Lukewarm

Years ago, I had a friend from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and I visited my friend's family there four or five times.  Since the family was Finnish, they kept a traditional Finnish sauna on their property in the woods, next to the river.  The general idea is to sit in the sauna until you're good and sweaty, then you lather up with soap and shampoo, and then you go jump in the river.

I could do the first two things, but I had a real problem with the third.  I hear it's invigorating.  I hear it can even be therapeutic.  But I like staying in the sauna.  When it comes to water, I don't like it hot and I don't like it cold.  I guess you could say I'm a "lukewarm" kind of guy.

It's interesting, because in Revelation 3:16, Jesus had some harsh words for people who were lukewarm:

"So, because you are lukewarm -- neither hot nor cold -- I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

These words were directed towards the church at Laodicea, and we need to understand a couple of things about Laodicea, the city, in order to fully grasp this scripture.

Laodicea was built in an area that had a lot of seismic activity and, therefore, the city experienced a lot of earthquakes.  Where there is seismic activity, there are often "vents" which allow boiling hot water to come up to the surface, creating "hot springs."

In the nearby city of Hierapolis, these hot springs were famous.  People came from all around to enjoy the therapeutic qualities of the water.  Some people even believed the water had healing, medicinal properties, and they drank it.

There was another city near Laodicea called Colosse.  Just as Hierapolis was known for its hot springs, Colosse was known for its cold waters.  People would also travel from all over to dip in the refreshing waters of Colosse.

Now, once upon a time, the people of Laodicea decided they didn't want to travel the six miles to Hierapolis to soak in the hot springs -- they wanted to pipe the hot water to Laodicea.  And that's what they did.

It was considered one of the largest construction projects of its time.  The people laid six miles of pipe to channel the hot water from Hierapolis to Laodicea.  And it worked.  Sort of.

The pipes delivered the water, but by the time it got to Laodicea, it was not only lukewarm, but it had a sickening, nauseating taste.  It was so putrid, no one wanted to drink it.  As you can imagine, Jesus' caution to the church at Laodicea carried a strong punch.  I think he was basically telling them:

"Because you have become so dead, so dull, so sickening, so nauseating -- because no spiritually refreshing waters flow from you and you have no healing properties left -- I will spit you out of my mouth!"

I think the church at Laodicea was stuck in the middle -- both geographically and spiritually -- like something that has lost both its flavor and its heat along the way.  

You see, with God, there is no middle ground.  As representatives of Christ, we need to be refreshing (like the cold water) and healing (like the hot water).

Let's spend some time this week seeking and praying about staying both hot and cold, and let's allow the Holy Spirit to work on our "lukewarm" areas.

Be blessed -

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