Lent 1a 2026; 22 Feb
Matt. 4:1-11; Jack Hardaway
I Give My Heart: The Apostles’ Creed part 1
DEFIANT HOPE
Who can fathom the human heart?
Why we do things?
It is a fragile vulnerable thing, our heart, so easily broken, so easily enslaved.
Jesus and the devil wrestled over the heart of things.
What do I believe?
Where my heart is tells me what I believe.
I believe. That repeated turn of phrase in the Apostles’ Creed
Credo. I believe. It is Latin for I believe, or I give my heart.
I give my heart.
The Apostles’ Creed is an ancient baptismal statement of who we give our heart to.
The earliest forms of it date back to the early 2nd century, the final form being settled in the late 4th century.
The Apostles Creed tells us how the earliest believers read scripture and how they understood God. It reveals something about God’s heart, whom we give our hearts to.
The Creed tells the story of God. The creation. The incarnation of God. The Life and death and resurrection and hope of Jesus as our Judge. It speaks about the Holy Spirit and the many ways we find evidence of the Holy Spirit in the world.
For Lent I will be giving a series of reflections on the Apostles’ Creed, our hearts and the God who fills our hearts. My hope is that the reflections will be spiritual and poignant rather than long and ponderous. Your prayers are appreciated.
Today, we begin with the first two lines: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
The One who is the origin of all that is, the heavens and the earth.
Two lines that speak volumes.
Creation, Genesis chapter one vs one, John’s Gospel chapter one vs one. Many other biblical references and allusions are in the background.
Goodness and intention are at the heart of this opening statement.
Creation in the biblical universe is a belligerent statement of hope.
The ancient world was full of many creation stories that were a way to make sense of things.
The Babylonian creation story, as primary example, saw the world as an accident, two God’s got in a fight and the mess they made is the world, a creation story based on the mess of human experience. The world has no meaning or purpose or direction, it is a divine accident unworthy of notice. Life is a mess, beginning, middle and end.
The biblical creation is in many ways a contrary statement to the Babylonian Myth, a push back against the despair of being held captive by the Babylonians.
Creation is rather full of direction, intention and goodness.
It is a statement of spirit breathed hope that goes beyond our mere human experience of the world. It is belligerent and contrary.
When life loses meaning, when life loses direction, when life loses worth, when life loses hope, I give my heart to the God who fills creation with direction, intention, worth, hope, goodness and meaning.
Especially when our world falls apart we give our hearts to the hope that life is worth living.
It is good to be here. Our lives matter. Especially when it seems like they don’t, especially then we give our hearts to One who is the source and purpose and direction of the Universe.
That is what I believe is at the heart of the creed, especially the opening lines.
Defiant hope.
Next week the reflection will be about Jesus, his birth, his death and his descent to the dead, the sacramental power of material existence, reminding us that salvation is not about escaping the world but rather about the redemption and renewal of all flesh.