I Believe

Please understand that this statement of faith is a work in progress. I am open to any suggestions and appreciate any push-back.

I give my heart to and allow my actions to pour out of my conviction that there has always existed, continues to exist, and will forever exist one God who is manifest in three distinct persons yet still a singular entity. This has traditionally been called the Trinity. It is both mysterious and revealed in my experience of this Lord, Master, and Lover of all. God has intermittently and dramatically intervened in human history and at the same time has allowed human choice to affect events past, present and future.

I commit myself to the first, but not premier, person of the Trinity, historically called the Father by name yet the gender-neutral Parent of all humanity and the Creator and Organizer of the universe in function. God has intermittently and dramatically intervened in human history and at the same time has allowed human choice to affect events past, present and future.

The most unique and sensational intercession by God was the incarnation of the second yet equal person of the Trinity in the entirely human and wholly divine person of Jesus of Nazareth, also called the Christ. Jesus is the Word and Wisdom of God enfleshed, the ramifications of which are that in him God enjoyed the complete human experience. He was born of a woman, a virgin at the time of his birth to demonstrate the remarkable and singular nature of the event, and matured into adulthood. Because of his ministry to the marginalized and outcast, inherently calling into question the unjust systems of the world, he acquired both devout disciples and avid enemies. He was eventually arrested by those with power, underwent a trial by the Roman authority, Pontius Pilate, and was sentenced to death.

The manner of his torture and execution – being whipped without mercy and nailed to a cross until he suffocated and died – caused him to suffer tremendously, allowing him to thoroughly empathize with an afflicted humanity. After a few days, by the power of the third, though living in cooperative and mutual interdependence with the other two, person of the Trinity, known as the Holy Spirit by name and acting as our divine comforter and companion in function, Jesus was raised from the dead. This event, called the resurrection, occurred in time and space. After 40 days, he ascended into heaven where he sits in harmonious relationship with the other two persons of the Trinity. His resurrection gives his followers hope for the future and his eventual return when his vision of a perfectly just Kingdom of God will come to fruition.

Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection served to reconcile humanity with God, each other, and creation as a whole. Human beings from the beginning of time have chosen to wallow in their perceived freedom only to discover that they have actually refused the gifts of God. However, through the work of Jesus, every person has the opportunity to experience redemption, allowing them to live in unity with God, one another, and all of creation. Though humans will never be perfect in this life, they are at once both sinners and saints. As they choose to permit God to work in them and through them, they will serve to bring about the coming Kingdom of God, and I so choose to trust in the work and victory of Jesus so that God may use me, and I may be in proper relation to my fellow human being.

God works in and through humanity by means of the Holy Spirit. Though the third person of the Trinity is the most difficult to comprehend, I fully acknowledge the Spirit’s presence and influence on my life. I also affirm that the Spirit desires believers to be in relationship with each other. This has historically been called the catholic, meaning one, church, and it consists of all believers throughout all time, whether still on Earth or awaiting their own resurrection.

I submit that there are many marks of a believer and true member of the church. They have been initiated through the sacrament of Baptism, they actively seek community with fellow believers by frequently meeting and participating in the sacrament of the Eucharist together, and they desire to live out the moral commands of God, expressed in both the Hebrew Scriptures as well as the New Testament. Together, these two testaments comprise an unequaled authority within Christianity, though it is imperative that these scriptures be interpreted within the community of believers so as to not corrupt their meaning or neglect the individual experiences of fellow followers of Christ.

Lastly, I commit myself to the hope of the goodness of God which will once again envelope all of creation. I may not see it happen in my lifetime, but I am convinced of its imminent arrival, which inspires me to live as though it is already here and to work for its realization.

Amen