(The audio recording of this sermon will be uploaded here after the Sunday service.)
In my previous sermons on the Nicene Creed, we saw how this Creed describes the nature of our God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We look at the two final topics that are mentioned in the Creed. Today’s topic is the Church, and next month’s topic is the afterlife. Let’s start with a prayer.
[Pray and recite Creed]
In the Nicene Creed, we confess that “we believe in one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” [Go back to the slide 8.] This sentence summarizes what the New Testament teaches about the nature of the Church.
You may have a few questions about this sentence. Can the church really call itself holy when Christians still sin so much? What does it mean to be catholic and apostolic? And how can we be “one church” when we are divided into so many denominations?
Today, let’s examine four of these words: “holy,” “catholic,” “apostolic,” and the church as “one” church.
Sinful yet holy
We’ll start with the word “holy.” It’s interesting that the Apostle Paul addressed Christians in Corinth as “saints” or “holy ones” (note: the word is hagioi in Greek; 1 Corinthians 1:2), even though their church was deeply divided and dealing with sexual sins.
The Corinthians were not called holy because they were morally perfect. Rather, they were considered holy because God had called them and set them apart for his purposes. In the Bible, one of the meanings of the word “holy” (kodesh in Hebrew) is to be set apart by God. The word “holy” is related to the word “church,” actually. Church, or ekklesia in Greek, means “assembly” or “those called out.”
Throughout the Bible, God calls people and sets them apart for his purposes. For example, God chose the twelve tribes of Israel to be a light to other nations, so that they may know the true God.
When Israel kept failing to do that, God didn’t give up but came himself—as Jesus—to be a light to the nations. Just as God in the Old Testament called out the twelve tribes of Israel, Jesus in the New Testament called twelve apostles and set them apart for the mission to proclaim the message of God’s kingdom.
We, the Church, are called holy and saints not because of actions but because of God’s actions: God the Father set us apart, Jesus the Son redeemed us from sin, and the Holy Spirit is purifying us. God will continue his work of transforming us until the day Jesus returns.
So, as Christians, we are indeed sinful . . . yet holy.
Protestant yet catholic
Next, what about the word “catholic”? When we Protestants recite the Nicene Creed or Apostles Creed, what do we mean by calling ourselves catholic?
The word “catholic” simply means “universal” or “the whole.” It means the church is for all people in all places and all times. It’s not an exclusive club or secret society.
The word “catholic” doesn’t appear in the Bible. But the word was used early in the history of the Church to refer to the universal church that has remained faithful to the apostles’ teaching. As Protestants, we believe the Church is catholic when it faithfully teaches the message of God that was handed down from the apostles and faithfully administers the sacraments of baptism and holy communion.
From the very start of the Church, Peter and the other disciples invited people of many tribes, nations, and languages to hear God’s message. In Acts chapter 2, shortly after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit came upon his disciples and gave them the ability to talk about God in different languages, which caused 3,000 people in Jerusalem to believe in Jesus that day.
Isn’t it interesting that this was the first miracle the Holy Spirit did for the Church? God could have demonstrated his power by making Jesus’ disciples fly or shoot laser beams. Instead, he gave them the gift of foreign languages, so they could share his message with people who are different from them.
At the end of Peter’s message, the audience asked, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37) Peter, replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” (Acts 2:38). Baptism became the physical sign of their entry into the Church. And that is why the Nicene Creed, after this sentence about the holy catholic church, naturally mentions baptism: “We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.” In IBF, we come from many countries but baptism unites us as members of one family.
To conclude, yes, Protestants can call themselves catholic. We’re not members of the Roman Catholic Church, but we’re members of a universal church that faithfully preserves biblical truth.
Are we apostolic?
Moving on to the word “apostolic” . . . The Church is called apostolic because it is built upon the apostles’ teaching. By apostles, I mean the original twelve disciples whom Jesus personally selected for certain responsibilities, plus other apostles mentioned in the Bible.
In Acts chapter 2, after those 3,000 people were baptized in Jerusalem, Acts 2:42 tells us, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
As the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2:19–20: believers are “members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.” Without the apostles’ teaching, we would not know who Jesus truly is.
The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church consider themselves apostolic. For them, to be apostolic is to trace an unbroken line of bishops back to the original apostles through the laying of hands which transfers authority.
How about Protestants? Well, the early Protestants—called the Reformers—did not dismiss the value of continuity or history. But they argued that the mark of a true church is not a succession of bishops but the preservation of the apostles’ teaching in Scripture. Bishops can sometimes be wrong.
