Statements of Faith ~ Week 3

 

We continue to lean in, listen to, and learn from the creeds of the church.  We’ve explored the UCC Statement of Faith two weeks ago; last week we let the words of the New Creed from the United Church of Canada spark our imaginations and stir our souls.  This week, we turn to a Creed created by a Women in Theology group in Eastwood, Australia.  I invite you to slowly savor these thoughtful words, noticing where your soul is drawn and where you find yourself questioning, or with curiosity bubbling up to know more.

 

Creed used by Women in Theology group from Eastwood, Australia

​O God, the source of our being and the goal of all our longing, we believe and trust in you. The whole earth is alive with your glory and all that has life is sustained by you. We commit ourselves to cherish your world and to seek your face.

O God, embodied in a human life, we believe and trust in you. Jesus, our brother, born of the woman Mary, you confronted the proud and the powerful, and welcomed as your friends those of no account.

Holy Wisdom of God, firstborn of creation, you emptied yourself of power, and became foolishness for our sake.

You laboured with us upon the cross, and have brought us forth to the hope of resurrection.

We commit ourselves to struggle against evil and to choose life.

O God, life-giving Spirit, Spirit of healing and comfort, of integrity and truth, we believe and trust in you.

Warm-winged Spirit, brooding over creation, rushing wind and Pentecostal fire, we commit ourselves to work with you and renew our world. Amen.

 

Consider the descriptions of God above.  What does it mean that God is the source of your being and goal of your longing?  What does that look like, feel like, and sound like?  Connect this to the passage from yesterday in Mark 12 about loving God with all your head, heart, hands, and every fiber of your being.  How might you live these words?  Where is your trust level in God today, realizing that the gauge can go up and down?  How are you turning toward and tuning into God’s wisdom?  What does it mean that God labored with us on the cross?  Or we could say, God suffers with us when we find ourselves weighted down with the crosses of injustice and inequality today?  How can you be awake and aware of the warm-winged Spirit that is brooding, surfing, hovering, and humming amid your life and all that has breath in creation?  Take just one of the questions above to let this Creed rummage and roam around your life today.  Amen.

Prayer

 

God in the mystery of the Trinity, You are in relationship with Yourself.  You connect with the flesh, breath, bone, and embodied Love of Jesus.  You connect/cultivate a relationship with the energy of Spirit.  Your love is so deep and wide, expansive and evolving. You show us this in the holy dance of Creator, Christ, and Sustainer.  You call us into relationships with ourselves, others, all creation, and with You.  You call us to explore, because we can never exhaust our ever-changing connections.  We are not the same person who hung up the new calendar in January.  Our bodies have changed, our minds have encountered new experiences, and our souls are slowly/quietly ripening like fruit on a tree.  Our family and friends are not the same, even though we miss the subtle shifts in others, ourselves, and in You.  The church is constantly changing, yet the firm foundation is the call to be Your people in service to all.  Pause to consider: how have you changed, what is changing, and what might change in the days to come?  Help us continue to live our faith through parties, praise, prayers, part-taking in response to You.  Help us stay open to “other duties as assigned” in our job description.  Wake us up to the theologies we practice and preach, and how what we believe about You is shaping how we live with You and Your world.  Let the Creeds be more than words on paper, but an invitation to the ideas that are continually shaped by You.  We are not alone; thanks be to God.  Amen.  

Statements of Faith ~ Week 2

 

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.  New Creed from the United Church of Canada. 

 

