Making Sense of the Nicene Creed

A sermon preached at Faith Episcopal Church, November 20, 2005.

There’s a quiet mutiny going on in the church. It has been slowly simmering for the last 30 years or so. Kay Lindahl told me that as she travels around the country leading workshops on prayer she hears about it everywhere she goes. By golly, it’s even here. You can hear its little whispers on Sunday morning, especially if you are near those subversives in the choir. What on earth am I talking about? Is it about money? Or somebody misbehaving? No! It’s much more important than that. It’s about the creed. The Nicene Creed that we stand up and say every week. Some people are really having a problem with that.

I remember having a conversation with a priestly mentor about what I was going to promise in my ordination vows. Did those promises lock me into believing certain things as fact. Gordon, God love him, and I went over the ordination vows, and then we looked at the creed. He pointed out that sometimes in all in how you say it. There is a difference between “On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures” and “On the third day he rose again… in accordance with the Scriptures.” (Inflection is difficult in print.)

Robert Funk, the guy who created the Jesus Seminar wrote in his book Honest To Jesus about the creed with the empty center. He’s talking about that time in between “born of the Virgin Mary” and “suffered under Pontius Pilate.” He also points out that in the creed, Jesus is passive – things happen or are done to him, nothing he depends on his own initiative. As a savior, he is only a pawn of the divine plan. For me Funk is most on target when he points that the ethics of the gospels are missing. The creed tells us that believers only have to believe, we are in not called to live out what Jesus taught. The creed can make faith look passive.

Of course, then feminist theology hit the scene and people began to recognize that the feminine nature of God is somewhat absent. Some of us have been known to exercise our creativity while reciting this ancient formula and let at least the Holy Spirit get a she. And fortunately, we have the Bible to back us upon that. There’s a lot that is missing from the Creed.

There’s also a lot that is obscure at best. It’s a good idea to know why the creed says what it does. The truth is that it was written that way to shut people up. People like Marcion and the Gnostics and Arius and his back up band. Because Marcion and Arius were the losers in the theology wars of the early church, their positions are now known as heresies. As it turns out, heresies were necessary parts of the process of figuring things out.

Marcion believed that the world was an evil place, created by an evil god. There is also a good god of whom Jesus was the emissary. Some Gnostics went so far as to say that Jesus wasn’t really human, he only appeared to be and he only appeared to die. The creed responds to the Gnostics by saying clearly that we believe in One God who did indeed create the heavens and this world. In fact, the God in whom we believe created all that is – there is no random evil source.

The next section of the creed, the part about Jesus, not only continues to deny the Gnostic ideas, it takes on several other heretical Jesus theories. The two main players were named Arius and Athanasius. It wasn’t enough to say that the evil god of the Gnostics didn’t exist, because the church was struggling with the very legitimate question – “well, if Jesus is divine, does that mean that there are two Gods?” Arius and Athanasius both agreed that Jesus was divine but Arius claimed that the Son was created to be a divine being which would mean that there was a time before he was created. He even had a snappy slogan “There was a time when the Son was not.” It must lose some pizazz in translation. This may not seem like a big deal to us, but the bickering caused such a stir within the church, that the Emperor Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea in 325. Athanasius and his supporters won the day and the Nicene Creed is the result of their squabbles. The language in it specifically refutes Arianism. In the Bible, Jesus was not the first one to be called a son of God but in the creed, he becomes the “only Son of God.” He is eternal – Athanasius turned Arius’ little slogan around and said “There was never a time when the Son was not.” Jesus is “begotten of the Father…not made.” And he is “of one being with the Father.” This is technical language – making a distinction between being created on one hand and coming forth from the Father, existing out of the substance of God on the other hand. He is “true God from true God.”

All of this may be absolutely disconnected to how you think of and relate to Jesus. But it had everything to do with how the church developed. Power struggles led to hierarchy which led to doctrine and the definition of authority. Given the church’s struggles today, maybe there is some comfort in knowing our history. Heresies were ultimately good things – they caused Christianity to think about itself – to wonder about the nature of God and Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the church and the future.

The front page of the Times this week had an article about a new religion called Universism which has uncertainty as its basic belief. They might believe in God or they might not. We are here because we can stand up and with integrity say “We believe in God”

One important thing to get a hold of is the cloud of meaning that surrounds the word “believe.” In 21^st Century speak, we tend to think of it as “accepting something as a fact” or feeling sure that something happened. The framers of the creed, just like the people who wrote the Bible, were not taking about a list of facts that are true, they were talking about faith, which has to do with the heart, not the intellect and a set of facts. When we stand up and say Credo – We believe – we are saying that we give our hearts to God, the creator of all that is. We give our hearts to Jesus Christ, who is like us and yet so much more. We give our hearts to the Holy Spirit and to the church, broken though it may be. It’s a very different approach and one that we might keep in mind because giving one’s heart to something is to choose to be in a relationship. It doesn’t mean that you understand it completely, or that you always agree with it but that you are willing to give it the best you have which is your heart. St. Anselm was Archbishop of Canterbury over 1000 years ago and one of the greatest minds of the middle ages. He is known for having said, “I do not seek to understand so that I can believe, but I believe so that I may understand.”

When you love some one you believe in them. That’s very different from knowing everything about them. It means that you are always learning and growing in your understanding of them and who you are with them. For me to tell you that I believe in you means a whole lot of things. It means that I have faith in what we are doing here. It means that I think that you can accomplish more than you’ve ever thought you could. The creed, first and foremost, is a statement of love.

Our children today are going to help us think through the creed today. The words that they will share are an attempt to frame the ideas from long ago into statements that reflect the faith concerns of today. It’s an experiment – it is faith seeking understanding.

Sharing what is God's

It was not my intention to preach a stewarship sermon per se as we begin our pledge campaign, but then the Lectionary cycle gave us this parable of the talents along with the dire sounding words of Zephaniah. I figured I was supposed to dive in.

Stewardship begins in the Book of Genesis. God appoints the humans, endowed with the divine image, as the caretakers of everything else that God has made. One way to think of that is that we are house sitting for God – simply trying to maintain what God created. But today’s parable gives a more complicated view of stewardship. Here we have God putting creation in our hands and then saying “Now let me see what you’re going to do with it.” Without people on the earth, the planet would have been able to exist – all natural processes from geological shifts to the operation of the food chain can operate well without us. All of the changes that we have set in motion, from the development of agriculture, to communities that becames cities, to industry, to science and culture have all been expressions of how we have used what God gave us. The question always remains, is God pleased with how we are doing our job?

We are all given a particular set of gifts that can be easily categorized into time, talent and treasure. The parable today nicely confuses the kinds of gifts we are given – we think of talent as an innate skill that can be developed through training and practice. God would not have been served if Michael Jordan had never played basketball or if Tiger Woods had never swung a club. To see those perfect examples of physical talent do what they do so well is to watch poetry. Surpressing the talents we are given cannot please God. Andre Agassi is a good model of true stewardship of his physical talents. Not only has he had an enduring and highly entertaining tennis career but he has taken his considerable wealth and done great good with it. He created and supports a school in Las Vegas that in turn develops the talents of children from families and neighborhoods without means. He is often present to complete his stewardship through the gift of time. Andre answers well God’s question, what are you going to do with what I gave you?

But today’s parable has money expressed as a talent. It’s a good way to think of it because it brings money back into the umbrella of things given by God. Yes, I know, you go to work every day to earn it but it’s not that simple. Every time money comes into your hands, God is saying “Now let me see what you’re going to do with it.”

The Bible has a lot to say about money and how God would have it used. Money is simply a medium of exchange – a truly human invention. The only time I have ever witnessed an animal pay for something was my German Shepherd Alana. I had unwrapped piece of candy and the cellophane wrapper was really crinkly. The dog was attracted by the noise and probably the sweet scent that clung to it. She kept nosing at my hand to get and when she wasn’t getting anywhere she went and got her rawhide bone and put it in my lap. I was amazed and finally let her have the wrapper. In that moment she also created the idea of customer service because when she discovered that there wasn’t really anything interesting in the wrapper, she took her bone back. My dogs are always deep thinkers!

More usually, dogs have little concept of or attachment to wealth, unlike us. The stories beginning in Genesis show wealth as a sign of God’s favor. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are all very wealthy men. David and Solomon amass great wealth but God’s hand is recognized in the good favor. The Book of Leviticus is clear that those with wealth, particularly leaders, are responsible for fair and proper distribution of it. God is saying, I’ve given it to you, what are you going to do with it?

The counterpoint to wealth as a mark of God’s favor is the story of Job. Job, the good and righteous man is stripped of his wealth, health and family – every kind of blessing one can have. Ultimately, it was Job’s very favor with God that caused his trouble. As usual, just when you want scripture to be clear, it is more nuanced and we cannot automatically take wealth as an indicator of God’s favor.

Jesus never criticizes wealth, money is morally neutral to him. But he is clear that he is about the business of bringing good news to the poor – it’s one of the first thing he says. Jesus’ negative critique of prosperity is saved for the unjust use of it. Wealth is to be used to be a blessing to the poor and to honor God. The early church, that model of socialism in the Book of Acts, was all about giving and sharing.

Good stewardship is about balance. The balance of time, talent and treasure as a whole theology. Sometime we act as if we would like to yank treasure out of that and give it a separate category with a “hands off!” label on it. When I went to the conference on Church planting a couple of weeks ago, I learned a lot from a pastor who had created a church reaching out to people who don’t go to church. He spent lots of time listening to why people hadn’t or don’t go to church. One frequent complaint that people made was that churches seem to always be about money – people are constantly asked to dip into their pockets. One of the things that this thriving church never does it pass the plate during worship. Instead they spend some time each Sunday talking about they give away. You should have seen the dropped Episcopalian jaws around the room. At this church, people’s giving to the work and budget never makes a visitor feel as if it’s all about how much can be squeezed out of people. Of course, there is a place for freely given offerings at the back of the church into which pledge envelopes and anything else someone wished to share is put. I think that’s a very good idea – let’s begin to talk about more about what we give away.

