As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Today is Fathers' Day. Blessings to all our fathers. And by coincidence, our church also celebrates today the Fathers of the First
Ecumenical Council [325]. This was the Council that formulated the Nicean
Creed: The symbol of faith that codified our understanding that Jesus Christ
was both human and divine. The Creed emerged from this
Council at Nicaea because it was tasked with dealing with the divisive views of
Arius who held that Jesus was a prophet but not God.
The creed also
states that Christ died and rose from the dead. And as we heard in this
morning's gospel reading, Christ's crucifixion flowed from the insistence of
the High Priest Caiaphas that Jesus should die. The High Priest and
Pharisees met to deal with Jesus who was seen as dividing the people by drawing
them to himself and away from the established religious leaders and threatening
the survival of Israel.
Jesus understood
this line of thinking because when he was accused of being in league with the
devil [Beelzebub], Jesus replied that a house divided among itself cannot stand. Dealing with divisive impulses in the church and society have
not disappeared from the human condition.
Just look at where
we are today in our Christian Church. Divided among ourselves not only between
denominations but also within particular jurisdictions. And if we don't want to
look too closely at our faith community, we can look at our country to see what being divided among ourselves is doing to our nation. It is the
problem Richard Rohr is constantly warning us about: dualistic thinking. The
dangers of thinking in terms of us vs them. It's a dead end, literally.
Creating a creed for
the church to bring uniformity to basic beliefs did not heal the divisions, it
solidified them. This doesn't mean that the creed was a mistake,
but it does point to a reality that goes beyond creeds. Christ told us that the
most important commandments are to love God and to love one's neighbor. Notice,
these commandments are not in the creed. However, for the creed to be effective, these commandments need to be in our hearts.
The creed also
speaks of Christ being born of a virgin which flows from
prophecy in the Hebrew Bible. However, I suspect that Christ wasn't
particularly concerned that his followers believe that he was born of a virgin,
at least we have nothing in scripture to indicate that. But the image of
virginity can be useful in helping us understand that purity of heart and humility, two
essential qualities of the Virgin Mary, are worth striving for in our lives.
And Christ said of himself, I am humble of heart. And we also profess that
Christ was human in every way except sin, a level of
purity truly in line with his divinity.
We can take the
creed and make it a litmus test for membership in the
church but we can also take it as a teaching tool for helping us spread the
message that Jesus Christ through his church brings hope to the hopeless, help
to those in need, support for those striving to lead a life of virtue and
salvation to all who believe.
Resurrection is
about new life. The fact that Christ's message of new life was gaining adherents upset the High Priest and the Pharisees, and so they concluded
that he had to be stopped. His message was too good and too powerful. His death
was their solution. But it backfired. His death didn't kill his message, it
gave it new impetus following his resurrection.
There may be many
practical plans laboriously arrived at for overcoming divisions in our churches, in society, and between nations. But laws and agreements can
be easily torn up and disregarded. This is why the Christian message of the
Good News is never obsolete. Living a life that Christ calls us to live which
recognizes a power and authority beyond human
frailty and opens avenues for reconciliation, understanding and mutual respect
is the soil in which concord rather than division can flourish.
As St Gregory of Narek, whom we recall today, wrote:
You for our sake alone became flesh with us,
So that you may make
us for your sake like yourself.
Light for all, in
all things merciful, almighty, heavenly.
Glory be to Jesus Christ!
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