The Holy catholic Church, The Communion of Saints. Lesson 9

Transcription

1 The Holy catholic Church, The Communion of Saints Lesson 10 Opening Prayer Psalm 89:1-8 1 Your love, O LORD, forever will I sing; * from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness. 2 For I am persuaded that your love is established forever; * you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens. 3 I have made a covenant with my chosen one; * I have sworn an oath to David my servant: 4 I will establish your line forever, * and preserve your throne for all generations. 5 The heavens bear witness to your wonders, O LORD, * and to your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones; 6 for who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? * who is like the LORD among the gods? 7 God is much to be feared in the council of the holy ones, * great and terrible to all those circled around. 8 Who is like you, LORD God of hosts? * O mighty LORD, your faithfulness is all around you. Remember us, gracious God, when we cannot see your way and purpose, and renew in us the joy of your kingdom of light and life. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. Exegesis In the Reformed view of the church, God calls the Christian community into being through the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit. The church is a community of faith and life that is called to share Christ s story with the world. 1

2 The church is at once both militant and triumphant, and primarily a structure of grace. The Nicene Creeds states this article about the Holy catholic Church this way: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. We define these as the marks of the church. Without denying theses Nicene marks, the 16 th century Reformers insisted that a true Christian church is present whenever there is pure preaching and hearing of the Word of God and the right celebration of the sacraments (baptism and the Lord s Supper). In some confession of the Reformed tradition, discipline is included as a mark of the church along with proclamation and sacraments. (Miglore, 416). The Scots Confession attests to discipline as a mark of the church. Holy catholic Church we are believers within the church we do not believe in the church to do so would make us idolaters, placing our faith in something that is not divine. The church is an essential part of the creed because it is in it that we experience faith. Faith is not a private matter; it is always communal. It is personal in that each of us claims it, by the power of the Holy Spirit, for ourselves; but it is never personal and private. It is in the church that we work out our faith, with as Kierkegaard said, with fear and trembling. Thus the creed expresses belief in the church not in the sense that the church is the object of our faith, but that it is within the context of the church and as members in it that we believe. The Reformers in particular believed that faith in the church was what had corrupted the Church. They believed that the church was not the means of grace that was the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit, but was instead a vehicle by which believers exercised their faith. Luther came to suddenly in his reflection on Paul s affirmation in his letter to the Romans that the just shall live by faith in the unmerited grace of God shown in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16-17). We believe in the church, was the antithesis of the Reformers; implicit faith in the church that was prevalent during the Middle Ages was rejected. Implicit faith was tantamount to declaring. I don t rightly know all that the church teaches I believer, because it is taught by the church. (Gonzales, 76). Calvin rebutted by writing, Is this what believing means to understand nothing, provided only that you submit your feelings to the 2

3 church? Faith rest not on ignorance, but on knowledge We do not obtain salvation either because we are prepared to embrace as true whatever the church has prescribed, or because we turn over to it the task of inquiring and knowing. (Institutes, III.2.2) The church believes in the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and thanks to the Spirit we are in the Church. Catholic the word catholic does not appear in the earliest form of the Creed, particularly in the R document. It appeared first in the Greek speaking branch of the church around the end of the 4 th century about the time that the Creed was given the title The Apostles Creed. Most often the word is defined as meaning universal, thus referring to the presence of the church throughout the world. But the word actually means according to the whole, thus what makes the church catholic is not its presence everywhere but from the fact that people from everywhere are a part of it as contributing members. The word catholic embraces a wide variety of believers. Thus we are not referring to a particular denomination but are affirming the existence of the church even in the midst of our various theological differences and expressions. Communion of Saints Christian belong to a communion of saints, not a hierarchical order in heaven but a community of the dead and the living, the number of which is known only to God (Smylie, 24). Community means fellowship but it also means sharing. Thus an English translation from the Latin would be sharing of the saints. Acts 2: And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. 3

