Wednesday of Holy Week
There is great power in speaking truth.
The Apostle Paul references the act of “speaking truth” in a well-known passage from Ephesians:
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”—Ephesians 4:14-16 (NIV)
The phrase “speaking the truth in love” has taken on a very specific meaning in the lives of churches and individual Christians. It is usually used in the context of corrective speech, as in “I need to tell you something…in love.” We reference it when we have something unpleasant to say to another person and we want to make sure they know our motivations are not harmful, but rooted in love.
Though that is a good principle to derive from this passage, Paul is talking about so much more. He says these words in the context of a teaching about Christian maturity, encouraging members of the church to use their spiritual gifts to build one another up “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph. 4:13, NIV) That includes honest and loving speech, but it’s more about the transformative power of truth. Not just the hard truth of personal censure, but the truth of the whole gospel—truth about who God is and what he has done for us in Christ.
Paul wasn’t merely giving us a guide for correcting one another. He was telling us to speak the truth of the gospel over one another’s lives in such a way that we grow deeply in faith. We can do this by sharing Scripture with each other, or even through just a simple statement of divine truth:
You are loved
You are forgiven
God is able
God is with you
Statements of truth, whether simple or profound, are needed in the life of faith. In the ancient church, when it was vitally important to define what truths sat at the center of Christianity, they developed what we call “creeds.” A creed is a declarative statement of biblical truth, put together in a way that believers may easily remember and recite. They have no divine power on their own, but reflect the power of God’s truth as revealed in Scripture and ultimately in Jesus. They tell the story of who God is and what God has done, and they remind us that we are part of a much larger plan and story.
Not every church uses creeds, but I have found through the years they can be very helpful tools for study, personal devotion, and worship. The song for today is based on the Apostles’ Creed, one of the oldest statements of belief in the Christian church. It was originally written in Latin, and there are a few different translations available. Whichever one you use, it can be a fruitful experience to simply sit and meditate on the truths it affirms. It is a powerful experience to declare these truths over our lives:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
he descended into hades;
the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
the holy Christian Church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting. Amen.
(for a brief video teaching on the Apostles’ Creed click here)
(for a downloadable version w/scriptural references click here)
Tomorrow the journey to the cross takes a crucial turn. Events are set in motion on Thursday of Holy Week that lead quickly to Christ’s arrest, torture, and execution. As we prepare our hearts and minds to sit with this, the central event of our faith, it is good to sit with the central truths of our faith. Using an ancient creed can be a very moving way to do that. It reminds us that we are joining our voices with countless saints of old who also used these words to declare what they believe.
It is a way of speaking truth, and there is great power in speaking truth.
And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man
Read the rest of the lyrics here.
Questions for Reflection:
1) Reading the Apostles’ Creed prayerfully can be a powerful and moving experience. Read the creed slowly, one line at a time, stopping to sit with the truth each line proclaims, letting these words take root deep in your soul.
2) Here are links to some passages that many consider to be “credal” in nature. What important truths do they communicate to you? How might you build these truths into your devotional life on a regular basis, drawing strength from what they declare?
3) Reflect on these lyrics from the song. How do they resonate with you? What do they say about the truths expressed in the creed?
I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man
4) Read and reflect on these verses. Some think they may be the very first creed. Let these words lead you into prayerful worship and gratitude:
“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.”—1 Corinthians 15:3-5 (NIV)