There is a way of living that Jesus finds absolutely repulsive. So repulsive, he says he will spit you out.

Did you know that you are in the mouth of Jesus? He speaks your name at the throne of God. He defends you against the endless accusations of the enemy. Scripture even says he himself prays for YOU.

But beware, there is a way of living that makes Jesus spit you out. What we will discover today is we dangerously tiptoeing that line without even realizing it.

The first 3 chapters of the book of Revelation include 7 letters Jesus instructed John to write to the churches. Remember, churches are God’s people. We are God’s people … these letters are to us. This is after the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and he has appeared to John with very clear messages.

We’ve studied 6 of those 7 letters, now we read the final letter. Let’s first read it a portion of it together. Revelation 3: 14-17:

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:

“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

We’ve learned so far in our study that the way Jesus introduces himself at the beginning of each letter is important. Here, Jesus says “I am the beginning of God’s new creation.” With Jesus, we become a new creation. The old is gone and the new has come. Jesus is saying, “Remember, you don’t have to be who you used to be when you are in relationship with me.” He’s saying, “You don’t have to do what you’ve always done. My girl, I am the one who makes you totally new.”

Jesus not only doesn’t want to hold your past against you, he wants to separate you from your past. He has no intention for you to dwell in what happened or what was. He’s offering NEW to you. Brand new. Not the fixed up, refurbished, polished you on the outside with the same old crap on the inside. Nope, he wants to make you new from the inside out.

I love that Jesus doesn’t take us in as a rusted out old model to just give us a new paint job and then send us out on the roads of life to break down. What good are shiny pretty cars sitting on the side of the road unable to go anywhere? Jesus says, “I will make you NEW!” You won’t come out as a spiffed up version of who you used to be, you will be made brand new!

You get to be a new creation.

And Jesus is reminding his people that ONLY happens through him. That surgery doesn’t make you a new you, that just fixes a little rust on the outside. That new job, that new house, that new car, that new husband … none of that makes you a new you. That’s all the equivalent of putting new tires on a 1972 Camaro with an engine missing it’s transmission. It’s a complete waste.

No matter the rust you have on you, no matter the flat tires you’ve been running around on, no matter the cracks in your windshield or your motor that always runs hot and overheats, Jesus wants to come into your life and make you brand new! Not fix you up enough to get you through. Nope, NEW!

Have you let him make you new? That sounds good, but you know what that requires? That requires a complete surrender. That requires a continued open hand way of living that says, “Jesus, not my way, but yours.” And that surrender isn’t a one and done kinda deal, it’s a continual surrender day after day after day. A walk of faith that makes you continually new in Jesus.

And I’m telling you once you taste the freedom in surrender, you’ll see that’s what you’ve been missing all along.

So, the one makes you new is saying, “Hey, so there’s a problem here. You’re neither hot nor cold. You’re just lukewarm, and because of that I will spit you out of my mouth!”

Dig a little deeper and you’ll understand why Jesus is using this specific reference to lukewarm water. The people of this region had no local water source. All their water was contaminated and undrinkable. So, their water was piped in from a hot spring 6 miles away. It came from a source that was hot, but by the time it got to them, it was just lukewarm.

To make their water cold was impossible. They had no way of making ice, no way of cooling the water, therefore it wasn’t refreshing like that from a cold spring.

To make their water hot would require effort. They would have to build a fire, heat stones in the fire, then put those hot stones in their container of water. Over and over again, they would reheat the stones and put in the water to keep it hot.

Cold water is refreshing – they had no source for that.
Hot water was useful – they had to work for that.
Lukewarm water was easiest – but it wasn’t desirable.

Jesus is using the example of this undesirable lukewarm water the people of this region were so familiar with to tell them this careless way of no intention and no effort way of living was repulsive to him. It’s not what he wanted, nor was this way of living what they needed.

Luekwarm living is that settled easy life where we grow comfortable enough to think we don’t really need anything more or different from God. We have enough. We’re good enough. Life isn’t excellent, but it’s not an absolute crisis either, so we don’t seek Jesus for more. And that is disgusting.

Why is it disgusting? Because it’s dangerous.

When we stop realizing our absolute NEED for Jesus, then we start settling into life that’s luekwarm with loose morals, surface level prayers and a lack of awareness of how disgusting we have become.

There was a time, not even that long ago, where I had become so lukewarm that I just fit right in with the world around me. I did what they did. I talked like they talked. I watched what they watched. I scrolled like they scrolled. I put in no effort to have a relationship with Jesus. He was just there and I knew I could call on him if I needed him, but the truth is, I didn’t really feel like I needed him.

And that is where the enemy was tricking me the most. My okay, comfortable, lukewarm life was blocking my full surrender to Jesus. And because I wasn’t fully surrendering to Jesus, I was only seeking a new paint job while my engine had fell out on the road 2 blocks ago.

What does living HOT really look like? It looks like meaning with every ounce of you the prayer that says, “God, if you’re in it, I want it. If you’re not, I don’t.” Like for real, I don’t want it if God’s not in it. I want God’s will over my own way.

That’s putting the hot stones of God in that lukewarm water and making our lives pleasing again. Useful again.

Where have you grown lukewarm? Where are you just going through the motions, checking the boxes while being mostly just checked out? Where have you stopped showing up fully and started settling into what’s easier? Where have you made peace with those little things you know aren’t right but you’re excusing them away as not a big deal?

Let the sweet holy conviction of the Holy Spirit guide you back to God and his way of living that’s meaningful, purposeful, and so darn beautiful to him.

This is your HOT GIRL SUMMER. It’s time to come back and be made new!

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