Yesterday, we talked about God’s job description; today, the New Creed says you have a role and responsibility too.  But not just you as an isolated individual. Rather, this is for all of us who gather as the church.  We are called to celebrate, live with respect, love, serve, seek justice, resist evil, and proclaim Christ.  Eek, that is a lot.  Sometimes, like the church in Corinth (see 1 Corinthians 12) that loved to rate and rank spiritual gifts, we can end up emphasizing one of the above verbs over/at the expense of the others.  Or we are drawn to one of the above verbs and think it better than the others.  For example, I know folks who are so passionate about seeking justice that they can’t understand why everyone doesn’t pour every ounce of energy into this verb.  How can some people plan a party or go for a hike when there is so much suffering in the world?  Others believe that there is only one “right” way to serve and you must follow that path.  Make no mistake, there can be fundamentalism in the most progressive congregations.  Often, we proclaim our love of diversity only to offer a narrow path of how we can show/display/preach that love.  I wonder which of the above verbs leaps off the page for you?  As Paul says in 1 Corinthians, there are many gifts but the same spirit…all gifts are for the building up of the body of Christ.  We need people who bring the gift of celebration, stewardship, love, justice, preaching, praying, and pulling weeds out in the Memorial Garden.  No gift is better; no one way of serving should be honored more than others. You live your baptismal claim uniquely and in unity with others.  This has been and will continue to be the greatest invitation and challenge of the church from the beginning to this 8^th day of October.  Find the verb you feel pulled toward, and talk to someone about which verb s/he/they are drawn toward.  Do this with openness and curiosity; see how the Spirit can awaken someone who loves to make coffee for fellowship as a way of welcoming others, or how someone offers a gift of holding a friend's hand as vital for the vibrant church of Jesus, just as someone else sees signing a petition as important.  All gifts are welcome, and the call is to not just say this, but live, breathe, and embody this truth each day with God’s grace.  Finally, if you’d like, take the above list of verbs and compare to the United Church of Christ’s Statement of Faith.  Last Tuesday, we studied how our denomination says God calls, creates, sets, seeks, saves, judges.  Those are the six verbs used above to describe and define God’s activity ~ who God is and what God is up to in the world.  How might that list of verbs interact, intersect, or contradict/complicate each other?  May our pondering be moved to living our faith this day.  Amen.

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.

Statement of Faith ~ Week 2

 

We are not alone; we live in God’s world.  New Creed from the United Church of Canada. 

 

Part of what I love about the New Creed from the United Church of Canada is that it begins with a statement of trust.  We are not alone.  Even in a world with phones dinging, Zoom meetings, overflowing calendars, constant connectivity, and instant communication, we can still feel isolated on an island in a sea of people.  This is a tension of today's world.  We are more linked and lonely at the same time.  This is confusing and confounding.  Imagine just a few short decades ago, there was no email, no texting, no FaceTime, no airplanes.  So, when you wanted human interaction, you traveled to a town from your farm or went to church.  Or you wrote a letter and then waited for a response.  Now we are exasperated by a few seconds' delay from someone.  Ever have that moment of anticipation with three dots appearing on the screen, knowing that the other person is writing, but then the individual doesn’t send anything back?  We gather week after week as a church not just for prayer and praise, but for community.  In fact, given the world today, perhaps our prayer and praise need new forms so that we can feel more connection than sitting in straight pews facing forward can provide.  You see, pews can isolate us, especially when the other person is behind us or has his/her/their back to us.  Pews can be a barrier.  Sometimes, we need to form a circle where we can see each other’s faces.  The second part of the opening sentence of this creed is an equally important affirmation ~ this is God’s world.  Not yours or mine, even though we act like it.  Plus, creation is God’s first testament to God’s holy way.  It is not only fellow featherless bipeds that provide meaning to our lives.  So can dogs whose bellies we scratch, waves we watch crash on sandy shores, or clouds that float above our heads.  Creation is preaching and teaching; are we listening?  Creation is calling us to relationship; are we responding?  Today, find ways to practice this part of the Creed.  Creeds are not meant to be lifeless words on a piece of paper we recite in a monotone voice in church.  Creeds are meant to both awaken our sacred imagination and then let these words shape our lives.  Who might you connect with to embody the truth that you are not alone?  How might you nurture your relationship with nature, honoring all you see, smell, and sense as God’s world?  Creeds can be expansive and inclusive because how you will practice/embody the above words is different/distinctive from the way I will, but this is the beauty of God’s world we call home; this is the beauty of learning from each other in realizing we are not alone.  Amen.    

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.

Prayer

 

God promises to all who trust in the gospel forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, the presence of the Holy Spirit in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in that kingdom which has no end.

 

God of promises from rainbows at the time of Noah, to a holy comfort preached by Isaiah, to Jesus embrace for all, meet us today.  Our lives are full of moments when we have said something we’d like to take back and shove in our mouths; times we laughed at someone; and talked about someone behind their back.  There are times we wanted a mulligan, a rewind button, and a do-over.  God, remind us that forgiveness is offered as part of the renewal, restoration, and reconciliation each new day.  God, You join us in seeking righteousness and justice, living with You and inviting others to participate in Your liberating love.  You give us courage to course-correct our lives.  Open our ears to listen and let You guide our minds, hearts, souls, relationships, community, church, gatherings, and whole life.  God, give us openness and willingness to be inspired by You today.  And help us notice the Spirit who is there in the highs, lows, and just so-so’s of every day.  Let us seek and share Your realm that is here and longs to be more fully established every day, this day, with You leading the way.  Praise and glory to You, O God, our rock and redeemer.  Amen.