Statement of Faith ~ Week 2

 

We believe in God: who has created and is creating, who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh, to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit.  We trust in God. 

 

What is God’s job description?  I mean this to be a jarring, jolting question.  Part of me wants to object.  Who am I to tell God what to do?  Then, part of me realizes I do this all the time!  I am constantly demanding God to be God.  Usually this means I want God to swoop in like a superhero or shero to save me, please, because I have made some boneheaded mistake or I am exhausted by people being so human!  Seriously, people can be so fascinatingly frustrating and creative in the ways they keep coming up with new ways to cause brokenness.  It is heartbreaking.  Creeds are our very human-sized attempts to say what is in the shy corners of our souls.  Who is God?  As I said on Monday, often what I say about God reflects my own beliefs and biases.  When I talk about God, I am really talking about me.  As theologians have said, God forms us in God’s image and we in turn form God in our image.  God is mystery and marvel beyond words.  God is energy.  Life.  Poetry.  Song.  Quiet.  Laughter.  Tears honestly shed and shared with another.  And so much more.  The New Creed describes God’s activity animating our world through creation.  We can take this literally, as in trees, turtles, and tigers ~ oh my!  Or creating, as in a piece of artwork that draws us closer to the Holy Other and each other.  The New Creed declares God’s creativity coming to us in Jesus, whose birth, life, death, and resurrection taught us a way to live each day.  It is by following the Christ way we part-take in God’s on-going work.  We open to God’s mysterious movement and ~ like gas in the tank of a car ~ the Spirit infuses us.  I am taken by the last sentence above ~ we trust God.  This begs the question: do I?  Or do I trust in money ~ ironic that we print “In God We Trust” on all our currency as a country and then act like it is money that will save us.  Do we trust God, especially when God is so elusive and evasive of all our attempts to control and confine God?  Hold this question today, twisting and turning it like a kaleidoscope to see different shades and shapes taking life.  Live this question today, to notice where you trust God and where you say, “I’ve got it from here, God.”  Finally, find someone to talk about the question: what does it mean to trust God?  You might have to start with defining or describing the word “trust”, which is complicated in our current climate.  Who do we trust, and how do we know if we trust?  Let’s sit with this invitation alongside the One who is creating and still coming to us in the flesh/form of others, and calling us to share and shine our lights with others.  Amen.