Statement of Faith by Luke

July 2009

The following statment can be read in conjunction with my most recent posting, "Musings from Mexico" posted February 2010. Happy Reading!!

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I believe in the one Triune God - Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit
A living God and God of all that lives.

I believe in The God of Life,
who brought forth a world of abundance for all people of all times and places,
who turns toward the path of justice and peace,
who turns away from the fears of scarcity and death,
who upholds those who seek the path of harmony between the Creator and the created.

I believe that The God of Life stands with, and cries out for, those who face injustice and oppression:
those who are called to serve the body of Christ but have yet to be welcomed,
those who are forced to leave their homes and communities in order to provide for their

families and loved ones,
those who suffer hatred and humiliation because of their

gender, race, age, nationality, faith tradition, sexuality, or disability,
those who face the dangerous risks of defending basic human rights.

I believe in the God of Life, the Creator.
God created humanity in God’s own image. God continues to create and gives us life today.

The Creator entrusted us to care for and to sustain the abundant Creation.

Rather than follow the Creator’s instructions, to care for the earth and to eat from the

garden, we sought to know the very mystery of life itself. We came to know, through our own

sin, that we are indeed the created and not the Creator.

I believe in the God of Life, incarnate in Jesus.
Because we are fallen, the God of Life became flesh: fully human, fully divine. God graciously

entered into a form we know: human, a child born of wanderers, a sibling, a person of deep

faith, and an outcast; one abused, oppressed, mocked, and ultimately killed. His life was also

divine: healing the sick, welcoming the deserted, forgiving sins, bringing life to the dead, and

crossing borders with determination and grace.

Jesus’ life leads us in a new way toward peace, justice, equality, and abundance. Jesus’

crucifixion was a demonstration of our sinfulness: a violent political act, rooted in fear and the

myth of scarcity. In Christ’s resurrection, once again God affirms life. Only through God’s

abundant grace are we claimed by God and given new life to bear witness to God’s child,

Jesus our Savior.

I believe in the God of Life, present with us through the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit enlivens the created in all times and all places. The Spirit inspired the authors of
our Scriptures to record their experiences of the God of Life. Just as the Spirit inspired these
authors, so she today inspires us to meet the God of Life through our own experiences, and
through these same Scriptures.

The Spirit draws us together as the Church. Through God’s graceful Spirit, we hear the Word
incarnate and respond together in faith. As the Body of Christ, through God’s grace, we follow
Jesus’ example to advocate for the voiceless and be a hopeful presence on earth. The Spirit
gives us the courage and faith to recognize that we tend toward the same fears that led to
Jesus’ crucifixion. In our tendency, even as the body of Christ, we must recognize that their
are voiceless members present in our congregations who seek to faithfully serve Christ’s
body. As a church we must seek to listen to all voices, relying on the Spirit’s movement
toward justice, reconciliation, and healing. As a church, we are guided by the Scriptures and
moved by the Spirit to go out humbly into the world,
proclaiming the presence of the God of Life.

I believe in the God of Life present in our Sacraments: Baptism and the Eucharist.
In celebrating these Sacraments, we proclaim the God of Life present today. Through
Baptism we recognize God’s gracious claim on our lives and are welcomed into the living Body
of Christ. At the common Table – open to all of God’s children, claimed by Christ – we are
gathered together through the Holy Spirit. We come together in response to God’s love,
remembering our brokenness, and celebrating new life in Christ. In celebrating our baptism
and in breaking bread together, we celebrate God’s mysterious gift of new life through Jesus.

I believe in the God of Life, who has called us into new life through Jesus. I believe that we are
called, as the Body of Christ, to stand with the God of Life, advocating for love and justice in
the face of injustice and oppression. I believe that the suffering and injustices of this world will
be reconciled in the Kingdom of Heaven. We, as church, even while we are assured of new life
after death, are called by God to be co-creators of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. I believe
that we are called to proclaim a world of beauty and abundance,
which the God of Life created and called good.