i've given up

on giving in slowly

A sermon from John 3 on the 2nd article of the Creed

This, the Second Article of the Apostles’ Creed, is the longest. There’s plenty in here. More than enough for a single sermon. However, what I want to focus on is what’s not in this article of the Creed! Because what isn’t here is as surprising as it is promising…

Any hunches? Notice anything that’s missing? 

…There’s nothing in the Creed whatsoever about the content of Jesus’ sublime teachings! AND neither is there any reference at all to his miraculous deeds! There’s nothing about the Sermon on the Mount, raising Lazarus, or any other of Jesus’ sermons or actions! All we have is a stripped-down account of the bare facts of Jesus’ existence!

He was Conceived by the Holy Spirit. Born of the virgin Mary. Suffered under Pontius Pilate. Was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. Then, the Creed goes on to speak of Jesus’ continued exalted existence. But that’s it! There’s not a single remark about any of Jesus’ instructions or his actions! 

It’s a conspicuous oversight. Right? However, you might notice that neither does the longer Nicene Creed nor the even longer Athanasian Creed make mention of Jesus’ moral guidance or his wondrous acts, either! 

So consistent is this gap across all the creeds of the Church that you might begin to wonder if it’s not a gap at all! That perhaps we’re not dealing with an oversight, but rather a profound insight! 

Well, you wouldn’t be wrong! But, let this Holy Spirit breathed intuition go further! Because it’s not just anything that’s tucked into this gap in the Creed. No, it’s nothing less than the very Gospel that’s packed in there! The omission of any word on Jesus’ teachings or actions is the part of the Creed that’s chock-full of Good News!

Jesus’ teaching and example, they’re well and good. It goes without saying that to live by them is a noble cause. Presumably the best there is. But, they’re the icing on the cake. They’re not the entrée. They’re great, you just can’t survive off ‘em. 

Jesus’ deeds and instruction, they don’t show his divinity. Gurus are a dime a dozen. But none of them are God. When it comes to God, you see, it works the other way ‘round! It’s not Jesus’ actions or instructions that reveal his divinity. No, what does that is the bare facts of his existence, culminating with his death! 

If all Jesus offers is an example, you might as well sleep in! If all Jesus gives is some instruction, you’re still left with what gets you into scrape after scrape; yourself! 

I know how this works because I’ve been my own worst enemy too many times to count! Knowing better has rarely helped me do better. And it’s certainly never actually made me better! It’s gotten me to act a certain way a time or two, sure. But morals and standards have never actually changed my heart. They’ve never gotten me to love those bothersome people in my life. And they’ve never gotten me to willingly suffer for anyone else, either. 

*Not to say this hasn’t happened. But just to say it’s never happened because I WILLED it to…

Now, perhaps you don’t see it that way. You think this minimal treatment of Jesus in the Creed is entirely too little. However, when all the religious instruction in the world fails to make more of a believer out of you. Because it will. When the best examples don’t actually help you love those difficult people in your life. Because they won’t. When all those things mean well but make it worse, then everything the Creed leaves out will be more than enough for you!

As the Church knows and confesses, Jesus gets at the heart of the problem by getting to our hearts! Jesus fulfills Ezekiel’s prophecy (36:26) to give us a new heart and new Spirit! And he does this, not by browbeating us, but by suffering the lash himself! “By his stripes we all are healed!”

Today’s Scripture talks about this by comparing Jesus to the serpent Moses lifted up in the wilderness. You might remember this strange story (Num. 21). In it, the people complain against God as they travel through the wilderness to the Promised Land. In response, God sends serpents to bite those who’ve been complaining.

Well, in due time, those who’ve been bitten become infected and start dying. In response, Moses implores the Lord, asking what to do. So God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent, put it on a pole, and have the infected look upon it. Look upon a serpent! The beast that’s biting them! But, when they do, they’re healed! 

God’s healing, you see, comes by looking upon the object of your infection! And that’s what Jesus has become for you! As St. Paul proclaimed, God made him who knew no sin to become our sin (2 Cor. 5:21)! Jesus has become the facts of your existence, in all their gory detail!

When Jesus became human, he became so fully! Jesus took on everything about you and me. Including our sin. On the cross, Jesus has actually become your sin. You real sin. When you look upon Jesus, high and lifted up, you are seeing the object of your infection. And in so beholding, you are also witnessing the object of your healing! Your salvation!

You are no longer doomed to lug your sin around! You are free of its burden! Healed of its infection! Free from its curse! For Jesus has borne it in his body! He has carried away your sin! Taken it with him to his grave! 

And when he rises to new life, he will have no truck with your sin anymore! No, he leaves your sin in the tomb, buried there forever! And in turn, he gives you his new life instead! And this new life he gives you, it bears, not the marks of sin and death, but rather the crown of his righteousness!

Jesus has become your sin! He’s become your sin, so you might become his righteousness! The bare minimum you confess about Jesus in the Creed is everything he gives you! When you look upon the cross, you see the one who bears your sin. So now, when you see your reflection you see your very healing and redemption looking back at you! You don’t just have Jesus’ heart and Spirit within you! You bear his very image marked upon your brow, put there at baptism!

And even when you can’t see this, because sometimes it’s hard, God does! When God looks at you, all God sees is all you confess about Jesus in the Creed! That and that alone! NOTHING else!

How’s that for leaving something out? You’re not saying it’s too little anymore. Are ya?