To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here
Throughout the season of Lent, we’re taking a close look at the Apostles’ Creed – one of the earliest and most concise summaries of what followers of Jesus believe.
The late Joyce Landorf authored 27 books on a variety of subjects related to the Christ-following life.
In Balcony People, she made a case that our lives are routinely impacted by people who aren’t actually present.
These individuals – some of whom are still in this world, others who are long gone – reside in the “balcony” of our consciousness. They’re cheering us on. And we can just make out their faces.
There’s your third-grade teacher. The coach who wouldn’t allow you to quit. Your grandmother. The boss who gave you your first big break.
“Come on. You can do this. Don’t stop now. I believe in you.” Imagining those voices fills the heart with courage.
Landorf also suggests that we are regularly besieged by a second group of individuals – our Basement People.
Over the years, we have pushed some of our darkest memories and most forgettable conversations “downstairs” into our emotional basements – a realm that feels subterranean. That’s where we hear the voices that are trying to discourage us, to prompt us to throw in the towel:
“You’re such a screw-up. You’ll never get it right. You don’t deserve a second chance. Why aren’t you more like your sister? Quit trying to be Mr. Perfect.”
In our lowest moments we’re tempted to believe that the Basement People have always been right about us.
Therefore, we all have a decision to make. We must decide which voices are worth listening to.
Here we arrive at yet another turn of phrase in the Apostles’ Creed that becomes clearer with a word of explanation. Disciples of Jesus are called to believe not only in “the holy catholic Church,” but in “the communion of saints.” What does that mean?
Think of “communion” as the “common union” or “community” of those who trust Christ.
This communion is multi-directional. Horizontally, we’re connected to the Christians who are living with us right now on planet earth, even though we will never meet the vast majority of them until the next world. Vertically, we’re spiritually bonded to all those who have gone before us and are now in the presence of the Lord.
The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews celebrates a number of those predecessors in chapter 11, which is sometimes called the Hall of Fame of Faith.
Then comes Hebrews 12:1, where the author declares, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses…”
Many of us are going through life as if our personal security is safeguarded by the digital storage system known the Cloud – that unseen domain where all of our documents, emails, downloads, tax records, and family photos are dwelling in cyber bliss.
But if you trust Jesus, your security is actually grounded by an infinitely more significant “cloud” – the people who are cheering you on right now from the balcony of heaven.
“The communion of saints” is not meant to imply that those who have gone before us are watching our every move, looking in to see how their grandchildren are doing, or wondering if their favorite soccer team will one day win the World Cup. What evidence we have, biblically, is that those who have died “in Christ” are no longer bound by the passing of time but are absorbed by the joy of being in the presence of the God who has always loved them.
One day we’ll know more about the connections between this world and the next.
For now, it’s enough to affirm that the Holy Spirit knows just how to link us with that cloud of saints – to remind us of their voices, examples, and words of hope when we most need to keep moving forward at difficult moments.
We must decide to become deaf to the voices we hear from the basement, even while straining our ears to hear every syllable of encouragement from the balcony.
And then we have a second decision to make.
Will we become someone who consistently restores the hearts of those nearby, choosing to speak our own words of hope and encouragement?
The Apostles’ Creed is proof that from the very beginning of the Jesus Movement, his followers grasped that “we are not ourselves by ourselves.”
The communion of saints reflects the truth that we can never be ultimately separated from our sisters and brothers in Christ – not by space or time, not by geography or chronology.
The Savior who unites us by his love and grace is bigger than any such limitations.
Which means the Reunion that awaits us in the next world is going to be a party like no other.