Sermon – Colossians 1:15-19 The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon – Colossians 1:15-19 The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints

Easter 6

May 5, 2013

As we continue with our study of the Apostles Creed we are looking at the work of the Holy Spirit. We have found that the Holy Spirit is God, the third person of the trinity. We have also found that the Holy Spirit is an experienced reality in the church, and will continue to be with us until Jesus returns. We will see in future weeks that the Holy Spirit seals upon us God's salvation, the forgiveness of our sins, and the Holy Spirit will lead us to eternal life through the resurrection of the dead. Today we will look closely at the church which was created by and is sustained by the Holy Spirit. But first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Colossians 1:15-19 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,

This past Thursday the Pocomoke churches and the Mayor of Pocomoke gathered in the Community Center for the National Day of Prayer. This was important event because it is one of the few times that all Christians in Pocomoke come together for a time of prayer. It did matter if you went to a black church or a white church. It didn't matter if your church had a band or a piano or an organ. It didn't matter if your church baptized people in a pool or sprinkled water on their heads. It didn't matter if you were main-line, evangelical or pentecostal. The only think that mattered was that you were a follower of Jesus Christ with a desire to pray to him for our community and world. And so the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, gathered into the Pocomoke Community Center and in churches and community centers all over the country for prayer.

The Apostles Creed teaches us that the church is holy, catholic and the communion of saints. Let's take a look at each of these beginning with the holiness of the church.

We have already seen the word “holy” twice in the creed, both times referring to the Holy Spirit. This was meant to say that the Holy Spirit is God, because God is holy. God is holy in the sense that he is morally perfect. God will do no wrong. God is free from sin, morally pure. And since we believe that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are also God, then they too must be holy, morally perfect. But is the church holy in this sense? Is the church morally perfect? Are the members of the church totally free from sin? Of course not. We are stained by sin as much as any other group in the population. We just admit our sins and come to church for help. If we claimed to be morally perfect we would be deceiving ourselves and others would perceive us as hypocrites. So in what sense is the church holy?

In ancient times the holiest place on earth was thought to be the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem temple. Here God was thought to live and since God is holy the temple he lives in must also be holy. As pilgrims came to the temple they would take a series of ceremonial baths, cleansing sin from their bodies, so that when they arrived at the temple they too would be holy. In the same way the Holy Spirit resides with us in the church making the church holy. And as we come to church we become more and more holy. As we pray every day, as we study scripture, as we worship the Holy Spirit will transform us. Through this transformation our desire for sin decreases and we find ourselves more and more morally pure. Moral perfection is only achieved after a lifetime of transformation. In other words the church is holy because it is a hospital for sinners, where the Holy Spirit heals our sin stained souls and restores within us the image of God. The church is holy because the Holy Spirit is present making us increasingly holy.

Let's now turn to the second aspect of the church. The church is catholic. There is a lot of confusion about this. The word catholic may refer to all particular churches in communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. These churches are called Roman Catholic churches, Catholic with a capital C. But the creed is not talking about a particular denomination. The word catholic means “universal”. And so it refers to all churches of all places and of all times. This would include all the churches in Pocomoke and all the churches around the world. This would include all the churches of the past and all the churches of the future. This would include every church that professes the Lordship of Jesus Christ. But the word “catholic” means a little more than just “universal”. It also means to be “a part of the whole”. And so we, here at Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam, are part of the universal church because we too profess that Jesus in Lord.

This idea of a catholic church, or universal church, does not mean we all have the same government or worship in the same way. We are not a homogeneous church. God has given us the privileged to worship and organize ourselves in many different ways reflecting our cultural differences.

And so we worship with organs and choirs, or folk bands, or gospel singing, or even rock and roll. And we are governed by elders, or bishops or congregations. This diversity is good because it seeks to bring as many people as possible into the church. But always remember that our similarities are far more important than our differences because we are united into a universal church which confesses that Jesus Christ is our leader.

We have seen that the church is holy, in that the Holy Spirit is present making us more and more holy. We have also seen that the church is catholic, that is universal and we are a part. Now we will look at the third aspect of the church. It is the communion of saints.

In the original Greek and Latin of the Apostles Creed the word we translate as “holy” and the word we translate as “saints” is the same word. So this phrases in the creed could be translated as either “communion of the holy ones” or the “communion of holy things” . We have already talked about us becoming holy. So we are the holy ones. But what about the holy things. We sometimes forget that when the Holy Spirit is present whatever it touches becomes holy. For example the bread and juice on the table before us are very ordinary things, but if the Holy Spirit is present they too become holy. This building would be a very nice assembly hall and community center, but if the Holy Spirit is present it becomes a sacred place. The words I speak are just words, but if the Holy Spirit is present they become the Word of God. Congregational singing is just noise, but if the Holy Spirit is present it becomes a joyful noise to the Lord.

The Holy Spirit also provides the church with Holy people. We know this because people in the church are gifted by the Holy Spirit. We have been blessed by gifts to the apostles who have passed their gifts to us in scripture. We have been blessed by gifts to the prophets who can see the world from God's perspective. We have been blessed by gifts to the teachers who can explain God's word to us in ways we can understand. We have been blessed by the gifts of miracle workers and healers that have sustained the church for 2000 years. We have been blessed by church administrators who keep all of this running. We have been blessed by people who help others. This is what it means to be a church of holy people.

So because of the presence of the Holy Spirit the church is made up of holy people and holy things, and this makes the church holy. But what about the word “communion”? What does it mean to say the the church is a “communion of holy ones” or a “communion of holy things”?

The word “communion” is an old English word that means “fellowship”. The church is a holy fellowship or a holy community. The Greek word for this is koinania. The idea is that we are a sharing community. We share our joys and concerns with each other every week in worship. We share cards, letters and flowers with the sick. Through our gifts, tithes and offerings the stronger share with the weaker. Through our Bible studies we share our understanding of who God is. Though our prayers we share our concerns for each other with God. Through our mission dollars and relationships we share God's blessing with the universal church. And so we are a sharing community of people growing into holiness in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray.

Holy Spirit we ask that you come upon us and make us church. Transform us into holy people. Bless us with gifts which we can share with others and with the church. Form us into a sharing community. Form us into a community that spans the world. This we pray in the name of the Head of the church, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.