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Ephesians 4
Grace - free and costly
Please note that there are two messages today:
1. A reflection on Dietrich Bonhoeffer (by Hannah Walker)
2. A reflection on grace (by Rev Gordon Ramsay)
Compliant Christianity vs. Radical Faith
Bonhoeffer, the cost of discipleship and cheap grace.
"What is nearest to God is precisely the need of one's neighbour'" For Dietrich Bonhoeffer
, a prominent 20th Century theologian, this was such an important thought that he devoted his life to acting it out. In the central decision of his life, and after much exploration of his faith, Bonhoeffer threw himself upon the grace of God.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his twin sister Sabine were born on the second of April 1906 in Germany. Dietrich studied at the Berlin University. By age twenty four he had two doctoral theses under his belt and was lecturing in theology. A year later he was ordained as a Lutheran minister and served in London from 1933-35[2].
But what intervened to draw this talented theologian into recognition as a martyr of the 20th century?
The hallmark of Bonhoeffer's life was the theology and ethics he developed as he considered the contrasts between Hitler's beliefs and his own understanding of God. From this arose a fateful question of faith in action. Bonhoeffer urged Christians internationally to stand against National Socialism. When, in 1934, the Nazi state established the `German Church', 2000 Lutheran pastors met and formed the Confessing Church, their own free and independent place of worship. Bonhoeffer became the head of their main theological college in Germany. The Nazis attempted many times to crush the Confessing Church. It was finally outlawed in 1941[3].
The German Church operated under the doctrine of `The Two Kingdoms', which holds that God is only concerned with the individual's spirituality not with the individual's actions towards society. "According to this doctrine the proper concern of the gospel is the inner person, the sphere where the Kingdom of God reigns; the Kingdom of the State, on the other hand, lies in the outer sphere, the realm of law, and is not subject to the gospel's message[4]."
Bonhoeffer had now publicly identified himself as opposed to Hitler's teachings. Because of this, he learnt first hand the cost of his discipleship. It was during these years of oppression that Bonhoeffer was contacted by a group of military men planning to overthrow Hitler.
Bonhoeffer found he was not alone in his revulsion at the Chancellor and his methods of ruling. Powerful people in powerful positions fundamentally disagreed with Hitler. They organised for Bonhoeffer to stay at Ettal, a monastery near Munich, from 1940 until his arrest in 1943 where he negotiated with the Allies on behalf of the conspirators. While staying at Ettal, he also worked on his book, Ethics, which was published posthumously.
None the less, he was still plotting to commit the act of murder against the head of the state.
Bonhoeffer's theology demanded action in the face of evil, extraordinary actions for extraordinary evil. Let's explore this more closely.
At first glance, Bonhoeffer's decision to enter into the plot to kill Hitler was against the Ten Commandments and thus, God's wishes. It must, therefore, be sin.
How did this prophet and theologian come to a decision so against scripture? It would seem to me that he had three main ethical choices, all of which relied on grace.
In the first of the ethical dilemmas, Bonhoeffer was faced with the choice of action or inaction. As I discussed before, the doctrine of The Two Kingdoms was rife in the Christian community of Germany. It provided an excuse for Christians to stand by in complacency, and gave the state a channel to control and marginalise the voice of the largest religious group in the country. Luther's tradition of opposition to misused power may have played greatly on Bonhoeffer's mind. In his book, Life Together, he quotes Luther, saying, "The Kingdom of God is in the midst of your enemies, and he who will not suffer this does not belong in the Kingdom of Christ.[5]" The role of a prophet as described in the bible is to speak God's word to worldly powers. Bonhoeffer chose to follow this example regardless of the cost.
In regard to the second of my identified ethical dilemmas, Bonhoeffer was faced with the decision to stay in Germany or to leave. He travelled to America in 1935 to express to the Christian community there how dire the situation in Germany was for Christians who opposed Hitler. He hastened his return home because the impending war was casting doubt on his future ability to move between countries. He cast aside personal safety and connections to return to Germany and speak as a prophet from within the nation6. He never left Germany again.
But this was a price he was willing to pay.
The third of Bonhoeffer's ethical dilemmas, which was to kill or observe genocide, was likely the hardest decision for him to make and that which has become his most notable action. In his work Ethics, Bonhoeffer argues that our actions cannot be justified in advance, that this would take a definite indicator of right and wrong, and we have none. Instead, we need to take Christ, his life and his preachings as our model and, as he did, put other's interests in front of our own. Bonhoeffer states it is irresponsible to opt out of ethical dilemmas in order to stay right with God. When we sin we have to rely on God's infinite mercy and grace rather than philosophically thought out justifications.
So Bonhoeffer did not seek to self justify. Rather, he understood that the action he was to undertake was unjustifiable. He saw the assassination of a tyrannical murderer as the right path, as the action that Jesus, in his situation, would have taken. He could see that standing by would lead to the deaths of millions and knew that this was more unacceptable than killing Hitler, that inaction in this situation was just as much a sin as murder.
Grace is the idea that nothing you can do will separate you from the love of God, and nothing you can do will earn it.
Bonhoeffer clearly understood grace, and its utter absurdity. Grace defies all logic. It's the idea that whatever we do, however unjustifiable, God's mercy is always present.
Therefore, he was relying on God to judge his actions, rather than to succumb to the temptation of self justification.
