Turkey Trip Reflection One--Smyrna

I was blessed to spend the Thanksgiving holiday in Turkey with a group from our chapel. We visited the seven churches that Revelation is written to. The revelation was given by Jesus Christ to John and addressed “to the seven churches in the province of Asia” (Rev. 1:4). However, it also says, “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written it, because the time is near” (Rev. 1:3). Below are my post-trip reflections on each town we visited. I say “town” because some of the time we visited church ruins from the first century; some of the time we visited a church or ruins from later centuries. We didn’t always visit the church-site from the first century. I am glad for this because it reminds me that the revelation is for the churches in terms of people and not in terms of buildings as we so often think in our 21st century western culture.

Over the coming days I plan to reflect on our trip, what was specifically addressed to each church, and a few other thoughts I had about my time. I am writing in the order that we visited the sites and not in the order they appear in Revelation. These reflections will not always tied directly to the passage written to that church as some of my thoughts are more about what I experienced.

Smyrna (Present Day Izmir)
Our first day in Izmir we visited St. Polycarp’s Church. This is a modern-day catholic church (built in 1910) named in honor of St. Polycarp who was a convert of the apostle John and who was martyred for his faith. It is interesting because it is built where there used to be a cemetery and so they used the headstones as the marble floor for the church.


A couple days after visiting this church, I was standing in my hotel room on the 19th floor looking out at the harbor. It was a beautiful view; one that I had gazed at many times in my short time there. I even spent one evening in a comfortable chair just staring out at the harbor and lights of the city. On this particular day though, I got to looking straight down at the base of the hotel and saw that St. Polycarp’s Church was only ½ a block from us.


As I thought more about that I have realized that there are so many things in my life that cause me to overlook the important things. Now half of the battle is making sure that we have a right priority on what is important. But once that battle is won (and that might be an ongoing battle as life changes) we are still prone to overlook the important. I had looked so intently at many unimportant things in the harbor that I had overlooked that which was right at the base of my building. We often focus too much on things that, while good things in themselves, are not the most important. What things cause you to miss the important?

Busyness causes me to overlook important things. Some days I came to the hotel to quickly change and then go to dinner. In my fleeting glance out the window I had no chance to see what was important. Are you too busy to notice the important things?

Distractions cause me to overlook important things. A couple of nights college football was on TV and my glances out the window were momentary as I turned back to the TV. College football is not a bad thing (I’ll be the first to tell you that!), but it can be a distraction from what is important. What distracts you from the important things?

Busyness and distractions also make it difficult for us to reflect on what is important. It was one thing for me to know the church was there and to see it below. It is also one thing to know what is important and to see what is important. It is another thing to stop, reflect, and meditate on what is important. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Too often we aren’t still because we are the god of our own lives. When was the last time you slowed down and were still? When was the last time you reflected on the most important person in your life—the one who loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for you? When was the last time you were still and trusted God to be God of your life? When was the last time you considered what was really most important and what causes you to overlook it?

"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. I know your afflictions and your poverty--yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 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 the crown of life.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.” (Revelation 2:8-11)