蜜芽传媒

Music
Love Song (after JE) (Edit) - Max Richter
Max Richter
CD: In a landscape 鈥� Max Richter (Universal)

Poem
Nicaea 1700 by Rev Laura Darrall

What do you believe?

As we stand in our pews or rows of chairs, and recite the Nicene creed, I wonder, what do you believe?

As we sit in a meeting about whether we should use pews or rows of chairs, I wonder, what do you believe?

As we put out the tables and make the coffee, and put out the rota for making the coffee and put out the rota for putting out the tables, what do you believe?

As we sit with a stranger who was looking for quiet, as we hand them a candle to light and remember, as we clear up the crumbs from a mum鈥檚 giddy toddler, what do you believe?

As we stretch out our hands to share Peace and for bread, as we lift up our voices and bow down our heads, as we love one another just like Jesus said- what do you believe?

Do you believe in the Father who flung stars into space, whose benevolent image can be found in your face, who traced lines of eternity into every embrace, do you believe?

Do you believe in the Son, the second person of the trinity, the three in one, the one who would come and renew us all with a promise to be with us until the Kingdom will dawn- do you believe?聽

Do you believe in the Spirit? The giver of life? The teacher of Love and the queller of strife, who pours out its gifts at our baptismal start, and makes us one faith, one body, one heart. Do you believe?

Do you believe in the church? The vessel for God鈥檚 mission, who is called to stay humble and accept the commission to be beacons of hope and children of light until that day comes when we resurrect and reunite with the one who made us. Do you believe?

We stand with the Saints, and join with their praise, in our pews and our chairs all our voices we raise, to proclaim our faith, our Creed, our Way

On this 1700th anniversary we say: We believe.

Welcome
Rev Dr Mark Smith

Good morning, I鈥檓 Mark Smith, the Dean of Clare College, Cambridge.

This week on Sunday Worship, we鈥檙e marking the seventeen-hundredth anniversary of the Nicene Creed.

This glorious statement of the Christian faith has been passed down through the centuries, and will be on the lips of hundreds of millions of worshippers across the world this morning.

As Laura Darrall鈥檚 opening poem reminds us, the Nicene Creed helps to express what Christians believe.

It declares our faith in the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

It speaks to us afresh of the good news of Jesus Christ, who came into the world to save us.

And it helps prepare us for that day, when our voices will unite in joyful song, and praise forever the Lamb upon the throne.聽

This morning we鈥檒l think a little more deeply about the Nicene Creed: where it came from, what it says, and why it still matters today. So, as we dive in, let鈥檚 begin with prayer.

Heavenly Father,
the giver of every good and perfect gift,
you have given us your Son,
who for our salvation suffered, died and rose again;
and you have given us the Holy Spirit,
who pours your love into our hearts;
we pray this morning that you would
open our eyes to your abundant mercy,
and open our ears to your live-giving word,
that we would glorify you, this day and forever,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.聽
Amen.

Music
Holy, holy, holy (Nicaea)
St Martin鈥檚 Voices
蜜芽传媒 recording

Bible reading
John 1: 1-14
Read by Rev Sharon Grenham-Thompson

Music
鈥楥redo: Credo in unum deum鈥� from Mass in B minor 鈥� J.S. Bach
Collegium Japan
CD: Mass in B minor 鈥� Bach (BIS)

Reflection

Those verses opening St John鈥檚 Gospel speak of God鈥檚 exalted Word, the one who with God in the beginning, and through whom all things were made. Bible passages like this lay at the centre of a huge doctrinal controversy that flared up seventeen-hundred years ago, and which gave us the Nicene Creed.

It all began in Alexandria, in Egypt, with a bust up at diocesan synod. The bishop was in town, and he had prepared a rather ambitious theological pep-talk for his assembled clergy, with the catchy title, 鈥楿nity in Trinity鈥�. Now, Bishop Alexander鈥檚 intention was entirely laudable: he wanted to emphasise the eternal closeness of relationship, even sameness, between God the Father and God the Son.

But for the brightest and most learned of his listeners, Alexander鈥檚 words sailed far too close to the wind. Arius, a gifted priest and teacher, immediately accused his bishop of false teaching 鈥� specifically, of dusting-off the old error of Sabellius.

Sabellius was a long-dead theologian who had come to be associated with the view that God was really a single undifferentiated deity 鈥� one divine person who sometimes appeared to us as Father, sometimes as Son, and sometimes as Spirit 鈥� like an actor switching costumes for different roles in a play. Arius was concerned that by emphasising divine unity so heavily, Alexander risked erasing the proper distinctions between Father, Son and Spirit, just as Sabellius had done before him.

Fair enough, you might think. But Arius wanted to push things still further.

