It all started, the Church that is, on the day of
Pentecost. Now this was 50 days after
Passover, the day that our Lord had his Last Supper with his disciples that we
celebrate as well every time we take communion.
On the feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on 120 men and
women that were the faithful few. Tens
of thousands had followed Jesus for over three years but when he was arrested,
he was left alone. Now, on the feast of
Pentecost the Holy Spirit comes like a mighty rushing wind and it is recorded
that tongues of fire danced on the heads of those present in the upper room as
their fears were replaced with Faith: faith in God, faith in their mission and
faith as well in the resurrection from the dead.
You see, Jesus rose from the grave after three days and
appeared to many. The Bible says that he
was present with over 500 at one time.
Jesus walked and talked with his followers as a resurrected-man for 40
days and then he ascended into Heaven.
Peter brought this message of a risen Savior out to the
crowd gathered below that were in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. They had heard the noise and were able to
hear shouts of praise to God in different languages. Languages what were unknown to the 120 but
recognized by those in the crowd that had come from diverse places all over
Europe, Africa and Asia.
That Pentecost day the Church took off….3,000 souls were
added to the church and the word about Jesus rising from the dead was taken
back to various places including "Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and even
Rome"
These early Christians had no buildings, no ceremonies or
customs that we are so accustomed to now.
Truth be told (I told you I was an historian) at the time there were no
priests, no liturgy, no agreement on how often they were to celebrate communion
or the prayers that were to be prayed.
The one thing that they all had was the knowledge that
Jesus was raised from the dead. That
which was dead and buried was more alive than ever before. The promises of the Old Testament had been
fulfilled and their Messiah had come.
Then, the Christians were persecuted and many became
martyrs. New believers were called
Catechumens and these were those that were new to the faith but had not yet
been baptized. History tells us that
many, many of these new believers also ended up in the coliseums and were
martyred by the Romans. These new believers, while yet unbaptized marched into
the coliseums fully confident that because they had placed their trust in Jesus
Christ, God would accept them and they too would ultimately be raised from the
dead.
Jesus had promised that he was going to prepare a place
for his followers. He said it was
certain and that where he was going, we would be there too.
Within a hundred years, the leaders of the church came up
with that which was lacking and substance gave birth to form. Baptism, the sacraments, clergy, duties and
responsibilities were all debated and many adopted but the church also became divided. The biggest division was
between those that spoke Greek and those that spoke Latin. Also, many debated who Jesus really was. Was he truly God or just a good man, sent by
God?
The Emperor Constantine comes to the throne in 312 AD and
Christianity was legalized, In fact in a 70-year period it becomes the official and only religion
of the Roman empire.
Constantine wanted his church to have one doctrine, he
wanted one church for the Roman Empire not many. There were many questions at the time that
were being debated including prayers.. were they to be in Latin or in Greek? also whether the sacraments that had been
dispensed by clergy that then had lost their nerve and denied their faith were
still valid. Constantine calls the Bishops together and about 275 bishops gather together in Nicaea. These questions of Constantine were asked but these bishops surprised everyone.
Instead of talking about form….the bishops spoke to
substance. Out from this council we have
to this day the Nicene Creed. I call
this simple Creed the "Gettysburg address of the Christian Faith". In it these early Bishops told
us what we need to believe. Let me show it to you:
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only son of God,
Eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
True God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son].
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. AMEN.
Just 36 lines that define the substance of our faith.
What does it take to have faith? What does it take to believe in the
resurrection of the dead and to be able to know that we will see our loved ones
again in the future? It’s not about
form….but about substance, about belief.
What do we believe? We believe in Jesus Christ, the Son
of God. Born of a Virgin to die for our sins.
It was for our sake that he was crucified. It was for us that he was
raised from the dead.
In the book of Acts, Paul and Silas are preaching in
Philippi and end up getting thrown into prison. Something like this happened
often to Paul. In jail, they begin to
pray and to sing and suddenly a violet earthquake shakes the prison and the
jail cells all burst open.
The jailer is about to kill himself when he sees all the
doors open but Paul shares the Gospel with him.
The jailer says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Paul replies Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and you will be saved”. Substance over
form.
What is it that you believe today? You see, this substance that I talk about is
a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Christianity is really not a religion but a relationship. This
relationship is with God, made possible because of the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
My mom and dad live here in Florida. If you asked me how my relationship was with
my dad you would be listening to clues about when I had last visited him, when
we had last talked, when we had last eaten together. If instead I told you that I was born into
his household, that we had lived in Detroit back in the 1980’s and that his
name was Bill you would wonder what kind of a relationship is that?
The proof of a relationship is not the form but the
substance. God wants a relationship
with us that is living. He has much to
teach us, He longs to fellowship with us.
In the Book of Revelation Jesus says “(He) stands at the door and knocks. If anyone would open the door he would come
in and have a meal with him.”
Substance over form.
Our
faith is evidenced by our relationship with God as well as in things like
attending church with others that share our faith. It is evidenced by our prayers for our
families and our dependence on God that gives us hope.
