Heidelberg Catechism - Week 2

I was first attracted to the Heidelberg Catechism because of its first two questions and answer.  They struck me as more profound than the later, and better known, statement in the Westminster Catechism that "the chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever," although I'm sure the Westminster divines had read Heidelberg!

At the end of the day, my only consolation in life and in death, the only thing that stays constant is God's gracious movement toward me, epitomized by the gift of His Son, who purchased me for Himself, who will preserve me and make me willing to live for Him.  I need only know the true extent of my sins, how God had graciously delivered me in Christ, and how I may live the rest of my life as an expression of gratitude for His marvelous, matchless, gift.

This week's questions, cited below, ask how I may know my misery, what the law of God requires of us, and whether we can keep the law of God perfectly.  First, I must be aware of my "misery," my inadequacies or failings.  What is being suggested is not that I wallow in the guilt of my failures to the extent I multiply them.  Satan would love that!  Rather, I should make an honest account of my failings, based on the law of God.

How do I measure my failings?  By listing religious rules, doctrines, and commandments I have failed to keep? Absolutely not!

Rather, I should look at my relationships.  Is my relationship with God all that it could be?  Do I love him with all my heart and soul, and live for him with all my strength?  No one can honestly say they do.

And how is my relationship with my neighbor?  Do I love my neighbor as I wish to be loved? 

It's easy to love people in the abstract.  But this is talking about how I behave toward my neighbor.  This is particularly difficult with my closest neighbors, my wife, my family and friends - precisely because loving them as God loves them (which is how I want to be loved) requires the most of me.

Can I honestly say I do this perfectly?  Absolutely not!  Loving my neighbor goes against every fiber of my self-centered being! That's why I need God in me to "will and to do his good pleasure."

How did we get this way?

Stay tuned.

Question 3. Whence knowest thou thy misery?

Answer: Out of the law of God. (a)

Question 4. What does the law of God require of us?

Answer: Christ teaches us that briefly, Matt. 22:37-40, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first and the great commandment; and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (a)

Question 5. Canst thou keep all these things perfectly?

Answer: In no wise; (a) for I am prone by nature to hate God and my neighbour.(b)