Tolerating Jezebel (Thyratira)

Revelation 2:18-29
Pentecost 4
June 16, 2024
William G. Carter

And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze: “I know your works—your love, faith, service, and patient endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first. But I have this against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and is teaching and beguiling my servants to practice fornication and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her fornication. Beware, I am throwing her on a bed, and those who commit adultery with her I am throwing into great distress, unless they repent of her doings; and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you as your works deserve. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ‘the deep things of Satan,’ to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden; only hold fast to what you have until I come. To everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations; to rule them with an iron rod, as when clay pots are shattered— even as I also received authority from my Father. To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

One Sunday, we had a visitor here. Sometimes they stand out. They come up the hill breathless and ask where the restroom is, before returning to pick up a bulletin and find a pew. She said later that she was warmly welcomed, and I believe it. We aspire to be a friendly place.

But that day, everything seemed to go wrong. The pastor had put the wrong hymn number in the bulletin. The church administrator hadn’t proofread it. The liturgist skipped the call to worship and jumped into the call to confession. The choir was missing most of the altos, even though they had been at the Wednesday rehearsal. The preacher called for the offering. One of the ushers was fiddling with his phone, so it took a full sixty seconds for the offering plate to come down the aisle.

All through the service a baby cried, a lot. The well-meaning father thought he could get the child to stop; it didn’t work. Then at the peak of the wailing, the alarm at the fire station went off and would not stop. When we get a Sunday like that, we roll our eyes and say, “At least there is coffee.” Except unknown to all of us, the coffee pot had died. Oh well. Say the benediction and call it a day. Everybody has something to chuckle about.

When she met me at the back door, she said with a broad smile, “I want to thank you for this church.” For the church? Really? It’s your first time here. “Yes,” she said, “and I will not be coming back. Wish I could, but I am just passing through. But thank you for the church.”

For the church? “Yes,” she said. “This is the most tolerant church I’ve ever seen. You’ll put up with everything.” Then she shook my hand and went out to the car.

I suppose we can take that as a compliment. We are a tolerant church. We’ll put up with a lot. You’ve certainly been putting up with me. I’ve been putting up with you. But I wonder how much we would be willing to endure.

I know a church that hired a new secretary. After working for a couple of weeks, she decided to join the membership. So did her son, who was probably in his forties. The two of them met with the pastor and a few elders. They talked about the church or tried to. Yet the secretary’s son kept pushing for a membership directory. “Can I get a list of all the people who belong?” Sure, but first we want to say we have communion once a month. There are Bible studies at these times. We want to give you a pledge card. And he says, “When will I get a membership list?” Must have said it three or four times. I mean, his mom is the new church secretary, and he wants a church directory.

Within a week or two of him receiving the directory, the pastor got some complaints. Apparently, Raymond, the new member, was calling the members and inviting them into a pyramid scheme. “Invest a thousand dollars with me, and in six months I can double your money.” He was working the list, had called all the “A’s” and “B’s” and was halfway through the “C’s.” The elders said, “Pastor, you have to do something.”

So, he phoned Raymond and said, “You can’t do this.” Raymond said, “It is a free country. I can do whatever I want.” The pastor, “You’re using your freedom to take advantage of fellow church members.” Ray said, “But it’s my business. Why do you think I joined the church?” They talked themselves into a stalemate. The pastor asked two elders to visit with Ray in his home. Ray lost his cool and quit his membership on the spot. Then he continued to phone up the “D’s,” “E’s, and “F’s,” until his mother told him to stop.

How long do you let it go on?

Theologian Robert Farrar Capon said it best: “The church is merely the world under the splash of baptism.” What happens out there can happen in here. We know that to be true. There are sleazy ministers; I’ve known a few. There are destructive church members; more than a few. And there are moments that nobody could ever make up.

Like the bridal party that cracked open a case of beer in the church lobby. Or the two sextons who used to play five card stud at the communion table after everybody left. Or the youth group leader who gave too many backrubs to the teenage girls. Or the volunteer who showed unsavory pictures of herself on Facebook. It has all happened. I assure you.

