Two Sundays ago, using our Lord's Ascension from earth to heaven, I attempted to prompt us to think perhaps a little more deeply about heavenly things in contrast to earthly. In particular, do we, all of us, allow ourselves to become distracted by, to become attached to, apparently innocent earthly things to the possible peril of our souls? More importantly, and within the same context of distractions, I mentioned the tendency, so pernicious and pervasive in western Christendom, towards cafeteria style Christianity - to pick and choose what we will or will not believe in our own minds and hearts.
Today is Trinity Sunday, the day in the Church year where we most especially might pause to contemplate the Blessed and Glorious Trinity, Three Persons in One God: God the Father, Creator of heaven and earth; God the Son, Redeemer of the world; and, God the Holy Ghost, Sanctifier of the faithful.
I am certain that none of us here has any particular problem accepting those descriptions of the Three Persons of the Trinity. But do all of us, all of the time, understand the nature of the relationship and the working of the Trinity? In actual fact, none of us, with our limited, finite, human restrictions and perspective, can hope to understand it more than just in part. We can, however, scratch the surface; and insofar as the surface has been revealed, there are some things that perhaps we might do well to buff up.
But first, let's do some Prayer Book gymnastics. How many Creeds are there (three)? And their names are…(Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, Creed of St. Athanasius)? (No bonus points for those who were here for Mattins today when we recited the last one.)
If we were to offer very concise definitions of each Creed, would we do better than to say:
· The Apostles' Creed is the ancient creed of Baptism; as a concise statement of faith, it is used in the Church's daily worship, morning and evening.
· The Nicene Creed is the creed of the universal Church and is used at the Eucharist. An expanded form of the Apostles' Creed, it contains brief theological explanations, absent in the shorter Creed.
· The Creed of St. Athanasius is an ancient document proclaiming the nature of the Incarnation and of God as Trinity.
Many traditional denominations profess to subscribe to these three; however, many also observe that the third has fallen out of use altogether, except perhaps on Trinity Sunday in some denominations. Sadly, some post-Reformation groups are altogether anti-any-Creed whatsoever. I must observe that many of them don't appear truly to know why. I shall likely pay for this on judgement day, but I have had sport with some of them on occasion by asking them, "Do you believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth?" "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord…" and walk them all the way through the Apostles' Creed, with them answering "Yes" to every phrase. Then I congratulate them for just having professed the Apostles' Creed.
I mentioned that the Creed of St. Athanasius has fallen almost completely into disuse. Historically, it is the youngest of the three, but not by much. The central statements in the Apostles' Creed date to the very early Church; we find tidbits of it in Paul's first letter to the Church in Corinth. And, although this "rule of faith," as it may have been known in the very early Church seems to have existed in a few variations as early as the end of the second century, it did not reach its final form until perhaps late in the fourth century. The Nicene Creed, was not hammered out in 325 AD at the Council of Nicaea; it too did not reach its substantial final form until later in the fourth century. Even then, the tinkering did not end, as the western part of the Church added the celebrated filioque clause, often refereed to as "double" or "dual procession" - "Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son" (the original version, and still in the eastern Church, "and the Son" is not included). The western Church added this in the late sixth century, precipitated by a situation in Spain where the Church was attempting to quell yet another heresy. By that time, the Creed of St. Athanasius had been in use for almost a century. So we see that it too has its roots in the early Church.
In our little church, we recite the Creed of St. Athanasius, not only on Trinity Sunday, but also on all feasts of Apostles, Christmas Day, The Annunciation, Ascension Day and the Nativity of St. John Baptist.
Please now turn to page 695 where we find this particular Creed. Right off the bat, some may be confronted with a twinge of cafeteria style Christianity, "Whosoever would be saved needeth before all things to hold fast the Catholic Faith. Which faith except a man keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he will perish eternally." Seems a bit in-your-face, doesn't it? But, first we must remember that in the year 500, there was only one, undivided, Catholic Church, and this Creed, statement of belief, attempts to lay out in fair detail the relationship in the Trinity and the nature of the Incarnation. Plus, it's very much like the Apostles' Creed for those who are anti-credal. Upon reading what follows, one has to say, "OK, I believe that; and, I believe that" - all the way through to the end.
Now, much as picking verses and phrases out of context is an exercise fraught with danger, there is a trend that I feel must be addressed, and there is no better time than here on Trinity Sunday. This trend, this heresy, has raised its ugly head many times during the course of Christian history, and we live in a time of yet another such ascendancy. Said heresy is to relegate Jesus to a very human status. This perhaps is not done consciously, but the arguments for reordering this and that in His Church, which are going on wiily-nilly in most denominations, can only be accepted if one first denies His Divinity.
Let us look at a few verses in the Creed before us, to some extent turning it around a little bit:
· first, a question: laying aside physical considerations, "How might we define a perfect person?" (A sinless person, whose will is always in conjunction with that of God; in whom is no unrighteousness whatever, no faulty judgement, no mistakes.) Has there ever been a perfect person? (Jesus Christ.) Look at verse 32 on page 697, this verse speaking of Jesus Christ, "Perfect God; perfect Man, of reasoning soul and human flesh subsisting."
· Now, as regards the relationship among God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, let us take verses 3 through 7, "Now the Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity; Neither confusing the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Ghost; But the Godhead of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost."
· turning the page, let us read verses 25 and 26, "And in this Trinity, there is no before of after, no greater or less; But all three Persons are co-eternal together, and co-equal."
