Statements of Faith ~ Part 2

 

Last week, we opened our hearts, minds, lives, and souls to God through the United Church of Christ Statement of Faith.  One week doesn’t exhaust all there is to explore in any creed.  This week, I invite you to lay alongside our denomination's creed the New Creed from the United Church of Canada.  Slowly savor these words to see what is evoked in the following words:

 

We are not alone,
    we live in God’s world.

 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. 

We are called to be the Church:
    to celebrate God’s presence,
    to live with respect in Creation,
    to love and serve others,
    to seek justice and resist evil,
    to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,
       our judge and our hope.

In life, in death, in life beyond death,
    God is with us.
We are not alone.

    Thanks be to God.

 

Was there a sentence above that stirred your heart?  Was there a sentence that caused you to scratch or shake your head in confusion or disagreement?  Was there a sentence that was as exciting as a lukewarm bowl of porridge?  Creeds can be used either as a window or a wall.  Some churches use creeds as a barrier you must agree and assent to before you can receive your membership card or be welcome at Christ’s table.  Creeds can awaken our thinking as we sit with the words; let them roam and rummage around our experiences and encounters.  Creeds evoke and provoke questions like: Who is God, Christ, and the Spirit?  And to be sure, there are times when I shrug my shoulders and with exasperation say, “I don’t know!”  God can be comforting and confounding to me, especially in the face of hatred and harm done in God’s name.  Christ can at once challenge me (I am thinking of that whole “love your enemies” call) and at times inspire me to risk for the sake of love in a hurting world.  The Spirit feels elusive, like trying to hold onto an eel, not that I have or ever want to try that.  Who is God for you, today, at the beginning of October?  How would you describe or define the relationship with the Creator, Christ, and Sustainer?  One final note: sometimes what I say about God says more about me than the Holy Other who forms and fashions me.  Our theology is more biography than fact.  Let’s explore this truth as we ponder how creeds can shape us and, in turn, how we talk about God.  Amen.