Tuesday, 11 November, 2003

We begin with pieces from “Ethics” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.



No longer knowing good and evil, but knowing Christ as origin and as reconciliation, (humanity) will know all.

For in knowing Christ (humanity) knows and acknowledges God’s choice which has fallen upon this person him/her self; (the person) no longer stands as the chooser between good and evil, that is to say, in disunion; (the person) is the chosen one, who can no longer choose, but has already made his choice in his being chosen in freedom and unity of the deed and will of God. (The person) thus has a new knowledge, in which the knowledge of good and evil is overcome. (The person) has the knowledge of God, yet no longer as the (person) who has become like God, but as the (person) who bears the image of God. All (the person) knows now is “Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2), and in Him (the person) knows all.



To be the Chosen one…chosen by our God…beloved by our God, changes everything within our lives. No longer will our opinions or our logic or our rationalizations be the ground upon which we enter into the events of our lives. Is the Christ, crucified, buried, and raised from the dead, the Christ of all…the savior of all…the one who walks into and through the powers of death for all, or is the Christ something else? The decisions of our lives as followers of Jesus spring up from the action of God for us, always and eternally for us…not just some of us…all of us. Our beginning and our end…is “Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Now, how do we become instruments of the Holy Spirit and continue to be a part of the risen Christ and nothing less? This is always a community adventure.



Connection: We will never be sure of the specifics of the adventure we will enter today, but we will be sure of the one who will lead us and guide us – always. Remember that, like the early church, we may be led into actions and lives we do not anticipate nor would we choose to go there. And yet, our Lord, Jesus, is still Lord of All.



Lord of All, you have made a promise that we are forever yours. Within that baptismal reality, let us see all your beloved saints so that we will not be afraid to walk in the way of Jesus within the adventure of this day. Amen.