1700 Years after Nicaea - A Sermon Series for Trinitytide
The Nicene Creed for the First Sunday in Advent from Cantica Sacra, 1613, the noted missal of the Lutheran Cathedral in Magdeburg. A similar version in English can be found in the Chemnitz Church Order from Concordia Publishing House, and introducing the sung Creed once again to congregational life would be an exceptionally good way to commemorate the 1700th anniversary of Nicaea.
This year, as you are all well aware, marks a major anniversary in the life of the Christian Church. The Council of Nicaea was convened on June 19th or 20th of 325, 1700 years ago to the day (give or take 24 hours). The Lutheran Witness recently printed an excellent introduction to the Council of Nicaea written by Dr. Joel Elowsky of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, which is well worth your time, together with an entire issue dedicated to the subject. While these are a fine beginning, I think that such a significant anniversary warrants some sustained attention in our congregational life over the course of the year.
As such, I put together a rudimentary outline for preaching through the Nicene Creed, section by section, according to the Sundays of Trinitytide and the various feasts that fall on Sundays in the next few months. The outline below assumes the calendar and the texts in the field testing materials for The Lutheran Missal, some of which are linked below. This outline is, I freely admit, probably being published rather later than is helpful for the first couple of sections, but I imagine that most pastors covered similar territory to that noted below on Holy Trinity Sunday, and some discussion of heaven and hell naturally occurs in the sermon for the First Sunday after Trinity. I would note that this is an unusual opportunity, as it allows the preacher to approach various articles of the faith from different angles than he otherwise might, and should prove to be interesting for both clergy and laity.
Holy Trinity — Isaiah 6:1–7 / Romans 11:33–36 / John 3:1–15
I believe in one God the Father Almighty.
It was both Holy Trinity and also Father’s Day for our American readers. I imagine there is a very high probability that especial attention was paid to God the Father.
The First Sunday after Trinity — Deuteronomy 6:4–13 / 1 John 4:8b–21 / Luke 16:19–31
Maker of heaven and earth,
And of all things visible and invisible.
The parable of Lazarus and Dives speaks about both heaven and hell, as well as the angels who carry Lazarus to Abraham’s bosom. This Gospel provides a good opportunity to speak about the ministry of angels and the nature of heaven and hell.
Sts. Peter and Paul — Acts 12:1–11 / Galatians 2:1–10 / Matthew 16:13–19
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
Begotten of His Father before all worlds.
St. Peter’s great confession in today’s Gospel (“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”) serves as an excellent introduction to the Second Article of the Creed, and this confession serves not only as the “rock” upon which the Church is built, but also the foundation of the second and lengthiest article of the Creed. A discussion of the nomenclature of “Christ” might be especially apropos, together with some talk about the relation between the Father and the Son. A few words regarding the unity of the Church on the foundation of this Christological confession would also not go amiss, as shown in the commemoration of these two great — and not always irenic — apostles side by side on the same date.
Octave of Sts. Peter and Paul - Sirach 44:10–15 / 1 Peter 1:3–7a / Matthew 14:22–33
God of God,
Light of Light,
Very God of very God,
Begotten, not made,
Being of one substance with the Father,
By whom all things were made.
St. Peter’s confession on the great feast of Sts. Peter and Paul is followed on its octave by his faltering faith from two chapters prior in St. Matthew’s Gospel. This account, perhaps more than any other apart prior to the Resurrection apart from the Transfiguration, underscores Our Lord’s divinity as it speaks of His walking on the stormy sea, an ability which He has in Himself by nature and can extend to St. Peter. It also demonstrates His power over His creation, and elicits a confession on the part of the apostles that He is the Son of God.
Trinity 4 — Isaiah 58:6–12 / Romans 8:18–23 / Luke 6:36–42
Who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven.
This connection is, perhaps, more oblique than the others, but the Gospel from Luke 6 speaks of the mercy of God the Father which, as we hear in John 3:16ff., consists in His sending of the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but in order that the world through Him might be saved. The preacher could also speak of Christ as the One who sees and leads us out of our human blindness. The details of the incarnation are discussed in great detail around Christmas, the Annunciation, and the Ascension, but this provides an occasion for a somewhat broader survey of the rationale for the incarnation — “for us men and for our salvation” — and to approach the matter from a rather different angle.
