This morning begins a sermon series on "Classic Doctrines of Our Faith." I begin with a bit of fear and trepidation in this endeavor, given that if I took a poll this morning, I would get a variety of responses and we would end up with as many doctrines as there are people in the church. Some background for how this series came about is in order. Last January, the church council spent some time together over two Saturdays to look at some of the issues facing this congregation. Out of our discussions the question of "what do we believe?" surfaced. From that discussion, a small team was formed called the Core Beliefs Committee. Marion Giles, Ken Glossbrenner, Chet Apy and David Henritzy agreed to work on the issue and have met off and on since last January to figure out ways to get at the question of belief and doctrine. Many thanks to this team for all their work. The church council has had ongoing discussions sparked by the committee. One of the results of the team's work has been the survey which so many of you returned, and this sermon series we are entering into this morning. What has struck me through this whole process is also what for me is the bottom line any time we talk about doctrine. And that is that we do so only within the framework of a relationship with God and God's people. I suspect that the Core Beliefs Team has been strengthened by their work together and the new relationships developed. I know that the Church Council experienced working together in a way that demonstrates the reality of who we are as the people of God.

This morning, as we begin our series, I want to lay the framework of my approach to our discussion of the doctrines of our faith. For me, doctrine is not a weapon that we use against another. Enough wars have been waged over religion. Doctrine is also not something we use to separate the sheep from the goats so to speak. It is not, as the saying from Project Runway goes: "one day you're in, the next day you're out." Jesus is very clear about what separates us when it comes to judgment:

Then those sheep are going to say, "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?" Then the King will say, "I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me – you did it to me." Then he will turn to the goats, the ones on his left, and say, "Get out, worthless goats! You're good for nothing but the fires of hell." Then those goats are going to say, "Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn't help?" He will answer them, "I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me – you failed to do it to me." (Matthew 25, The Message)

Doctrine is also not about being perfect believers. The Pharisees in Jesus' day thought that if they practiced all the tenants of the law to perfection that would guarantee their standing with God. Jesus countered that by teaching the Beatitudes. In The Way of Forgiveness, our current Companions course, the author states: "When Jesus calls us to 'be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect,' he clearly does not mean a pinched, legalistic concept of perfection – the very thing he has been warning against in each instance! He points rather to a deep, God-designed wholeness in the human spirit." (Companions in Christ; The Way of Forgiveness, page 19)

We humans have a great longing to be in a relationship with God our Creator. Some would say we are hard wired to be spiritual beings. For me, that is where doctrine and belief comes into importance. It would be much simpler perhaps if I could stand here each Sunday and tell you what to believe according to tenants of Christianity. You could go home and work on them … or decide that Christianity is not for you. Eventually, you could reach a point where you were entirely "right" in your beliefs in God … because you had studied enough, learned enough and worked hard enough. But as Jesus reminded the Pharisees so often, that would be missing the point. Doctrines of our faith … what we believe … are crucial in that they give us a framework of expression for our relationship with God. They are living, breathing concepts that help us in our journey towards a completely "perfect" relationship with God. A relationship in which the desires of our spirit are completely the desires of God for us. It is from that view that we will be exploring some of the classic faith statements that have endured over the centuries of Christianity. The surveys that you returned have helped shape the doctrines we will look at. We will be talking about the history of those doctrines, what some of the ramifications of them have been, but most importantly how they draw us into a relationship with God. It is my hope that they spark much discussion in our faith journey.

In this morning's Gospel text Jesus reminds us of the care God takes with each one of us. To the watching world he speaks in foolish terms – why risk 99 sheep for the sake of one, why spend time and energy searching for one coin when you still have the nine? Yet, that is what Jesus calls us to do … go after the least and the lost … even when it seems foolish to do so … because each is a child of God, called to be in relationship with God who creates and redeems us. Each of us is named and claimed. This past week marked the sixth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. In the remembrance of that day is a vivid picture of the importance of each person. Remember how critical it was in the days following 9/11 that each person who died that day was named, how even now the search for their remains and identities goes on. Even now, six years later, it is the reading of the names that shapes the Ground Zero ceremony. Psalm 115 speaks of God's care for the life and death of each person: "Costly, too costly is the death of one of God's faithful." Six years ago, the search was still underway for the victims of that day. I was grateful for the care that was being taken in finding and naming every person. I also remember hoping we would learn to care in such a way for victims of all tragedies … to know that when mudslides bury villages, and tsunamis wash towns to sea that each person has a name and a story … each is a child of God, costly and precious. This year as I stood at Ground Zero for the observance I also reflected on the place of doctrine and belief, knowing that I would be beginning this sermon series. In the light of such massive events do such things matter? The answer is yes … that, while doctrine and belief aren't weapons we use to divide or judge, they are crucial in developing a relationship with God and with one another.

Again, it is doctrine that provides the framework for our being as God's people. One of the classic doctrines crucial to me is that of redemption and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. It saddened me to know that the names of 9/11 victims were painted on some of the bombs dropped on Afghanistan. Knowing that my brother's name might have been on a bomb that affected people I came to know on my visit to that country was painful. I could not help but ask the what if … what if Billy's name was on the bomb that killed Amina's family … a little girl who was the only one left after a bomb went astray and hit her home? In listening to the names being read one reader gave me great pause. As one of the rescue workers stood to read, he began by saying: "We will never forgive and we will never forget." We will never forgive … how does the concept of forgiveness work out in such acts of terror? What meaning will they have? Quite simply for me it comes down to the question of what will define us – the love of God, or the evil of the world and in forgiveness we are freed to live as children of God.

In that light, doctrine and belief are crucial in shaping and guiding our journey to live completely in God's love. As we explore some of these concepts in the coming weeks my hope is that what we profess as God's people becomes alive for you and a means for strengthening your faith life. We journey together knowing we have been called into being in the love of God that created us, redeemed us in the saving actions of Jesus Christ … and are sent out in the power of the Holy Spirit to be the very presence of God at work in the world.