As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church
I'm not sure if it was planned or just worked out that way but putting
this gospel reading with the commemoration of the First Ecumenical Council in
Nicaea [in 325] highlights the inner workings of decision-making bodies, both
religious and political. The Council Fathers crafted the Nicene Creed but only
after a lot of inevitable wrangling and the exclusion of some alternative
viewpoints [Arius in particular]. The Sanhedrin came to
the conclusion that Jesus's teaching was appealing to so many people that it
put the whole Jewish nation in jeopardy of being destroyed by the Romans and so
he had to die. Was that the only reason? Or were they more concerned about losing their power to this upstart teacher over whom they had no control?
Both councils had
political objectives. The Ecumenical Council was convoked by the political
authorities not the church. They wanted clarity on doctrine so that the church
would be a force for unity and control in the empire. The Sanhedrin was
concerned about their power. Pointing to Rome as the
threat allowed them to use the fear of Roman power to reinforce their own
power. But expediency as a motive for the gathering and outcomes of both councils, did not overturn
God's plan. The Good News of Jesus Christ is about God as love not power. But
also that love can overcome power.
Caiaphas, the High
Priest at that time, explained Christ's death as a necessary way to save the
nation. This was also God's plan but in a larger sense. Through God's plan,
salvation became available for all people as God entered into our human
reality fully. Through his suffering, death and resurrection, Jesus opens for
us the way out of bondage to suffering and death. Abraham preparing to
sacrifice his son Isaac at God's command, prefigures Jesus's passion. Abraham
trusted God's promise that many generations would flow from Isaac, and so, Isaac
would have to live, for that promise to be fulfilled. Isaac, and the
generations that issued from him, including David and his line, were saved by
God's action.
The Nicene Creed may
not explicitly refer to God as love, but
the doctrine codified by the council lays out the path for the salvation of all people, which is the ultimate objective of
God's love. How we get there is based on how we live in this world where God
has placed us for a while. This is the message of St Matthew's gospel reading
on Judgment Sunday at the beginning of the lenten,
passion and resurrection cycles of the church year.
So for us, God's
power to transform human weaknesses or misguided motives into building blocks
for his larger goal, should never be minimized. When we face crises or
challenges that seem overwhelming, don't conclude that God is absent. God's
ways are beyond our fathoming, deeper than our minds will
ever be able to go. Turning logic upside down, deflating our egos, undermining
our presumptions, stepping in when all seems lost, healing our brokenness, all
are God's specialty. When we get out of the way, and let God be God, then we experience in our own lives the fullest meaning of Jesus' Ascension
that we have been celebrating this week.
Glory be to Jesus Christ
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