Rev. Joyce Rodgers
April 26, 2026
Ancient Words, Today’s Faith – Week 2| Philippians 2:5–11
Every week we say it together.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
We’ve said it so many times that it can start to feel automatic — like words we know by heart but don’t always stop to really hear. This week we slowed down and listened. And what we found inside those familiar words is anything but ordinary.
More Than a Title
When we call Jesus Lord, we’re not just reaching for a churchy way to say his name. Throughout the Old Testament, Lord is the word used to identify God. So when we place that word next to the name of Jesus — the man who walked through villages, ate with sinners, fed the hungry, and included the outsider — we are making a stunning claim. We are saying that in Jesus, we are looking at God. Present. In the flesh. Among us.
That’s not a small thing.
An Upside-Down Kind of Lord
Here’s what makes the confession even more remarkable. In the first century, lords didn’t look like Jesus. Power meant elevation — wealth, status, the kind of honor that put you above everyone else. Humility wasn’t a virtue. It was connected to shame.
And yet. The one we call Lord made himself nothing. He took on the nature of a servant. He was born to a poor girl in a stable and died on a cross reserved for the worst of the worst.
If that’s what lordship looks like, it changes everything we think we know about power, worth, and what it means to matter.
We All Belong to the Same Family
One of the most powerful things about calling Jesus Lord is what it means for how we see each other. Paul writes in Galatians that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female — we are all one. All children of God.
The categories the world uses to rank and divide us simply do not hold in the kingdom of Jesus. That is not just a nice idea. It is a direct consequence of the confession we make every single week.
Real History, Not Just Nice Ideas
We also spent some time this week with a name that surprises a lot of people when they notice it in the Creed — Pontius Pilate. Why does a Roman governor get a mention in our statement of faith?
Because his name anchors everything. Without it, the Creed is a list of theological claims floating outside of time. With it, the story of Jesus is placed firmly on the human timeline — a real event, in a real place, under a real ruler. As one theologian put it, the gospel is not an idea. It is a fact.
A Promise for Each of Us
We closed by sitting with the words about resurrection, ascension, and judgment — and I want to make sure this piece lands clearly: the judgment the Creed speaks of is not something to be afraid of.
God has already extended the invitation. Salvation isn’t about checking boxes or meeting a list of requirements. It is simply about receiving the love that God has already offered — and letting that love work in us and through us.
Think of it this way. Suppose someone handed you an invitation to the most extraordinary party you’ve ever heard of — amazing food, music, celebration, and a gift with your name on it. If you show up, you experience all of it. If you decide not to go, you won’t. The Kingdom of God is something like that. The invitation is already in your hands.
Next Week
This week we asked what the words mean. Next week we ask what they demand — what it actually looks like to move from confession into the way we live. Same Lord. Same Creed. Now we put it to work.
We’ll see you Sunday.
This post is based on the sermon preached at Gordonsville UMC and Barboursville UMC as part of our ongoing series on The Apostles’ Creed.
