Although the use of a creed in worship is not a regular practice in many, if not most, congregations of the United Church of Christ, I have often read or recited the Apostles Creed in worship settings. The creed was often a part of ecumenical services in which I participated over the span of my career. I have, however, been consistent in my refusal to use any creed as a test of faith. I understand using a statement of faith as an expression in worship. I do not understand the use of a creed as a test of who believes the “right” things. Once, years ago, I refused to sign the Apostle’s Creed as a requirement to membership in a ministerial association and was denied membership after years of serving the organization, including serving in its principal offices. I made a conscious decision to stand with members of other faith groups who could not sign the creed. I was careful to be clear that my opposition was not and expression of my faith, nor was it an opposition to the use of the creed in worship, but only an opposition to the abuse of the creed by using it as a “screening tool” to determine who could and who could not belong to the organization.

The history of creeds is a fascinating story. The Apostles Creed is itself a bit of a correction to an earlier creed, the Nicene Creed. In Roman Times it was decided that there should be a statement of what Christians believed. A council of bishops was convened to draw up the statement. The terms were that they must come up with a statement to which all of the bishops agreed. After a long period of deliberation and argument the Nicene Creed was produced, but not easily. In order to gain unanimous approval, the council had to first defrock a couple of bishops who dissented with the creed. The couldn’t come to unanimous agreement, so they declared that those who disagreed could no longer be bishops.

In the United Church of Christ, our Statement of Faith was crafted by scholars and church leaders to honor the ancient creeds of the church as a testament of faith. It is expressly stated in the official teachings of our church that the Statement of Faith is never to be used as a test of faith. We trust God to judge who is and who is not faithful. We welcome all into the practices of faith that are a part of our church.

I’m wary of any tests of faith. That includes any judging of the lighting displays on homes at Christmas. I understand the joy of putting up Christmas lights. Although technically Epiphany is the season of light, the use of lights to celebrate Christmas is a joyous tradition. We light Advent Candles. We have strings of lights that we put on our Christmas tree every year. We enjoy the lighting displays that our neighbors put on their houses. I simply do not believe that those who have the most lights necessarily have the most faith. Tracing the outline of an architectural feature with a string of lights is hardly a statement of faith.

Because our Christmas celebrations focus on church and family, we haven’t gone in for big displays of Christmas lights. We don’t put up special lights to celebrate Halloween, either. I have no objection to displays of Christmas lights even thought I don’t quite understand the mixed metaphors of lighted Santas and the snowman from the Frozen animated movie. I really don’t get the house down the street that has an inflatable Darth Vader figure with a red and white stocking cap. I do not, however, need to understand the meaning behind the lights of my neighbors. I don’t consider lights to be a meaningful test of faith.

I have a friend whose wife died during the last year. I noticed on FaceBook that since she loved Christmas and he is honoring her through his preparations for the holiday, he put up and decorated a half dozen Christmas trees in their home on the day after Thanksgiving. I happen to know that part of their adjustment to his wife’s illness they downsized and moved into a smaller home. I’m thinking that six Christmas trees is a lot in any home and probably makes his smaller home a bit crowded. And all of those trees and all of those decorations must mean boxes and boxes that need to be put into storage for most of the year.

Last year we started a new-to-us tradition of purchasing a live tree from a nursery for Christmas and planting it at our son’s farm following our celebrations. As a result, our tree is a bit smaller than we used to have when we went out into the forest in need of trimming and cut down a tree with a forest service permit during the years we lived in South Dakota. A live tree with a root ball weighs a lot, so a smaller tree is essential to our being able to get it into and out of our house. As such, we have a few more decorations than fit on our tree. Last year we decorated the banister and hung Christmas balls and put lights along the staircase in our rental house. This year our new home means we will decorate a bit more modestly and some of our decorations will probably end up in the boxes this year. Still, we don’t begin to have enough decorations for a half dozen trees. Nonetheless, we will be happy and our home will feel cheerful for the holiday. It might not look like anything special on the outside as you drive down the street, but it will seem special to our grandchildren when they come to share a celebration dinner and exchange a few gifts. They have been enjoying playing with our collection of nativity sets on their visits since the first Sunday of Advent.

Enjoy the Christmas displays of your friends and neighbors. Celebrate with them the joy of the season. But don’t pass judgment on the house with no special exterior lighting. Inside might be a warm and wonderful celebration of the season.