Daniel Hope

His name was Scott Falater. In 1999 he was on trial for allegedly stabbing his wife forty-four times and drowning her in their backyard swimming pool on the night of January 16, 1997. His case received national coverage from the media because of a rather strange argument made by the defense. The defense contended that Scott, on the night of January 16, went outside with a hunting knife to fix the pool pump while sleepwalking. His wife, they asserted, came outside and touched him, sending him into a violent rage. For the next hour he supposedly was sleepwalking while he stabbed his wife, drowned her in the pool, and stashed his clothes in the wheel well of his car. In June of 1999 the jury found Scott Falater guilty of murder, and the "Sleepwalking Case" was closed.

In Revelation 3, the saints in Sardis are on trial. We don’t have to read far into the chapter to hear the verdict stated by Jesus…"Guilty." "Guilty of what?" you ask? According to Jesus, they are guilty of nothing other than sleepwalking.

Jesus’ promptly gets to the point in this letter to the sleeping saints in Sardis—"Wake up!" (Rev. 3:2 NIV).

What a shock it must have been for them to hear Jesus say, "You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead" (Rev. 3:1 NKJV)! Jesus describes Sardis as a morgue with a steeple. The church in Sardis was the "church of the living dead," much like the lady described in 1 Timothy 5:6 as being "dead while she lives." The church in Sardis was comprised of dead men walking.

Can you imagine what this church must have felt like after hearing these words said about them? They probably felt like Mr. Jones felt the day he went to the doctor for a routine check up. Mr. Jones prided himself on his physical prowess. He was an outstanding athlete in his younger days and, although older now, was still a picture of health. The doctor ran a few tests on him and left the room. Upon returning with the results, the doctor looked at Mr. Jones and said, "You are a dead man." Shocking? Sure. Any more shocking than what Sardis heard? Surely not.

The shock of Jesus’ statement was surely intensified due to the fact that this church enjoyed a good reputation! It had a name that it was alive! The problem was that the church didn’t have the character to back up its reputation. You see, your reputation is who people think you are. But your character is who you really are. Sardis found out that it doesn’t matter what others think about you. What matters is what God thinks about you. If a non-member would have inquired about the church in Sardis, he or she would have probably received a good report. This individual may have been told something like, "Oh, yes, the church in Sardis is a wonderful church. Their weekly worship services are well attended. They have prayer meetings occasionally throughout the week. The people there seem to get along alright. Everything there runs so smoothly."

Now I don’t know about you, but to me that is scary! If something looks right, how can you know that it’s not? A closer look at this letter reveals several aspects of this church that may very well have been dying, including its ministries, its evangelism, its influence, and its zeal.

Jesus not only strongly rebukes; He also lovingly offers to enliven this lethargic church. He wants to arouse this sleeping church. He wishes to revive this dead church. And He will, if they will watch, strengthen what remains, remember, hold fast, and repent (Rev. 3:2-3).

Sardis doesn’t have a monopoly on members like Rip Van Winkle who sleep their lives away. Spiritually speaking, there are many individuals and congregations like Sardis that need to wake up!

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