Today is day one in three comments about following Jesus as Bonhoeffer turns to the following parable.
Then they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." and Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, " Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for your, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:57-62).
The first disciple took the initiative to follow Jesus. He was not called and Jesus' answer shows the enthusiastic man that he does not know what he is doing. He cannot know at all.
Bonhoeffer says that Jesus answer to this person shows the disciple the reality of life with Jesus. It is a demonstration of the way of following - a following that goes with this Lord, right to the cross. This person quite literally called himself. "It looks like a good thing to do. Maybe by following this Jesus I will become a teacher like him or a wise person or a healer. This could be very good!" And yet, it is not the call of Jesus that brings him forward. Would this one be following Jesus? No. This person is following his/her ideas and visions and plans for the way things will be. Bonhoeffer makes the point that the "free offer of discipleship and real discipleship remains wide open. For us, it is quite important that as we consider this call to follow Jesus through our baptism or through a call we experienced in our life that led to the life within the gathering of saints called the church, we take note of what the way is to be. Following Jesus according to what we want following to be is most often quite off the mark. We may be following, but it is not Jesus. Jesus calls us to follow him. To this person - and to all of us - Jesus tries to spell out the way so that we will come to see our call as one by the Lord...and it means come along the way of the Lord - alone.
Connection: One of the hardest things for me to deal with are those times when I see that I am choosing to follow the way I would like to follow. I forget the way of Jesus within the day and who knows what path I turn down for what I think is my own good...my own call.
You have called us to follow your beloved, Jesus, and to walk along his way. So often we come prepared to walk as we would walk and therefore attempt to turn the way of the cross into a way that will fit us best. By the power of your Holy Spirit pull us along your way in this day. Amen.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Monday, October 9, 2006
9 October 2006
We begin this week continuing with Dietrich Bonhoeffer's writing on "Discipleship."
So the call to discipleship is a commitment solely to the person of Jesus Christ, a breaking through all legalisms by the grace of him who calls. It is a gracious call, a gracious commandment. It is beyond enmity between law and gospel. Christ calls; the disciple follows. That is grace and commandment in one. "I walk joyfully, for I seek your command" (Psalm 119:45).
I like to use the language of a new reality. This call by the person of Jesus is a call to us to enter into the new reality that is "following Jesus" or discipleship. There are many other ways of living that pull us and demand our attention and attempt to convince us of their importance and necessity. And yet, when Jesus calls us to follow, everything about is is taken up and graciously lifted into a whole new way of living. I may remain a teacher or a business person, but I am a follower of Jesus. I will live within the joy and freedom of that reality as I teach and interact with others through the business I do. Following Jesus shapes our lives. It is not a path that has marks we must reach in order to follow...marks by which we are to be judged and scored along the way. Rather, the reality of following Jesus brings into all the events of our lives a vision that is shaped by the gracious call of Jesus. There is no coercion. There is no threat. This is invitation and then the one who invites goes before us showing us the way - we follow.
Connection: When Jesus goes before us, it is so that our going out into all that we do will have the flavor of his leading. Fresh in his tracks of doing the will of God, we continue on through the day within the realm of that same will. By following Jesus today, we stayed focused on the will that make this day a new reality.
When you lead us, O God, take us through this day and remind us of the many ways your Reign unfolds for us. Too often we do not look up and see that you go before us and therefore, our day does not reflect the new life you have promised for all your followers. Amen.
So the call to discipleship is a commitment solely to the person of Jesus Christ, a breaking through all legalisms by the grace of him who calls. It is a gracious call, a gracious commandment. It is beyond enmity between law and gospel. Christ calls; the disciple follows. That is grace and commandment in one. "I walk joyfully, for I seek your command" (Psalm 119:45).
I like to use the language of a new reality. This call by the person of Jesus is a call to us to enter into the new reality that is "following Jesus" or discipleship. There are many other ways of living that pull us and demand our attention and attempt to convince us of their importance and necessity. And yet, when Jesus calls us to follow, everything about is is taken up and graciously lifted into a whole new way of living. I may remain a teacher or a business person, but I am a follower of Jesus. I will live within the joy and freedom of that reality as I teach and interact with others through the business I do. Following Jesus shapes our lives. It is not a path that has marks we must reach in order to follow...marks by which we are to be judged and scored along the way. Rather, the reality of following Jesus brings into all the events of our lives a vision that is shaped by the gracious call of Jesus. There is no coercion. There is no threat. This is invitation and then the one who invites goes before us showing us the way - we follow.
Connection: When Jesus goes before us, it is so that our going out into all that we do will have the flavor of his leading. Fresh in his tracks of doing the will of God, we continue on through the day within the realm of that same will. By following Jesus today, we stayed focused on the will that make this day a new reality.
When you lead us, O God, take us through this day and remind us of the many ways your Reign unfolds for us. Too often we do not look up and see that you go before us and therefore, our day does not reflect the new life you have promised for all your followers. Amen.
Friday, October 6, 2006
6 October 2006
We continue with the action of following Jesus - discipleship - with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Going after him (Jesus) is something without specific content. It is truly not a program for one's life which would be sensible to implement. It is neither a goal nor an ideal to be sought. It is not even a matter for which, according to human inclination, it would be worth investing anything at all, much less oneself. And what happens? Those called leave everything they have, not in order to do something valuable. Instead, they do it simply for the sake of the call itself, because otherwise they could not walk behind Jesus. Nothing of importance is attached to this action in itself. It remains something completely insignificant, unworthy of notice. The bridges are simply torn down, and the followers simply move ahead. They are called away and are supposed to "step out" of the previous existence, that are supposed to "exist" in the strict sense of the word.