Arius saw himself as a faithful biblical theologian, and what he discovered throughout the pages of the bible 聽was a consistent and unyielding commitment to monotheism. There was one God, and this God alone was the source of all reality, the one eternal being upon whom everything else depends.

What, then, of the Son? Well, said Arius, if there鈥檚 only space for one God, and if that position is already taken, then the Son must be created, made out of nothing, as the first of God鈥檚 great acts of creation. First God made the Son, and then, through the Son, God made everything else 鈥� stars and planets, rivers and mountains, you and me.

Now Arius was not only a clever theologian, he was also a master strategist. He crystallised his key arguments into simple, memorable messages, and then set them to music as sea shanties, which were enthusiastically sung by the sailors at the docks of Alexandria as they prepared to transport their cargoes across the Mediterranean.

Arius also had friends in high places, including some of the most senior and politically influential bishops of his day, ensuring that his campaign quickly garnered support across much of the eastern half of the Roman Empire.

Local synods quickly found themselves unable to contain a controversy which now reached beyond the boundaries of their own jurisdictions.

If a solution were to be found, it would require something more innovative, indeed unprecedented: a great council representing the entire church.

And so that is precisely what the Emperor Constantine convened.

The council met in Nicaea, in modern-day Turkey, in the summer of 325.

About 250 bishops gathered together, by far the greatest number hitherto assembled.

It was a magnificent and memorable occasion 鈥� and there were many items of business on the agenda other than Arius. But it was undoubtedly this question that consumed most of the council鈥檚 energy, and which ended up giving us our Creed.

You see, the bishops of Nicaea recognised that it really matters what we believe about God.

The way we live out our Christian lives, and the shape of our faith, will in the end depend on who we think God is, and on what we think God is like. For each of us, there will always be a temptation to re-make God in our own image, so that he gradually becomes a projection of our own ideals and aspirations. But then we will be left only with an idol, a fake god who cannot save. The Nicene Creed sought to point us back to the true God, the real God, the God who lives.聽

Music
Give us the wings of faith 鈥� James Whitbourn
Westminster Williamson Voices
CD: Whitbourn 鈥� Living Voices (Naxos)

Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God,
you have given us your servants grace,
by the confession of a true faith,
to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity
and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity;
keep us steadfast in this faith,
that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen.

Reflection

So, the bishops of Nicaea got together to write their creed. This rather unusual text was not the version used in the liturgy today. In fact, it was never originally intended for use in worship at all 鈥� it was composed as a technical test for bishops (many of whom probably did not entirely understand what they were signing), rather than a communal affirmation for laity.

The purpose of the creed was to offer a focussed response to the specific problem of Arius鈥� doctrine.聽

It had a traditional tripartite structure, confessing faith in the one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The section on the Son was itself comprised of two parts: the first defined the Son鈥檚 relation to the Father in eternity, and the second gave a narrative of his earthly ministry, and his work of redemption on our behalf.

It was this first part where the distinctive theological contribution of the creed lay. It proclaimed the Son as 鈥淕od from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one being with the Father鈥�.聽

It鈥檚 important to note that the terminology of 鈥渙f one being鈥� or 鈥渙f one substance鈥� 鈥� homoousion in Greek 鈥� was not language found in the Bible, and for that reason it was very contentious at the time.

But the purpose of the Nicene Creed was not to go beyond Scripture, still less to supplant it.

You see, the pro-Arian bishops had arrived at the council with all their biblical proof texts neatly lined up: a long list of passages wrenched out of their original contexts, and cut and dried and assembled. One eyewitness describes how these bishops smiled and nudged and winked at one another, confident that they could twist any sentence of Scripture to their own ends.

For this reason, it became clear that the only way to affirm the full divinity of the Son, in a way that wasn鈥檛 vulnerable to malicious misinterpretation, was to reach beyond Biblical language, to the more precise term homoousion. The point of this language was not to jettison the authority of Scripture, but rather to secure the majesty of the full Scriptural witness, against those who sought to diminish and distort it.

Against Arius, then, Nicaea affirmed that the Son was 鈥榦f one being鈥� with the Father. In other words, all that makes God God, the Son possesses. He is God without division; he is God without remainder.

Arius鈥� mistake had been to begin with a pre-defined 鈥楪od鈥�, single and alone, whose divine life could not be shared with another. From this starting point, Arius had no way of squeezing the Son of God into the divine picture-frame, and so the only place to put him was among other created things.

But Nicaea, by contrast, starts with the God who is the eternal love that the Father has for his eternal Son. The divine being is not a 鈥榯hing鈥� that the Father possesses and cannot share, but rather is the eternal generative relationship of Father and Son. Overflowing abundance, not cold monotony, characterises the divine life.

