First Love - Part II

I stated in Part I of First Love that I would be talking about Martha and Mary (or at least Martha) in Part II but I won't be getting to it here b/c we definitely need to look at the context of the First Love passage in Revelation chapter 2 verse 4 first. I don't pretend to know all there is to know about Church history or the early church in Ephesus but I would like to forge on with what knowledge I have. In Acts 18 we see the church in Ephesus encouraging Apollos to journey to Achaia. Verse 25 tells us that Apollos "taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy." Apparently the church in Ephesus was concerned that other believers be strengthened in their faith, that there was church grow and that the gospel be spread. As Acts 18:28 tells us "He refuted the Jews with powerful arguments in public debate." We see some interesting activity in Ephesus in Acts 19 (the trouncing of the Seven Sons of Sceva - by a demon no less!) that leads the entire city into a reverence for the name of Jesus and causes those who are added to the faith to "confess their sinful practices" and "burn their incantation books". Such was the dedication of the believers in Ephesus. Paul spent 3 years in Ephesus with the church teaching them "the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus." (Acts 20:21)
The word first here in Revelation 2:4 is defined by Strong's as first in time or place in any succession of things or persons; first in rank; influence, honor, chief, principal. Couple this with the experiences of the early church in Ephesus and their actions or "works" as Jesus puts it and we could be onto something. Lets look at the Revelation 2:4-5 passage again:

"But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first."

The Church in Ephesus put the greatest two commandments to work here. They demonstrated their love for God by being concerned with their own hearts as individuals (repenting), the local church (publicly and collectively burning sorcery books), the church at large and the world in general (sending their best teacher). Loving God foremost then has a very outward look. Which makes sense in light of the whole of scripture. I like the way the Message states 1 Corinthians 10:25 "We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well." And this is consistent with the life of Christ and the gospel message. We do not live to please ourselves (Romans 15:1) First Love is about loving God and others (Luke 10:27) Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus (5:2) Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Let's quickly look at what the church was commended for in Revelation 2. Hard work, perseverance, intolerance of evil people, careful scrutiny of so called apostles and the routing out of liars, patient suffering and not quitting! This is quite an impressive list. Have I been so diligent? Has the church today? And yet what is the Lords primary concern? All of these things? They aren't bad, he commends them. But they aren't priority. It makes me think of the mysterious (to me) passage in Matthew 11:28-30 where Jesus says “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” This is the love Jesus has for us. I can't imagine the relief that the church in Ephesus must have felt reading this letter from John - repent and do the works you did at first. Whew! That's easy. That's not a burden! Are we now doing other things (individually and as a "church") forgetting that Jesus is the foremost, the preeminent one? Has life become a drag?
We have a tendency (I speak for myself only?) to see a call to repentance as a scolding. Warnings given by Jesus as frightening, severe. When in reality he is always calling us to himself. Is that a bad thing!?! Never. So a call to repentance with a warning is a blessing. A mercy. A kindness. Let us love God and each other as we did at first. He is worthy of this.