Epiphany
3
St. Mary of the Angels
From today's reading from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians:
"I
appeal to you . . . by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that there be no divisions
among you but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose."
St. Paul founded the Church at
ancient
Corinth-a
prosperous and diverse city in the
world. The names invoked by the apostle in the letters to the Corinthians
reflect the diversity of the city's population-Roman, Greek and Jewish.
Having planted the church in Corinth, Paul travelled to Ephesus. While he
was there, he received disturbing news about the Church in
Corinth-and
he
undertook to write them a letter to redirect them to Christian orthodoxy.
Very clearly the folks who worshipped in the Church at Corinth were a
difficult and contentious bunch. The Greek author, Aristophanes (approx. 450-385
BC) coined a new Greek verb - to Corinthianize - meaning participation in
immoral sexual practices. The archaeological evidence suggests thriving
homosexual practices also. A later historian (Strabo who wrote about 7 B.C.) spoke
of a thousand temple prostitutes plying their trade in Corinth during its peak of
prosperity. So the Corinthian Christians had their challenges.
Some of them had reverted to their former paganpractices.
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One commentator, Roger Hahn, suggests that there may have been as many
as26 places of worship-including temples devoted to the gods and goddesses of
the Greco-Roman pantheon, the mystery religions, and a synagogue.
In many ways the situation in ancient Corinth was very sirnilar to our current
situation. Dozens of belief systems clamor for our attention. Sexual imagery
pervades the print and electronic media, and Christianity continues to be divided.
Paul takes the Corinthians to task for among other things the divisions
among them.
The divisions among the Corinthian Christians seem to have focused on
personal loyalties to individuals. One faction claimed to belong to Paul, another to
Apollos
(a Jew from Alexandria who was apparently an eloquent preacher).
Another faction claimed to follow Cephas (or St. Peter), and of course the real
purists among the crowd claimed to be following Christ.
What is the cause of divisions in the modern church? I once heard of a
congregation that built a fellowship hall, and then split over what the color of the
carpeting should be. But the more serious of our divisions have deep roots.
The East-West Schism 1054, sometimes known as the Great Schism,
formally divided medieval Christianity into Eastern (Greek) and Western (Latin)
branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the
Roman Catholic Church, respectively. Relations between East and West had long
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been embittered by political and ecclesiastical differences and theological disputes.
Prominent among these were the issues of "filioque",(explain) whether leavened
or unleavened bread should be used in the Eucharist, the Pope's claim to
universal
jurisdiction, and the place of Constantinople in relation to the Pentarchy-that is
the five ancient episcopal sees of Jerusalem Antioch, Rome, Constantinople,
Alexandria, , and Jenrsalem
Pope Leo
IX
and Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Cerularius heightened
the conflict by suppressing Greek and Latin in their respective domains. In 1054,
Roman legates traveled to Cerularius to deny him the title Ecumenical Patriarch
and to insist that he recognize the Church of Rome's claim to be the head and
mother of the churches. Cerularius refused. The leader of the Latin contingent,
Cardinal Humbert, excommunicated Cerularius, while Cerularius in return
excommunicated Cardinal Humbert and the other legates.
Without quite intending to, Martin Luther changed the course of Christianity
and Western
history. His 15t7 complaint against specific abuses in the Roman
Catholic Church -- a document now known as the 95 Theses -- sparked the
explosive Protestant Reformation that swept Europe for the rest of the century.
And the controversies continue.
In the little town of Lacrosse, where Barb and I have lived for some twenty
years? we have two Lutheran churches, an independent Christian church, an
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Apostolic Christian Church, a Roman Catholic Church and a Methodist Churchand a population of a little over 500 souls.
So we come
full circle, back to St. Paul. Has Christ
been divided? Was
Paul baptized for you? Or were you baptizedin the name of Paul? Or in the name
of the particular pastor or personality who founded your particular version of the
Faith of Christ?
And what is the solution?
I was deeply affected during a recent diocesan gathering to see a group of
Orthodox clergy walking across Grand Boulevard toward St. Andrew church. We
were addressed by a newly consecrated bishop who talked to us about the issues
we have in common and expressed hope that a reunion might, indeed be possible.
If we cannot talk to each other the likelihood of unity is remote. Thank God,
we are talking!
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