THE APOSTLES' CREED
I BELIEVE...

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That fellow [the father in the lesson] has always been one of my heros. I can identify with him as much as anyone in all of scripture. He is a man who loves his son - I know how that feels. His boy is sick - an epileptic, subject to violent seizures. I know how it feels to have a sick child. Dad has heard the neighborhood scuttlebutt about a certain Nazarene rabbi who had been touring the countryside with a reputation for being able to heal all sorts of diseases. He is not quite sure what to make of the word on the street, but when it comes to your child, you do whatever it takes. He loves his little boy and wants to do something... anything...to help him. I know...up to a point. This Dad is desperate, and I, thank God, have never had to be. This man is at a loss. The medical men of the day had nothing more to offer than just a stick placed between the teeth to prevent injury to the tongue during an attack. The father knows nothing more to do. Then he hears about Jesus.

I am struck by this Dad's stick-to-itiveness. When he and the boy first arrive at the appointed place, Jesus is not there. The teacher and three of his friends are up on a mountaintop retreat. Meanwhile, down in the valley, Jesus' other friends are in the midst of arguing obscure theological details with the local religious establishment when Dad interrupts with a plea for help on behalf of his boy. The disciples give it their best shot, but to no avail - the boy is not healed. No doubt, Dad is now tempted to just give this up as a fool's errand, but something makes him stay put. In a bit, Jesus comes. And that, as we know, makes all the difference.

There is the pre-diagnostic conversation: "How long has this been happening to him?" Dad replies, "From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us." Then Jesus answers in a way that sounds a bit sharp and unfeeling at first blush: "If you are able!" If you are able? If you are able??? There is almost a sense of "How dare you question my ability to handle this!" But that is a misinterpretation. "If you are able" must be understood in terms of what Jesus says immediately thereafter. "If you are able?" Jesus repeats...then adds, "All things can be done for the one who believes."

How true, how true. As has been said, "To approach anything in the spirit of hopelessness is to make it hopeless; to approach anything in the spirit of faith is to make it a possibility... [As one commentator notes,] Most of us are cursed with a sense of the impossible, and that is precisely why miracles do not happen."⁽¹⁾

The father's response has been repeated over and over ever since: "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief." What had kept this man there waiting for Jesus, listening to the pious know-it-alls argue over metaphysical mumbo-jumbo as the world stood to the side, hoping in vain for help? Why did he stay? It is my contention that he stayed because of two words...I BELIEVE. Not as one who had all the answers, as he himself admitted - "help my unbelief." But he came because of those two words...I BELIEVE. He went home happy that night because of two words...I BELIEVE.

It is my further contention that those two words are at the heart of everything you or I do. What we BELIEVE determines how we BEHAVE. We get up in the morning, put our feet over the side of the bed and on to the floor in preparation to stand. Why? Because we BELIEVE that the law of gravity is as much in force on this new morning as it was last night before we went to sleep. If we did NOT believe that, we would stay right there under the covers. When we leave our home, if we cross the street, we look both ways because we BELIEVE that iron and steel moving at high speed can make a mess of any flesh and blood with which they come in contact. In the world of work, if we BELIEVE that regularly showing up late for our job (if at all) will get us fired, we come to work on time all the time if we hope to keep working. In interpersonal relationships if we BELIEVE our spouse is faithful to us, we think no more about it; if we BELIEVE our spouse is UNfaithful, that is ALL we think about. This list is endless. What we BELIEVE will determine how we BEHAVE!

In fact, what we believe may even determine our level of health. According to an Associated Press report last summer,⁽²⁾

Going to church and reading the Bible regularly may do more than save your soul. They may extend your life. In one of the most extensive studies of its kind, Duke University researchers found that people 65 or over who faithfully participated in religious activities were 40 percent less likely to have high blood pressure. In particular, people who attend church weekly and read the Bible or pray regularly had lower diastolic pressure than those less interested in religion. High diastolic readings are associated with heart attacks and strokes.

While the study doesn't prove a causal relationship between belief in a higher power and good health, it does provide numeric evidence of another benefit of religious activity. Numerous studies have shown that religious people are less depressed, have healthier immune systems and deal better with addictions than the nonreligious.

"We're becoming more aware that religious beliefs or practices is not negative for a person's health," says Dr. Harold Koenig, co-author of the study. "In fact, they could be very positive." Dr. Herbert Benson, president of the Mind/Body Medical Institute and associated with Harvard Medical School, says the Duke study presents further evidence "that belief is inexorably connected to body as body is to mind."

Last fall, as we began our midweek studies in the new Presbyterian Catechism, I shared with the assembled group a reminiscence of Dr. Donald Miller, the well-known minister and seminary president. He tells about a woman who phoned him one Saturday night. "Dr. Miller, what do I believe?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Miller was not sure he had heard her correctly.

"I mean," she said, "what do I believe? You see, I've just come from a party where several people got into a discussion about their various beliefs. One woman was Jewish, and she told us what she believes as a Jew. Another was Roman Catholic, and she told us what Catholics believe. Somebody was a Christian Scientist, and he talked about what they believe. I was the only Protestant in the group, and frankly, I didn't know what to say. What do I believe?"

