Statements of Faith ~ Week 4

 

This week we will explore one more Creed.  Wait, you think, how many creeds are out there?!? And you thought your only choices were the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed!  As humans, we are wired to put words around the mystery of God we encounter and experience in our lives.  Remember that theology, including creeds, is autobiographical.  All we say about God says something about us.  Slowly read these words below with me:

 

An Affirmation of Christian Unity

We believe in God the Creator,
who is always creative and invites us to affirm and explore who we are,
with all our differences; and who is the source of our faith.
We believe in God the Saviour revealed in the world as Jesus the Christ, who died and is risen, the one Lord of the church.
We believe in God the Reconciler, the Holy Spirit, who is always with us bearing witness with our spirits that we are the children of God.
We believe that our smallness can never diminish God’s vastness; that our frailties can never overcome God’s will for wholeness; that our sin can never crush God’s power for new life even in the face of death.
We believe, and in this belief, we need one another, as a choir needs every voice and every part for the harmony to be complete.

We believe - that in the Holy Spirit, in Jesus Christ and in the love of God -we are one!
We believe - and may our lives reflect our belief.

 

Which words above caused you to nod your head vigorously in agreement?  Which thoughts/sentences above did you shake your head emphatically, no, in disagreement?  And the deeper question: why do you think this was your reaction/response?  It is good to ask, when reading a creed, which words we connect with and where we want to take a red ink pen and rewrite the idea.  But it is also good to ask why this is our response.  It is good to remember that where we emphasize one word, the original author or authors might have had a completely different intention in writing.  For example, in the Apostles’ Creed, the line “born of the Virgin Mary”, we tend to debate and discuss the word “Virgin”.  But the intent of the authors was to emphasize the word “born”.  Among early Christians, some contended that Jesus wasn’t really born.  I guess he just magically appeared out of thin air?  Poof!  The early Christians debated and were divided between the group that emphasized Jesus’ humanity and the group clamoring/claiming divinity.  In some ways, this forced binary choice still exists.  Holding Jesus as both human and God is difficult, like trying to pick up a single grain of sugar.  When we read the creeds, the words are filtered through our experiences, encounters, histories, biases, and beliefs.  Usually, we tend to agree only when the idea is aligned with our experiences.  Sit with this creed over a cup of tea/coffee/favorite beverage of your choice.  Listen to the words - not to poke holes or point out its errors ~ because none of us appreciate others offering color commentary on our lives.  Listen like you are meeting a new friend with curiosity and openness.  Amen.