************ Sermon on Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 1 ************
Doctrine: Our Only Comfort
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on January 16, 2000
Q & A 1
2 Corinthians 1:3-11
"Comfort"
I Comfort: The Catechism's Theme
A Running through the Catechism is the theme of comfort. As a theme reoccurs in a great oratorio or a majestic symphony or a gripping story or a riveting movie, so the theme of comfort occurs again and again in all the sections of the Catechism.
If you were to glance quickly through the Catechism you find the word "comfort" popping up repeatedly. Q & A 1, for instance, asks about your only comfort in life and in death. Q & A 52 asks how Christ's return to judge the living and the dead comforts you. Q & A 53 refers to the Holy Spirit who "comforts me." Q & A 57 wonders how the resurrection of the body comforts you. And, Q & A 58 asks how life everlasting is of comfort.
As Question 2 reminds us, the Catechism is divided into three parts: Sin, Salvation, Service. And, all three parts are viewed in the light of comfort. The first part of the Catechism stresses the comfort of knowing the sin and misery from which the believer has been delivered. The second part confesses the deliverance through Jesus Christ that is the basis for our "only comfort." And in the third part we are told that comfort leads to a life of gratitude and thanks.
Comfort is the theme of the entire Catechism.
B Comfort. Is this theme biblical? Does it make sense for a Reformed Confession to use a word like comfort as its theme? Wouldn't terms or phrases like "covenant" or "sovereign grace" or "glory of God" or "decrees of God" or "creation, fall, and redemption" make a better theme?
The term "comfort" appears for the first time in the Bible in connection with Noah. When a son was born to Lamech,
(Gen 5:29) ... he named him Noah and said, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the LORD has cursed."
Lamech didn't know this, but he was speaking prophetically about the flood when he named his son "Noah," or "comforter."
In Psalm 23 this comfort is likened to a shepherd's care for his sheep.
(Ps 23:4) Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
The theme of comfort is sung out by the prophet Isaiah in his great prophecy about the coming of Jesus:
(Is 40:1-2) Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. (2) Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
Another striking passage is our Scripture reading from 2 Corinthians, where in the space of five verses the word "comfort" appears ten times. Paul speaks of God as "the God of all comfort." Listen again to verses 3 & 4 where comfort is mentioned five times:
(2 Cor 1:3-4) Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion [or "comfort"] and the God of all comfort, (4) who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Let there be no doubt about it, "comfort" is a Biblical theme.
II Comfort: What It Means
A Our modern society has robbed the word "comfort" of its rich meaning. To think of comfort today is to think of comfortable homes, easy chairs, vacations, cuddly blankets, deodorant that stops sweat, lipstick that never fades, and computers that are Y2K compliant. When the modern man or woman thinks of comfort they think of the inactivity, peaceful sleep, or escape from pain that comes from painkillers, sleeping pills, alcohol, or drugs. But the Catechism's "only comfort" does not refer to armchairs, relaxation, sedatives, sleeping pills, alcohol, or drugs.
The word "comfort" means "to strengthen, to fortify, to secure." In the Catechism comfort is related to the English word fort or fortress.
Think of Luther's powerful Reformation hymn – "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God." By replacing the word "fortress" with "comfort" we get a real sense of what the Catechism is talking of. The first question and answer echoes this song – "A mighty comfort is our God, a bulwark never failing!"
B That word "comfort" assumes something. It assumes that we need to be strengthened, that we need to be fortified, that we need to be secured. It assumes that we need courage to keep on going.
Why does it make this assumption? The Catechism assumes that we are involved in a struggle, a battle, a war: against Satan, against sin, against evil, against heresy, against falsehood, against death. In this fight we need to be given courage. In this fight we need to be secured. In this fight we need to be fortified. In this fight we need to be strengthened.
It is crucial for you to understand that this "comfort" is not for everyone. It is only for those on the battlefield. It is only for those on the front lines of the battle. It is only for those who fight the good fight! They are the ones who need this comfort. They are the ones who are given this comfort.
We see this need for comfort at the time the Catechism was written in 1562. When the authors sat down to write they heard news from France that dozens of Huguenots – French followers of John Calvin – had been slaughtered while worshiping in church. Sixty persons were killed and two hundred were wounded; no mercy was shown even to women and children.
In the three days of fighting that followed a hundred more Protestants were killed. Torture was common: men were usually burned at the stake; women were buried alive by their fanatic persecutors.
In the years that followed, over ten thousand Huguenots would die for their faith.
In the face of such news, the authors wondered: What gives us the strength to keep going? Where do we get the courage to keep fighting the good fight, to run the race, to stay the course?
If you are not involved in the struggle, if you simply do not care about the attacks of Satan, sin, evil, heresy, falsehood, and death, then you do not need and will not get this comfort. If you prefer to be comfortable and enjoy your toys, then you do not need and will not get this comfort.
C Usually we associate the term "Comforter" with the Holy Spirit. Before His ascension, Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, Who would stand by the disciples to fortify and strengthen them with the grace and power of the risen and ascended Christ.
The Apostle John, however, uses the same title or name for Jesus. It is not just the Spirit but Jesus also Who is the "Comforter."
(1 Jn 2:1) My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense [Comforter, Advocate]--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
Just as the lawyer-advocate stands at the side of the accused in court to speak in his or her defense, so the Lord Jesus Christ stands by our side and speaks in our defense before the Father. He is our "Comforter," our "Advocate."
