Always at work for you and in you

by Marvin Bublitz

Many kids are returning to school as I write this, and I just watched a group walk past the house to catch the bus. It made me think back to my school days, certain memories that always seem to come back to mind.

I remember a specific day in high school English class, learning new words, and the first time I heard the word “harbinger” used. I can still see the teacher standing in front of the class reading the sentence, “the robin is a harbinger of spring.” She warned us that when learning big new words the tendency is to use them in conversations to make us look smart and better than others, so often it really has the opposite effect.

I remember learning other big words in my biology class. One day we learned about the autonomic nervous system. Now, I don’t intend this to be a biology lesson; I am sure some of you reading will say I got this or that wrong. But I use it here simply as an illustration or metaphor.

If you look for an explanation of the autonomic nervous system, you will read things like this description from the Cleveland Clinic: “Your autonomic nervous system is a network of nerves throughout your body that control unconscious processes. These are things that happen without you thinking about them, such as breathing and your heart beating. Your autonomic nervous system is always active, even when you’re asleep, and it’s key to your continued survival. Your autonomic nervous system is a part of your overall nervous system that controls the automatic functions of your body that you need to survive. These are processes you don’t think about and that your brain manages while you’re awake or asleep.”

What struck me was the fact that there is something running in the background to keep me alive. These are things I don’t have to think to make it work. It’s automatic, working whether I’m awake or asleep. It is working even when I don’t think about it. It’s always active and is the key to continued survival. How fearfully and wonderfully God has made us.

Why all this biology talk? I have recently been reading what the Lutheran Confessions say about Holy Baptism. In baptism, we see how God is always at work so that we survive. He has given us such great blessings. In Holy Baptism, He makes us part of His family and puts His name on us. He marks us for everlasting life. He washes away and forgives our sins. He connects us to the death and resurrection of Christ. His Holy Spirit takes up residence within us.

That happened as the water and Word washed over us; it was a onetime event. But the blessings of baptism are ever with us. The Lord Christ who baptized us is always at work in us, whether we are awake or asleep, that we would survive unto eternal life. We may not think daily of our baptisms, but its blessings are constantly at work to keep us in the faith and marked for salvation.

The autonomic system keeps my heart beating even when I don’t think about it. Even when I do think about my heartbeat, it is still not something I control. My heart beats because the Lord God Almighty made me that way. So it is with God’s continual work in Holy Baptism. It is His working for my sake, not my working.

My point is not that we should ignore our baptism. I mean quite the opposite. We do well to ponder what miracle the Lord Christ worked in us through water and the word. We do well to rejoice and be thankful that our baptism is always working to keep us alive in the faith. We do well to repent for those many times we ignore our baptism.

The fact that the Lord is always at work in us is of great comfort. He washed us. He feeds us. He saves us. He never leaves us. So when Satan assaults us and temptations lure us into sin we can remember, “I am baptized.”

We strive to do those things that support a healthy, beating heart. Likewise, the Lord would have us do those things which support a healthy, baptized life—although, to speak precisely, it is not really our doing but rather His doing in us and through us and for us.

So He gathers us where He has promised to feed the new man created in Holy Baptism. He gathers us in His holy house to hear His holy Word and receive His holy body and blood. In this way, the Lord Christ who baptized you continues to strengthen you unto life everlasting. He preserves you in the faith unto that day when He gathers you home, fulfilling the promise bestowed in Holy Baptism.

Rev. Marvin Bublitz is Lutheran Church–Canada (LCC)'s East Regional Pastor.