The Creed

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth....

The devil himself "believes in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth," so what does it mean when we say the Credo?

Do we believe that this God, this Father, this Creator is our God, our Father, our Creator?  Do we believe---and trust---in our relationship with Him, in His action in our lives, in His power and creativity on our behalf? 

The Old Testament, and even the Gospels, are primarily stories of God Who acts in history on the behalf of saints and of sinners.  The primary and irreducible assumption of Biblical theology is that history is the revelation of God (taken from God Who Acts, by G. Ernest Wright (p. 50).  Much of the Old Testament, and St. Paul's letters in the New, are reflection and interpretation of what God did, of the way He intervened in the affairs of mankind. 

We have the story of the Exodus, where God frees the Israelites from a life of slavery and oppression.  Why?  Not because they were "special," because the leaders and prophets constantly pointed to their faithlessness and rebellion, but because God had a plan and a purpose for the weakest of all nations. 

In the New Testament, we have the story of God's intervention in history once again, in the person and life of Jesus of Nazareth.  The Gospels tell us the story; John and Paul give us the theology---the reflection on what the story means.

In our own lives, there are many stories of God's action on our behalf---drawing us out of darkness, of sin, of slavery to things stronger than we are.  There are stories of redemption, of protection, of enlightenment.  But we don't remember and recall our stories with a sense of profound gratitude; we chalk them up to "the past," not to the God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth acting on our behalf.  What does it mean that we were saved out of some of the situations that threatened our lives, our safety, our sanity?  This is "theological reflection" and prayer.  Remembering what God has done for us is the basis of our hope for the future---as David said when facing Goliath:  The same God who delivered me from the lion's mouth will deliver me from this Philistine.

Our faith rests on our rememberance of what God has already done for us.  Our stories are important, but rarely shared.  When we fail to tell our stories, our history, we risk forgetting what God has done for us and our faith falters. 

Psalm 109 is a graphic picture of what happens when we forget what God has done for us; Ps. 136 is a hymn of praise recalling all the times and events where God was at work in human history:  I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth---because He has done great things for me!