God doesn’t care what we believe!
That gets your attention, doesn’t it?
For the last 500 years, Christianity has made a huge fuss about “what we believe” … slicing and dicing the gospel into little bits and pieces:
The Trinity, predestination, salvation, damnation, virgin birth, heaven and hell, the last judgment, the resurrection, creation and eternal life, and 5000 other little points and pieces.
Doctrine.
Dogma.
Teaching points.
And then arguing about it, even going to war about it.
Methodists fought Baptists, Baptists fought Episcopalians, Episcopalians fought Roman Catholics, Roman Catholics fought Presbyterians, and Presbyterians fought amongst themselves!
All because of “what we believe”?
What does it mean to believe?
A living, vibrant trust and love and commitment.
But for many Christians, it’s all about ideas … cold, hard facts … points of doctrine.
What it comes to such belief ...
Even the Devil believes, says James.
The Devil believes in God, the Devil believes in Jesus, the Devil believes in the resurrection from the dead, and all the other things Christians fuss over … yes, the Devil believes, thoroughly and knowledgeably.
But there’s no love in the Devil’s heart … no loyalty … no commitment … not a shred of trust.
To simply believe that something happened, that something may be true, even to defend it and argue over it, this is not what God intends.
God doesn’t care what we believe about God!
God cares deeply how we live for God!
The truth we live.
The mercy we show.
The forgiveness we practice.
The justice we seek.
The peace we create.
You shall know them by their fruits, says Jesus.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. … If we live by the Spirit, Paul writes, let’s follow the Spirit …
When the New Testament talks about belief in Jesus, it’s all about trust and commitment and love and loyalty … a way of life that follows in the footsteps of Jesus … a way of life that embraces the life Jesus reveals … the quality of life laid out for us in the Beatitudes … the Golden Rule … Matthew 25, kindness to the least of these is kindness to me, says Jesus.
Think of the Apostles Creed …
I believe in God the Father Almighty … and in Jesus Christ his only son, our Lord… and I believe in the Holy Spirit.
I’ve heard the Yellow Pages read with more passion.
Lots of folks say the creed, claim to believe it, even fight over whether it ought to be “ghost” or “spirit” or “living” or “quick” - but saying the creed, or even fighting about what we believe about the virgin birth and resurrection, isn’t enough; not even close.
To capture the power of the original word credo, “I believe” … from the Latin, two words: cor, meaning “heart,” from which we get the word “cordial” or “accord” - and do, meaning to set, place or give… thus, to say, credo, “I believe” means, to set the heart upon, or give the heart … to God!
We might translate the Apostles’ Creed like this:
I give my heart to God the Father Almighty … I give my heart to Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord … I give my heart to the Holy Spirit … and to the life of the Spirit … the church … forgiveness … resurrection … eternal life.
If we say to someone, “I believe in you” …
It’s not their “physical existence” we believe.
We believe in THEM!
We rely on them, admire them, trust what they’re doing, and more than that, we want the best for them.
Think of saying all of that to God:
Dear God:
I rely upon you.
I admire you.
I trust you.
I want the best for you.
At the heart of the Christian life, a deep and abiding surrender … life given to God … love for God, love for the things of God … to love what God loves; to do what God does.
John Calvin’s motto … O LORD, promptly and sincerely, I give my heart to you …
The surrender of the self.
All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!
The Holy Spirit comes to the church.
The first breath of a new life.
The creation story all over again … a handful of dirt, the breath of God, the dirt becomes a living creature!
Ezekiel’s Valley of Dry bones.
Can these bones live again? God asks.
Of course they can … by the word of the LORD … and breath from the four winds.
The word for Spirit in the New Testament, pneuma … we get the word “pneumatic” or “pneumonia” … breath, wind, Spirit … the same in the Old Testament, ru-ach - breath, wind, Spirit.
Like a mighty wind comes the Spirit, and with fire!
Life to the church.
The flames of love came to all in that upper room.
No one’s flame was bigger or brighter than anyone else’s flame.
All were empowered to proclaim the gospel in all the languages of the world …
The gift of many languages compels us to pay attention to one another … to listen carefully … speak clearly … strive for understanding … ask questions … learn other languages … in a world of many languages.
On the street of any major city anywhere in the world … Paris, London, Cape Town, Rome, Cairo and Los Angeles … many tongues, all kinds of dress … restaurants with foods from around the world … music and dance from every corner of the globe.
More and more even in small towns … the world is on the move, and getting smaller every day … peoples, languages … all on the same sidewalk, shopping in the same stores, going to the same schools.
Many languages … a gift from God!
Because there are so many ways to speak the language of love.
The language of love is bigger than one language!
The glory of God requires many languages, many words, many tongues …
O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!
Amen and Amen!
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