Comfort in Life and in Death: Heidelberg Q&A 1

An adult education study, one session of about 50 minutes.

Opening

Ask the group: when you have sat with someone who was dying, what did they want to hear? Let a few people answer. Most will say something like "that they were not alone" or "that it was going to be all right." Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 1 is the church's answer to exactly that need.

Read together

What is your only comfort in life and in death?

That I am not my own, but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

Read the whole answer aloud, slowly, with the group reading the second half together.

Three things to notice

1. Comfort is a person before it is a feeling

The catechism does not say "my comfort is that I feel at peace." It says I belong to someone. Comfort in the old sense means strength alongside. Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and ask: what changes when you know you were bought at a price?

2. It covers both life and death

Many of us save this question for funerals. The catechism puts life first. Read Romans 14:7-8. Ask: where in an ordinary Tuesday do you need to remember that you are not your own?

3. It flows into the whole catechism

The answer ends by naming three things I must know: how great my sin and misery are, how I am set free, and how to thank God. That is the outline of the entire catechism. Comfort is not the end of the conversation; it is the doorway into it.

Discussion

1. Which phrase of Q&A 1 is hardest for you to say honestly right now?
2. "I am not my own" can sound like bad news in our culture. When has it been good news for you?
3. Who in your life needs to hear this answer this week, and how might you say it in your own words?

Closing

Pray together, then close by having each person say aloud: "I am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ."