From a message given at Durham Friends Meeting, April 7, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For some, Jesus\u2019s message is what you take to heart. What he preached, what he taught, was so very different from what anyone else was teaching. Not just turn the other cheek. The last shall be first. Be not proud but be humble. Ask for forgiveness. Help the poor in possession, body or spirit. He taught a new way of life that turned upside down the common sense of the world, and you find it oddly compelling even if very, very challenging to follow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For others, it\u2019s the miracles. There\nwere miracles he performed while he was alive. Water to wine, lepers\ncleansed of their affliction, the sick healed, a multitude fed on a few loaves\nand fishes, even one raised from the dead. Like a master magician, he\nsaved his most stunning miracle for the end by coming back from his own\ndeath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Message\nor miracle? Miracle or message? Speaking for myself, I\u2019ve been more drawn\nto the message, the challenging message, than to the miracle. I\u2019ve not\nbeen sure what to make of the miracle story. This spring season presses\nus to think about the miracle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I grew up in a church that recited the\nApostles Creed nearly every Sunday. It wasn\u2019t really written by the\nApostles, but it is old, probably from the 4th<\/sup> century. \nQuakers are suspicious of creeds. George Fox, our founder, said, \u201cYou will say, Christ saith this, and the apostles say this: but\nwhat canst thou say?\u201d <\/em>But just today I want to read the\nApostles Creed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nbelieve in God, the Father almighty, I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, I believe in the Holy Spirit, I am\nstruck by how much that 115-word summary stresses the miracle. It hardly\nsays a word about the message \u2013 maybe nothing at all. Where is the Sermon\non the Mount in that Creed? The Good Samaritan? Where is the tenderness\nto the poor or broken-hearted? Where is the call to peace and justice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\nCreed with its focus on the miracle side gives us guidance about how we are to\nunderstand the miracle. \u201cResurrection of the body\u201d: that would be a\nmiracle. \u201cDitto \u201cLife everlasting\u201d \u2013 the door to heaven swung open to\nbelievers. \u201cForgiveness of sins\u201d: some theologians speak of \u201csubstitutionary\natonement:\u201d Christ died for our sins so we can be forgiven, a dramatic \u2018paying\nit forward.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n But let\u2019s\nnote. People don\u2019t write creeds to sum up what everyone believes. \nThey write creeds to forge agreement, maybe even force agreement. Among\nearly Christians there was disagreement about what the miracle of Jesus\u2019s last\ndays was about. Serious disagreement. The Apostles Creed was put\ntogether to insist on orthodoxy. If you didn\u2019t subscribe to that you were\na heretic. Hence the Quaker reluctance about creeds. \u201cWhat canst\nthou say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The entire message is available at Doug’s blog, River View Friend<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From a message given at Durham Friends Meeting, April 7, 2019 For some, Jesus\u2019s message is what you take to heart. What he preached, what he taught, was so very different from what anyone else was teaching. Not just turn … Continue reading
\n creator of heaven and earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the holy catholic church,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the communion of saints,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the forgiveness of sins,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the resurrection of the body,
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and the life everlasting. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n