Why Say the Creed

There are some components of a worship service that nearly all churches have in common. You can walk into any church on a Sunday or Saturday and probably expect to hear readings of Scripture, prayers, and a sermon. Many churches have songs, though not all songs sound the same. Some churches have simple pianos, some have powerful organs, while still others have praise bands or a choir that sings and leads the congregation in music every Sunday. However, there are some things that not all churches agree upon. Even among more traditional Protestants, not every denomination agrees with starting service with a time of confession and forgiveness. Prayers of intercession don’t appear in every church. Not every church dismisses with a traditional benediction. While we may miss some of these components if they were removed, I want to focus on one particular part of the service that is very important but unfortunately left out of many worship meetings: the Creed.

We often just rush through the Creeds, absent-mindedly reciting the words from memory. We rarely spend time thinking about them, or the long history of controversy and theological development that produced them. We don’t think about what they really mean. For the most part, that’s okay. The words of the Creed form the foundation of our theology, we are in church because, to some extent, we believe the words in the Creed, whether or not we think about it. Personally, I really like the Creeds, more importantly, I really like the fact that we speak them together in church services. That last part is what I want to talk about, not what the Creeds mean, but what it means for us to say them together in a worship service. 

During the service, we hear from God’s Word in the reading of Scriptures. We then hear the pastor speak, proclaiming the Gospel at the heart of the text. Hopefully, we hear the voice of the Holy Spirit resonating through both of these things. The Spirit makes the text come alive for us while we listen to Scripture readings. The Spirit enlivens our hearts to receive the Gospel in the sermon. But through all this, the congregation remain passive listeners. We hear God speak to us through the lector and pastor, but we don’t get the opportunity to proclaim God’s life-changing story to each other, not until the Creed. The Creed is the opportunity for everyone in the building, from the child just learning to read to the oldest person who can’t stand without help, to echo the Gospel preached by the pastor. 

Because this action is done together, it reinforces the community. It isn’t just an individual telling the story of creation, salvation, and redemption, it is the entire body of Christ present in that space. The weird, lurching pace, as people try to listen to each other to stay together, as some people go faster and some go slower, that is the voice of the community. It is something, both beautiful and ugly. Something confused, and yet clear. While Luther encouraged reciting the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer every morning and every night, the recitation in the worship service isn’t about one individual proclaiming their faith. It is the community proclaiming its shared story together. This is ours. This goes back thousands of years and will go on to the end of time. This body of Christ that transcends time and space invites us to participate every Sunday morning in speaking the Creed. 

Seminary teaches pastors certain expectations of sermons. Usually, I am confident that my sermons meet expectations. However, sometimes I am not certain. Sometimes, I get the feeling that I am missing something in my sermon. I spent so long trying to make some important theological point that I didn’t have time to remind the congregation about the story of salvation in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Sometimes, I forget to connect the sermon to the universal church throughout the world. Sometimes, I forget to talk about how the Holy Spirit fits into everything. Fortunately, I can rest assured that the congregation will fill in what is missing. When I fail to speak everything, the assembled people of God remind me of what is important and in so doing remind each other. The Holy Spirit speaks to us through the Creed, confirming the Gospel and reminding us that we believe in a God that is Three in One, a community of eternal love that has turned that love toward us for salvation. And as much as the Creed is powerful for the strong believers in the community, it is also powerful to those struggling with faith.

I suspect that everyone has doubts from time to time. When that happens we might have trouble taking the Creed seriously. How can we honestly recite it when we aren’t certain that we actually trust the words we are saying? Once again, the community steps in to help. This isn’t about me reciting my own individual faith against the void of doubt and despair. This is about the community proclaiming God’s story of salvation. When we fail to believe it, we listen to those around us who do believe and rest in their faith. When we don’t have the strength to carry ourselves, our siblings in Christ carry us, trusting that we will do the same for them when they are so afflicted.

There are many reasons why it is important for us to recite the Creed together, but I want to mention one more. There is an interesting connection between what happens in the recitation of the Creed and the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4. After her conversation with Jesus, she tells the people of her village. They go to visit with him and many come to believe in him. The story ends with a note from the villagers that almost seems rude at first. They specifically go back to the woman and say that they no longer believe because of her work. They believe because they have heard from Jesus themselves. At first glance, it feels like they are dismissing her testimony, like they are telling her that what she did is useless now, but that isn’t exactly true. If it weren’t for her initial proclamation, they wouldn’t have come to believe, but this dynamic shows a barrier between them. She brought the news. They heard the news. She is separate from them. Telling her that they have come to believe themselves breaks down that separation. She is no longer the messenger they rely on. They all believe from the same source. Now, she’s part of the community, neither above nor below it. The story of Jesus belonged to her, but now it belongs to all of them.

The placement of the Creed shortly after the sermon is the congregation’s way of saying something similar to the pastor. “Thank you for sharing the story of God with us. Thank you for the work you’ve done preparing this proclamation. Now, we have heard it. Now, the Spirit has made it true for us. It was yours, but now it's ours, and we can all share it together.” And it is my sincere hope that the Creed will be the moment the baton is handed off for everyone to run with. Hear the Gospel, claim the Gospel in the Creed, and then go forth and proclaim the Gospel in a world that sorely needs it, until this Good News belongs to everyone.