III Comfort: Where It Comes From
A The Heidelberg Catechism was written in the city of Heidelberg, Germany. In the heart of the old city of Heidelberg is a great cathedral. As visitors leave the cathedral they may notice a small toy shop directly across the street with the name "Trost." "Trost" is the German word for "comfort." That toy store with its special name is a parable of our age.
Let me explain this by asking, "Where do most people today find their comfort?" I am afraid that many people today find their comfort in toys. Children have their toys for play and fantasy – dolls, bikes, board games, Nintendo – and adults have toys of another kind – cars, homes, jewels, campers, boats, snowmobiles, TVS, VCRs, computers, and so on. I am afraid that many people today find their comfort in these toys, these things, of the world. This past week I came across "The Yuppie's Prayer" that illustrates this perfectly:
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray my Cuisinart (kwe zen art) to keep
I pray my stocks are on the rise
And that my analyst is wise
That all the wine I sip is white
And that my hot tub's watertight
That racquetball won't get too tough
That all my sushi's fresh enough
I pray my cordless phone still works
That my career won't lose its perks
My microwave won't radiate
My condo won't depreciate
I pray my health club doesn't close
And that my money market grows
If I go broke before I wake
I pray my Volvo they won't take.
A number of years ago a survey was done of college students. College students know what they want: Money. According to a survey conducted by the American Council on Education, 75 percent of the 200,000 incoming freshmen who were polled felt that being well-off financially is either an "essential" or a "very important" goal. And 71 percent said the key reason they were going to college was so they could get high-paying jobs when they graduate. The survey also found something else: The percentage of freshmen who thought it was vital to develop a meaningful philosophy of life was at an all-time low – only 39 percent. Most college students, according to this survey, look for comfort in money and what money can buy.
Unfortunately, many of those who call themselves Christian also look for comfort in money and toys, in the things of this world. But they should know better. They should remember that all the things of the world are transitory, passing, temporary.
B So, then, where does the Christian look for comfort, for security, for strength? According to the Catechism, our "comfort" is that we belong totally to Jesus Christ.
The whole matter of "belonging" is crucial. Child psychologists have warned that children will be warped if they have no "sense of belonging." To be an orphan, to go from one foster home to another, is one of the most unsettling things any child can go through.
This week's issue of "Newsweek" (January 17, 2000) has a cover story on the "10 Million Orphans" caused by the AIDS epidemic in Africa. The article warns that the epidemic is leaving a whole generation of children without parents.
For instance, a photograph shows 32 kids living with their aunt and grandmother in a two-room house. Their parents died of AIDS. We are told about a grandmother who lost her four sons and four daughters-in-law to "slim disease" and was caring for 20 grandchildren in a house without electricity or running water. These are the lucky ones – because most of the AIDS orphans end up "roaming the streets, prime targets for gangs and militia ..."
At the other end of the spectrum is the message we tell our elderly that, since they are old, they "no longer belong."
Belonging is important. What made Adam a special being was not his posture or his intellect, but his relationship to God. Remember, too, how Adam needed a sense of belonging with a fellow creature – so God made Eve. Think also of the covenant relationship between God and His people Israel in which God said "I am your God and you are my people." Apart from that relationship Israel would have had nothing and been nothing.
In the New Testament we discover that our true identity is found "in Christ." The most important thing about our identity, about who we are as persons, is that we belong to Jesus. Belonging to Jesus is the key. From this comes all the benefits and blessings of salvation. From this comes our comfort, our strength, our security to keep on going, to keep fighting the good fight, to run the race, to stay the course.
C We belong to Jesus. Why? Because He bought us. Paul can say, "You are not your own; you were bought at a price" (1 Cor 6:19b-20). Jesus bought us in the same way plantation owners used to buy blacks as slaves. Jesus, however, bought us with His blood. The price He paid was the cruel death upon the cross. So we belong to Him. We totally belong to Him. We belong to Him all the time. We belong to Him "body and soul, in life and in death."
We belong to Jesus. This means He is the Master and we are His servants, His slaves, called to do His every bidding. We belong to Jesus. This means He is in control of our life: our time, our bodies, our gifts, our possessions. We belong to Jesus. This means He has the last and final say in any and every matter.
D Now get this. According to the Catechism, Jesus has done five things because I belong to Him, five things that give me comfort and strength and security:
First, He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood; because I belong to Jesus I don't have to worry about trying to earn my salvation because Jesus already has
Second, He has set me free from the tyranny of the devil; because I belong to Jesus I am free
Third, He watches over me in such a way that not even a hair can fall from my head without His will; because I belong to Jesus I am in His hands
Fourth, Christ, by His Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life; because I belong to Jesus I know that death is not the end of me and I am sure of my salvation
Fifth, Christ makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready to live for Him; because I belong to Jesus I, though a sinner, can still begin to live the new life
Because I belong to Jesus, He does everything for me. That's what it comes down to. Nothing is too much for Him or too little for Him. I belong to Jesus so He moves heaven and hell for me.
Conclusion
According to the Catechism belonging to Jesus is my "only" comfort in life and in death. I can look to things, but they are transitory. I can look to men, but they are like the flowers of the field, here today and gone tomorrow. I can look to other religions and gods, but they all offer false hopes and false claims and lead to nowhere.