“I Believe That …”

Scripture: John 20:19-31

Since the beginning, the Christian Church has been embroiled in many theological controversies over just who Jesus is and what he means for the world. Without going into a lot of detail, the earliest issues centered on thoughts such as: was Jesus a divine being who people only thought looked human, or was he completely human with some connection to the divine – after all, he couldn’t be both! And this concept of Trinity – that just didn’t make any sense to most. Many areas of the church had begun to supplement and even replace theological reflection with philosophical thought in order to become more attractive to the more learned segments of society.
The many and diverse approaches to faith – Gnosticism, Arianism, Monasticism, pagan thought, and others - were beginning to tear the church apart, so in 325 AD, the emperor Constantine called for an assembly of all the bishops of the church, to be held in Nicea, a city near Constantinople (today’s Istanbul). Approximately 300 bishops gathered together, and this would be the very first assembly of church leaders that had ever occurred in all of Christian history. The Council of Nicea lasted for quite some time, with these men holding discussions on many issues of faith of the day.
For me, the most important decision to come out of the Council was the development of a creed, a statement of faith, which, with a few revisions over the centuries, has survived to this day, is still recited, and it is known as the Nicene Creed.
- Gonzalez, Justo L., “The History of Christianity”, HarpurCollins Publishers: New York, 1984, (162-167)

Why would a concise statement of faith be so important to the growth of the Church? Why is it so important for the Church to know the statement of faith, and not just produce it and then relegate it to some dusty shelf in some dusty archive?

Read John 20:19-23

The disciples would soon be sent out in ministry to the world. Jesus tells them that “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Their mission would be no different than the one that Jesus had lived for 33 years, with one notable exception. They would be going as 100% humans, without the power of God within them. So Jesus breaths the Holy Spirit upon them, and they are prepared.
You see, the disciples had yet to experience the power of the Spirit, and John gives them a pretty easy time in his gospel. However, in Luke 24:36-43, we read that they were terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost when Jesus suddenly appeared in the locked room. Their faith wasn’t quite where it would need to be, and they didn’t yet know what to believe! For now, the Lord gives them a “shot of the Spirit” to get them through this and the coming days. But they would need more if they were to truly and fully believe.

Rev. Jessica LaGrone, Pastor of Worship at the Woodland UMC, writes:
A young woman was sitting around one evening with a group of friends when the conversation turned to religion. While her friends went around discussing their convictions, it was clear that most of these young adults weren’t really sure what they believed. They spoke in vague generalities, and some of them weren’t able to articulate what they believed at all.
Finally, she realized everyone was looking at her. Somebody said: “Well, you’re quiet – what do you believe?”
She opened her mouth without even knowing how she would answer. She started out: “I believe .. I believe in God.” Then out of nowhere heard herself say:
“I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord…”
Almost unable to stop herself she proceeded to recite the entire Apostles’ Creed from beginning to end. When she looked up, her friends were wide-eyed, and no one was more shocked than her. She had grown up in the church reciting the Apostles Creed – and even though she didn’t even know she had it memorized, when asked what she believed, it just came out.
- Rev. Jessica LaGrone (www.jessicalagrone.com), ‘I Believe: Why We Need the Apostles’ Creed’, Good News, Abington Press, 2013 (By Permission)

This is what the disciples needed – a constant and easily remembered verse to help them to know what they believed. But they didn’t have one, and without the “Spirit breathed”, they would be lost in faith.

Read John 20:24-31

Thomas hadn’t been there for Jesus’ first reappearance. Out of fear, he had left for parts unknown, and when he finally did return, he didn’t believe – he couldn’t believe what he was being told! He had forgotten all that Jesus had ever taught him and these stories didn’t make any sense. But Jesus, who is always ready to overturn our shortcomings, appears a week later and gives Thomas the reassurance that he needed.
For the others, they received the Spirit to bring them peace and assurance. But Thomas does not receive Spirit as the others did, but instead, he is given a precious offer that the others did not receive. Jesus tells him to touch him – and not just anywhere, but in the piercings that still appeared in his hands and side. And Thomas once again remembers the sound of the heavy hammer driving those cruel nails into Jesus’ hands and feet, and he remembers the spear thrust that sliced into his Lord’s side, and he understands and believes with the exclamation “My Lord and my God!”
I doubt that very many people since then have ever had Jesus actually breathe on them, or invite them to physically touch his wounds, but others have been given their own reminders. Remember the experience that Cleopas and his friend had at the inn in Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)? They receive their reminder every time they celebrated communion. Remember Paul’s experience on his way to Damascus in Acts 9? He would be reminded every time he touched a person in the name of Jesus, and they were healed. Remember the persecution that many, throughout the centuries, have been forced to endure? They remember Jesus and the suffering that he had to endure for them, every time that they do the same for him.

How do the people of the 21st century remember all that Jesus is for them? Certainly, we remember him when we serve others in his name; we remember when an impossible situation is resolved in glory; we remember when a person receives a miraculous healing through the prayers of the faithful. But these are not, for the most part, every day occurrences! We need an everyday reminder of who and what Jesus is for our lives. And that is where creeds come into play.

Let’s take the Apostles’ Creed piece by piece, and see what it reminds us of.

“I Believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,”
God is before anything else was, and He is the Creator of all that is and ever will be – both those in the glory of heaven, and those in the beauty of earth.

“And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord;”
Jesus is God in heaven, and he is Lord of earth.

“Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,”
As God is, Jesus has been before time began, but he took on a new form through the power of the Spirit.

“Born of the Virgin Mary,”
Even though Jesus is divine and God, and even though his conception was not by a human man, he came into this world in a human way – through birth by a chosen woman.

“Suffered under Pontius Pilate,”
God, divine and holy, had to experience terrible pain in his humanness, at the hand and sentence of a human being.

“Was crucified, dead and buried;”
God in Christ didn’t just die, but he died the most excruciating death that anyone has ever been able to devise. And his death was real – he was buried and sealed and left in a tomb.

“The third day he rose from the dead;”
The God Jesus could not leave the Man Jesus to rot into nothingness, so He regained life once more, to walk among his people, to teach them one last time, to give them reassurance and remembrances that would last them a lifetime.

“he ascended into heaven,”
And when his 33 year mission on earth was finished, he returned - not in death, but in life - to his glorious and heavenly home.

“and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;”
He has taken his rightful place as the Son of the Most High God.

“from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”
Godly judgment of the people of earth has been postponed for now, but Jesus will, one day, return to this place to execute his verdict on all who have ever lived.

“I believe in the Holy Spirit,”
God is not simply singular in nature, but Triune – as John Wesley put it, at the same time, “Three and One”.

“The holy catholic church,”
I believe that the church universal, a human institution, is to be the true and full expression of God’s nature in Christ Jesus.

“The communion of saints,”
Believers in Jesus Christ are united as his Body in this world.

“The forgiveness of sins,”
Those who believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior will receive a spiritual “washing” that cleanses them of all sin, and will make them worthy and fearless when they stand before the Judgment Seat.

“The resurrection of the body,”
Those who are in Christ will be raised, as our Lord Jesus was – physically and spiritually.

“And the life everlasting.”
As Jesus lives in glorious and eternal life, so will his people.

“Amen.”
We solemnly agree.

These are the core beliefs of the Christian faith. Every time you say them, we are reminded of just what God, “Three and One”, is for the world – that this is what we believe. Amen?