Preacher: Nathan Hosler

Scripture: John 3:1-17; Matthew 17:1-9; Matthew 25:31-46

A couple of years ago, when kiddo was 5, we took a family trip to Costa Rica. Part of the trip was to visit the cloud rainforests. And part of this portion of the trip was to do a forest canopy zipline tour. We would climb a series of steep stairs and then clip in and zip from platform to platform some 100 ft in the air. Our family was somewhere in the middle of the large group so we could see people going before us and behind. Ayuba happily dropped off the platforms, which again, were high in the forest canopy. In the middle of the series of 10 or so ziplines, there was a different contraption. It was a swing. One would climb to the platform maybe 60 ft up, clip in, and swing. 

Somehow there was a gap between us and the next people in the group. So, whereas with the zipline we followed closely behind the others, at this stop there was no one in front of us to watch. Our child decided that he wanted to go first. He climbed up. Was clipped in. and leapt/slide off the platform.

What made it possible for this 5 year old to leap off a platform without first witnessing its effectiveness in keeping him safe? 

He believed that it would be fine. For one, his parents were there and said it was fine. Additionally, he had just safely been guided through similar situations by guides who had shown their skill and trustworthiness. He had also never experienced a failure of the equipment. His belief was a mixture of experience, trust, knowledge, and putting this all into action. If he had “believed” without stepping off the platform we would say it wasn’t quite belief. If he had simply fallen off the platform accidentally then it would have just been an accident that didn’t end horribly but not belief that led to the plunge.

Last week, a friend who is getting to know our congregation, asked about belief. Particularly, they were curious about how we think about believing verses doing. Is the priority about believing the correct thing in the correct way or living out our faith through acts of justice and care for all?

We (and the Church of the Brethren broadly and historically) have often focused on the practical. This has included the notion and commitment to “Continue the work of Jesus.” This is participatory with Jesus but also with the community.

However, this “action” orientation is not without belief. Why, for example, is Jesus someone that we should follow after? And why does this believing in Jesus lead us to much different conclusions than many people who identify as Christian. 

So, our friend’s question got me thinking about believing—how we believe, what we believe, and the relation of belief to our walk of faith. Incidentally, the lectionary passages for today include a focus on belief.

I decided to engage with both Gospel passages. While this isn’t the standard lectionary practice, I think we won’t get into too much trouble. (I even added in a 3^rd).

Before we engage these passages, I’d like to take a brief detour. From early in the life of the church there were written formations and statements of belief. Beyond the Biblical texts, which were eventually gathered and endorsed as the “cannon” of scripture, there were a variety of written accounts. Some of these were written theological treatise and gathered sermons. While these carried significant weight and authority, they were not seen as definitive accounts. 

Early on baptismal affirmations began to develop. These short accounts of faith were used as concise statements for baptisms. 

From these accounts emerged declarative statements and creeds. Stated positively, these were developed out of deep reflection and struggle to articulate deep theological truths with few words. More negatively, these were used to control and consolidate church and at times political power. 

One example that has loomed large in our collective imagination is the Council of Nicaea. For Anabaptist, of which the Church of the Brethren is part, the arrangement of an Emperor convening at definitive theological forum to decide matters of theology and who is in and out is highly suspect and problematic. 

Traditionally, the Church of the Brethren has taken a strongly stated position that we have “no creed but the New Testament.” This was born out of the conviction we should not add or subtract from scripture, that “the gospel itself was a sufficient creed.” (Bowman, Brethren Society, 357.) There was an effort to get back to the early (they often said “primitive”) church before its rise to power and alignment with the empire. 

I was about to comment on Anabaptists being noncreedal but then realized I wasn’t sure if the Mennonites (another major Anabaptist group) are in fact—noncreedal. So, I texted a Mennonite pastor (who is also my sister-in-law). She said that Mennonites will occasionally use creeds but more often will use the “Confession of Faith”—a Mennonite text. 

I then texted a Lutheran Deacon asking their degree of focus on the creeds (on a scale from 1-10) and she said—7.5.

I then texted a Brethren colleague with a PhD in Early Church theology about the difference between Mennonites and Brethren in relation to creeds. I speculated that it might be that Church of the Brethren’s theological genealogy is both Anabaptist (like Mennonite) and Radical Pietist. The Radical Pietist strand tends to be more Spirit oriented and fluid/freewheeling. He agreed but also noted that for the early Brethren, Catholic territories enforced the Nicaean Creed and Lutheran territories enforce the Apostles Creed. Living under enforced creeds likely shaped our understanding of their use. 

As noted, traditionally, the Church of the Brethren has taken a strongly stated position that we have “no creed but the New Testament.” This was born out of the conviction we should not add or subtract from scripture, that “the gospel itself was a sufficient creed.” (Bowman, Brethren Society, 357.)

The challenge and opportunity in this approach, is that there is a lot of material in the Bible. Many books with different genres. These many books are by different authors at different times for different purposes. So while there is a type of unity there is also a fairly wide diversity in emphasis within the Bible. 

This breadth and diversity are a challenge if you would like have a single short answer—hence the use of creeds. 

The opportunity is that the scriptural witness invites us into community reflection and many voices seeking the leading of the Spirit. 

The first passage is from the Gospel of John. In it, Jesus is met by Nicodemus at night. Nicodemus, a religious leader, comes to Jesus in secret and there is an exchange about being “reborn” or born anew and believing in Jesus. What does belief in this dialogue mean?

The second is “the transfiguration.” 

“It is hard not to be sympathetic to Peter’s suggestion that booths might be built to honor Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. Like Peter we desire to secure in place, if not tie down and domesticate, the wild spirit of God’s kingdom. We do not wish to face anew the challenge of God’s presence. We would like to make the success of the past our own without having to have the courage of those who follow Jesus into the unknown.” (Hauerwas, Mathew, 157)

The third is from Matthew 25

In all these, where do you see the focus? What does belief mean? How does belief relate to deed?

John 3:1-17 

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Matthew 17:1-9

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became bright as light. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” And when they raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”

Matthew 25:31-46

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You who are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.”