And then there’s my friend who landed at a new church in foxhunt country. About a year into his tenure, he raised questions about the church’s balance sheet. It was a large sum of money. They were proud of it. And the entire portfolio was managed by one church member in his one-person firm. The pastor asked, “Is this right?” Everybody said, “We trust him.” He kept inquiring. Three months later, they showed him the door. He couldn’t tolerate the potential risk to the church’s endowment. They couldn’t tolerate the questions he asked.

Today, we hear the Risen Christ speak to the church in Thyratira. It was a small town, perceived by historians as “inconsequential.” And of the seven churches who get a letter from Jesus, Thyratira gets the longest letter. The harshest, too.

Now, it’s not all bad. The Lord says, “Thyratira, I know your works. I know about your love, your faith, your service. I know about your patient endurance. And it’s clear you are improving: the works of faith in your church now are greater than what you used to do.”

Then he adds, “But I have this against you: you tolerate Jezebel. She’s leading my people astray.”

Leave it to Jesus. He knows the Jewish scriptures. Of all the so-called Bad Girls of the Bible, Jezebel was the worst. She explodes into the scroll of First Kings. A Phoenician princess, she married King Ahab of Samaria. She corrupted the religious life of Israel, hunting down the Jewish prophets and tearing down the worship altars around the country. In their place, she installed altars to Baal, the Canaanite god of self-indulgence. All this led to a big showdown with the prophet Elijah, who won the contest, but then she put a price on his head. Jezebel was rich and she was nasty.

Yet by the time Jesus dictates the letter to Thyratira, the Old Testament Jezebel had been dead for nine-hundred-fifty years. She died in far-off Jezreel, hundreds of miles away from Thyratira. So, it is obvious Jesus is not speaking literally of that Queen Jezebel. She is a symbol of something else.

In the same light, when she is condemned by Christ for “beguiling” his servants, leading them into sexual chaos, and enticing them to idolatry, there’s something more at stake. Ever since the prophet Hosea, Israel’s covenant-breaking had been depicted in sexual terms, like a wife who cannot stay faithful to her husband. It is a lurid warning, a big red sign “Don’t Do This,” a harsh reminder that the invitation to follow Christ is never an invitation to indulge ourselves or titillate our emotions. It is only following Christ. It’s not about getting ahead, but rather giving up, not about filling up but rather emptying yourself. It’s about surrendering the ego to gain the mind of Christ, and taking on the works of love, faith, service, and patient endurance.

Here is what Eugene Peterson says about Jezebel and her enticements:

 Jezebel was the symbolic nickname for the lying teacher who tricked Christians into foolishness. Centuries earlier, the historical Jezebel had introduced a religion into Israel that was glamorous and entertaining. It was all appearance and no substance. It appealed to self-interest, greed, lust. It nearly put Israel under. Jezebel keeps showing up century after century in congregation after congregation. She showed up in Thyratira and John warned the church. The appeal of the Jezebel lie doesn’t fade. In fact, right now we are under a media blitz of Jezebel teaching. It is April Fools’ religion and promises two things: to make you feel good and to get you what you want. And what chance does “Deny yourself and take up your cross daily” have against that?[1]

All this raises a simple question for Thyratira and Clarks Summit: why are we here? Really, now, why are we here? Is religion a scheme to get ahead or an invitation to lay it down? Are we here to be impressed by flashy promises or to learn how to give ourselves away? Are we here to strategize our success or to hear the truth about our own corruption? These are questions of discernment, the spiritual practice of sorting through what the truth is and what is a lie. And the closer we approach Christ, the deeper the questions become.

The invitation to the churches in each of these seven short letters is the invitation to repent. This is why Jesus sends each a letter. Most of the churches are doing good things. Yet each has a serious task or two to work through. The tasks are greater than resurfacing the parking lot or balancing the budget. More like, calibrating the heart to cast off the empty pieties and straightening the soul from the spiritual distortions. The work is never done until the day it will really be done.

As to that final day, Christ promises “the morning star.” That is the sign that something new has begun, in us, for us, and beyond us. If we press on, the morning will come. The dawn will break. And heaven will declare, “This is what we’ve been waiting for.”

Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

(c) William G. Carter. All rights reserved.

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[1] Eugene H. Peterson, The Hallelujah Banquet: How the End of What We Were Reveals Who We Can Be (Colorado Springs: Waterbrook, 2021) pp. 95-96.