“We belong” is a two word summary of the sermon I heard the Rev. Dr. Ronald Patterson preach yesterday. That idea was so powerful that I chose to forgo the normal format for the sermon discussion group I have been facilitating the last several weeks.
Patterson mentioned the first question in the Heidelberg Catechism (1563): What is your only comfort in life and in death? He also shared and built upon the answer. Our group, at my request, looked at the same issue through child-like eyes via Belonging to God: A First Catechism, which was approved by the 210th General Assembly (1998) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Designed to introduce a new generation of third and fourth graders to the basic doctrinal content of the reformed faith, it includes these questions and answers that inform our understanding of our belonging to God:
Q1: Who are you?
A: I am a child of God.Q2: What does it mean to be a child of God?
A: That I belong to God who loves me.Q3: What makes you a child of God?
A: Grace – God’s free gift of love that I do not deserve and cannot earn.
So What?
Belonging is both an individual matter and at once something that necessarily involves community. What do the words “we belong” mean to you with regard to your journey of faith?