Our Only Comfort

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Are you comfortable? Let me see (walk up to the front row of the pews or chairs and sit on them. Shuffle about, even lie down. Ask some of the people in the front if they are comfortable.)

We live in a world which pursues comfort. The vehicles we drive are more and more about comfort. Vehicles are made with low noise, vibration and harshness. Emphasis is placed on smooth riding characteristics, supple supportive seats, and refined audio systems, which soothingly comfort the listeners. Some of these comforts may be efforts to reduce the anxiety that passengers feel when they place their lives in the hands of the driver.

The fact is that North American society caters to comfort. We have comfortable homes with central heating and air conditioning, easy chairs, comfy couches, vacations and rest. Fred Klooster in his commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism says, “We can spend our vacations in the Comfort Inn, drink Southern Comfort, get cozy under a comforter and even peruse a catalogue from a firm called ‘Comfortably Yours’.”

The Heidelberg Catechism, on the other hand, tells us that there is only ONE comfort. There are not many comforts, just one. The root meaning of comfort is one of strength, fortitude and courage. Comfort comes through the knowledge and understanding that we are not our own, but belong to Jesus Christ. It is not just a bodily comfort, but a spiritual one. It is not just a present comfort, but an eternal comfort. It is comfort in body and soul, life and death.

The Heidelberg Catechism, on the other hand, tells us that there is only ONE comfort. There are not many comforts, just one. The root meaning of comfort is one of strength, fortitude and courage. True comfort, true strenght, fortitude and courage comes through the knowledge and understanding that we are not our own, but belong to Jesus Christ. It is not just a bodily comfort, but a spiritual one. It is not just a present comfort, but an eternal comfort. It is comfort in body and soul, life and death.

The answer, “that I am not my own, but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ,” is a confession, that we belong to Christ. The reason we belong is precisely stated in the last word Jesus spoke on the cross, tetelestai, which means “it is finished” In the Greek it is written in the perfect tense, which indicates that even though something happened in the past it has an ongoing significance for the present. Indeed, that word was commonly written across legal documents when a fine or bank loan was paid in full. Tetelestai paid in full. Not just back then, but now and for all eternity. Christ paid for our sins; he took them upon himself, and got rid of them once and for all.

That is our comfort. Because Christ accomplished the impossible, we have no other reaction but to offer ourselves to Him, which is to give back to him what is rightfully his. The reality is that all we are, the very fibers of our being, the very life-giving air that we breathe belong to God. Because we are not our own, we, therefore, also are not alone.

Jesus stands at our side because he has done all this for us already. He knows what it is like to live here on earth. He experienced it. He wrestled with it. He put up with stubborn people; he ate and drank with the invisible members of society. He, the creator of the earth and all that is in it, ate with sinners. He chose to be with the fallen people to save them, to become forever reunited with them, rather than to remain apart from them. Now that is love. Now that is comfort.

“He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny 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.” What a picture. This is more that just a relationship of servant to his or her master, or even of a parent to a child, it is the description of the restored relationship of the creation to its creator.

The catechism continues: “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.” This comfort, unlike a sedative to induce sleep, unlike an exercise of escapeism, induces gratitude. We cannot DO anything to bring this comfort upon us; it is the work of Christ already completed, which brings this comfort. The comfort we receive motivates us toward gratitude. It is what inspired the Apostle Paul to write in his letter to the church in Rome: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship” (). Our gratitude, our response to receiving a comfort far greater than any lazy boy, or Cadillac or mansion, so moves us that we respond immediately by working to become like Christ. Our attitudes will become the same as his.

Klooster summarize it like this: “the [first] question [of the Heidelberg Catechism] declares that it is the only comfort, exclusive and yet all inclusive. The only comfort is the whole comfort… the whole person – body and soul – belongs to Christ. The whole person in his or her entire history – both in life and in death – is Christ’s… because he made the atonement… he brings complete liberation… Christ also watches over me in his comprehensive providence so that “all things must work together for my salvation. Full assurance of eternal life is included… and that assurance leads to wholehearted willingness to live my entire life for Christ.”

So what does that wholehearted willingness look like?

That’s where the teaching from Titus comes in. First, we learn that the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to everyone. Not only has it appeared, God’s grace, God’s comfort: the extreme comfort that comes from knowing that we are made forever right with God, through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. God graciously has made salvation available to everyone, freely. By freely, I mean that you don’t have to do anything to receive it, you simply receive it. No payment, no proof of faithfulness, nothing.

Second, living in the comfort of the salvation in Jesus Christ, teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions.

Let’s break that down for a moment. Living in God’s grace, we learn, God teaches us how to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions. Living in true comfort, living in Christ, belonging to Christ means that we are new creations. We are now able to not sin. We are able to choose to walk in step with the Holy Spirit who is in us. We are able to see, recognise what is ungodliness. We are able to see and recognise what are worldly passions. Additionally, we can turn away from such passions and choose Godly passions.

