. . .And Then There Were Two: Lord’s Day 2: Q&A 3-5

Sometimes nothing speaks to us about a specific Q&A when we’re writing, but the themes of the overall Lord’s Day do speak to us as a whole. Lord’s Day 2 is a good example of that. At the time of posting this, I (Matt) couldn’t think of any liturgical elements that go with any of these individual Q&As, but as you can see, I could at least come up with a few things for the Lord’s Day overall. This gets at one of the philosophies of how we at the CLI are approaching the Catechism: If we can, we will do our best to eventually include something for each Q&A, but when there’s no inspiration, let’s go for opening it up to the surrounding Q&As. After all, traditionally these three would be read on one Sunday.

LORD’S DAY 2

CONFESSION AND ASSURANCE

The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 3 that through [God’s] law we become conscious of our sin. (Romans 3:20) That law is summarized in the Gospel of Matthew: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And the a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40) Brothers and Sisters, because of our fallen nature in our sin, we cannot live up to these commandments on our own. Not only that, but we can do nothing good on our own, but in our sin we tend to hate God and our neighbor rather than love them. Let us confess our sins.

-Time of Silent Confession-

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old has gone and the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17b) On our own, we cannot be saved, but thanks be to God, we have not been left on our own. Through our Lord’s death and resurrection, we are saved from our sin and we are forgiven.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we come before you, bowing at your throne of grace, knowing that we are sinners. Your law tells us that we are steeped in misery and our fallen nature. We do not do what we want, but do what we hate and what we know is sinful and wrong. (Romans 7:15) You have commanded us to love you with all of our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). We instead find ourselves tending to hate you rather than love you. We find ourselves tending to disobey you rather than wholeheartedly living for you. You have commanded us also to love our neighbor as ourself. (Matthew 22:39) Yet we hate our neighbors. We treat them as others instead of as ourselves. We ignore them, oppress them, and do not seek after their wellbeing as we should. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us, we pray.

CONFESSION/GOD’S LAW

Just read the three Q&As responsively

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Friends, the Holy Spirit dwells within everyone who has faith in God. It is through the Spirit that we are empowered to resist our natural tendency to hate rather than love God and our neighbor. It is through the Spirit groaning on our behalf that God hears our prayers and confessions. Through Christ, our sins have been forgiven. Let us now live in a way that shows that we are a forgiven people. 

SENDING

The Holy Spirit lives within you if you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Go now into the world as people who are empowered to love God and your neighbor rather than hate them. On our own we have a natural tendency to sin, disobey, and hate, but thanks be to God, we are a forgiven and empowered people. Go now in the peace and the power of God to love and serve God and neighbor.