With those
verses fresh in our minds, let us therefore consider Jesus Christ, Whose
followers we profess to be. Insofar as
Jesus said anything, His words were in complete accord with the mind and will
of the Father. Insofar as Jesus did
anything, His actions were in complete accord with the mind and will of the Father.
"For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will
of him that sent me" (John 7.38).
Other proof texts outside of the Creed of St. Athanasius? Turn to page 206, last Sunday's Gospel reading. The fourth line down from the top of page 207, "He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." Insofar as Jesus said anything, His words were in complete accord with the mind and will of the Father.
Page 276; the Gospel for the Feast of St. Philip and St. James. Just over half-way down the page, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, 'Show us the Father?' Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works sake." Insofar as Jesus said, or did, anything, His words and actions were in complete accord with the mind and will of the Father. Elsewhere in the Gospel Jesus makes the same points.
Now, it being Trinity Sunday, we must make exactly the same observation as regards God the Holy Spirit. His guidance and counsel, often perceived as a compelling feeling or message in our minds, must never be contrary to the revealed will of God. Anyone who claims to have received a contrary bit of guidance has not received it from the Holy Spirit. " Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost." Jesus makes this point in last Sunday's Gospel reading from St. John, "The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." That from Ch. 14; and in Ch. 16 Jesus underlines this by saying, "He (the Holy Spirit) shall not speak of himself." When we contemplate the nature of the undivided Trinity; indivisible in thought, word and deed, we must see that it is incomprehensible that any of the Persons would act independently of the Others; that the Holy Spirit could give contrary guidance. Then He would not be of the same substance; He would not be such as the Father is and such is the Son.
Now, let us come back around to the alarming tendency, an old heresy that has once again resurfaced, to want to bring Jesus down to our level. Certainly He was and is as completely human as you and I; but, as we considered, His humanity was perfect - "Perfect God; perfect man," a sinless man, whose will is always in conjunction with that of God the Father; in whom is no unrighteousness whatever, no faulty judgement, no mistakes. To suggest that He made errors in judgement; to maintain that "if He were alive today, He would do this or that differently;" to claim that He was socially conditioned in His actions and words - to make any of these suggestions is to deny His perfect humanity, to deny His Divinity.
It is germane to our thoughts today to observe that not all of the pressure to reject Jesus' thoughts, teachings or actions comes from within the Church. Surely we must acknowledge that, beginning about 40 years ago, there began a shift in polarity that has only accelerated in the interim. Prior to the 1960's it is a fair statement to make that most western societies looked to the Church, not least for standards of morality and justice. In just that short amount of time, consider where we are today - much of our society rejects much of the consistent teaching of the Church of those age-old standards. Instead of a rock-steady compass (the Church), today's standards of morality seem to come from the ever-shifting morass of television sitcoms and vocal self-interest groups who have had great success in the public forum. In the case of the latter, they have developed a tactic that the average person does not know how to address - their quite novel positions are presented as the only caring, loving, civilized option; anyone who might choose to disagree with them is labelled as a negative, uncaring, rednecked Neanderthal. Should that concern us in the Church?
Yea, verily. With their claims that there are no absolute truths, the modern morality spin-doctors are quite happy no longer to have any moral compass whatever. Where this has become a problem for the Church is that, with a few notable exceptions in some denominations, the novelties in societal standards have come from without the Church. Yet, their proponents seem to feel that it is necessary to force their novelties on the Church, even, or should I say, especially, where those novelties are quite contrary to Jesus' words and actions, contrary to the unchanging mind of the Triune God. Coupled with their aforementioned tactic of shutting off any reasoned debate and the relative inability of most of us to deal with that, Church members are often left somewhat tongue-tied.
We might tend to feel secure in our tiny traditionalist denomination; however, as time advances, and the societal basis for individual morality and beliefs becomes ever more secularized and de-Christianized, it becomes increasingly awkward when new members or seekers come to us. Quite recently, one observed, "Well, I believe this; but I'm certainly not prepared to believe that," in reference to two things that both are clearly contrary to Scripture, the revealed will of the Triune God, and the consistent tradition and practice of the Church. Both items quite clearly come from the aforementioned new, Godless standards from without the Church. One was found to be tasteful, the other not - cafeteria style Christianity.
Bishop Wilkinson and I have had a fair few discussions about this very phenomenon - new members, who may have been consistent churchgoers elsewhere, but who are confused to the extent that either they don't know what they should believe, or their beliefs are an unfortunate combination of Christianity, sitcom morality and self-interest group humanism. In attempting to address this, a few of our parishes have begun, for want of a better term, to hold "enquirers classes." Mandatory reading for the classes are our foundational document, The Affirmation of St. Louis, and the TAC Concordat (copies of which are downstairs). There are also many other excellent tracts such as Bp. de Catanzaro's Statement of Faith or Fr. Palmer's Questions and Answers. Perhaps we should consider such a class, not only for newcomers, but for any who feel that their own moral compass is perhaps not pointing in the right direction, and especially if anyone has fallen into that trendy trap of feeling that Jesus didn't really mean what He said, taught or did.
Insofar as Jesus said, or did, anything, His words and actions were in complete accord with the perfect mind and perfect will of the Father. Insofar as God the Holy Spirit guides our lives, He does so in complete accord with the perfect mind and perfect will of the Father and the Son. Insofar as we, His professed followers, as we state in the Creeds claim to believe in Them in the unity of the Trinity, are we not bound to follow that perfect will too?
ANNUNCIATION OTTAWA CLRK