He Reigns
Bible reading
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.
– Revelation 2:8-11 (NIVUK)
Devotional
Walk in the downtown core of any major city in the world and you will surely find the homeless. They sit on cardboard boxes, leaning against buildings, their eyes half closed, their hair, clothes, and body unwashed for days or weeks. Often they have a little sign asking for money, just a coin or two to help them to buy something to eat at the end of the day. Sometimes they look at the people walking by but I doubt they expect anyone to take much notice of them. They have long since blended into the background, a part of the sad scenery that no tourist takes pictures of.
Now imagine walking up to a homeless person and saying: “My friend, you are so fortunate, you are so blessed! I have never seen anyone as rich as you are! You are the pinnacle of what it means to be a truly honourable person. Yes, you have suffered, but don’t worry, you’re about to suffer a lot more.” I can’t imagine that your communication will be well received or even believed. The homeless person would likely think you were crazy! “Rich? I’m clearly poor!” “An honourable person? Have we even met?” “I’ll suffer more? I don’t even think that’s possible”. “Now go away”! At least that’s how I imagine the conversation going.
But that’s the message Jesus has for the church in Smyrna. They were a poor, struggling church. They had been slandered, ostracized, pushed away and pushed out. Some of them had gone to jail for their faith, others had died. They were caught between living in the kingdom of God and being crushed by the kingdom of the world.
But Jesus calls them rich, he tells them to be brave, and he reminds them that they will be victorious. If this life was all there was, then the Church of Smyrna was in trouble. But Jesus called them to look beyond their circumstances and fix their eyes on the finish-line – where he would be waiting for them… to comfort them, to wipe their tears away and to give them a crown.
If you feel poor today, or abused, pushed around or pushed out. If you feel like no one notices you or maybe you’re getting too much attention because of your faith. Hold on! Stand firm. You are richer than you think; you are safer than you could ever know; and your reward will be more amazing than you can hope or dream. You will see Jesus.
And if today you are in the city and you see a homeless person, remember how very similar you are. Show them compassion, help them to feel rich, safe, and hopeful.
– Connie Main Duarte
This devotional is part of a series that helps us navigate the texts of the book of Revelation with fresh eyes. A new devotional every Saturday.
These devotionals are available in Portuguese and in English.