An Inkling
Once I was leading the Apostles’ Creed in worship, and got lost in the middle somewhere. Suddenly I was “descending into hell” while everyone else was “rising on the third day!” And since my voice was the one on the microphone it caused a bit of confusion. Gratefully the congregation regained its verbal stride and kept right on going. At the creed’s conclusion I apologized for misleading them, and expressed my gratitude that at least they knew what they believed!
We all have times when we stumble, and not just in the creed, but in our faith and in life itself. It may be one of those times when an imponderable question gets the best of us – “why would this good person have to suffer?” Or it may be a time when our feelings have been hurt, or we have allowed our relationship with the Lord to grow cold, or we find God not answering a heart-felt prayer in the way we asked. The possibilities for stumbling are many.
Thank God for partners in the faith! When I stutter another speaks clearly; when I stumble another takes hold of my arm and keeps walking, and eventually I regain my stride. Each of us speaks the creed in the first person singular, “I believe in God the Father Almighty…” But along side of us another speaks the same creed, and another, and another. So it’s not just “I believe,” but “we believe.” Such is the gift of God: faith to believe, and believers with whom we “faith” our stumbling times.
And now let us affirm our faith…
Together!
Keith
