Trinity 17
Dear friends in Christ. In the Creed of the Church we confess that we believe in the holy Christian Church, the Communion of saints. What does this mean when we say that we believe in the holy Christian Church? It means that although we don’t see the Church, we believe that it is and that it exists. But how can that be? A drive up and down First St. will show a number of churches—so how can we say that the Church is something we believe in since we cannot see it? We confess that although there are various churches throughout the world, with actual visible people in them and belonging to those churches—their names written on the various church rosters/ membership rolls—in reality, the Church is truly invisible to the human eye because what truly makes a person a member of the holy Christian Church is faith in Jesus—faith created and preserved by the Holy Spirit in the word and sacraments—and faith is invisible to the human eye.
Although we can see churches and people calling themselves Christians—and all we can go by is a person’s outward confession—only the Lord knows who is truly His dear Christian. We don’t. That’s why we confess in the Creed that we believe in the holy Christian Church. We know that it exists—it exists where the Holy Spirit has worked faith through the word and sacrament—but we cannot see faith. And that’s why we call the Church invisible.
Then in the Creed we define the Church as the communion of saints. Here we recognize and confess that there is one holy Christian Church made up of Christians here on earth wherever they may be and this one holy Christian Church also includes the Christians in heaven—the souls of those who died in the faith.
Our drive down First St. that shows us a number of churches shows us another reality: although the Church is only and truly one—only made up of all those who have faith in Jesus as their Savior—and thus invisible because faith is invisible, only the Lord able to see it—the outward, visible Church is full of all sorts of outward divisions. The Church looks anything but united, one. Satan has worked various false beliefs and divisions among Christians so that one believes this and another believes that all in order to destroy the Church, to destroy her oneness.
But here we see that the devil can only attack and destroy the outward; the true inner reality/ oneness of the Church endures despite how it looks outwardly. That’s why we boldly and joyfully confess that we believe in the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints—in spite of the outward divisions worked by the devil to destroy the Church and the Christian faith, the Church is truly one; one/ united because what makes us her members is that Spirit worked faith.
It is precisely this oneness/ unity of the Church that St. Paul is writing about in today’s epistle: There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. And what does St. Paul call on us Christians to do? Maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Notice, we don’t bring about this unity—the Holy Spirit already has, that one faith in Jesus that He worked in us by the holy word and sacrament! We don’t create unity with other Christians by agreeing to disagree in doctrine, by extending the right hand of fellowship even to those who are not in agreement in doctrine. That’s a caricature/ parody of true unity/ a sham unity. Instead, we hold firmly to and proclaim the full doctrine of Scripture; it is by the faithful proclamation and confession of the full doctrine of Scripture that the Holy Spirit works faith and true unity.
What, then, is this true unity that all of us as Christians have? It is a unity in the holy Triune God, as St. Paul writes in our text: There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Jesus also talked about this with His disciples that first Maundy Thursday [Jn. 14. 23]: If anyone loves me [and this love is the result of faith worked by the Holy Spirit] he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Our unity we have as Christians is a oneness in the Holy Triune God. The same Triune God who dwells in your heart by faith also dwells in the heart of every other Christian—no matter how strong their faith, no matter how pure and correct their belief—as long as that Spirit worked faith is there, there is the unity of the Spirit.
Here in our text, the blessed Apostle drives home the point that the unity of the Spirit is a unity in the holy Triune God as he lists the Persons of the Holy Trinity—the Spirit, the Son and the Father.
First, he talks about our oneness as Christians in the Holy Spirit: There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. Here we have the work of the Holy Spirit brought to the fore: it is He who called us into the faith: you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. The vital thing to remember is that we did not choose/ decide to become Christians; instead the Holy Spirit called us into the faith. Remember [Ps 51.5; Eph 2.1, Rm 8.7], that as we are conceived and born into the world, we are already spiritually dead and enemies of God. There is nothing we can do toward our salvation; no spark of spiritual life and goodness by which we can earn/ merit anything before God; nothing by which we can even make the first step toward God. Luther puts it this way in the catechism: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts... That’s the Holy Spirit’s work—and He has done that one and same work in your heart and in the hearts of all Christians today and throughout history. That faith that the Holy Spirit worked in us has the same heavenly goods and treasures, the one hope that belongs to your call, as with every other Christian; because the Holy Spirit has worked the one and the same faith in each of us, we are all looking forward to the same goal: we all now enjoy the forgiveness of sins and God’s gifts and graces to us in Christ; we all look forward one day to being with our Lord, soul and body in heaven for all eternity.
