LENT Photo #34 'I Believe'

   Historically affirmations of faith have arisen out of disagreement and represent communities struggles to agree on what it means to be a 'follower' of Jesus. For example, I've recently been part of Rev Dr Clive Pearson's excellent mission workshop 'Christ in the Local Postcode' which included a Creed writing task. It acknowledged that The Apostle's Creed includes the lines "born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate... [there's a yawning gap between those two statements] and we engaged in a writing exercise as groups to fill it in with reflections on Jesus life...
   Then in our most recent 'Insights' magazine Dr Ben Myers wrote about this very same two lines reminding us the gap was intentionally left for the gospels and how they are read... both really interesting ways to explore what many see as encouraged in Romans 14...
   I've always used Affirmations by inviting people to wrestle with their beliefs and their faith in statements often written and tested and argued over... many people seem to think they are settled doctrine with no room to wrestle... It's just not true for people, so better to invite them to engage with it than simply say this rules you in or out... a choice to use a variety of creatively written Affirmations over time alongside say the Apostle's Creed, doesn't have to be about tossing it out or saying it's wrong, it is about recognising different people will be engaged in the wrestle by variety... this is one of my favourites, given I'm not very into wordy liturgy at all...

A New Creed [United Church of Canada]

We are not alone,

    we live in God's world.

We believe in God:

    who has created and is creating,

    who has come in Jesus,

       the Word made flesh,

       to reconcile and make new,

    who works in us and others

       by the Spirit.

We trust in God. 

We are called to be the Church:

    to celebrate God's presence,

    to live with respect in Creation,

    to love and serve others,

    to seek justice and resist evil,

    to proclaim Jesus, crucified and risen,

       our judge and our hope. 

In life, in death, in life beyond death,

    God is with us.

We are not alone. 

    Thanks be to God.

   Dorothy McRae McMahon also writes some creative and engaging 'affirmations' for lots of different circumstances. At many youth camps the opportunity to write 'affirmations' is a tool for exploring 'what we believe' and especially after giving young people 'food for thought' through their experiences and discussion. Others might list every 'once sentence' or 'one paragraph' response and then try to seek agreement. I would mostly list them all and offer the chance in worship for the group to read it all, mirroring that exercise of not just saying it but being invited to wrestle with it in the saying...
   This is also a recognition that despite the seemingly 'chiselled in stone' nature of Creeds, they need to reflect today as well as always, tomorrow as well as today... and be open to a rewrite from any new standpoint. You see much of the task of a 'follower' is to consistently ask 'where we locate ourselves or where we are located' in the story. It matters! It's a tool missing from many people's discipleship...

"Affirmation" 11.4.14
I believe in God, creator, spirit,
I believe in Jesus life and teaching we see the very nature of God exampled
A God filled with compassion, grace and love.

I believe we are called to recognise 'another world is possible'
That the call to be like 'salt' and 'light' is a call to follow Jesus
That following is an invitation to join God's activity in the world
to bring out the already present God flavours and colours
We measure our journey by our participation
in the reconciling and renewing of the whole creation

Jesus stood in life, in solidarity with us in our humanity,
and he called us to follow his lived example
Jesus favoured the poor and the disenfranchised
disturbed comfortable religious piety and authority
He was a troublemaker and a peddler of hope
who sought justice for all
He spoke the truth in love, disturbed the powerful
and was killed to bring silence and an end to trouble
Death couldn't silence God's love
Jesus beat death through resurrection
And we experience his dangerous & liberating memory and presence today

I believe we are called to see everyone as our neighbour
to love God and love our neighbour as ourselves
to turn stories and life upside down
engaging in subversive acts of transformation

I believe God is with us everywhere
God's creativity and ministry exists whether we are there or not
Our task is to go, seek and find where God is acting and join in
This will take us to surprising places and people
This is especially true today