First Sunday after Pentecost (Ordinary Time)
Trinity Sunday (B)
May 31, 2015
Introduction
Last Sunday we celebrated the Day of Pentecost, the end of the Easter Season. Today is the First Sunday after Pentecost, the beginning of Ordinary Time (or, as we United Methodists prefer to call it, “Kingdomtide”). The First Sunday of Ordinary Time is celebrated as Trinity Sunday (called “the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity” in the Roman Catholic Church), which celebrates the mystery of the Holy Trinity.
In our sermon last Ascension Sunday, we said that “mystery” (Greek, μυστηριον, mustērion) does not mean ‘unknown’ but rather ‘cannot be fully expressed in words’. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity can be summed up in the following words: “There is only one God in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”. But we cannot fully explain in words how one became three and three became one. It is a mystery.
I don’t like giving illustrations to explain the Holy Trinity because no illustration is perfect; often it repeats past heresies. “The Trinity is like an egg: the shell, the albumen (egg white) and the yolk.” But the shell, the egg white, and the yolk are different substances; that is like saying that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are “parts” of one God. “The Trinity is like I am a father to my children, a husband to my wife, and a pastor to my church.” But this repeats the heresy of Modalism where the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are only one Person. The mystery of the Holy Trinity is best summarized as: “There is only one God in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”.
There is no verse in the Bible that says, “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God”.* The doctrine of the Holy Trinity was born from a wide reading of the Scriptures, where the fathers of our faith saw that there is only one God; but the Son and the Holy Spirit share characteristics that only the Father possesses. It is out of this study of Scripture that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was formulated. And this doctrine is expressed in statements of faith called creeds.
Today, I would like to use as my “text” the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed is one of the two ancient creeds used by The United Methodist Church, the other one is known as the Apostles’ Creed. This creed was called “Nicene” because it was composed during the Council of Nicaea (in modern-day Turkey). Emperor Constantine convened bishops from all over the world in order to end disunity among Christians due to heresy. The greatest threat to the unity of Christians during that time was a heresy called Arianism. During this time, a priest named Arius taught that Jesus Christ was not God but only man. (Until today this heresy is taught by certain groups, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Iglesia ni Cristo.) It is said that there was a “lively” debate among bishops on the true nature of Christ.
One of the bishops was St. Nicholas of Myra (popularly known as Santa Claus). He was known to be a meek and mild person; but it is said that during the debate he punched Arius on the side of the head. Nicolas was removed from his council membership and suspended from his bishopric. Nicholas accepted this suspension; until he was recalled to the Council and was restored to the episcopacy. It was decided that the best way to fight Arianism was to compose a statement of faith called a creed; and St. Nicholas was among those chosen to write it. This statement of faith was eventually called the Nicene Creed.
The Nicene Creed says, “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.” We believe that there is only one God (not three; as the Athanasian Creed says, “So are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, There be three Gods, or three Lords”). “We believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth” says the Apostles’ Creed. He made all things, “visible and invisible”; i.e., the physical world in which we live in and the spirit world, which is composed of Heaven and Hell, and inhabited by angels and demons.
II. On God the Son.
The Nicene Creed says, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God”. Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God (John 3:16) is called the Lord, just like the Father and the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17). The Creed explains the nature of Jesus Christ: He is “eternally begotten of the Father”; using these beautiful words: “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God”. Jesus Christ is “begotten, not made”, meaning that He was not created by God but “begotten”. The Creed also says that Jesus Christ is “of one substance with the Father”. Since He was “begotten, not made”, Jesus is “of one substance with the Father”, meaning He is also God. What does it mean that Jesus was “begotten” by the Father in eternity past? Again, it is a mystery. “Through him all things were made.” This means that like the Father, the Son is the Creator of all things.
The Nicene Creed also says that Jesus “came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man”. This is the mystery of the Incarnation, which we celebrate every Christmas Season. The Bible is clear that the Virgin Mary “conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit” (from the Apostles’ Creed; cf. Luke 1:35) but it is not clear on what it means. (Another ancient creed, the Athanasian Creed, explains thus: “Who although he be God and Man, yet he is not two, but one Christ; One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God”.) Again, it is a mystery.
The Nicene Creed furthermore says that Jesus died for our sins: “he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried”—which we commemorate during Holy Friday. “On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures”—which we celebrate during Easter. “He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father”—we recently celebrated on Ascension Sunday. The Creed also teaches His coming again: “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end”.
III. On God the Holy Spirit.
“We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord”. The Holy Spirit is Lord: “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
“The Giver of life”. The Holy Spirit is the Giver of Life. In Genesis, we read that the Spirit of God was moving “upon the face of the waters” (1:2). According to Bishop Emerito P. Nacpil, in his book The Spirit that Secularizes, the “waters” here are a symbol of nothingness; and it was the Spirit of God that made creation out of this nothing (creatio ex nihilo) possible. In our Psalm for today, the psalmist says that God sent the Holy Spirit and all things (“they”) were created, and he renews “the face of the earth” (Psalm 104:30).
“Who proceeds from the Father”. Before Jesus left the world, He promised to send the Holy Spirit to the disciples: “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me” (John 15:27).
“With the Father and the Son, he is worshiped and glorified”. Since the Holy Spirit is the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:17), together with the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified.
“He has spoken through the Prophets”. The Bible itself says that it was written through the “inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16; in Greek, θεόπνευστος, theopneustos, literally ‘God-breathed’). The Bible also says that the writers of the Bible were only able to do so because of the Spirit; in fact, even the interpretation of Scripture is through the help of the Holy Spirit: “[K]nowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as there were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 3:20-21).
The Holy Spirit is the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from God the Father. Together with the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets.
Conclusion: The rest of the Creed.
The Creed ends with other articles of faith. “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church”. It contains the four characteristics of the Church: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. There is only “one” Church—denominations, while being a sad reminder of the divisions within the Church, are merely manifestations of the one true Church. The Church is “holy”; i.e., it is separated from this world. The Church is “catholic”—not Roman Catholic but ‘universal’—it’s faith is the same at all places and at all times. The Church is “apostolic”; i.e., its faith comes directly from the Apostles.
The Creed also says, “We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins”. There is only “one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5)—meaning that we are only baptized once. “For the forgiveness of sins”—as Jesus said in John 3:5, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”.
Finally, the Creed says, “We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come”. We Christians believe in “the resurrection of the dead”, which means that we do not believe (as many mistakenly believe) that after we die, we will live as spirits in Heaven forever. No! We believe that Jesus “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead”. He will resurrect those who are dead during His Coming and judge them, as Daniel 12:2 says, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”.
This is the Christian Faith. Let us meditate in silence, and rise to profess our faith.
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* In the King James Version and the New King James Version, I John 5:7 reads, “For there are three who bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” Meanwhile, other versions have, “For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree” (I John 5:7-8, English Standard Version). The KJV is based on the Textus Receptus (‘Received Text’), which is not the oldest Greek manuscript. Nevertheless, even in versions that do not have this verse, the teaching on the Holy Trinity is clear.
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