“I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” How many times in your life as a Christian have you spoken those words? Confessing the Apostles’ Creed is a regular part of our worship here. But how often have you really thought about what those words mean and why we bother confessing them? Today we start a new sermon series on the Apostles’ Creed - a statement of belief not written by the apostles (Jesus early disciples), but is a concise summary of what they taught as directed by Jesus and prompted by the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul explained well the importance of holding to an accurate creed when he said to his pupil Timothy: “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching... 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you” (2 Timothy 1:13, 14a).
That’s what we intend to do over the next couple of months together: work at guarding the good deposit of Christian teaching as we review the Apostles’ Creed. This teaching about God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is what we need to know and believe for entrance into heaven. Therefore it’s more precious than bars of gold stashed away in a safety deposit box. Today we contemplate the First Article of the Creed: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” When we confess this we’re saying: “There’s only one God - and it’s not me…or you!”
That truth is highlighted very well on Paul’s First Missionary Journey. Our sermon text today described a stop Paul and his co-worker Barnabas made in the city of Lystra, located in present-day Turkey. Paul was in the middle of preaching when he noticed that a man who had been lame from birth was listening intently to him. Perceiving that this man had faith, Paul said to him in a loud voice: “Stand up on your feet!” At this the man didn’t struggle to his feet like you and I do when we’ve been sitting on the floor for some time; he leapt to his feet and started walking as if he had been doing that his whole life!
The crowd was amazed and cried out in their native dialect: “The gods have come down to us in human form!” When word reached the nearby temple dedicated to the Greek god Zeus, the priest brought bulls to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. When the two Christians figured out what was going on, they rushed into the crowd saying: “What do you think you’re doing! We’re not gods! We are men just like you, and we’re here to bring you the Message, to persuade you to abandon these silly god-superstitions and embrace God himself, the living God. We don’t make God; he makes us, and all of this—sky, earth, sea, and everything in them. In the generations before us, God let all the different nations go their own way. But even then he didn’t leave them without a clue, for he made a good creation, poured down rain and gave bumper crops. When your bellies were full and your hearts happy, there was evidence of good beyond your doing” (Acts 14:15-18 Message translation).
This incident makes a couple of truths clear. First, there’s only one true God – the God of the Bible. Paul didn’t slap the people on the back and say, “I’m sure glad you worship Zeus. It’s not the God of the Bible but hey, it’s better than having no religion or spirituality!” No, Zeus and Hermes weren’t “gods” they were “things” as Paul called them. “Things” just as stones, wood chips, and cotton candy are “things.” A stone statue of a god might look impressive, and cotton candy might make you feel good but these “things” are worthless to help when bombs explode among unsuspecting crowds as they did in Boston last week.
That’s why Paul had come all that way to Lystra. He wanted to tell the people there about the one true God. This God, explained Paul, is very powerful for he made all things. Not only that, the true God is very loving. For years he had sent the people of Lystra rain and good crops even though they hadn’t spent a single minute thanking him for it. It’s bad enough if you forget to send Mom a card on Mother’s Day but how is she going to feel if you write a card, buy flowers, and take someone else’s mom out for dinner instead? Every day for centuries God had been slighted like that by the people of Lystra. Thanks and honor that should have been directed to him went to idols instead.
Well it’s a good thing we haven’t treated God like that right? Although we may never in our lives have bowed down to a statue believing that it was a god, we have nevertheless struggled to live the First Article of the Creed. We regularly confess that there is one God but we act as if we are it! Compare your actions and attitudes with Paul’s in Lystra. After Paul worked that miracle, the people wanted to give him credit. Wouldn’t it have been easy for Paul to sign a few autographs and enjoy being the center of attention for a while? So what if the people didn’t quite get that the miraculous power had come from God and not him? But that wasn’t Paul’s attitude at all. Instead he was desperate for the people to understand that the God of the Bible was to be thanked and worshipped.
