On our second day of touring, we loaded back onto the bus for a 75-minute drive to see the ancient remains of the Lydian city Sardis. Once there, we were rewarded with several different (much more intact) sites including a gymnasium (which is really like a gigantic “high school”), the synagoge, as well as ancient shops. Think of lots of columns and arches with a fair amount of greek writing and marble everywhere. Because there are so many earthquakes in the area, there were no complete buildings still standing and certainly no existing roofs. Still, there was plenty to see under the boiling hot sun and with the help of two greek dudes in our group, we were able to understand some of the ancient greek writings on the walls (of course, I don’t remember what any of that says now…)
After perusing the ruins, we traveled a few minutes drive to another site to hear Pastor Mark preach on the letter to the church at Sardis. Found in Revelation 3:1-6, this church receives a harsh word of Jesus as he calls them spiritually dead. It seems that Sardis is doing everything “right” on the outside – he doesn’t criticize their doctrine or their immorality – but on the inside, there is nothing: no passion for Jesus, no genuine love and affection for their neighbors and the world around them. Sardis is its own worst enemy. They have become apathetic and satisfied with the routine of faith instead of taking true joy in the rituals of faith. They simply don’t care.
This sermon was a particularly good one (though to be honest, they were all quite good) and has an easily applicable message into my own life: where have I become spiritually dead? What do I just not care about anymore? As part of the message, Pastor Mark talked about the difference between deadness and dryness as well. The latter being a season in which I’m not connected to Jesus or the church, but it bothers me. I am disconnected and uncomfortable about it. Deadness, on the other hand, results in no discomfort at the lack of Christ in my life. Good stuff, eh?
From there we ate lunch nearby and then settled in for another 75-minute drive to the teeny remains of the church of Philadelphia. Similar to the church at Thyatira, what remained was literally the shell of the ancient church, fenced in and tucked away within a city square. This letter, found in Revelation 3:7-13, acknowledges the church’s ability to keep to the Word. However, Jesus admonishes them to keep the strength and to not give up, as they have been doing. In a later sermon, Pastor Mark informed us that the small church of Philadelphia did in fact heed Jesus’ words and remained faithful for hundreds of years, until eventually the Turks invaded (during the Ottoman Empire) and wiped them out. What a legacy: to have remained faithful for so many generations! As an American with such a short national history, it can be difficult to fathom that kind of faithfulness.
After snapping a few pics, we (again) filed back onto the bus to escape the relentless sun and made our way back to the hotel for dinner and to rest up for Laodicea tomorrow: four hours away. (Yikes!)
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