I began this week feeling a bit helpless. I was struggling with a cold. It’s one of those colds where it’s not so bad you have to lay down, but you’re not sure if you should go full steam ahead and risk making it worse.
Because of that, I felt a little bit helpless. For me, the feeling of helplessness is the feeling that you have when you feel that you don’t have the power or strength to do the things you need to do.
So, I started working on my sermon. This week, my sermon is on the work of Jesus Christ as outlined in the Apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (15:1–11) and in the Apostle’s Creed. The Creed states that we believe in one Lord Jesus Christ who was “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate . . .” It concludes with the confession that “He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”
I began to think about each statement of the creed. I was helped in this by remembering the Heidelberg Catechism.
I was first introduced to the Heidelberg Catechism when I attended a Reformed Church during college. In many Reformed Churches, they still preach through this catechism roughly every year.
A large part of the catechism is a series of questions and answers about the Apostle’s Creed. Here are few examples:
Q & A 38. Why did he suffer “under Pontius Pilate” as judge? A. So that he, though innocent, might be condemned by an earthly judge, and so free us from the severe judgment of God that was to fall on us.
Q & A 39. Is it significant that he was “crucified” instead of dying some other way? A. Yes. By this I am convinced that he shouldered the curse which lay on me, since death by crucifixion was cursed by God. . . .
Q & A 49. How does Christ’s ascension to heaven benefit us? A. First, he is our advocate in heaven in the presence of his Father. Second, we have our own flesh in heaven as a sure pledge that Christ our head will also take us, his members, up to himself. Third, he sends his Spirit to us on earth as a corresponding pledge. By the Spirit’s power we seek not earthly things
but the things above, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand.
I had never really thought much about these sorts of details before I studied the catechism. In addition, I began to see how each thing Jesus does is for us.
As I remembered all this and began putting this together in my sermon, I realized that I didn’t need to feel helpless. Jesus is alive. He has ascended to heaven and is reigning. He is interceding for me at the right hand of the Father. He is for me and wants to partner with me in bringing the effects of His reign into this world. Not helpless at all.
It all reminded me of a statement by Presbyterian Pastor Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie: “We are not a powerless minority in the face of evil. We can change the course of history, we can alter the trend of evil in our society, we can liberate people–if we will pray in the name of Jesus Christ.”
I found myself so encouraged by meditation on what Jesus has done and is doing for me, I thought, “I should think about this every day.”
Our brain is like 