Proper
10 A 2014
Father Adam Trambley
July 20, 2014 St.John’s Sharon
Last week we began looking at what we believe as
expressed in our creeds (read it here). Specifically,
we are walking through the form of the Apostles’ Creed in the Baptismal
Covenant. The Nicene Creed that we
usually use during Eucharistic services covers the same ground with a few
additional theological points about the Trinity and how Jesus is fully God and
fully human. Using the baptismal
covenant today is particularly appropriate because we have a baptism. Todd will be answering these questions with
us as he prepares to enter into the family of God in a new and deeper way. Like all of us, he isn’t answering these
questions because he is one-hundred percent certain of every mystery of God, of
the details in the life of Jesus, or of how the Holy Spirit works. He will be answering these questions as we
answer them -- with an open heart and mind.
We trust that God will lead us into fuller understanding of whatever we
need to know and into a fuller experience of his life that we profess.
We might want to note here that for much of the life
of the church, the creed was sung during the liturgy. When classical composers wrote their mass
settings, they set the creed to music.
The creed was a work of praise about who God is, not a litmus test about
what people think. People sang what they
believed because they were exceeding grateful for all the aspects of God that
the creed delineated. Instead of
obsessing about whether they were 97% sure or 12% confused about what exactly
it meant that Jesus descended to the dead, they sang with full voice to a God
who is so amazing and beyond anything we could imagine that his son would
descend to the dead out of love for us.
We can bring that same attitude, even if we recite instead of sing the
creeds. Instead of just mouthing the
words we have memorized or are reading from the bulletins, we can allow
ourselves to be overwhelmed by the each of the incredible qualities and
glorious works of God that we profess.
We can give praise that we have such a God.
The second Baptismal Covenant question is “Do you
believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?”
The first part of our response is “I believe in Jesus Christ.” Connecting Jesus and Christ is the first
faith statement in this section. Jesus
is a particular human being who lived in Palestine about two thousand years
ago. Christ is a Greek term that means
“anointed” and is a translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” which also means
anointed. The anointed one of God who
has a special role to play in God’s redemption is this particular man
Jesus. The other connotation of Christ
is of the cosmic Christ who is called the Word in the beginning of John’s
Gospel -- “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word
was God.” – and is also referred to in the beginning of the letter to the
Colossians as the image of the invisible God through whom all things were
created and who is the head of the Body, the church. Saying that we believe in Jesus Christ links
the human Jesus to the eternal Christ of God.
We don’t entirely understand how, but we know they are the same person.
The next phrase tells us who that person Jesus
Christ is, “the Son of God.” Here we
profess a faith in the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Also implied here, and spelled out in the
Nicene Creed, is that Jesus Christ is not a creature whom God created. Rather he is the begotten Son who is also
part of the Godhead. As Son, he springs
from God’s love in a different kind of way than the more intentional creation
of the rest of the universe, although again, the particulars are more than we
can understand.
The next phrase is one of two places in this section
of the creed that connects Jesus Christ to us.
We profess him as “our Lord.” We
don’t have a lot of lords hanging around twenty-first century Sharon, except
the occasional land lord, so we might rephrase this as “Jesus is the boss of
us.” He’s in charge. What he wants is what is supposed to
happen. We should serve him and live our
lives according to the commandments he gives us. Why? Because he’s God. And because he loves us and wants what is
good for us. “Jesus Christ, our Lord.”
The next phrases deal with what happened during the
life of Jesus Christ. Some are
miraculous, some could be verified by witnesses, some are almost entirely
matters of faith. In each case, however,
we are professing what has happened, not a theological interpretation or
explanation of what has happened. We are
giving pretty much a “just the facts ma’am” rundown of the highlights of Jesus’
life. That simple list is enough,
because once we have the list, we can dedicate the rest of our lives to
figuring out what Jesus’ life, death, resurrection and everything else mean to
us. Reading scripture and understanding
church doctrine and theology can help, but just meditating and thinking about
the basic facts of Jesus’ life can bear pretty good fruit, too.