Trinity 5 — 1 Kings 19:11–21 / 1 Peter 3:8–15a / Luke 5:1–11
And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary,
And was made man.
The Gospel from Luke 5 is a study in contrasts in the two natures of Christ. He is man, in need of a boat lest He be pressed back into the Sea of Galilee, yet He is also God, able to call up swarms of teeming fish from the watery depths. A focus on Christ’s state of humiliation, the way in which He did not “always or fully use His divine powers,” would be a very appropriate subject for the day.
Trinity 6 — Exodus 20:1–17 / Romans 6:3–11 / Matthew 5:20–26
And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried.
And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures,
And ascended into heaven,
And sitteth on the right hand of the Father.
This may, at first glance, seem to be an unusually ambitious undertaking for one Sunday, but I will simply point out that the Epistle is from Romans 6, which encompasses all of these and draws them together in light of Holy Baptism. These have also been treated in some depth (I hope) in Lent, Holy Week, and Eastertide, so this, again, allows for an approach from a different direction than is typically the case.
Trinity 7 — Isaiah 62:6–12* / Romans 6:19–23 / Mark 8:1–9
And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead:
Whose kingdom shall have no end.
The Epistle from later in Romans 6 speaks about the judgment of God — “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” St. Paul speaks about the natural judgment due each one of us because of our natural lawlessness, together with the judgment of innocence that is pronounced over those who are in Christ.
St. Lawrence — Proverbs 3:13–20 / 2 Corinthians 9:6–10 / John 12:24–26
And I believe in the Holy Ghost,
The Lord and giver of life,
Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son,
Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified.
We see the Holy Ghost only indirectly in the appointed lections for the feast of St. Lawrence. While the Holy Ghost is not mentioned explicitly in the readings, St. Lawrence himself provides an example of the working of the Holy Ghost in the life of the Church, as the One who was poured out on Pentecost has gathered together the people of God in Rome, and this Spirit of love — combined, perhaps, with a slightly mischievous disposition in the person of St. Lawrence — causes the wealth of the Church to be distributed to the poor, the lame, the maimed, and the blind. Alternately, the Epistle for Trinity 8, which speaks quite directly to the work of the Holy Ghost, might be read just prior to the sermon and serve as the basis for a discussion of the Holy Ghost more broadly, as well as specifically in the life of St. Lawrence.
Trinity 9 — Proverbs 16:1–9 / 1 Corinthians 10:6b–13* / Luke 16:1–9
Who spake by the prophets.
And I believe one catholic and apostolic Church.
St. Paul says that the words of the prophets were “written for our admonition.” The Holy Ghost who inspired the Scriptures had them recorded for all the people of God, whether before the incarnation or following after it. The Scriptures are both prophetic and apostolic, and they testify to the catholicity of the Christian faith — a faith in the Messiah who was to come, beginning with Adam and Eve, and a faith in the Christ who has come, a faith which will continue until He comes again in glory to judge both the quick and the dead.
St. Bartholomew — Proverbs 3:1–8 / 2 Corinthians 4:7–10 / Luke 22:24–30
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins.
The Epistle for St. Bartholomew speaks of the indwelling of Christ, and how it is that we are “earthen vessels,” and yet God still dwells within us. The connection to Baptism is not explicit, but is rather obvious, and should serve as a fertile basis for the mystery of God drawing near to us and giving life to our mortal flesh. One might even note the parallels between God forming Adam from the dust of the ground after the fountain (mist) of Genesis 2:6 waters the earth, water added to clay in order to form earthen vessels, and the water of Holy Baptism being added to human beings to reshape us into the image of God once again.
Trinity 11 — Genesis 4:1–15 / 1 Corinthians 15:1–10 / Luke 18:9–14
And I look for the resurrection of the dead,
And the life of the world to come. Amen.
The Epistle for the day is from 1 Corinthians 15, which could hardly be a more perfect conclusion to the series. While the provided pericope is only ten verses, the preacher can certainly feel free to draw in other portions of St. Paul’s beautiful discourse on the resurrection.