& i hope, i hope you are tired out
& i know, i know there is joy endowed
It is, finally, a strange thing to have a Creed. Bylaws and a constitution, sure. Parochial reports and council minutes, why not? But a Creed? It’s a bit unusual. A set of propositions to which we all regularly affirm in worship.
Now, the origin of the Apostles’ Creed is a bit oblique, so ancient is it. However, it undoubtedly began its life as a part of the baptismal liturgy. The way we still use Apostles’ Creed in baptisms, and even confirmation, today. From its inception, then, the Creed has functioned as a boundary marker.
Admittedly, boundaries have something of a bad reputation these days. Much of it earned, no doubt. We do well, however, to give our Creed a chance. Especially since, as historic Christians, we are stuck with it. More than that, though, I want to suggest that we stand to lose more than we gain by letting this ancient confession of faith collect dust.
Disregarding the Creed may allow us to avoid a little discomfort. In the end, though, we will only be depriving ourselves of the opportunity to enrich our faith. As well as deepen our capacity to function as the Church. To say nothing of the connection the Creed gives us to Christian past, present, and future who have and will wrap their lips around these very same words.
To better appreciate the sort of boundary the Creed seeks to create, you need look no further than the “blessed simplicity” of the Apostles’ Creed. I alluded to this in the first sermon in our series. You’ll notice that the Creed never speaks to the “how.” Instead, the Creed is only ever concerned with the “what.”
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Creation, Redemption, and Sanctification. As far as the exact nature of how this all works, the Creed is surprisingly silent. What’s more, the Creed imposes no particulars when it comes to matters such as church governance or structure.
As far a the Creed is concerned, the bare minimum confessed is enough. And in all the rest, the chips can fall where they may. In other words, the boundary the Creed seeks to construct is not a barrier! Rather, it’s a boundary that gives shape.
And a simple way to appreciate this is to notice the sort of shape the Creed trades in. The Crees has a structure. A beginning, middle, and an end. The Creed, then, is a story! And a coherent one at that! The Creed is a story that began somewhere and is leading somewhere; creation, redemption, and the life everlasting.
Here’s the thing to know about the shape of the Creed’s story, though, is it isn’t comprehensible for its own sake! No, the story of the Creed is a story that makes sense by making sense of us! At its heart, the Creed is the story of redemption. And, therefore, our story!
We all have plenty of stories we tell about ourselves. Don’t we? In the end, though, all these stories boil down to one story; the kind of person we want to be or think we ought to be. The thing is, though, is that story never ends! And it always turns on you! You can never be entirely sure you’ve made it in that story! No sooner do you reach one milestone than the next appears. No sooner do you get past one trial than a new storm cloud materializes!
It turns out, what we need is not to land upon that fairytale we can finally live happily ever after in. Because fairytales aren’t real. And God is for real people! No, what we need is to have is that futile storyline come to an end! Freed from the burden of constant myth-making. What we need is to be given a story! Swept up into a larger story!
And this is precisely what the Creed is! The Creed is the story of a higher power. But not just any higher power! A higher power who has been revealed in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit!
When God showed God’s hand in Christ Jesus, God gave away the plotline! And I do mean gave away! Now the conclusion is not something we wait on pins and needles for. It is something that has been disclosed, and even given to us, in Jesus Christ!
The Creed is not just a larger story. It’s a story that has a place for you in it! A story so big there is a place for each of us in it. But so specific none of us are lost in it! The Creed is a story that has a place for you in it! Lends itself to you by it! And gives itself to you through it!
God has written you into God’s larger story! God’s beautiful, lovely story! The story of creation for the pure joy of it! Redemption for the blessed love of it! And sanctification for the foolish hope of it! That’s the story the Creed tells! The boundary it seeks to create. Create in your life! For your life!
Are there vignettes in your story you wish weren’t there? Are there missing scenes you wish were there? In other words, are there parts of your story you don’t know what to do with? Well, hear this; God does!
God knows your story better than you do! God knows every plot twist in your life. And God knows what to do with every last one of them, too! In fact, those twists are precisely the parts of your story that the story the Creed tells straightens out! Makes sense of!
You don’t have to come up with a story about yourself anymore! God has done that! God has carved out a place for you in God’s larger story! And that place is Jesus’ wounded hands! The story of Jesus is a story cut short abruptly on the cross. But God made that conclusion the beginning of your new life in Christ!
Jesus can do something with all those pieces of your broken story! He takes them and writes the story of his redemption out of them! Incomplete and shredded storylines are the kind Jesus can work with! They're the plotline he knows how to write the wonderful conclusion out of! They’re the breaks that are the perfect beginning for that great story of redemption!
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