To the Saints...

To the Saints…

A weekly update from your pastor

For the week of January 27-February 2, 2013

            Question: What is your only comfort in life and in death? (The Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 1, Question 1). This is, of course, a great question. Perhaps this is the question of the ages. It is the opening salvo of the great catechism, The Heidelberg Catechism, penned in the mid-sixteenth century by German theologians Zacharius Ursinus and Caspar Olevianus. Written so long ago, it never seems to lose relevance. Why? Because it is rooted in God’s word, focused on Jesus Christ, devotional, and focused on the whole person.

            A catechism is a confessional statement named with the Greek term catecheo, meaning “to pass down information from above.” This implies that this teaching is to be passed down from generation to generation. Ask anyone who has worshiped in the Reformed tradition for any period of time what their only comfort in life and in death is, and you will likely get a pretty good answer. Tim Wierenga has been teaching our junior high-aged kids the Heidelberg for years at FCC. Ian, for one, has been loving it!

            So what is your only comfort in life and in death? Most Christians, generally, would affirm that Jesus Christ is their only comfort in death. But what about life? Does the lordship of Jesus Christ cover your life as well? Most certainly it does! My only comfort in life and in death is that “I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ” (Answer 1). This is good news!

            The second question of the Heidelberg rightly asks, “What must you know to live and die in the joy of this comfort?” Knowledge is somehow very important. The Reformers (especially those inspired more by Erasmus’ humanism than Luther’s law-versus-gospel issues) believed that knowledge was critical—a change of mind led to a change of heart; a change of heart led to a change in disposition and action. So what do we need to know? “Three things: first, how great my sin and misery are; second, how I am set free from all my sins and misery; third, how I am to thank God for such deliverance” (Answer 2). Guilt-Grace-Gratitude. Sin-Salvation-Service.

            For the next fifty weeks, my short “To the Saints” communiqués will begin to explore the richness and depth of this wonderful catechism. Some will be devotional, some inquisitive, and some perhaps more academic. Our January Consecration at FCC is ending, but I pray that you will continue to spend time each day in God’s word—the Heidelberg is a great devotional that keeps us rooted in the Scriptures.