CREDO

Dr. Richard J. Henderson March 1, 2009

click for printable version

Psalm 146 (Responsively)
John 13: 31-35

Introduction

Over next seven weeks we will be looking at and thinking about the Apostles' Creed. Before you get too concerned that this is a long time to look at a short statement, let me say that the fourth week will be a personal monologue by Michael Searle, who is nationally renowned for his portrayal of one of the centurions at Jesus' crucifixion. Those of you who were here a few years ago when he was in worship can testify to how moving that portrayal is. He will be here March 22.

The fifth week, March 29, will be the choir's cantata, which is based on the Apostles' Creed. Then and during the other 5 weeks we will try to understand better what this ancient creed says about our faith. This will take us to Easter.

The Apostles' Creed is the oldest creed we have continually used, other than the extremely short confession, "Jesus is Lord." With minor variations, the Apostles' Creed dates back to the sixth century.

Apostles' Creed is very similar to the Roman Creed, which was quoted in year 340 by Marcellus. There are indications that the Roman Creed was in use in the second century. Apparently, the ancient Roman Creed evolved into the Apostles' Creed. So the roots of this statement we make today go back to just a few decades after Jesus' resurrection.

When we say this creed we are joining countless generations of people through dozens of centuries who have said the same thing. And the people who have affirmed this statement cross all denominational lines and have come from countries all over the world - from Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North and South America - every corner of the globe.

When we stand to say the Apostles' Creed, we are joining people all over the world. And the Apostles' Creed has been said by people of all different languages. What other statement in the world has been said by people in so many different languages and has been used in worship for nearly 2000 years? It is an amazing statement.

I

In Latin the Apostles' Creed begins, "Credo in Deum" - "I believe in God." We begin the Apostles' Creed by saying "I believe." It seems simple enough to say, but when we say "I believe," we are saying a great deal. First, we're saying "this is true for me." This is what I believe reality is like. This is the truth by which I live my life. This is what I believe God has done and is doing in the world.

To say "I believe" also says, "I trust in this." Faith is essentially trust. When we say "I have faith in my doctor," and we mean I trust her. We rely on the ones we believe in. Saying we believe here is saying that we have invested ourselves in this religion. To say I believe is to commit ourselves to the one we trust. When we begin the Apostles' Creed by saying "I believe," we are saying this is how I see my faith and this is where I put my trust.

II

The first words of the Apostles' Creed speak about God. In one short sentence the Apostles' Creed makes three statements about God - God is like a parent to us; God is almighty; God made the heavens and the earth, which is to say God made everything that exists.

Statements about God the Father speak to the way in which God relates to us as a parent. Many people today oppose the use of "Father" for God because God is not male as opposed to female; God isn't one gender or the other.

And for a huge number of people today, "Father" doesn't carry good connotations. For people who have been abused by their fathers, to speak of God as father dredges-up horrible images of abuse of power. One estimate reported that one in three women has faced some kind of abuse in their lifetimes. For many of them saying "God is my father," is frightening and says the opposite of what we mean about our God.

What the creed says about God is that God loves us in such an intimate way that it is like the love a parent has for a child. We love our children; we reorder our lives for our children; our love is personal and goes to depths we may not even realize. Many of us would give our lives to save our children. God's love is like that.

This God, who loves us so completely, is the almighty God who rules the world. There is no power that compares with God's. The power of God's love has no end.

III

God's power is seen every day in the creation that God has given us. Everything that has been created has been created by God. There is an order, a system, a congruity to the world God created.

Genesis says that God created the world in seven days, (well, actually six days because God rested on the seventh day). The account in Genesis was not written to be a scientific statement of how creation came about. The words in Genesis weren't written to answer the question how, but rather, to answer the questions who, what, and why. There is no need to interpret the six days of creation as six 24 hour periods of time.

There doesn't need to be a conflict between what science tells us and what the Bible teaches us. Much of the raging battle between fundamentalist Christians and what I would call fundamentalist scientists is unnecessary. Unfortunately those are the stories that make the headlines. Genesis tells us, as does the Apostles' Creed, that God is the creator of heaven and earth, the creator of everything that exists.

Conclusion

The Apostles' Creed is a powerful statement of what Christians believe. It is used by Christians of all denominations around the world and has been for nearly 2000 years. It is a great, brief affirmation of what it means to be a Christian.

The great preacher, Fred Craddock, tells of going to preach in a little church in Tennessee when he was very young. It was the Post Oak Springs church, the oldest church in Tennessee.

There was a woman in the church whose husband had been a minister. Mrs. E. C. Wilson was very old, but after church she invited Fred for lunch. After lunch she said to him, "It will be very helpful for you if, from the beginning, you learn some short, beautiful, complete statement of what you believe."

"When you're alone, or when you're afraid, or in some crisis or other, or don't know what to do, you can recall that statement and live by it." Fred said, "That's what she said, and that's what I did. She was right."

For some of us that statement will be the Apostles' Creed. In our time of crisis we will silently say it to ourselves, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth..." Remembering the Apostles' Creed will help put our crisis in perspective. It will place our fear in the context of Almighty God. It will help us lay the concerns and fears we have before the God who created everything.

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2009