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An Ancient Creed is Relevant

By Vicar Lisa Rygiel

A Message from Bishop Eaton of the ELCA, March 21, 2025:

During spring and summer of the year 325, bishops from across the church gathered in Nicaea for the church’s first ecumenical council. At 325 years, the church was still relatively young and fluid. There were many schools of thought about the nature of the Trinity and the three persons of the Trinity. Some taught that the God of the Old Testament is a different god than the God of the New Testament (Marcionism), that Jesus only appeared to be human (Docetism), that Jesus didn’t have a human mind or soul but only a human body (Apollinarianism), that there are three modes of God (Modalism), that Jesus is not fully divine but is a created being (Arianism), and a whole host of others. Confusing.

Constantine had recently become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. He wanted to unify the church and solidify the relationship between church and state. The competing theories about the nature of God, particularly Arianism, was frustrating Constantine’s vision of a united church and a united empire. So, he summoned the bishops to sort it out. The Trinity is a complex idea to start with, but putting 300 bishops with strongly held beliefs in a room was bound to cause conflict. One (apocryphal) story was that St. Nicholas punched out Arius, the author of Arianism. Our congregational meetings, synod assemblies and churchwide assembles seem tame by comparison.

The hoped-for outcome was to have a unified understanding of the faith. The result was the Nicene Creed, used by churches around the world and across the centuries. This elegant statement of belief gives a clear exposition of who God is and how God chooses to be God for the sake of the world.

The Nicene Creed also places each one of us in a global—in fact, cosmic—context. “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic church.” Sometimes it helps to look beyond ourselves and the here and now and get caught up in God’s breathtaking vastness. We aren’t alone. We are part of a great company of the faithful—past, present and future.

Many of Emperor Constantine’s goals for the Council of Nicaea were met, but not all of them. Perhaps human language is too small or human intellect too limited to comprehend the mystery of the Trinity or to put it into words. Soon a dispute arose about the nature of the Spirit. Originally the creed stated: “We believe in the Holy Spirit … who proceeds from the Father.” Only later was the clause “who proceeds from the Father and the Son” added. The Latin word for this is filioque. The Western church insisted on it. The Eastern church rejected it. This led to the split between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches in 1054.

If an over 1,000-year-old argument that bitterly divided the church can be resolved, then there is hope that the most complex issues that split the church can be engaged and overcome through careful listening and dialogue. We don’t have to be divided.

This year we mark the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea. For 40 years Lutherans and Orthodox have been in dialogue about the Nicene Creed. The “Joint Statement on the Filioque” was approved by the Joint Commission on Theological Dialogue in May 2024. This controversy was found to be no longer church dividing.

So what? What relevance does an ancient argument between academics have to do with the real world? Here’s what. If an over 1,000-year-old argument that bitterly divided the church can be resolved, then there is hope that the most complex issues that split the church can be engaged and overcome through careful listening and dialogue. We don’t have to be divided. Division is a human invention, not divine.

There was another issue that the council didn’t resolve—establishing a uniform date for Easter. It so happens occasionally, that Easter falls on the same date for the West and for the East. This Easter during the 1,700th year anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, the whole church, West and East, will celebrate the Resurrection on the same day. God is smiling.

April 13 -- Palm Sunday

10 a.m. Sunday Worship with Communion

Announcements

 

  • Palm Sunday: As is tradition for Zion’s and weather permitting, the congregation will gather next Sunday morning in the area between the back of the Sanctuary and the Fellowship Hall where Vicar Lisa will bless the palm branches. We then will “process” into the Sanctuary, waving our palms along the way.
  • Fellowship Time: Join us after worship Sunday in the Fellowship Hall for another conversation with the vicar. In addition, church council meets downstairs in the fellowship hall. All are welcome.
  •  Flowers: In celebration of Easter, next Sunday the flower team will decorate the sanctuary with flowers and greenery that celebrate rebirth, new life, and the triumph of life over death. There still is time to sign up to help sponsor Easter flowers. The flower book has a special page for floral sponsorships. A donation of $35 is requested.
  • Sunday Study: On Palm Sunday, the Rev. Dr. Janet Everhart concludes the three-part discussion of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book, “Life Together”. A soup lunch will accompany the study.
  • Children’s Choir: The Trinidad Music Association (TMA) children’s choir (ages 8-12) practice is at 3 p.m. today in the Fellowship Hall. 
  •  Lenten Soup Suppers: Our Lenten Soup Suppers conclude next week with a meal and Lenten study at 6 p.m. Wednesday in in the Fellowship Hall.
  • Weekday Bible Study: Continues at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, and again at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 12. The studies explore Biblical allusions in everyday life. The same themes will be explored on both Thursdays and Saturdays, so participants have the option to attend either session, or both. The Rev. Dr. Becky McNeil will lead us in our inquiries. Bring a Bible and your curiosity. 
  • Good Friday Worship: Zion’s Good Friday worship service will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 18, and is a time when we gather in solemn devotion as we anticipate the culmination of the three days that are the Easter vigil.
  •  Spring Cleaning: Join us at 9 a.m. next Saturday, April 12, for Spring Cleaning inside the Fellowship Hall and Sanctuary.
  • New Members: Traditionally at Zion’s, Easter Sunday is one of the times during the year when we welcome new members. If you would like to join that day, please contact Vicar Lisa. If Easter Sunday does not fit your schedule, let Lisa know that too so she can work with you to pick another Sunday to join.

E-formation – Sixth Sunday of Lent, April 13

Sunday of the Passion / Palm Sunday

Since at least the fourth century and universally in the church since the eighth, Christians have kept the Sunday before Easter as a memorial of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, and a literal procession of palms, begun in Jerusalem, has spread throughout the world. This year the reading of the passion is taken from Luke. The three-year lectionary restored an ancient practice of observing the Sunday before Easter as Passion Sunday, and so a longer or shorter reading from the passion in Luke is the gospel of the day. Since in the three-year lectionary Lent has replaced a sustained meditation on the passion with a focus on baptism, the proclamation of the full passion on this Sunday is important for biblical literacy. Thus, the service, inaugurating the most important week of the Christian year, has a two-part focus: Jesus’ glorious entry into Jerusalem, and his suffering and death. It is advisable to offer preaching assistance to worshipers as they encounter the quite different theological emphases found in Passion Sunday’s proclamation from the synoptic gospel of the year and in Good Friday’s annual proclamation from John.

Luke 19:28-40

Holy Week begins with a palm procession and the proclamation of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem from the gospel of Luke. Christ enters the assembly now, just as he did then, and with the angels at his birth we praise his presence among us.

Luke 22:14—23:56

Twice each Holy Week we hear the entire story of the betrayal, arrest, trials, abuse, and crucifixion of Jesus. Since it is Sunday, we listen to Luke, the synoptic gospel of this year. In Luke’s gospel, the death of the messiah is the merciful act of a loving Savior who brings forgiveness to the whole world. Several of the details in Luke’s narrative are among the most beloved in the church’s memory of the passion. Proclaimed in the Sunday assembly, the passion of Christ leads to the eucharist, which is always a celebration of the resurrection.

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Christians have seen in the Servant Songs descriptions of Jesus Christ. In Christian interpretation, the reading sounds as if Jesus is describing his own ill treatment. The emphasis on vindication is important for Luke’s repeated theme of forgiveness.

Philippians 2:5-11

We join with Christians of the first century in a creedal poem: Christ humbled himself to death, and God has raised him as Lord. The ancient song is a summary, not only of our baptismal faith, but also of the Holy Week beginning today.

Zion's Lutheran Church

A Reconciling in Christ Community

zionsluth@gmail.com

719-846-7785