Max is my stewardship model – he is the most social animal I’ve ever met. There are tons of dogs around we live but Max seems to be the only one that all the kids know. They will break away from what they are doing when they see him. They are excited to come and play with him because he is always excited to see them. I think of him as a greeting and love dispenser. We cannot walk to the beach without Max flinging himself at everyone we encounter. Someone asked me if it hurt my feeling that Max gives so much attention to others. I responded, “Good heavens, No!” People’s reaction to Max is so rewarding. Anytime something is that excited to see you, it is a day brightener. My being Max’s mom means that I get to give people the chance to be Maxed – it’s fun. Max gets up every morning, ready to share exuberantly all that he has – which is himself.

God is interested in what you do with all that you are given. It boggles the mind to imagine a world in which we were all like Max, waking up each morning and knowing that the more we have, the more we get to share and give away.

Embrace Your Inner Saint

A sermon for All Saints' Sunday under sunny skies on the patio at Faith Episcopal Church.

Celebrate the Saints – that’s what we do on this Sunday after All Saint’s Day – which was last Tuesday – November 1^st. We give them special days to remember them – like October 4 for St. Francis, February 14 for St. Valentine, etc. We name churches after them – there are lots in homage to Paul, all the Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Phillip, Alban, the first martyr of Britain, Mary – actually all of them, Agnes, Dunstan, George, or for those churches who don’t want to miss anyone, All Saints.

Lot’s of saints have particular assignments – they are patron saints of countries – often a shared responsibility. Ireland, of course clings to St. Patrick, along with Brigid and Columba, Spain puts itself under the watchful eyes of Teresa of Avila and her mentor, John of Avila as well as several others while Mexico is true only to the Lady of Guadalupe. France has a whole slew of them – who are probably busy at the moment – including Joan of Arc, Saint Denis, Martin of Tours, Remigius and Therese de Lisieux. St. George and Augustine of Canterbury take turns minding England. In my book Dictionary of Saints, the US is listed as being under the wings of the Immaculate Conception – now that seems a bit strange to me but maybe it accounts for our obsession with sex.

Another job for saints is to look after particular professions. This is really fun! Of course, here, the occupation or some act of saint is usually why the affiliation is made. Joseph of Arimathea, who had Jesus buried in his newly purchased tomb, is the patron saint of funeral directors. For his work translating the New Testament into Latin late in the 4^th century as well as writing enough to fill a library, Jerome is the patron saint of libraries. He is said to have been a very disagreeable person and was probably the first one to shush people who talked too loud. George the dragonslayer is a busy guy, patron of England, Portugal, and Germany as well as several cities, and the Boy Scouts. Michael the Archangel is the patron saint of police and firefighters thanks to his job as winner of the cosmic battle in the book of Revelation. Here’s a good one – Genesius was a notary serving in a court in what is now France in the late 3^rd century when he refused to record the order from the Emperor calling for the persecution of Christians. When it was read in court he denounced it to the judge, after fleeing, he was eventually caught and beheaded. He became the patron saint of lawyers.

St. Cecilia, the patron of music, was such a pious young lady that during her wedding feast, she was so focused on God and not her groom that she sat off by herself singing to God. Children, it will be no surprise to learn, live in the generous embrace of St. Nicholas. For some unknown reason, Benedict is the patron saint of poisoning. Raymond Nonnatus is the saint for those falsely accused – more people call upon him than probably have any right to. Antony of Padua is the saint of lost objects, just plain Antony (and not Francis) is the saint for our pets and Jude is for lost causes – maybe that means that Max has two.

There’s a complicated process to become a saint. The first thing you have to do is die, an unfortunate but irrefutable requirement. The local bishop begins the investigation into the potential saint’s life and writings for evidence of heroic virtue. He sends his report to Rome where it is evaluated. If that works out well, the pope proclaims that the candidate is venerable or a model of virtue. The next step is beatification which requires a posthumous miracle. Once beatified, our saint wanabee is known as Blessed So-and-So. At least one more posthumous miracle is required to finally be canonized and gain the title of Saint. In recent years, more saints have been produced than at any time in the history of the church. It’s all the rage right now in Rome. Traditional waiting periods have been suspended and people are being fast-tracked to sainthood so that line from our beloved hymn “…for the saints of God are just folk like me, and I mean to be one too.” Is looking more and more doable – if only we were Catholic!

This morning, as we sit outside, I would like to propose that we have all indulged our inner child for long enough and it is now time to embrace our inner saint. Be the saint that you need in any given moment. Be Francis and give away more than you buy. Before taking a test, embrace your inner Thomas Aquinas, just know that you are brilliant. When you are overwhelmed by busyness, become Anthony and retreat into the desert of silence. When you are sick, be Julian of Norwich and know that any pain or suffering unites you to everyone else who has ever suffered – in those moments you are most in touch with the suffering on the cross. Always be Stephen or Perpetua, unafraid of death. But mostly, every morning, embrace the joy that sets saints apart, the joy of knowing God’s love and committing yourself to it. Laugh, run, sing, dance, ski, pick flowers and shout life’s joys from the rooftops – when you’re a saint, you can do anything!