Most Important on a Sunday?

What's the most important thing about the Sunday morning worship service? Some might say the hymns that are sung. Some might say the celebration of Holy Communion. As a pastor, you might think that I would say the sermon is the most important, since I sometimes refer to myself as a "preacher". How many of us would consider that the creed we say is the most important portion of our Sunday worship services?

Yesterday, June 5, we spoke the Athanasian Creed. Most typically this is done one Sunday a year, on Trinity Sunday. Since we celebrate a baptism on Trinity Sunday and the Apostles' Creed was included in the baptismal service, we did not say the Athanasian Creed on that day. I moved it so that we could say this creed that is acknowledged as one of the three ecumenical, or world-wide accepted, creeds of the Christian Church.

As we read it responsively in the service yesterday, it repeatedly occured to me how great the Athanasian Creed is. It is a mini-textbook on the Holy Trinity! And with a little reflection, it is something that all people can grasp. Having the Athanasian Creed is a great blessing to the Church, that along with the Apostles' and Nicene Creed, we have the ability to state the belief that is in us.

Every Sunday we confess the Creed, regardless of which of the three we are using. And please note that I wrote 'confess'. We do not merely say the Creed, we confess it. To confess means to "same say". I say the same thing that you do and you say the same thing that someone on the other side of the sanctuary says. Together we say the same thing about God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Together we say the same thing that everyone can hear. We do not say it silently to ourselves. We do not read it quietly, but we speak it audibly: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth..."

I acknowledge that the Athanasian Creed can be repetitive and that some phrases ring quite odd in our 21st Century ears. But boy, is it a beautiful statement on the glorious, mysterious truth of the Trinity, the three in one and the one in three.

The Creed- Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian- is a statement of belief that gives form and definition to our lives. Christians are not amorphous blobs that conform to every shape and we are not tender shoots that bend to every breeze. Christians have form. We are formed by God to be a body, a body that grows into our head Jesus Christ. The statements of faith help us comprehend the form that is given to us from God. What a joy to same say this belief.