East Region News
Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada - Michelle Heumann, editor
A NEWBORN CHILD CAN CHANGE THE WORLD From the Regional Pastor, Rev. Marvin Bublitz
Ask anyone who has had a baby and you will learn about all the sorts of questions strangers ask.
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he Lord blessed my wife and me with four children, and I remember strangers in the grocery store asking my wife when she was due. I secretly wondered if they were planning to join us in the delivery room. Then there were the strangers who asked if they could touch her belly! Of the many questions asked, the one that has always stuck in my head is: “Why would you bring a child into a world like this?” The questioner would then spout a long list of problems: war, murder, robbery, rape, lies, betrayal, drive-by shootings, drug deals gone badly… the list is endless. These things are often too commonplace to shock us when we hear about them in the news. But why would anyone want to bring a child into that sort of world? As a young, soon-to-be father, the question caused me all sorts of turmoil. Each time the question was asked, I shuddered at the thought of what I was doing, bringing a child into this den of iniquity. What would my children and grandchildren have to endure?
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I found myself spending more time in prayer, asking my Father for comfort and direction. Soon, I came to realize a deep truth: it was the Lord who blessed us with the addition to our family. The next time I was asked, “Why would you bring a child into a world like this?” I responded: “I hope my child might be someone who makes a difference in a world like this. I pray God will use him or her to bring about change, serve others, and show His love in the dark world around us.” A newborn child brings many changes in the family—but each newborn also brings changes to the world around him or her. We can find many such examples in Holy Scripture of how God used His children to serve others. There was the boy who had a colourful coat who became a slave, and whom God raised to be second to the pharaoh. Through him, the Lord saved many from starving. Then there was the infant who was placed into a basket on the river by his mother for safety, as his sister watched over him. The Lord used him to lead His people to the promised land. This one newborn changed the world for a whole nation. Moses led them through the wilderness, and came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments. There are many more to consider: King David, Solomon, Samson, Ruth, and Mary, the mother of our Lord, just to name a few. What changes
THE CANADIAN LUTHERAN November/December 2020
God brought into this dark world through His servants, and what light He brought into the darkness of this sin-filled world. This brings us to the greatest Newborn and the changes He brings. His was a simple birth. Actually, it was less than simple. It was a birth to be pitied by our standards, without a caring doctor or well-trained nurses to help the mother. There was no warm bed with clean sheets and no family gathered near. Instead, His mother laid Him in a manger. Yet this was God’s plan for the Saviour of fallen mankind, and this simple birth brought Light into the world. He is the Light that shines in the dark world of sin. This Newborn changed not only the world but eternity. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:1-5). This Newborn changed your world and eternity. Now He sends you out as lights into the world to take His message and love to all. Rather than spending eternity in the outer darkness of hell, through the Light of the world, you are welcomed into the promised land of heaven.
