“I Believe.”
These two small words make all the difference. On Christ the King Sunday, as we speak together the Apostles’ or Nicene Creed, we affirm our allegiance to the Holy King. Not to the rulers of this world, not to the idols that so insidiously call for our attention, but to the one who has redeemed and restored us.
The worship practice of the church I attend includes this ancient acknowledgement of Christ’s sovereignty every week. Each time we gather we speak the words of the Apostles’ Creed and agree, together, “I believe… .” Even though we speak the words together, we say “I believe,” not “we believe,” making our own commitment, in the context of the community of faith, to our own baptism and inclusion. In the Latin Mass, the Credo is a setting of the Nicene Creed, and is the longest sung section of the mass. (Bach’s setting of the Credo in the Mass in B minor is almost 40 minutes!)
As the liturgical year comes to a close, we are called to remember what is true. From within this truth, we turn ourselves to the anticipation of the new. We align ourselves with the one true King, the one who was, and is, and is to come.
I bow, again, to one Lord, and one only. I die, again, to self and find my life only in Christ. I own, again, my status as a child of God, a friend of Jesus, a disciple filled by the Holy Spirit.
Credo.
This week’s playlist includes classical settings of the Credo by Schubert, Mozart, Bruckner, and Bach, along with three contemporary settings by John Michael Talbot, Graham Kendrick, and by Ben Fielding and Matt Crocker of Hillsongs Church.