4 By the time that this phrase was added to the creed, such sharing had all but disappeared except in monastic traditions. Sanctorum may mean of the saints as most of us usually understand it, or of holy things. In the latter case, the phrase refers to the sharing of holy things particularly the sacrament of Holy Communion. When we affirm the communion of the saints we are affirming: (1) our fellowship with believers of all times and places; (2) our readiness to share with others in need; (3) that our sharing includes holy things meaning that the holy things do not belong to some of us in particular, but to all of us as a whole. (Gonzales, 81). Our baptism, the one bread of Communion and our common faith makes us one body. The Confessions Scots Confession 3.16 CHAPTER XVI - The Kirk As we believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, so we firmly believe that from the beginning there has been, now is, and to the end of the world shall be, one Kirk, that is to say, one company and multitude of men chosen by God, who rightly worship and embrace him by true faith in Christ Jesus, who is the only Head of the Kirk, even as it is the body and spouse of Christ Jesus. This Kirk is catholic, that is, universal, because it contains the chosen of all ages, of all realms, nations, and tongues, be they of the Jews or be they of the Gentiles, who have communion and society with God the Father, and with his Son, Christ Jesus, through the sanctification of his Holy Spirit. It is therefore called the communion, not of profane persons, but of saints, who, as citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, have the fruit of inestimable benefits, one God, one Lord Jesus, one faith, and one baptism. Out of this Kirk there is neither life nor eternal felicity. Therefore we utterly abhor the blasphemy of those who hold that men who live according to equity and justice shall be saved, no matter what religion they profess. For since there is neither life nor salvation without Christ Jesus; so shall none have part therein but those whom the Father has given unto his Son Christ Jesus, and those who in time come to him, avow his doctrine, and believe in him. (We include the children with the believing parents.) This Kirk is invisible, known only to God, who alone knows whom he has chosen, and 4

5 includes both the chosen who are departed, the Kirk triumphant, those who yet live and fight against sin and Satan, and those who shall live hereafter. The Confession of Confessions and declarations are subordinate standards in the church, subject to the authority of Jesus Christ. the Word of God, as the Scriptures bear witness to him. No one type of confession is exclusively valid, no one statement is irreformable. Obedience to Jesus Christ alone identities the one universal church and supplies the continuity of its tradition. This obedience is the ground of the church s duty and freedom to reform itself in life and doctrine as new occasions, in God s providence, may demand. Discussion 1. How does this passage inform and shape us in the context of the phrase communion of the saints? Luke 16: "There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' 27 And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house- 28 for I have five brothers- so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' 29 But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' 30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'" 5

6 2. What are the implications of affirming that the church is catholic? Application 1. In what way this week will the phrase communion of the saints change the way you think about others? 2. Every time you think ill of someone this week say this phrase, He/she is a member of the communion. Bibliography Barth, Karl. The Faith of the Church. New York: Meridian Books, (this is an interesting little book: it is a commentary on the Apostles Creed according to Calvin s Catechism). Book of Order Form of Government: Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA): Part 2 Book of Confessions Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA): Part 1 Barth, Karl Church Dogmatics (particularly I/2,3; IV: Doctrine of Reconciliation) Barth, Karl. Dogmatics in Outline Buechner, Frederick. Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC. New York: Harper Row Bible Works 6.0 Calvin, John. The Institutes of the Christian Religion, John T. McNeill ed. Hesselink, I. John Calvin s First Catechism: A Commentary. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, Leith, John H. Basic Christian Doctrine Leith, John Creeds of the Churches McKim, Donald K. Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press,

7 McKim, Donald K. Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1992 Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrine Kelly, J. N. D. Early Christian Creeds Kierkegaard, Soren: Fear and Trembling. Alastair Hanny, trans. London: Penguin Books, Kittle, et al Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, 10 vols. Migliore, Daniel L. Faith Seeking Understanding, 2 nd ed. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Ramshaw, Gail. Treasures Old and New: Images in the Lectionary. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Press, Smylie, James H. A Brief History of the Presbyterians. Louisville, KY: Geneva Press, VanGemeren, Willem A. general ed. Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, 5 vols. See footnotes for other specific references 7