Because I got sick and tired of travelling back and forth with plastic bottles, I decided to make a more sustainable choice for the environment by purchasing a water filter jug. If nothing else, I have saved myself from having to buy and carry packs of water from the store to the car, and then from the car to my apartment, which is located on the second floor in a building with no elevator!

But, while this was a great solution during the winter months, it is not always ideal in summer. Although the water is not so hot as to be good to make a cup of coffee or tea, sometimes I end up filling the jug with warm water because the water supply pipes are exposed to the heat …

Doesn’t this remind you of two verses from the Book of Revelation?

“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.”

Rev 3:15-16

It’s true, that’s what you would feel like doing. It’s similar to when you’re thirsty and you have to drink from a bottle that was in a car parked in the sun!
But this verse is not simply imagery or a metaphor, because it describes a real situation in the city of Laodicea at that time. Although very rich—so much so that, when the city was destroyed by an earthquake, it was in such a strong financial position that it refused imperial assistance—the city lacked a natural source of water. Thus water had to be brought from somewhere else. And it was brought from such a long distance away that it became lukewarm and almost unpleasant to drink. This greatly contrasted with the thermal springs that were found in the city of Hierapolis, which, through their warmth, had curative properties, or the flowing pure springs of the city of Colossae that revitalised all who used them.

Therefore, the word of Christ, the “Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation” (Rev 3:14), becomes more potent. If our words, attitudes, attentiveness, and compassion in our parish community and towards our neighbour do not bring the soothing relief of warm water, nor quench the thirst of those who are living an aimless life, we will be spat out because we would be living a mediocre Christian life—a life in which we may do nothing wrong but neither do we accomplish the good we should do …

Today Laodicea no longer has this problem because it was destroyed and abandoned in the thirteenth century, and I can be a bit more practical by placing a jug of water in the fridge. But our struggle not to become lukewarm is always present and cannot be resolved unless we give heed to the final proposition that Jesus gives to the Christians of Laodicea and to us also:

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”

Rev. 3: 20