Instead of being wishy-washy, tossed about by every wind and wave, we discover that we are able to stand, because we are on Christ, our firm foundation.

We are self-controlled. We are able to live upright and godly lives in this present age. We do this because our focus has shifted from the old way—the way of the sinful nature, to the new way, the way of Christ. David Campbell, in his commentary on this passage says that we can think of these three words, self-controlled, upright and godly as three directions, self-control is directed at ourselves, uprightness is directed to those around us and godliness is directed to God. The result is a balanced life, that each part, self, others, and God is pleasing to God.

Now we still live in the present age. We still have to deal with sin and temptation. We have to be realistic. It is not as though Jesus has magically removed our desires for the things of this world. What he has done is enabled a shift to happen. So instead of being focussed solely on ourselves, we are now able to focus on Christ and others.

We live in this present age, with eyes focussed on the future, the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

We long for this, because this Jesus is the one who gave himself to redeem us from all wickedness, past, present and future, he is purifing us (we are not purifying us), he is purifying us to be a people, his very own, eager to do what is good.

So having heard that the only comfort in this life, and in the inevitable death that we all must face (unless Jesus returns in our lifetime), the only comfort is in belonging to Jesus Christ, the questions we must ask ourselves is: Do I belong to Jesus? Ask yourself that. If you are able to answer yes, great! If you are unsure, offer yourself to Jesus! Receive the gift of faith he offers, receive the comfort of belonging, body and soul, in life and in death to your faithful Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen.

The catechism states it very simply. First, we are to confess to God that we recognize how sinful we are. In every single case, if we each were given a choice to either sin against God or to live for God, we would choose to sin. Apart from the power of the Holy Spirit of Christ working in our lives, we are not at all able to choose to serve God. That is the weight, the consequence, and the poison of sin. It is as though we have imbibed a poisonous cancer which slowly eats away at our souls until we die, unless Christ, through the Holy Spirit provides the antidote.

Christ is the antidote. He is the cancer destroyer; he is the sin destroyer. He is the conqueror of death. His sacrifice has completely set us free from all our sins. He has totally wiped us clean. That was what David was writing about in . Cleanse me; make me white as snow. That is what we are. We are clean. In Christ we are already made clean. Some Christians make themselves out to be so clean that they never have any laundry to hang out. On the other hand, I hear Christians stating that they are as white as snow, but when you ask them to describe their white snow it more closely resembles old snow at the side of the road, spotted by mud and dirt. In other words, Christians have a habit of either making themselves too good, or not good enough. We must realize that we are living in the already but not yet. Yes we still sin, but Christ has already paid for that sin. Yes we are clean, but not yet completely clean. That will come when Christ returns in glory.

Thus the idea of the already but not yet serves to allow us to realize that we are free from our sin to live a life of thankfulness. This is the new use of the Law. It is a guide for Holy living. It is no longer a set of rules which, if we break even one in thought condemns us to death, but rather it is a set of guidelines by which we happily serve our God. Did you see the switch? We are no longer under the burden of guilt. Christ took that away, and replaced it with joy. The joy of the comfort of Christ is that we have been freed from the tyranny of the devil to live lives of gratitude to God, to serve him as he served us, and to serve one another in love. Serving one another to the degree that we risk getting stepped on. We are to wash one another’s feet, to do tasks that we may think is beneath us, but in so doing bringing honor and glory to God.

But we are not only serve one another, we are to serve the lost souls of the world. Our scripture passage reminds us of that:

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

We are to seek out the people Christ has called his very own. We do not know who they are. They could be our neighbors, our friends and coworkers. This scripture does not allow us to sit on our hands. Because the salvation has appeared to all people through the life and work of Christ, we will be held responsible to share this good news with the world. The comfort of Christ teaches us to say “No” to the pseudo-comforts of the world. We can no longer allow the worldly view of comfort describe the Christian comfort. That is why we talk of going outside of our comfort zone. It is not going outside of Christ’s comfort, but rather going outside of the worldly view of comfort. The joy of living and dying in the comfort of Christ motivates us to action, to take up the cross of Christ and share the good news. People need to hear it. People need to hear of the one and only comfort of Christ. If they do not, they will continue to try to discover the true comfort in other religions, drugs, money, and material things. None of that brings true comfort. We know that. Thus not only do we have to maintain our own self-control, but also show others how to do so.

By maintaining our own self control, by making our lives different than the lives of those around us, and by seeking the kingdom of God first all these other things will be given to us. Things like food, and shelter, and yes, even some worldly comforts. People will begin to notice our actions. They will see that we are not like them. They will see the joy of the comfort of Christ in our lives and they will want to experience that as well. So let us respond to the King of Love. He has called our names and given us life despite our shame. He’s shown us the truth in His word, and now we take up His cross and live for His glory. Amen.