Sermon of the Week: Knowing the Creed

(This is the 60th installment of the United Press International series of sermons. In his homily for Trinity Sunday, the Father Alexander L. Darby III, rector of Christ Anglican Church in Warrenton, Va., reflects on the necessity of knowing the creeds of the Church).

This sermon is based on St. John, Chapter 3:1-15

The Church calendar helps us focus on the important facets of the theology of our faith. Today, Trinity Sunday reminds us that our God is triune. That is, we believe that God is made up of three persons, equal in importance: Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

The creation and execution of God's plan is wholly dependent upon all three. We need only venture into the very first chapter of Genesis to read: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

Sometimes we lose our way because we distance ourselves from what our faith means. Some who consider themselves biblically oriented, believing people, over time develop gaps in their belief system.

One way to get back on track is to read the Bible. Another is belonging to a church that makes saying one of the creeds a part of every service.

A friend told me that he was taking a course on the rapture in the Book of Revelation. I asked him if the subject was interesting. He said yes. Then I asked him, "What do you believe?" He replied that he believed in what the Bible said.

I asked him to be more specific, and he rambled a bit about God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. I pressed him again for details, but he paused. I asked him if he said a creed at church services. He replied, "What's a creed?"

I told him about the two forms with which many people are familiar, the Apostles' and the Nicene. I repeated the Apostles' version for him: "I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead and buried.

He descended into Hell; The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, and the Life everlasting."

The look on his face was interesting. He'd never thought about this kind of prayer. His church services, it turned out, weren't helpful in that way. They were made up of prayers, hymns, and a sermon.

There's nothing wrong with that, but services of that kind often fall short of equipping people to be active, convincing Christians who can communicate with some precision just what it is that they believe.

Christ told his Apostles (and he tells us) to go into the world and preach the Gospel. To do that our belief system needs to be organized.

The way to be organized is to learn a creed! We should be able to look someone in the eye and say, with conviction, "Jesus died for my sins and yours. He's in heaven, sitting next to God the Father, and He's coming back to judge us all so that we can have everlasting life. The Holy Ghost is here among us, helping us, and encouraging us to be faithful and ready for His return."

I'm not good in memorizing things but the Trinity is a great place to start. St. Patrick used the three-leaf clover, the nemesis of nice lawns, as a teaching tool. He said that the three leaves stood for the three persons of the Trinity, bound to one stem. Thus the term "three in one and one in three."

Think about the gears in a watch. If one breaks, the whole mechanism comes to a halt. The hands stop, and we can't tell what time it is. So it is with the Trinity. All three persons of God are essential.

On Trinity Sunday we consider the uniquely Christian idea of the essential nature of God. Saying the creeds, we believe he has shown us that he is not alone. Rather, he is threeness, trinity. The main proclamation of Judaism is, "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one."

The main proclamation of Christianity is, "The Lord our God is one, and he is also three."