethora of temples where its citizens could worship their gods.  

This letter to the church containing Jesus’ words warns them of the upcoming suffering they will experience. It includes imprisonment, persecution and even death for some. The exhortation from Jesus is to be faithful – even to the point of death. It sounds like death for some at least will be inevitable in this church.  

I wonder sometimes how close we Christians in my city are to experiencing this sort of persecution or suffering Jesus mentions here? Our society can sometimes see us as irrelevant, our beliefs as strange or outdated and as such persecution will probably remain unlikely. But when we refuse to bow to the modern gods of our age and strive to be salt and light as Jesus commands us, things will change. We will become unpopular as we become instrumental for the light of God to shine on sin and injustice. The culture in which we are submerged can make us fearful for our lives, our existence. In our paradoxical society we go to great lengths to preserve human life through medical science and our emphasis on safety, but at the same time some lives are valued much less such as some of the unborn and some who might be considered a burden at the end of their lives.  

But Jesus tells us not to fear the threat of death from following him. After all this is the resurrected Jesus speaking. And his resurrection is ours also. We also need not fear the ‘second death’ of judgement as Jesus has already dealt with that. So, we can be encouraged to live out who we are as Jesus’ followers without fear. 

Tim Hewlett