How often do you think about God? It’s hard to say, isn’t it? In my thirteen years of ministry, I see a pattern, in myself, and in others. When things are good, it's easy to take God for granted, and push God to the margins of our attention and priorities. We inadvertently start to think we don't need God. And when things are bad, it's easy to get angry at God, and push God to the margins of our devotion and commitment, because if God isn't here to fix the big things that are wrong with the world, we question if God is worth our time and energy--or if God is even here at all. The Apostles Creed opens with a statement that guards against this pattern. It starts by simply proclaiming, "I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth." Every time we say the creed, we are reminded right away, oh yeah, there's more going on in the world that just me! God is, like a loving Father, working hard to provide for what we need. God is on the job, has always been on the job, and always will be on the job. Bad things happen in every day and age. But so do good things! Saying the creed helps wake up our spiritual eyes and ears to be present to God's presence in our lives. I think it also helps us to see God more clearly. Interestingly, no where does the creed say that God is perfect. It does say God is Father, Almighty, and Creator of all that is. But it does not say God is perfect. I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, but to me, the Creed allows for times when life has us questioning what God is all about. There's space in there for us to consider this more carefully. It does assert that God TOOK THE RISK and created a world where good can flourish--but it might not. Since our focus today is on the first line of the Apostles Creed, "I believe in God the Father, creator of heaven and earth.", you may be wondering why I chose the Parable of the Prodigal Son for our gospel lesson! Well, I chose it for today because it might be more aptly named The Parable of the Faithful Father. We believe in God, God who took the risk and had "two sons" as the parable says. One who followed all the rules, and one who did everything he could to rebel against them. When we say the Apostles’ Creed, we are proclaiming our faith in a God who TOOK THE RISK and made the world. We are proclaiming our faith in a God who TOOK THE RISK and made us! The world is not perfect, we are not perfect, and terrible things can happen when our selfishness colludes with the world's frailties. But God has designed the world in such a way that the opposite can also happen. We can partner with God, in collusion with the beauty and goodness of creation, to bring about a whole new kingdom! We can come home, like the prodigal son, and offer whatever it is we have, and that will start a party that will last until eternity, through the almighty power of God's grace. That is the God I believe in. That is the God I want to pledge my loyalty to. And pledging loyalty is what the Apostles’ Creed is all about. The first word of this historical faith statement as it was originally written in Greek is “Credo”. We think of a creed as something we believe, something we can commit to with our minds. But the original meaning had more to do with something you trust, something you can commit to with your heart and soul. Saying the Apostles’ Creed is a little reciting your marriage vows! It is to God the Father we pledge our loyalty. It is to Jesus the Son we give our hearts. It is to the Holy Spirit we give our whole lives. The Apostles’ Creed was written to protect the church against heresy and get some clarity around core doctrine and beliefs. But it was never meant to be only a statement of intellectual agreement. It is meant to be a statement that leads to the abundant life Jesus promised. With that in mind, let’s make two little clarifications here, because the first line of the Apostles’ Creed can raise red flags for some people. First, when we say we believe in God the Father, we are not saying that God is a male being. God is neither male nor female. Both genders were created in God's image. Both genders were designed to participate equally and share power equally in the world! We call God our Father because Jesus taught us to do that. The word Father is a metaphor, meant to evoke images of protection, provision, thoughtfulness, and loving care. Some people have a hard time calling God Father because their earthly fathers were not any of those things. If that is the case for you, I think Jesus would encourage you to find another word that you can use comfortably. But I also think Jesus would encourage you to get to know your heavenly Father. Don't judge God by your earthly father. Get to know your heavenly father, and judge your earthly relationships by that standard, not the other way around. The second thing I want to point out is, we are proclaiming our faith that God is the creator. But we are not saying God created the world exactly as it is described in the creation stories of Genesis. The book of Genesis is not a science textbook or a historical account. Genesis is a theology text. The creations stories are meant to teach a theological truth: that people are not here by accident, we are here for a purpose, we are loved and wanted and made for relationship with God. The Genesis creation stories do not teach historical or scientific truth. They are meant to teach us that God has created and designed our world--and each of us--to collaborate in bringing about life that flourishes in every way. My favorite part of the prodigal son story is in verse 20. The son has decided to return home to the family farm. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” The father never stopped looking for the son. We call that prevenient grace. God is always at work in the world, looking for us, trying to draw us back home. The father was watching and waiting for the son, and when he saw him in the distance, what did he do? He ran! In Jesus’ day, it was considered most undignified to run. The father was so full of love for the son, he was willing to risk his reputation and status in order to greet him. That is how much love God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, has for each one of us. I don’t know about you, but that’s a truth I have a hard time wrapping my head around sometimes. For God so loved the world, for God so loves me…when I recite the Apostles’ Creed, it’s an opportunity for me to say, God, even if my brain can’t fully comprehend your love, I’m going to say yes to it as best I can with my heart and soul. I am going to give myself over to your love, and trust that, as you are at work in my life, I will understand it better, as the old hymn goes, by and by. Has anyone ever asked you why you believe in God? Why is a hard question to answer, and probably the answers are as unique as each of us. Maybe it’s more important to focus on the so what? What difference does believing in God make? To answer that, I’d like to share with you a story from the book, Does God Have a Big Toe? , written by Rabbi Marc Gellamn. It’s called, “Partners”. Before there was anything, there was God, a few angels, and a huge swirling glob of rocks and water with no place to go. The angels asked God, “Why don’t you clean up this mess?” So God collected rocks from the huge swirling glob and put them together in clumps and said, “Some of these clumps of rocks will be planets, and some will be stars, and some of these rocks will be…just rocks.” Then God collected water from the huge swirling glob and put it together in pools of water and said, “Some of these pools of water will be oceans, and some will become clouds, and come of this water will be…just water.” Then the angels said, “Well God, it’s neater now, but is it finished?” And God answered… “NOPE!” On some of the rocks God placed growing things, and creeping things, and things that only God knows what they are, and when God had done all this, the angels asked God, “Is the world finished now?” And God answered: “NOPE!” God made a man and a woman from some of the water and dust and said to them, “I am tired now. Please finish up the world for me…really it’s almost done.” But the man and the woman said, “We can’t finish the world alone! You have the plans and we are too little! “You are big enough,” God answered them. “But I agree to this: if you keep trying to finish the world, I will be your partner.” The man and the woman asked, “What’s a partner?” and God answered, “A partner is someone you work with on a big thing that neither of you can do alone. If you have a partner, it means that you can never give up, because your partner is depending on you. On the days you think I am not doing enough and on the days I think you are not doing enough, even on those days we are still partners and we must not stop trying to finish the world. That’s the deal.” And they all agreed to that deal. Then the angels asked God, “Is the world finished yet?” and God answered, “I don’t know. Go ask my partners.” Last week we finished our study of the book of Acts and said, now we get to continue the story. We get to write “chapter 29”—the story of how God is at work through the people of Lima. Psalm 8 tells us that God created humans, “a little less than God”. God wants to partner with us, can you believe it? Next week we will consider the second part of this story, the older brother, and use his perspective to help us understand the ministry of Christ. But for now, let us stand and proclaim our faith in the God who is always watching and waiting for us to turn our hearts toward home. Let us pledge our loyalty to God the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, who delights in giving us the opportunity to help bring heaven to earth. Amen.