It must have been in the early 1990’s that John Stoner introduced me to what Richard Rohr calls “the great comma.’ The great comma is the one that follows “born of the Virgin Mary,” in the Apostles Creed. There is absolutely no mention of Jesus’ life or teachings in the Apostle’s Creed which many Christians mumble through each Sunday’s worship service. The creed jumps from “born of the Virgin Mary” to ” suffered under Pontious Pilate, was crucified dead and buried” and so forth. Let me repeat. There is no recognition of Jesus’ life or teachings.
When John Stoner made that observation, I was completely blown away and still am to this day. Here is one of the great creeds of the church, yet it makes no mention of Jesus’ life and teachings, the very things that led to his crucifixion, the things that gave meaning to his life. But perhaps that is not surprising, as the writing of that creed occurred under Constantine’s watchful eye, and I am sure he didn’t want the church teaching anything that would undermine his power. After all, he had presented this great gift to the church by no longer persecuting anyone who was a follower of Jesus. Why wouldn’t they be willing to make the seemingly meaningless sacrifice of eliminating a few words in what became known as The Apostle’s Creed? But what a tragic sacrifice those early church fathers made. Over the past thousand-plus years, the elimination of this crucial part of His story has led to a theology that is all about the supernatural, the gift of salvation that occurred on the Cross, that somehow absolves us of all our sins. We’ve been taught by church leaders that it is far more important to believe certain essential statements of faith than to emulate the one we call Master and Lord. In fact, many call doing good works “works righteousness”. But remember, the Apostle James reminded us that faith without works is dead.
Today, people are increasingly hungry for something to give their lives meaning. They are feeling empty and depressed, for the pursuit of wealth can be alluring, but in the end, less than satisfying. All we have to do is look at our president to see that the pursuit of money, power, and possessions isn’t satisfying, for the more he has, the more he wants. And that seems to be true for all the super wealthy. The more they have, the more they need. It reminds me of Jesus’ conversation with the rich young ruler who came to him for the secret to eternal life. But when Jesus told him to sell all he had, give it to the poor, and follow Him, he went away sad and grieving.
There is not a saint whom we all revere who did not do exactly what Jesus told the rich young ruler to do. They lived out that blank space following the great comma. They sought to emulate Jesus, giving away what they had to care for the poor, and chose to live very simple and plain lives of service and prayer. Look at St. Francis, one of the world’s most popular saints. I’m not advocating that we give away all we have and live in poverty, but I am advocating that those of us who claim to be Christians or Christ followers recognize that the missing emphasis in what the church teaches is the importance of studying the human Jesus, for He is the one who teaches us how to be fully human by living out His teachings and example to love the each other, including those of other races, cultures, religions, etc. Love and concern for others should become an integral part of our everyday lives if we are to live meaningful lives. Whether we believe certain doctrines or not seems almost irrelevant if we can do that.