Next, St. Paul talks about our oneness in Christ that all Christians enjoy: one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Here is the beauty of that Spirit worked faith—it is faith in Jesus—true God and true man: one Lord. He and He alone, He and His saving work is the object of our faith. What makes a person a Christian is that he/ she, recognizing their sin, looks to and trusts in Jesus—His holy life and His innocent suffering and death for the forgiveness of that sin. No one can do this on their own; that faith is a gift and creation of the Holy Spirit as St. Paul writes elsewhere [1 Co 12.3]: no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. When a person trusts in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin and heaven, that person is a Christian; the Holy Spirit worked that faith that we now recognize and trust in Jesus that He purchased and won us from all sin, death, and power of the devil. Through that Spirit worked faith in Jesus we become partakers/ members of Christ/ part of the body of Christ together with every other Christian. Here’s that glorious unity of the Church as being the body of Christ. Just like each part of the body is different and has a different role/ function, so too each Christian is different from the other and has a different role/ function but each is as much a Christian and part of Christ as is the other Christian because the Spirit worked that one and the same faith in each Christian, a faith that clings to Jesus and receives all of His gifts and blessings.
Our oneness in Jesus and the fact that each Christian is connected to Jesus is no more clearly and beautifully shown than in holy Baptism. Baptism connects us with Jesus’ death and resurrection; baptism clothes us/ covers us with Jesus and His righteousness. All Christians have the same Spirit worked faith which unites us with our one Lord by means of holy Baptism.
Finally, St. Paul writes: one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Our oneness as Christians is a oneness also in God the Father. Although we see the Father as the creator and ruler of all, it is only because of Jesus that we can recognize Him as our dear heavenly Father, one God and Father of all; it is only because of Jesus and His saving work we have God as our dear loving heavenly Father. Because God the Father is the dear loving heavenly Father of all His dear Christians, we can all pray in Spirit worked faith: Our Father… And as our heavenly Father, He is over all, ruling all things with a gracious parental authority for the good of the Church and each Christian. And our oneness as Christians is shown by the fact that the Father is through all and in all. Through His dear Christian God is working mightily carrying out works of love and mercy; how and why? He is in each of His dear Christians, making us/ our hearts His temple.
The unity of faith that the Holy Spirit has worked in all Christians is a unity in the holy Triune God. That’s the oneness that is the invisible Church. Because we don’t see that oneness/ unity with our fellow Christian we simply have to confess it in the Creed: I believe in the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints.
2. The point of this text? I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The glorious thing is that this unity of the Church already exists! It is Spirit worked, not humanly devised: I believe in the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints. I believe in it because I don’t see it. All I see outwardly are all sorts of divisions, sects, etc. that the devil is trying to use to destroy the Church and individual Christians. The true reality is that the Church has the unity of the Spirit. St. Paul is calling on us Christians here to be eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit. We are to maintain/ preserve what’s already there. And how? In the bond of peace. We maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace as we live out our lives as Christians, as we practice what we are in Christ, or as St. Paul puts it in our text: walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. This walking worthily is living a life pleasing to the Lord, following the leading and the prompting of the Holy Spirit in us; that we bear the fruit of good works and grow in our faith. This is what the Holy Spirit called us to do—not to live a life of sin and disrupting/ destroying the unity we have with our fellow Christians, perhaps even hurting or destroying the faith of a fellow Christian. The Holy Spirit called us to faith to a life of goodness, grace and mercy—especially toward fellow Christians.
As we are eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, we then live our lives with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. We can do this because these qualities—humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another—are the qualities of Jesus which He, who is in us, works in us. As we follow the lead and prompting of He who is in us—the holy Triune God—we then, are maintaining the unity the Holy Spirit has given us. May we strive for the things that make for peace, peace which binds the members of the Church.
Although we see nothing but divisions, there is truly only one Church. It is a true unity of faith worked by the Holy Spirit. All Christians are one in the holy Triune God and may each of us be eager to maintain that bond of peace uniting us as we joyfully confess: I believe in the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints. INJ