The Reformers said that Scripture alone is an infallible authority. One of their mottos was sola scriptura, which means “Scripture alone.” They didn’t mean that the Bible is the only authority but, rather, the only authority that is completely trustworthy. Other authorities—such as church teaching, creeds, and tradition—are valuable and have authority but must always be tested by Scripture.
For example, a tradition like reciting the Nicene Creed cannot replace reading Scripture for ourselves. But the creed is useful as a careful summary of Scripture. Its words were forged through prayerful study and theological struggle and have helped the church remain rooted in the apostles’ teaching for 1,700 years.
Some modern evangelicals say, “All we need is the Bible,” implying we don’t need to know about church history or follow any traditions. A few even say we don’t need to read other Christian books or listen to sermons.
I believe the Holy Spirit has been speaking to Christians across the centuries and he continues to guide them to be faithful to Christ. We would do well to listen to a community of believers, including our senpai (predecessors) from the past 2,000 years. Otherwise, isolation will make us vulnerable to strange interpretations of the Bible.
Going back to the word “apostolic”: In recent decades, there is a movement called the New Apostolic Reformation among some charismatic churches. For them an apostolic church is led by modern-day apostles and prophets, whom God has given special leadership authority.
But being an apostolic church, in terms of the Nicene Creed, is not about being led by modern-day apostles. Rather, to be apostolic is to be anchored in the faith once delivered to the apostles, preserved in Scripture, and faithfully confessed by Christians over the centuries.
I hope you now have an idea of what the Creed means when it says “one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.”
Divided Yet One
We have one last question: How can Christians be called “one church” when we are divided into so many denominations?
You know, when my students ask me about Christianity, often they want to know the difference between Catholics and Protestants. It makes me wonder if the most famous thing about Christianity in Japan is that we’re divided.
Anyway, the Nicene Creed was written more than 1,000 years before the Reformation divided Catholics and Protestants. It says we believe in “one” church because Scripture talks about unity so often and teaches that believers are all part of one body.
For example, Paul writes in Ephesians 4:3-5, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope . . . one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” He also wrote in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
So, there is one church because there is one Lord.
Jesus knew we would find it hard to be united. Shortly before his death, he prayed in John chapter 17 that all who believe in him may “be one,” (17:22). So let us, like Jesus, pray that Christians will have more unity. Unity is not just something we can achieve through effort, but also a gift and a miracle from God.
And it should not be unity at any cost. We can persuade people but we can’t force them. I like this popular saying from a Lutheran theologian named Peter Meiderlin: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” In other words, we should be united about core beliefs; allow freedom in non-core beliefs; and do everything with love.
I believe Christians should focus first on what we have in common, without abandoning the truth of the gospel. We can disagree on secondary matters.
This is one reason the Nicene Creed remains important. It identifies essential truths that define the Christian faith. When Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants recite this Creed, they are sharing common beliefs. That’s something to celebrate and focus on.
Let us not neglect meeting together
Before we end, I wanted to talk about one last thing. Christianity is not a private faith but a shared life. And that shared life is experienced most when believers meet together physically. Hebrews 10:25 reminds us not to neglect meeting together, but to encourage one another.
When COVID struck, online services became a necessary blessing in a time of crisis. But there is something irreplaceable about being physically present—hearing voices around you sing, receiving the Lord’s Supper together, sharing burdens face to face, praying for each other. The Christian life is not meant to be lived behind a screen but in community.
At the same time, I know we all have circumstances. Some people struggle with attending church because they have been disappointed. When they say, “I love Jesus, but I don’t like Christians,” their feelings should not be dismissed lightly.
The Church is not perfect. However, it is the community Christ established, loved, and gave his life for. The Church is still being sanctified, and the process is painful. But it was never meant to be an overnight change from sinful to sinless.
Church is a place where God gathers his children, feeds them, and patiently leads them toward maturity. As 3rd century bishop Cyprian of Carthage wrote, “No one can have God as Father who does not have the Church as Mother.” More than a thousand years later, Calvin would quote Cyprian and highlight to emphasize that the visible church is the necessary “mother” of all believers, nurturing them through Word and sacrament.
Brothers and sisters on Zoom, now that we are no longer in a time of national emergency due to COVID, I hope I can see you face to face again. I hope you can join us in person, not out of obligation but out of desire for greater fullness in your life. Let’s do as the early believers did in Acts chapter 2: devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.
Conclusion
The Church is far from perfect. But it is Christ’s beloved bride, and he will complete his work of bringing her to perfect beauty. Let’s pray.
Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity
of spirit by their doctrine, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
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