October 30,
2016
“the Holy catholic church”
“the Holy catholic church”
In the Diary of Anne Frank, she unknowingly
chronicled a history and has had an impact upon not only the history of the
United States, but countless other young children who have read the diary she
wrote. As a high school 10th
grader I read her diary and learned about her willingness to be open and
vulnerable in the face of her circumstances of living in a time when the Nazi’s
were inflicting their tyranny. For Anne
lived in an attic while her city endured the greatest tragedy of the 20th
Century.
What I find redeeming as I think back to
reading her diary is how Anne’s simple narrative chronicled not the loss of
life, but the joys of simple confessions that she thought would only be read by
her. But ironically has been shared after
her death, across Europe, the Atlantic and especially across the world.
This morning like Anne, we come to
celebrate and confess a simple phrase in the Apostle’s Creed. We confess, “the
Holy catholic church”. You see, 499
Years ago tomorrow, Martin Luther with hammer and nails pounded the 95 Theses on
the door at Wittenberg, a catholic Church.
Father Martin Luther, then a monk of the Augustinian order was following
the habit of the day to post on the church door items or concerns that he
believed needed discussed or debated. And
this was common practice, it was in one sense a ‘public bulletin board’ for the
community. For in that time, everyone
went to church, not just on Sunday’s, but sometimes even daily for mass and
private confession, but more importantly to come and worship God as not only
was the custom, but the tradition passed down from the Old Testament, but also
even Jesus ministry of attending the synagogue daily for prayer.
When Martin Luther pounded his theses on
the door at Wittenberg it was in the hopes of helping the Church to reform and
return to the Gospel and what we confess today, “the
Holy catholic church”. For in our confession today here in the
Church, we are not a ‘big C’ Catholic, but a ‘small c’ catholic. What is understood to be the ‘universal’
Church.
Many
times I have been asked, why do we say, catholic at all? Simply it is because we confess the faith of
the small “c” catholic or ‘universal’ Church.
For the universal church simply has as its core confession what Jesus
Christ did on Calvary for all of mankind.
This is the free gift God offers out of His great love for us and which
not only binds us together, but unites us as “the
Holy catholic church”.
So
why is there division, hatred and even ill words that have destroyed families
and even caused individuals to leave organized religion or remove themselves
out of protection? Simply it is because
we, all of humanity are born and conceived in sin and our sin comes out and
divides us. We hold it over one another
and refuse to let go of bitterness and hatred and our own plotting, because we
believe we are right.
Thom
Rainer said recently, “Many churches have more self-inflicted wounds than
external injuries.” I believe Thom is
right and the best case in point is Martin Luther. For when Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses, with every blow of the hammer, Martin
Luther unknowingly was kindling a fire in the Church catholic which would lead
to the largest split of the church and which still is impacting us today.
What is God calling us to? Like Martin Luther to return to the central
message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and confess our faith in “the Holy catholic church”. This is our calling as Christians, but also
as one’s who confess, not only Jesus Christ as Lord, but with our confession of
the Apostle’s Creed.
We
do this in three distinct ways. First by
unconditionally loving one another as the “the Holy catholic church”. We have the opportunity to love everyone,
even if we disagree with them and have at times been hurt by them, whether
intentionally or unintentionally. Second
we can forgive as Christ forgives us in “the Holy catholic church”. We are called to forgive, for if we do not
forgive one another from the heart, how can we expect Jesus Christ to forgive
us if we hold things against one another.
And finally we are called to build and create unity in “the Holy catholic church”.
The unity we need to build and rebuild comes simply not only by our
confession of the Apostle’s Creed and the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ,
but in our intentionally being united in purpose and mission of the spread of
the Gospel of Jesus Christ for all of mankind.
We
may never see the results, but instead of kindling a fire or kindling
dissension, distrust and disease in the church or the membership, which is
against God’s sole intent to unite us in “the Holy catholic church”,
we can be changed and empowered to love one another. For in our united confession of “the Holy catholic church” we then thwart division and
instead unite behind “the Holy catholic church”.
A
perfect example of this unity comes from a woman in the Bible. Queen Esther for whom the book of Esther is
written united God’s chosen people to do a simple task, to pray that not only
God’s will would be completed, but His Glory would be revealed and she would be
used to ‘make a difference’. For without
Queen Esther and her willingness to go to her husband and make the bold request
to save God’s chosen people, history would have been different than we know it
today. We to can make that difference.
So
to Martin Luther with his nailing the 95 Theses on the door at Wittenberg had
one intent in mind to turn the ship of the church around. To unify the Church ‘small c’ catholic and
return to the sole intent of Jesus and the clear proclamation of the
Gospel. For the Gospel is what unites us
and enables us to confess with the whole Church on earth and the hosts of
heaven the Apostle’s Creed and our belief in “the
Holy catholic church”. AMEN.
Check out Pastor on the Prairie (ProtP)
Subscribe to ProtP
No comments:
Post a Comment