One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism.
How can there be
so many Christian groups
claiming to worship
the same God
and yet disagree about
issues of Faith?
It doesn't seem that
there is One Faith at all.
Divisions among Christians
make us look foolish
at one extreme
and murderously insane
at the other.
The killing of Christians
by Christians
is not just tragic
but it is perverse
and demonstrates
a deficiency in our faith.
How can Christianity
be a true religion
given that it's members
don't love one another?
[PAUSE]
It is clear
that there is something
called Christianity.
There is,
at the very heart of it,
one Lord Jesus Christ.
To be a true Christian,
it is necessary
to believe that
there is a person called Jesus.
But that's not enough.
We have to believe
that this person called Jesus
is Divine and Human.
Human
because we know He is born.
Divine
because He claims
explicitly in the Bible
to be the Son of God
and then goes on
to prove it
by rising from the dead
and ascending into heaven.
For us to be truly rational
about what we believe
we have to believe
that these are not just stories,
but that Our Lord's Incarnation
is a historical fact.
And we have to believe Him
and His reasons for His Incarnation.
That He lives, dies and rises,
for our salvation
and reconciliation
with His Father.
But all this is contained
in the Nicene Creed!
A Christian
believes the Faith
as stated in the Creeds
of the Church
even if they don't
explicitly use the Creeds
or use the language
of the Creeds.
This is one Faith.
[PAUSE]
Further,
a person must actively
become Christian,
not by shouting "I'm a Christian!"
in the canteen,
not by making a Facebook post
or sending a tweet.
But by receiving the sacrament
of Baptism,
as a sign of Christianity
a sign which is recognised
throughout the whole world.
One Baptism.
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.
So why so many
different Christianities?
[PAUSE]
All Christians
believe in sin.
They recognise
their own fallibility
and shortcomings.
Lord, Faith and Baptism
all point to the existence of sin
in each one of our lives.
We know sin exists
because Jesus comes to save us.
If there were no sin,
we would not need salvation.
The Divisions in the Church
are an exhibition to the world
that even the most devout life
is affected by sin
externally and,
with the exception of some,
internally.
It is the witness of the Church
that divisions will be healed in Christ,
for all Christians hold Him
as the One who saves.
While there is much
that Christians disagree on,
if we truly hold on
to One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism
then those disagreements
must be resolved.
It means, then,
the we must be prepared
to stand with the Christians
who disagree with us most
and recognise them
as being Christians
even if we struggle to see
how they are Christian.
We don't have to accept
the doctrine of their church
but we do have to recognise
that they are trying,
even as we are,
to hold to
One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.
We do, however,
have to hold to that One Lord,
our really historical,
really human,
really divine Jesus.
We do have to
keep that faith
by keeping his teachings
and to love
even as He loves.
We do have to
be true to our Baptism
through loyalty to the Church
into which we are baptised
and to her head which is Christ,
by allowing the Spirit of God
to grow in us
through prayer, work and study.
We believe in
One Lord
One Faith
One Baptism
so that we, too,
may be one in Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment