Psalm 133:3b (MSG)
For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book Life Together, begins with a citation of Psalm 133:1 and goes on to say, “Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this. Whether it is a brief, single encounter or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ.”
Quoting from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, Eugene Peterson writes, “The Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure. [Peterson, A Long Obedience, 182]
In this psalm, “for there,” is referring back to Zion (the city of God, heaven, where God dwells). What is the importance of us knowing our source of blessing, community, unity?
Belonging is not just in the physical sense of fellowshipping with others, but it encompasses all of who we are. How are you challenged by Bonhoeffer’s words to belong to one another?
What do you think Bonhoeffer meant by, “The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure?”
The blessings of God are not only for life together now, but for life together forevermore. Pray for the people that you and your ministries are reaching out to that they would come and belong “through and in Jesus Christ.”
– AK