United by God

Rev. Marvin Bublitz

by Marvin Bublitz

When the Lord unites a man and a woman in holy matrimony, the two become one flesh. They work, live, laugh, cry, suffer, and rejoice as one. The two become one unit. They are united in purpose and goals. When one is sad, the other hurts also and seeks to comfort. When one is sick, the other washes the dishes, folds the laundry, and makes the bed. When one sins against the other, they return to the foot of the cross in repentance and confession and thus receive the Lord’s Holy Absolution. He forgives the sin and restores the relationship. The Lord joined them for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health until death parts them. I have been blessed to know such a union for thirty-two years. God is good.

But there is an even greater union the Lord has worked. The Holy Spirit inspired St. Paul to write: “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit…God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 18b).

God, in His eternal wisdom, has joined all believers into one body. We are one unit. We have been washed in one Baptism, feast on one Supper, and hear one Word. He unites us for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health—and death will not part us. For unlike earthly families, the family of faith is everlasting.

God, in His eternal wisdom, has joined all believers into one body. We are one unit.

St. Paul tells us that each member in the body of Christ has a different purpose. God has placed each member where He wills for the good of the whole body. It is often easy to see this in our local congregations. We see different people doing different things for the good of the whole. When one member hurts or is in need, the rest jump into action to help. I have seen this as a child becomes ill or a barn burns down.

But while we may find it easy to help our own family or members of our congregation in a time of need, the Lord has more in mind than our immediate circle. One of the advantages of restructuring has been a refocusing of our circle. Since I became Regional Pastor, I have had numerous conversations with the other Regional Pastors. As such, I have become aware of some of the needs and blessings in other parts of the body.

When I sat with young couples preparing to be wed, I would ask them what percentage each had to put into the marriage to make it work. Most said it should be a 50/50. I said no, each had to put in at least 100 percent. This is especially true when one is sick or weaker. And it is likewise in the body of Christ.

The Lord has placed before us an opportunity and a challenge to truly be what we are: the body of Christ. We must look outside ourselves, outside our congregation, and outside our circuit to the needs of the body across synod—and then to look beyond our synod to the body of Christ spread across the world.

This is not something that comes naturally. No, as poor miserable sinners, we are more inclined to care for ourselves and our own. We tend to look at what we need and want rather than the wants and needs of others. Such is Satan’s work to divide us. He seeks to bring harm and discord into the body of Christ. He strives (and sadly often succeeds) in getting us to fight and bicker and act like self-centered children.

But our risen Saviour comes to us every Lord’s day with His Holy Word and Supper to strengthen us as His body. In Holy Absolution He forgives and restores us. He restores our relationship with the Father and with each other in the body. Just as He came to the disciples and brought His peace, so He brings peace to our troubled, sinful lives. He shepherds us to streams of living water. Through His Word and Supper, He empowers and equips us to be His body so that we may truly love and care for each member wherever they may be.

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:1-8).

May God so bless us.

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Rev. Marvin Bublitz is Regional Pastor of Lutheran Church–Canada’s East Region.

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