Introduction
Today we start a 9 part sermon series looking at the Apostles' Creed. This is one of the creeds we use in worship and we will be using for the next 9 weeks. It's on the inside of the orders of worship. It is one of the first creeds, or statements of faith, used in the church and the words we say today have been used in this form since the 8th Century and in slightly different forms since the middle of the 3rd century.
The Apostle's Creed is so named as in the Middle Ages people thought that the 12 apostles actually sat down and wrote the creed. We now know, because of its later dating, that this is not the case. The creed however gives a simple summary of the important tenets of the Christian faith.
The creed was originally used to help people being baptised prepare for baptism. It would have been said by the candidates before they were baptised. We say it to re-affirm the central things we believe as Christians. Today we are going to look at the first clause in the creed: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of Heaven and earth.
I Believe in God the Father
We start by affirming our belief in God as the creator of the world. Our reading from Genesis, at the start of the Bible, shows the creation story where God makes the universe out of nothing.
Our world is so complex, so beautiful and so well planned that we believe it could not have come about through the random movement of chemicals, our world needed a creator and that creator could only be God.
One of the traditional proofs of the existence of God was articulated by a philosopher called Paley. He told a story of a man wandering through a desert who came across a watch. He picked the watch up and was struck by its beauty and its complexity. He looked at all the small moving parts within it, at how they fitted together and worked well. He pondered about how it had gotten there into the middle of this desert. Clearly it hadn't grown there, it must have been made by someone, it must have been designed. If it was designed, it must have had a designer who was clever enough to create such a complex machine. Paley used this metaphor to explain the existence of God. The world is so well ordered and so well made, that it must have had a designer, the only person clever enough and powerful enough to have created the world is God. Therefore, Paley concluded, God must exist.
When we read the creation account we also notice the almost liturgical refrain "and God saw what he had made, and it was good". Christians are used to thinking of original sin, and the fallenness of humanity, but in these verses we read time and time again that before ever there was sin and evil, there was blessing. The world is made by God and is good.
The other part of the creative nature of God that is worth mentioning at this point is that humanity is itself made in the image of God. "Male and female He created them, in His own image he created them". Theologians wonder about what this "image of God" is. What is it about us that is made in God's image. Three things spring to mind, the first two I was taught as a child.
We, like God, cannot die. We will live forever. What we do with eternity is pretty dependant on the choices we make now, but like God we are immortal, maybe this is partly what is meant by being in the image of God. Also, like God we know the difference between right and wrong. My dog doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. He knows what he can get away with me is much more than what he can get away with Ian - but that is not quite the same thing. He knows that we will be cross if he eats the butter or the dinner - both of which he is quite adept at doing, but he doesn't really comprehend if something is right or wrong. We, like God have a moral sense that tell us broadly speaking, if something is right or wrong.
Both these things are the traditional reasoning of what is meant by being made in the image of God. But they don't quite sum it up for me. I think both are true, but they ignore that startling fact that "male and female He made them, in God's own image". There is something about our maleness and our femaleness which is in the image of God.
God as Father
We are used to the image of God as father. The prayer that Jesus taught us is called either the "Lord's prayer" or the "Our Father" depending on what tradition you come from. It is recited by Christians the world over, particularly in Communion services. The term Jesus used "abba" is nearer to "daddy" than "father". It is an intimate word used by Jesus to emphasis the closeness of God who is like a loving father to His people. It is a strong image, we can, usually, relate to it - even if our own father's didn't quite come up to scratch, we can understand what a father is supposed to be and do. In this image we see something of God as the good father.
The problems that some have with this image come from a variety of sources. Over the last 40 years the feminist movement has questioned, quite rightly, many of the linguistic conventions we use. Mary Daly famously pointed out that "if God is male then male is God". The growth of awareness of abuse in families, coupled with the high incidence of abuse being perpetrated by men has meant that images like "father" can become very problematic for some people.
Another problem is with how we understand language. We are used to metaphors and similies. A metaphor is when we compare to things by using the word "is". For example Catholics would say "the Church is our mother". What they mean is that the Church behaves as a mother should". A simile is a softer comparison and uses the word "like". When we say "God is father" we mean "God is like a father". No human language can possibly express the absolute inexpressible which is God. The Muslims understand this better than Christians. They say that there are 99 names of God known to humanity, but there are, actually 100 names. Only the camel knows the 100th name of God, and that is why the camel smiles. It is there way of saying that all human language about God is necessarily partial and incomplete. When we affirm our believe in God the father, we are not saying that God is male, or has a body, we are saying that in God's dealing with humanity He behaves like a father.
God as mother
But if we say that God is like a father, then we must affirm that God is also like a mother. This is the consequence of believing that both male and female are created in God's own image. The Bible is light on female images of God, but the images that are there are powerful. In Exodus God is described as a Mother Eagle who helps her young to fly; many of the modern worship songs we use follow up on this image. The eagle image is wonderful, as mother eagles help their young to fly by swooping under and supporting them when their wings start to fail. They are also rather fiercely protective mothers too. In Hosea God is described as a mother bear who chases off predator. Jesus compares himself to a mother hen who protects her brood. This images in scripture expand our notions of God and move us beyond Mary Daly's glib assertion about a male God means males are godlike.
In a church like MCC where we celebrate the diversity of who God made us to be, this idea that male and female are part of God is helpful. On our own faith journeys we can relate to God as Father or as Mother. Some people try to relate to God in a non-gendered way, but many of us find that rather impersonal and difficult to conceptualise.
Implications
So what does all this mean for us? We say we believe in God the Father who created all things. We realise that when we say "God is a father" we are using a metaphor and we could just as easily say "God is a mother". But how does this help us to live as faithful disciples in our world?
I think there are three things we can take with us from this clause of the creed.
The first is that God is the creator and we are His stewards. A steward gives account for how they have looked after the King's property whilst the King has been away. How we treat the created order: the environment, our pets, the animals we have killed for food, all relate to how well we understand our role as stewards of God's creation. The choices we make when we buy goods and services, the type of meat and animal products we buy and use and how we treat the animals who are near us, all reflect what type of stewards we are of the created world.
The second is to realise that both women and men are made in God's own image, and that image is good. This means learning to adjust our own self image so we reflect the fact that we are made in God's image. Many of us have very low self esteem which needs to improve. It also means that behaviours, humour, language or attitudes which degrade those of another gender is to deny the image of God that is in all of us.
The last thing is to focus on this idea of God as a father or as a mother. The key thing to think about here is not the image, but the quality. God is personal, God yearns for a personal relationship with us which sustains us and helps us to be the people we are called to be.
Prayer
Loving
God, Maker and Mother,
Like a mother eagle you nurture us as your
young,
You support us when we are too tired to go on.
You are strong like
a good father and inspire us to follow your Son.
Help us to remember we are
made in your image,
And that your image is good.
Help us to be good
stewards of creation,
To value each other as your people,
And help us grow
in our relationship with you.
Amen.
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.