LIVING THEOLOGY: APOSTLE’S CREED, COMMUNION, AND ART

Part 2: The Great Comma

Chapters 8-11

“THERE MUST BE A WAY TO BE BOTH HERE AND IN THE DEPTH OF HERE. JESUS IS THE HERE, CHRIST IS

THE DEPTH OF HERE.” ( P. 1 1 8 )

Please join together in a five-minute contemplation of the following quote:

“BUT JESUS TURNED RELIGION AND HISTORY ON THEIR HEADS, INVITING US TO IMAGINE THAT GOD WOULD GIVE HIMSELF AS FOOD FOR US!” ( P. 1 3 1 )

Gently close your eyes and experience the internal sensation of having a body. Choose one part of your body—a hand, a foot, your mouth—and

feel into all the sensations that exist there. What do you notice?

Now, having examined your own body, reflect on the above quotation and the idea that “God would give [his very body] as food for us!” Note

down what arises for you as you consider this.

For the next two minutes, consider the quotation and following questions:

CREATING A PERSONAL APOSTLES’ CREED

Richard Rohr’s concept of ‘The Great Comma’ comes from his revelation into the fact that the Apostles’ Creed actually leaves out most

of Jesus’ ministry. In place of Jesus’ life from birth to suffering under Pontius Pilate is a comma, “…born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate…”. Today I want you to consider if the Apostles’ Creed

actually captures all that you believe and value in your faith.

Creating a personal Apostles’ Creed is a common confirmation class activity. It allows youth who are growing into their faith to own it in a

new way. I encourage you to do the same. Let’s do it together!

GOD

GIVE YOURSELF 20 MINUTES TO FILL OUT THE FOLLOWING COLUMNS WITH WHAT

YOU BELIEVE ABOUT EACH TOPIC.

JESUS HOLY SPIRIT OTHER (CHURCH)

• Ex. Creator of the World

• Ex. Born in Bethlehem, Taught in Galilee

• Ex. Provides specific gifts and talents to believers

• Ex. Forgiveness of sins

APOSTLES’ CREED

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, died and was buried.He descended into hell.On the third day He rose again from the dead.He ascended into heavenand sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.From thence He will come to judge the living 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.

We believe in the one High God of love who created the beautiful world and everything good in it. He created man and wanted man to be happy in the world. God loves the world and every nation and tribe in the world. We have known this God in darkness, and we now know God in the light. God promised in his book the Bible that he would save the world and all the nations and tribes.

We believe that God made good on his promise by sending his son, Jesus Christ, a man by the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left his home and was always on safari, doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and man, showing that the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by his people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He lay buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day he rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is lord.

We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him. All who have faith in him must be sorry about their sins, be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God, live by the rules of love and share the bread together, to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again. We are waiting for him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen.

MAASAI CREED (1960, EAST AFRICA)

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF OTHER CREEDS TO HELP YOU BUILD YOUR OWN

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church, I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

NICENE CREED

WRITE YOUR OWN CREED

It can be as short or as long as you want.

It can be broken into different sections like the different columns provided.

All that matters is that it is a statement of what you believe.

WHAT DO THESE BELIEFS MEAN FOR YOU?

• The entire second part Richard Rohr’s book, The Universal Christ, is all about how theology should change the way that you live your life.

• How does this creed affect your everyday life?

• Does it? Should it?

• If you lived your life based on the beliefs you just wrote down, how might that affect the way you treat others? the way you treat the world? or the way you treat yourself?

• Let’s go into some examples to help you think more deeply about this concept of living theology.

CATHOLIC (RICHARD ROHR)• Communion is a part of Sunday services

every week.

• It is considered a Holy Sacrament, (one of seven) – a moment where man and God are both present.

• Transubstantiation: The belief that Jesus’ body and blood are “truly and substantiallypresent” which means that the bread and wine are permanently changed into the body and the blood of Jesus

• Communion is (usually) a part of Sunday services every week.

• It is considered a Holy Sacrament (one of two) – a moment where man and God are both present, but also an act that Jesus himself partook.

• Real Presence: The belief that Jesus’ body and blood are “truly present” in the Lord’s Supper but this presence is a mystery that we can only believe and never truly explain.

LUTHERAN

COMMUNION

The important difference in these differing theologies is that the belief in transubstantiation could lead someone to venerate the bread and wine rather than celebrate Jesus’ purpose for the meal: the forgiveness of sins. This is just one example of how theology changes the way we act and think about ourselves, our worship services, and our community.

LUTHERAN COMMUNION THEOLOGY: BUT HOW DOES THAT HELP US TO ACT

AS THE BODY OF CHRIST

• What has been your experience of communion?

• Can you think of a particularly moving communion service?

• What does it feel like to take communion or, in light of this new social distancing, to miss taking communion?

• Rohr says theology should change you, how does your view of communion help you to be what you eat: the Body of Christ?

LIVING THEOLOGY: GOING DEEPER WITH CONTEMPLATIVE ART

• Rohr states in chapter 8, “Art is the giveaway of what people really believe at any time.” (105)

• What art (or absence of art) have you noticed at First Lutheran?

• Can you think of great art pieces, religious or not, that help you to understand that artists’ inner beliefs? Maybe it was an anonymous work that instead spoke to you about the community that commissioned it.

• Rohr gave two examples of art in chapter 9 that we are going to contemplate now. He said that these pieces gave him ”incarnational and contemplative insight.” (118) Meaning they become places where he could be both here and in the depth of here, like the statement we began the session with: Jesus is the here, Christ is the depth of here. Let’s take a look at them and see if we can see what Rohr saw…

THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST

Hans Süss von Kulmbach

1513

24 1/4 x 15 in.

Oil on Fir

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Spend 3 minutes contemplating this painting

EMPATHY AND SYMPATHY

What comes up for you in this art?

What is the “depth” of this art?

ST. FRANCIS

Bronze Statue

Upper Basilica in Assisi, Italy

Spend 3 minutes contemplating this sculpture

EMPATHY AND SYMPATHY

What comes up for you in this art?

What is the “depth” of this art?

CONCLUDING THOUGHT

I challenge you to finding the “depth” in your own life. Find where Jesus is (the here) and where Christ is (the depth of here).