"That woman," said Miller, "must have come into the church on conFUsion of faith, not confession of faith."⁽³⁾ No doubt.

But she is not alone, is she? We are living in a period of history when folks are hard-pressed to articulate their faith. Part of the problem is rooted in our American celebration of "rugged individualism," and its tendency to speak of deeply personal matters only with great reluctance. We have seen public figures make pious pronouncements about their personal faith only to be seen as disappointingly human in their sinful actions - we do not want to be tarred with that brush. But, being painfully honest, the biggest part of the problem is that we have just not done it. It is work, and we have not taken the time nor made the effort to wrestle with the deep truths of our faith. Scripture says, "Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you,"⁽⁴⁾ but most folks could not do it if you threatened them.

If I asked you right now, "What do you believe?" could you answer? YES, you COULD! In fact, you already did. Only a few short minutes ago, you stood up before heaven and earth and said, "I believe in God the Father, Almighty." You said you believed in Jesus Christ, God's only Son. You went on to describe Christ's miraculous birth, his sacrificial death, his resurrection and ascension, and your conviction that he is coming back again. You said you believed in the Holy Spirit and this incredible community of believers called the church. You said you believed in the power of the present and future over the past when you said you believed in the forgiveness of sin. And finally, you said you had a living hope that existence does not end with death, but rather continues with resurrection and life everlasting. WOW! And all in barely more than a hundred words. You said SOME of what you believe. We call it the Apostles' Creed.

To be sure, the words, in one form or another, have been around for almost as long as the church. There were local creeds that this congregation or that would use to instruct new converts and those preparing for baptism. (We do not know as much as we might like about them because secrecy was crucial to the church's survival in those early days of persecution.) One with which we have become familiar dates to the middle of the second century and is known as the Old Roman Symbol ("symbol" being the word of choice because all a creed could do, then or now, is offer a "representation" of the faith - no words could ever completely tell the story). From the Old Roman Symbol developed the statement that has come down to us today.

A word here on the title, "Apostles' Creed." It was first identified as such in 390 AD in a letter sent by a church Synod to the current Pope.⁽⁵⁾ Legend had it that it was composed by the Twelve after the Ascension with each one contributing a clause. True? Of course not, but the legend was universally believed during Middle Ages. By the time of the Reformation, most scholars had rejected the story while still accepting the creed as genuine apostolic teaching based on scripture. What we recite in 1999 comes from southern France where it probably developed in question-and-answer form in the fifth century.

The Apostles' Creed states the essential facts of the Biblical message without elaboration or explanation. After all, in just more than a hundred words, it can only be "SOME of what we believe as Christians," as our worship leader says from week to week. It says nothing about justification, sanctification, grace, scripture, even love. But what it DOES say is powerful beyond imagining.

You say, "I believe in God the Father, Almighty." Now what? After all, if what we believe determines how we behave, such a statement will have an impact. What difference should a belief in a personal God who just happens to be creator of the whole universe make in our lives?

You say, "I believe in Jesus Christ, his supernatural birth, his sacrifice, his death, his ascension to glory and coming again in power. Now what? What you believe determines how you behave. Is Jesus truly unique? So what?

"I believe in the Holy Ghost." Really? Now what? Speaking in tongues? Dancing in the aisle? What you believe determines how you behave. What does belief in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit mean to our Christian walk?

"I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of the saints." Is it holy? Is it catholic? Saints? Really? Now what? How do those beliefs impact your behavior?

"I believe in the forgiveness of sins." All sins? Even Hitler's? What does that mean? And if you believe it, do you behave it?

"I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting." Do you? OK. So how does that belief make you behave?

I BELIEVE... Do you? A great preacher of an earlier generation has said, "You don't really believe your creed until you want to say it standing at spiritual attention with the roll of drums in your ears, the light of love dazzling in your eyes, and all the music of a splendid world crashing out a prelude to its truth."⁽⁶⁾ By God's grace, over these weeks leading to Easter we will consider the affirmations of the Creed individually. We will pull them, push them, stretch them and finally grasp them tight - we will see them make a difference in the way we live our lives. Our goal is a series that will deepen our faith and make our affirmation more precious than it has ever been. Will you have all the answers then? Of course not. My prayer is that you will simply join our hero from this morning's lesson and say with all your heart and soul, "Lord, I BELIEVE...help my unbelief."

Let us pray.

Lord, we are grateful for the guidance our historic confessions of faith can offer. Help us take them seriously, not simply as words to be dryly repeated, but words to be joyfully made part of our lives. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen!

1. William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series, CD-ROM, (Liguori, MO: Liguori Faithware, 1996 used by permission of Westminster/John Knox Press)

2. Gary D. Robertson, "Religious activity healthy," Associated Press, Greensboro News & Record, 8/11/98, A-1, 4

3. John Killinger, You Are What You Believe: The Apostles' Creed for Today, (Nashville: Abingdon, 1990), p. 11

4. 1 Peter 3:15

5. Jack Rogers, Presbyterian Creeds: A Guide to the Book of Confessions, (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1985), p. 62-63

6. G. A. Studdert Kennedy, I Believe: Sermons on the Apostles' Creed, (New York: George Doran & Co., 1920), p. 22

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