We are coming close to the end of the Easter Season. This past Thursday, the Church celebrated the day Jesus ascended to Heaven, and next week is the great feast of Pentecost. But this week, we are in this liminal space, the space in between, and John gives us the High Priestly Prayer of Jesus and his desire that all of us may be one.
Being one is essential, but does being one, united in a single thought or purpose, mean we cannot be individuals? I don’t think so, and I don’t believe Jesus thought so either.
Last week, I talked about the spectrum of belief and practice amongst the 12 Apostles. Matthew, the Tax Collector and representative of the Roman government stood in direct opposition to everything that Simon the Zealot represented. Then there was Judas, who I believe was a pawn and did what he had to do to fulfill the mission. And Ole Peter, the denier. And who can forget our friend Thomas?
All of them were specifically chosen because they were not perfect. Listen, if you think your minister, bishop, rabbi, or other religious leader is going to be perfect, I have news for you. Ordination does change some things, but it does not alter the fact that we are human and, like the rest of you, we will make mistakes and disappoint people. I say this to you as much as to myself: stop looking for perfection from the clergy.
Although they were all Jewish and came from a similar general area, there were as many opinions on various matters as there were people, and that remains the case. Unity does not mean uniformity. Psalm 133 says in part, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” It’s certainly nice when we can all agree, but sometimes, a minor disagreement can lead to essential changes.
Today is the 7th Sunday after Easter, but it is also the Commemoration of the Bishops who gathered 1700 years ago in a small town called Nicaea. Nicaea is located in what is now Turkey and was the site where approximately 318 bishops gathered from May to July 325 CE to address a heresy that was emerging within the Church.
This was not the first time a council had been called. In Acts, we see James, the Bishop of Jerusalem, calling the others together to discuss an issue that had arisen between Peter and Paul. But this was the first time that almost all the bishops of the world gathered in one place. It is called the 1st Ecumenical Council, not because people of different faiths were present, but because they were all present.
The issue at hand was the nature and divinity of Jesus. Until this Council met, there was no established doctrine or single belief about much of anything other than that Jesus was born; he did certain things: he was crucified, died, rose again, ascended to Heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit. There was agreement because there had been eyewitness testimony. But the nature and divinity of Jesus? How do we figure that out?
Without going into too much detail, the issue arose over Jesus’ divinity and his relationship to God. Was Jesus a created being? Was Jesus divine from birth, or did his divinity attach itself to him at some point? What is the nature and essence of Jesus about God? Although a decision and doctrine were made at the Council, I am not sure there is agreement on any of these questions even today.
At this time, there were two schools of thought, one in Alexandria and one led by a bloke called Aruis who, you have heard me mention before, was punched in the face by our very own Saint Nicholas.
Anyway, the Alexandrian school stated that Jesus was not created. Jesus was with God since the beginning. They point toward Genesis and God, saying, “Let us make them in our image.” Although Jesus was born a human, He was also divine from the beginning, and there was no time when Jesus was not. This is where the Trinitarian nature of the Church came about. Although God, the creator, was a separate entity, the essence was shared in equal parts with God the Redeemer, Jesus, and God the Sustainer, the Holy Spirit.
Okay, you all have the same look on your faces that I had when we discussed this over and over in seminary, so I will quickly move to Aruis, who believed none of it. Jesus was created at birth. His divinity was attached to him at his baptism. Etc.
I have been in church council meetings when there has been a knockdown, drag-out fight over the color of tablecloths for a church banquet; I cannot imagine what this must have been like. But they debated, discussed, fought, I am sure they laughed and cried, and, in the end, they had a statement, and part of the Church had been excommunicated and branded heretics so much for being one.
What came out of this Council is a creed, or the first part of a creed anyway. The creed lays out fundamental beliefs; these are the things we agree with. We don’t have to understand them fully, but we can all agree that this is a good starting point.
But what the creed hoped to do was to bring people together, which it did, but, at the same time, it divided people. Previously, people were doing their own thing. Churches had been founded all over the place, from Jerusalem to southern Africa, to India, and as far-flung as what we now call England.
The Church was local, governed locally by its bishop, who was usually, but not always, one of its members. The point is the Church existed at the regional level. Sure, there was a Bishop of Rome and a Patriarch in Constantinople and other places, but their jurisdiction did not extend beyond the boundaries of their cities.
The basics were present, but worship looked very different. The Church often adopted the local culture, incorporating the dress and heritage of the place where it existed. Many of the “saints” we have today were borrowed from the culture of the time and place. One example of this is Brigit, who was and is a significant influence on Celtic culture. There is a belief that Bridgit was one of the gods that the Church adopted, Christianized, if you will, to make the Church more palatable to the locals. Do not destroy the culture; adapt to it.
For me, there are certain fundamental beliefs one must have if one is going to call oneself a Christian. That makes us one. But at the same time, there are many, many ways to express that oneness and live it out. The greatest challenge for the Church is to make this 1700-year-old document relevant for today. Belief is not stagnant; it is organic and must adapt to the times. Belief might not change, but the language we use to express that belief does need to change.
I have often spoken of my Chaplaincy work. For me, Chaplaincy is the best expression of this idea of unity but not uniformity. The greatest gift Chaplaincy has given me is getting to work with people of different expressions of faith. I don’t just mean different expressions of Christian faith for which there are legions, but working with Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and those who have no faith or a faith so radically different from mine. I have learned a great deal from these dedicated men and women.
One of the duties of a military chaplain is to occasionally advocate with command of what we call religious accommodation. This might involve ensuring that there are kosher or halal meals available. I once had to advocate for a soldier who identified as a Norse Pagan, and he wanted permission to wear a gold bracelet, the symbol of his faith. Army regulations specify that when wearing a camouflage uniform, nothing shiny can be part of it: no gold rings or other jewelry.
My job was to sit with this soldier and not judge his faith but to get a sense of the seriousness of his faith and then write a letter that would eventually end up on the desk of the Secretary of the Army for a determination. I never thought I would be sitting with someone who identified as a Norse Pagan, but I learned a great deal from him, and we discovered that we shared many commonalities. We used different terms to describe things, but we found common ground. I did not judge him, and he did not judge me.
Several years ago, a scandal came about because a Roman Catholic deacon baptized someone in the name of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. The “rules” say that baptisms are to be in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It was revealed that this deacon had committed this act not once but on numerous occasions, and it now invalidated all those baptisms. I’m all about the rules, but…
John, in the Gospel we heard today, relates Jesus’ prayer that just as he and God are one, we are one with each other. Although they share the same essence, Jesus and God are different. Just as you and I share the same belief, we express that belief differently. Even within denominations, there are other expressions of faith. Our worship service looks different than the worship service in Scituate, but the essence is the same.
Do we always have to agree? No. Martin Luther did not disagree with any part of the Church’s belief, nor did Zwingli, Calvin, or any of the other reformers. John Wesley agreed with the theology and doctrine of the Anglican Church; he just expressed that belief differently.
The Council that met in Nicaea provided us with a roadmap, a starting point for discussion. Unfortunately, it has become a litmus test for who is and who is not part of the club. So fine does this become that entire churches excommunicated the other over three words, “and the Son.” This is ridiculous.
As a Chaplain, I am part of a group of very diverse religious individuals who work together to further the mission. We share the essence of ministry with one another and serve a diverse population, but we are also individuals who practice our faith differently; for the most part, we respect those differences. My faith works for me, but that does not mean it will work for you.
Jesus prayed, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Jesus prayed that the world would know that God loves them, and that is my prayer, and that is my ministry.
Amen.