Although you may never have worked a miracle as did Paul, there are plenty of other things that you do well which impresses others. Perhaps it’s the way that you’re a good mother. You know just what your children need when they need it. Or maybe you’re just really good at making money. Just about everything you touch turns to gold. Or perhaps you’re the life of the party. Or you draw better than most kids in your class. When people comment favorably on these talents, how do you respond? Do you give credit where credit is due? When people tell you what a nice family you have, do you take the opportunity to say: “Well, we’re not perfect. That’s for sure. And that’s why I’m so thankful for God’s forgiveness and for his Word. Without that, there’s no way we could function half as well as we do.” Or if someone comments on the nice car you drive or the hip clothes you wear, do you take the opportunity to say: “Yes, God has sure blessed me in this way. I don’t deserve it though.” This is what the First Article of the Creed reminds us to do: to humble ourselves and acknowledge, “There is a God, a loving and powerful God, and I’m not it!” O Lord, forgive us for forgetting that truth!
But the First Article shouldn’t just humble us; it should also give us confidence. We not only confess that there is only one powerful God, we believe that this God is our Father. In other words we believe that this God loves us and will use his power to protect us and provide for us. But God didn’t protect Paul very well in Lystra, did he? One moment Paul was about to receive a sacrifice, the next moment he was being pelted with stones thanks to the Jews from nearby towns who stirred up the crowd! The rocks must have at least knocked Paul unconscious because the mob dragged him outside the city and left him for dead. “Where was God the Father Almighty?” the new converts to Christianity must have wondered.
Oh he was there in Lystra just as he was there in Boston last week. God the Father Almighty is always at work limiting evil and shaping it for good as easily as a master craftsman can take muddy clay and turn it into useful, even beautiful pottery. That is his promise. And look at how that promise played out in Lystra. Paul had been battered with stones so badly he was left for dead. But he got up, walked back into the city, and then walked on to the town of Derbe 90 km away! That must have only been possible because God the Father Almighty was very much present in Paul’s life.
And he’s present in your life too. That’s what you’re confessing when you say, “I believe in God the Father Almighty…” You’re not just saying that you believe God exists, you’re saying that you believe God exists and uses his power for you! No, that doesn’t mean you’ll never get sick of face financial ruin. In his wisdom, God the Father may allow these challenges because they’re eternally good for you. Yes, it’s good to have your sinful pride kicked in the teeth if you think: “I’m living a pretty clean life here God so this should pay off for me right?” It’s good to suffer pain so that you become more compassionate and more aware of the pain of others (Jonathan Werre). It’s good when God squashes your false sense of security by taking away your health and your money. What do you have left then? You have a God whose love doesn’t fade in and out like cell phone reception (Phil Koelpin). What more do you need?
The people of Lystra thought the gods had come down to them in human form. This excited and amazed them. But hadn’t they been listening to Paul’s message? He had been telling them about the God who had come down to them in the person of Jesus to suffer for their sins. Unfortunately many of these people preferred to kill Paul rather than continue to listen to his preaching about Jesus. That’s the kind of attitude that the devil wants to prompt in us as well. “Another sermon about Jesus?” Satan huffs in your ear every Sunday morning. “How many of these episodes are you going to watch? Why don’t you spend your time doing something more useful and exciting?” Guarding a treasure trove is not always exciting, but it is always useful. Especially when you consider how Satan would love to snatch the treasure of God’s Word from us leaving us to die spiritually and to suffer eternally.
So guard the good deposit. Guard God’s Word because it teaches that there is a living and active Almighty God, and it’s NOT you or me. For that we can be thankful because we can’t provide or protect as God can and does. He is our heavenly Father. Since this is the truth, we will confess it. Amen.
SERMON NOTES
The people of Lystra thought that Paul and Barnabas were gods because of the miracle they performed. What was Paul’s response?
Although we may have never bowed down to an idol before like the people of Lystra did, how have we failed to live the words we confess in the First Article of the Creed (“I believe in God the Father Almighty…”)?
Paul told the people of Lystra that the true God was not only almighty, he was kind and loving. How had he showed this kindness to them? What kindness did God show you last week?
When we confess that God is our Almighty Father, we’re saying that he provides for us and protects us. But how was that true for Paul in Lystra? The people stoned him and left him for dead!
The people of Lystra thought that the gods had come down to them in human form. In what sense were they close to the truth?