Bonhoeffer was arrested after the discovery of the plot in 1943. By Adolf Hitler's orders, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged at Flossenburg concentration camp on the 9th of April 1945[7], a matter of weeks before the liberation of Germany.
It is merely speculation to say that had Bonhoeffer survived the war he would have become a renowned and respected figure on matters of theology and justice, of radical faith and God's will for earth.
But perhaps he would have been traumatised by the so called cheap grace so prevalent in today's society. The idea that God's grace can be used as an excuse for when we just can't be bothered to act with integrity.
Cheap grace is itself a contradiction in terms. Something as powerful as grace not only doesn't deserve to be diminished, but can't be.
The cost of Bonhoeffer's discipleship was his life. He gave the last full measure of devotion because he knew it was more important to speak the truth.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's voice was so profound that it should ring forth through the ages an example of a prophetic call, he was a man that put what he saw as right before his own life, setting us a challenge we are charged to live out.
Notes:
1 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Ethics, 1995, translated by Reinhard Krauss (et.al), Touchstone, London, p 136
2 The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, Life and Resistance, www.iep.edu/b/bonhoeff.htm, page 1
3 The Internet Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, page 1
4 Kevin Rudd, 2006, page 2 of essay
5 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 1954, translated by John Doberstein, Billing and Sons, London, p7
6 Edwin Robertson, 1987, page 198
7 Kevin Rudd, 2006, page 9 of essay
Ephesians 4
Grace - free and costly
What a reading for the day of a congregation’s AGM!
For 3 weeks so far, we have been burying ourselves in grace.
And what a good thing to be burying ourselves in!
It is fundamentally about God and God’s work,
and should be moving us to an absolute celebration of life.
It is wide, high, deep, long. It is beyond imagining. It destroys boundaries
It is truly divine.
And it is a gift. A gift.
Gift.
Now, to
him who by the power at work within us
is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think
To him be
glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, for ever and ever AMEN.
It sounds like the end to something doesn’t it?
But it’s only the end to a chapter – to the first half of the book.
The very next sentence goes on
“Therefore, I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling
to which you have been called”
or “In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do”
In the mid 20th Century, one of the world’s
modern saints put together
some of the most important reflections on grace and discipleship
that you could ever hope to come across.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Cost
of Discipleship and his writings about “Cheap Grace”
could – at least if we let them – be life changing.
If you haven’t read the Cost of Discipleship – read it.
Or “The Shame and the Sacrifice” – a fuller story of his
life
Or borrow the DVD and watch the movie. You cant help but be changed.
Bonhoeffer talks about Cheap grace as
Grace
without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ,
living and incarnate.
What else might it look like?
Cheap grace is accepting grace without thinking it will
change the way we live
Cheap grace says that I’ll leave it up to God to make a
difference to me
or I will leave it up to God to make a difference in the world
Cheap grace says that issues of our honesty and integrity aren’t important
because
God will forgive us for just being human
Cheap grace says that there are plenty of people helping
others around the place
so I don’t really need to bother doing
it as well
Cheap grace says that I belong to a congregation that is
doing lots of good things
and
so it doesn’t matter whether I personally do anything at all
Cheap grace says that there are employed staff these days
so
who on earth still needs volunteers
Cheap grace says that there is so much Government funding
for the services
that
I don’t really need to bother with making any financial sacrifice as well
And ultimately cheap grace is soul destroying
can never be an end to the story.
It is only ever a beginning.
We have been totally flooded with the grace of God. Abundantly flooded.
And so, now, together, as one body with many gifts, we can
really go somewhere.
Bonhoeffer talks of "Costly
grace being the treasure hidden in the field:
Realising that this is so worthwhile, that it is
worth a change of life for it.
Such grace is costly
because it calls us to follow,
and it is grace because it calls us
to follow Jesus Christ
This is little picture, and it is big picture
It makes a difference in the way that we speak to one
another
the way that we regard property
and our entire disposition to other people.
When we get to our AGM today, I hope tat we can remember two
really important things:
Firstly, we are the receivers of truly Amazing grace.
We have the privilege of being surrounded and welcomed by
God’s love
we have been welcomed into a community of God’s grace
and we are part of a congregation that is truly a gift of God to the church and
the world.
And secondly we are called by God to live a life worthy of this
calling.
Near the end of [the movie] Saving Private Ryan
, there is a scene
where Capt Miller, who has been sent in to find and rescue Private Ryan says his final words to the Private, as he lays dying -
killed in the process of saving Ryan.
Capt Miller's final words to Ryan are "Earn this. Earn it."
The movie cuts to many years later, when an old man - Ryan -
has come to pay his tribute at Miller's grave.
And he comments that every single day he thinks about those final words
And wonders if he has been good enough,
considering the price that was paid to save his life.
Costly grace is not QUITE like that – because the reality is
that we can never earn it
But it is SOMETHING like that – it is such an enormous gift
that it changes the entire way we live.
Why?
Because we have been formed in to a community
by the loving, nurturing spirit of God.
And that call is upon us when we are here in worship
and when we are here in volunteer service
and when we are in small groups
or playing with our children on the carpet
or speaking to our neighbours over the fence
or opening our wallet to spend some of our finances.
From the smallest of things, such as a passing word in a
conversation
through to the largest of things, such as the occupation we choose and how we
live that out
we are to be influenced by the grace of God,
and live under the constant call of the costly grace of God.
Now, to
him who by the power at work within us
is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think
To him be
glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, for ever and ever AMEN.