God the Father eternally gives to God the Son all that he has and all that he is, just as, in the work of salvation, God the Son will give himself for the life of the world.

The Son can really reveal God to us, because the Son knows the Father fully, and so can make him known.

And the Son can truly redeem us, because, as true God, he can truly bring God鈥檚 life to humanity. The Son is not a creature in need of redemption, but the redeemer who saves.

We can trust this God, because who he is, is shown by what he does. The Son who is eternally with God is the Son who is eternally for us.

The truly divine Son, of one being with the Father, in love is 鈥榤ade man鈥�, of one being with you and with me, so that the Sonship that he possesses by nature, we might possess by adoption and grace. This is the Son who is born, suffers, dies, and rises again, and all for our sake.

Music
Sanctus 鈥� Will Todd
Tenebrae
CD: Will Todd 鈥� Music for Peace and Reflection (Signum)

Reading: Nicene Creed
read by Rev Sharon Grenham-Thompson

Link

We鈥檝e just heard the Nicene Creed read, as it鈥檚 used in churches throughout the world today. The text has gone through a series of additions and clarifications since 325, in response to new doctrinal questions that subsequently emerged.

For instance, the third section of the Creed, on God the Holy Spirit, was substantially expanded in the late fourth century. This affirmed that the Spirit, too, is truly God 鈥� he is the Lord and giver of life, and with the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.

And one aspect of the gift of the Holy Spirit is the present life of the Church, as she awaits 鈥榯he resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come鈥�. The Creed reminds us that the Church is not primarily an institution or a denomination, but a fellowship sustained and directed by the power of the Holy Spirit, which shall be kept safe until the end of the world.

Because the Creed is an expression of the faith of the undivided Church, it has a unique role today in uniting Christians from many different traditions.

Music
Holy Spirit, rain down
Hillsong Worship
CD: Shout to the Lord (Hillsong Music)

Reflection: Bishop Mike Royal, General Secretary of Churches Together in England

Music
Missa di Angelis 鈥� Credo III
CD: Gregorian Chants (SLG)聽

Reflection: Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London

Prayers

We pray for God鈥檚 church throughout the world:

Gracious Father,
we pray for your holy catholic church.
Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace.
where it is corrupt, purify it;
where it is in error, direct it;
where in anything it is amiss, reform it.
Where it is right, strengthen it;
where it is in want, provide for it;
and where it is divided, reunite it;
for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Saviour.
Amen.

Closing reflection

As we鈥檝e explored the riches of the Nicene Creed this morning, I hope it鈥檚 been an encouragement that the Creed is not a matter of abstract theology, just words on a page, but is a window onto the transforming reality of the God in whom we live and move and have our being.

When we take the Creed onto our lips, when we say 鈥榳e believe鈥� in this triune God, we are not just affirming intellectual propositions; we are saying rather that we put our trust in him, that we entrust ourselves to him. The Creed gives us an opportunity each week to renew and retrace our trust in the triune God who saves us. [haven鈥檛 put 鈥楩ather, Son and Holy Spirit鈥� in here, because I use that phrase in the next para below]

For me, ministering in the University of Cambridge, the Nicene Creed is a helpful reminder that the Christian faith provides real and robust responses to the questions that students are asking about meaning, purpose and beauty. It is this God 鈥� Father, Son and Holy Spirit 鈥� who alone can bear the weight of our hopes, and answer the yearnings of our hearts.聽

For the Nicene Creed doesn鈥檛 tell us another tired story of human effort and ceaseless striving, or issue another dreary call to try harder, to work longer, or to be better. Instead, the Nicene Creed presents us with the good news of divine redemption, which is the work of God from first to last.聽

Nicaea reminds us that when we gaze upon the face of Jesus Christ, we gaze upon the face of God.

So, on this seventeen-hundredth anniversary, we rightly behold the Creed, but only so that we might better behold the Man.

Music
Thy hand, O God, has guided (Thornberry)
St Martin鈥檚 Voices
蜜芽传媒 recording

Closing words

So, having reflected on this creed of Christian unity, we close our time together by joining in the prayer of Christian unity, the Lord鈥檚 Prayer. We bring before the Lord especially this morning the conflicts and chaos of our world, and lift all those who suffer to his gracious mercy, as we join together in the words that Jesus taught us.

Lord鈥檚 Prayer

Blessing

God the Holy Trinity
make you strong in faith and love,
defend you on every side,
and guide you in truth and peace;
and the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be upon you and remain with you always,
Amen.

Music
鈥楥redo: Patrem omnipotentem鈥� from Mass in B minor 鈥� J.S. Bach
Collegium Japan
CD: Mass in B minor 鈥� Bach (BIS)