Day 04 - Sardis, Aphrodisias

Missio Dei—the mission of God— is generally understood as a theology of participation, or perhaps more simply put, the people of God living and being on mission with God. Scholar and missiologist, Christopher Wright, describes it this way: 

Mission belongs to our God. Mission is not ours; mission is God’s… It is not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world, as that God has a church for his mission in the world. Mission was not made for the church; the church was made for mission - God’s mission. (The Mission of God)

As we continued our study of the early church in modern-day Turkey, our group began Day 4 by surveying ancient Sardis, a city with an estimated population of 100,000 people in the first century. Sardis, of course, is one of the seven churches to which John’s revelation is directed, and the fifth in order following the ancient postal route. Geographically, it featured a soaring acropolis, giving it both the appearance and reputation of being one of the most impenetrable fortresses in the Græco-Roman Provence of Asia. Sardis was particularly unique in that its necropolis (burial ground) was an adjacent mountain, with thousands of smaller tombs spread through the valley below the two peaks. Similar to ancient Smyrna, Sardis seemed to have an obsession with death. 

Sardis was also home of the Phrygian goddess of fertility and nature, Cybele. The temple of Cybele, which would later become the temple of Artemis under Græco-Roman rule, was located directly between Sardis’s acropolis and necropolis. A view from the altar inside the temple framed the acropolis on one side—a representation of life—and on the other, a view of the necropolis—a representation of death. As a festival of celebration,, an ensemble of men dressed in white robes would parade their way to the temple of Cybele, where many would demonstrate the ultimate sacrifice through castration. 

It was in this same city where a prominent Jewish population made their home, and where one of the largest synagogues in the ancient Græco-Roman world was also located. In fact, so prominent was this Jewish presence that the synagogue was located directly beside the gymnasium—one of the most central structures in these ancient cities.  

In recent years, archeological research teams have continued to uncover what appears to be evidence of a missional community made up of Jews and God-fearers (theosebeis) who not only held a prominent presence in Sardis, but whose cultural engagement served to bless others while bearing witness to the incomparable greatness of their God.  

Standing just outside the temple of Cybele is a structure consistent with an Asclepion, or hospital, that would actually provide treatment (perhaps even life-saving treatment) to those who had paid the ultimate sacrifice to Cybele. What is perhaps even more astounding is the fact that it was the Jews and the God-fearers who were providing this care. 

John, who possibly lived in Sardis for a time before eventually moving to Ephesus, writes “to the angel of the church of Sardis… I known your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die… (Rev. 3:1-2a). Picture the altar in the temple of Cybele: from one side, there is a perception of life represented in the city’s seemingly impenetrable acropolis, which would eventually fall to both Persian and Greek invasions. However, the view of the necropolis from the other side of the temple’s altar proved more fitting to the city’s true reputation. And if you were going to be on mission with God in this city, you’d better wake up…and stay awake! 

And it appears the Sardis church listened by evidence of their missional existence. Jesus’s words to the church in Sardis conclude:

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels (v.4-5).

By the 4th century AD, Christianity had taken root in Sardis. The Cybele (Artemis) temple was dwindling. Robes were remaining white and unstained. And not only were the names of those in the Sardis church being preserved in the book of life, many were being added because of the missional obedience of the church in Sardis. 

… seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you… Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. (Jeremiah 29:7)