Are You As Good As Your Word? The Perfect Faith Document
Are You As Good As Your Word?
Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He, whose word cannot be broken,
Form'd thee for His own abode:
On the Rock of ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded,
Thou may'st smile at all thy foes.
Epiphany Season is time to discover and realize what Jesus is about so that the lightbulb comes on in your head. This year the Gospel teaching during Epiphany, both the Sunday Lectionary and the Daily Office Lectionary, is from Jesus in Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount. It is key Scripture for understanding the mind of the Savior, whose teaching is not about what we are to believe (that’s a later aberration of the early church fathers in their obsession with creedal hairsplitting); rather the mind of Christ is about how we are to treat each other. This means that the essence of Christianity is not the belief statement that we stand and say every Sunday in the Nicene Creed but the promises that we make in our Baptismal Covenant, which is the perfect faith document.
Quite simply, this perfect faith document works like this. First we say what we believe as Christians and then we say what we promise to do as Christians about what we profess to believe as Christians. If we are truly disciples of Jesus, this is the proper sequence of things -- “I believe ... therefore I will ...” Because I believe, I promise. As the Letter of James says, even demons believe, it’s what you do about it that matters. And so --
The Baptismal Covenant
Do you believe in God the Father?
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever
you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you proclaim by word and example the Good
News of God in Christ?
News of God in Christ?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving
your neighbor as yourself?
your neighbor as yourself?
I will, with God’s help.
Will you strive for justice and peace among all people,
and respect the dignity of every human being?
I will, with God’s help.
Remember, Baptized Christian: you promised. You promised. Are you keeping your promise? Are you as good as your word? The hymn says of God, “He whose word cannot be broken.” How about you? Are you keeping your word? Lent, coming up soon, is the time to focus consciously, deliberately on what it means to keep your word, your promise, your side of your Covenant with God -- and to get busy doing it.
TW+
P.S. Health report! With deliberate care I am able to go up and down the stairs now. Last night for the first time since October 16, Linda and I slept in our upstairs bedroom, and with the door open and a slight Gulf breeze wafting in.
Photo: sunrise over North Bay. Thanks, RevRay!