“He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.” Jesus did
not have an earthly Father, but is the Son of God, and his birth was
unusual. We know the story with the
angel Gabriel telling Mary she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit,
and how she gave birth while still a virgin.
The Word became flesh through the work of the Spirit of God and the
consent of a human being.
The next phrase is “He suffered under Pontius
Pilate,” and we skip a whole lot of his life in between. Jesus’ teaching and miracles are important,
especially for us, but they aren’t included in the creeds. Surprisingly, of all the important Biblical
figures, the only one who shows up in the creeds besides Mary is Pontius
Pilate. Pilate’s inclusion roots the
life of Jesus in history. This verifiable
historical figure tells us that Jesus suffering happened at a particular place
and a particular time. Jesus isn’t a
grand metaphor, but someone who was in an identifiable jail in place we can
point to during a relatively short period of time. Saying that Jesus suffered under Pontius
Pilate also professes that ultimately the Roman governor oversaw Jesus’
execution.
We profess that Jesus “suffered…was crucified, died
and was buried.” What Jesus experienced
was a real death. We aren’t talking
about a painless, staged death, or some sort of phenomena where Jesus’ divine
consciousness left his body so he didn’t feel anything. Jesus was executed on a cross, as was common
for non-citizens in the Roman Empire, and he was really dead. Then he was put into a tomb. The buried part is important at least in part
because it tells us that real people were keeping track of the body. Jesus’ body was cared for after he had
died. Then, when the disciples claimed
later that he was raised from the dead, this phrase tells us that they knew the tomb where he
lay, and he wasn’t there anymore.
“He descended to the dead.” Some translations of the creed talk about him
descending into hell. Between Jesus’
death and his resurrection, he was with the rest of the dead souls in the place
where dead souls resided at that time.
He wasn’t spared that part of the experience of death, even if his time
there was shorter than most of the previous residents.
“On the third day he rose again.” This statement is the central aspect of our
faith. Alleluia! Christ is Risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! We have a few chapters of scripture that
describe Jesus interactions with his disciples after he rose from the
dead. But we don’t have a record of what
Jesus did during his death and resurrection, or how exactly Good Friday, Holy
Saturday and Easter Sunday happened from Jesus’ perspective. Nor do we claim to
know. Our creeds don’t speculate or
provide answers. Nor do the creeds
explain exactly how each component of Jesus’ life contributes to our
salvation. We know that Jesus life,
death and resurrection are all important ways that God used to reconcile us
back to himself. But we aren’t told
which components, if any, are more important.
If the Word becoming flesh, or Jesus dying for our sins, or Jesus going
to hades and breaking the gates of hell, or his rising from the dead and
leading us into his eternal Kingdom are the most important. Different churches and different doctrines
emphasize different pieces. The
Episcopal Church for various reasons has our own leanings, but in our creeds simply
tell us that all the pieces are important, and we don’t necessarily have to
refine it further. Believing and trusting
the entire life of Jesus is enough.
Then we hear that Jesus “ascended into heaven, and
is seated at the right hand of the Father.”
This line tells us what Jesus is up to know. Since the ascension forty days after Easter,
Jesus has been next to God the Father, where he governs the universe and,
according the book of Hebrews, acts as our great high priest by bringing our
prayers to God.
This section ends with the second statement of Jesus
relationship to us. “He will come again
to judge the living and the dead.” At
the last day, Jesus--who loved us enough to leave heaven and become a human
being who was crucified--that same Jesus will be our judge. All of us get to meet Jesus, at the end of
time if not before. We might also note
here that our Islamic brothers and sisters also believe that Jesus will come
back at the final judgment. They expect
to meet him, as well, even if some of their other beliefs about Jesus are
different than ours.
This paragraph is the most important events in the
life of the most important person in our faith.
Shortly we will profess them, as will Todd, praising God for the
glorious life of his Son, accepting what Jesus has done as being done for us
and for our salvation, and living a life in preparation of meeting him at the
last judgment.
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