Your Only Comfort December 28, 2015
The Heidelberg Catechism, written in Germany in 1563 as a tool to promote instruction and unity in the Christian faith, opens with this question: “What is your only comfort in life and in death?”
The answer: “That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Christ has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to Him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him.”
Isn’t that an outstanding Q&A?! I love it. Here are a few reasons why.
It makes a correct assumption at the outset, namely, that we all seek comfort. After a bad day, some people go shopping. Some head for the bar. Some reach for their favorite comfort food—ice cream, chicken soup, nachos, cookie dough. The salve of choice varies from person to person, but we all look to something to dress the wounds of our weary soul. We all seek comfort.
I also love that it jars us with a deeply counterintuitive answer. Our “only comfort in life and death” is total surrender. Our gut tells us otherwise. When we feel unsettled, our first reaction is to protect ourselves, to take control, to master our own fate. Usually the furthest thought from our minds is reckless abandonment, but that’s exactly the comfort the Catechism offers: “That I am not my own, but belong” to Someone else. Comfort is found in remembering that I am not in control.
I love its realism. It’s easy to feel comfortable when all is well, but the Catechism doesn’t live in that world. It names the very worst things in the universe: death, sin, and the devil. This is a real-world answer for real-world problems.
And I love that the whole thing is rooted in the gospel. Notice the language: “paid for all my sins,” “precious blood,” “set me free,” “my salvation,” “eternal life.” These are gospel phrases and gospel terms, all of them. And the gospel is the most precious, most comforting news in the universe.