The call has an impact on our whole life - our existence. I am often afraid that when people read these lessons about the call of Jesus' disciples that folk will take that to mean that they are called into the ministry of serving as a pastor or a some other kind of rostered leader in the church. But rather, it has to do with being called into that whole life existence of following Jesus. Following will take many shapes of work and skill - but it will be known most for the authentic life that give ground and purpose and worth to whatever is being accomplished. Jesus calls us into a "way." It may be that it brings to us a whole new way of seeing...of relating...of walking alongside the world in which we live. Within the call to follow Jesus is nothing more than the next step within our lives. And yet, within that step is the transformation of all things for now we walk outside of ourselves and within the adventure of that call. From that point, we look forward to where Jesus walks and we follow. Where that will take me...or you...is not known in specifics - as in a plan of attack. Rather, we begin each day with the call beckoning us to step forward and come to life in the way of Jesus.
Connection: The call to follow Jesus will be wrapped up within this day. Keep awake. Watch how things unfold and as we all keep in mind the Christ of God, Jesus, the day will present itself with new life.
O God of All Days, we can so easily become overwhelmed with just the day at hand. Remind us of your presence and repeat your call to us so that in your voice we will hear an assurance that makes even this day - that may have looked worthless - as a day of new life. Amen.
Going after him (Jesus) is something without specific content. It is truly not a program for one's life which would be sensible to implement. It is neither a goal nor an ideal to be sought. It is not even a matter for which, according to human inclination, it would be worth investing anything at all, much less oneself. And what happens? Those called leave everything they have, not in order to do something valuable. Instead, they do it simply for the sake of the call itself, because otherwise they could not walk behind Jesus. Nothing of importance is attached to this action in itself. It remains something completely insignificant, unworthy of notice. The bridges are simply torn down, and the followers simply move ahead. They are called away and are supposed to "step out" of the previous existence, that are supposed to "exist" in the strict sense of the word.
The call has an impact on our whole life - our existence. I am often afraid that when people read these lessons about the call of Jesus' disciples that folk will take that to mean that they are called into the ministry of serving as a pastor or a some other kind of rostered leader in the church. But rather, it has to do with being called into that whole life existence of following Jesus. Following will take many shapes of work and skill - but it will be known most for the authentic life that give ground and purpose and worth to whatever is being accomplished. Jesus calls us into a "way." It may be that it brings to us a whole new way of seeing...of relating...of walking alongside the world in which we live. Within the call to follow Jesus is nothing more than the next step within our lives. And yet, within that step is the transformation of all things for now we walk outside of ourselves and within the adventure of that call. From that point, we look forward to where Jesus walks and we follow. Where that will take me...or you...is not known in specifics - as in a plan of attack. Rather, we begin each day with the call beckoning us to step forward and come to life in the way of Jesus.
Connection: The call to follow Jesus will be wrapped up within this day. Keep awake. Watch how things unfold and as we all keep in mind the Christ of God, Jesus, the day will present itself with new life.
O God of All Days, we can so easily become overwhelmed with just the day at hand. Remind us of your presence and repeat your call to us so that in your voice we will hear an assurance that makes even this day - that may have looked worthless - as a day of new life. Amen.
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
5 October 2006
More on Discipleship from Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
What is said about the content of discipleship? Follow me, walk behind me! That is all.
We will pick up with what comes next tomorrow. As for now, this is enough...maybe too much. Follow me!?! How quickly I want to ask what that means...what will be the cost...how much of the way things have been will I be able to continue doing...etc? And yet, there is never a time for discussion after Jesus says, "Follow me." In fact, when there are questions and doubts and debates, Jesus is already moving on and those who do not take the step...walk behind him are...missing out on the journey within the Reign of God. What we want to hole onto to...all of us...no matter how big or little it may be...is hell compared to the promise. I find this beyond my comprehension. And yet, that is the point!!! This way of Jesus is beyond our comprehension otherwise we would simply receive it as teaching and argument and rules for change rather than something new - like being born again...an odd image.
Connection: Whose leading the way today!?
Come, Lord, Jesus, lead us through this day and into the experience of the unfolding of your Reign. Amen.
What is said about the content of discipleship? Follow me, walk behind me! That is all.
We will pick up with what comes next tomorrow. As for now, this is enough...maybe too much. Follow me!?! How quickly I want to ask what that means...what will be the cost...how much of the way things have been will I be able to continue doing...etc? And yet, there is never a time for discussion after Jesus says, "Follow me." In fact, when there are questions and doubts and debates, Jesus is already moving on and those who do not take the step...walk behind him are...missing out on the journey within the Reign of God. What we want to hole onto to...all of us...no matter how big or little it may be...is hell compared to the promise. I find this beyond my comprehension. And yet, that is the point!!! This way of Jesus is beyond our comprehension otherwise we would simply receive it as teaching and argument and rules for change rather than something new - like being born again...an odd image.
Connection: Whose leading the way today!?
Come, Lord, Jesus, lead us through this day and into the experience of the unfolding of your Reign. Amen.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
4 October 2006
We move today to Bonhoeffer's discussion of the Call to Discipleship.
"As Jesus was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he got up and followed him." (Mark 2:14)
The call goes out, and without any further ado the obedient deed of the one called follows. The disciple's answer is not a spoken confession of faith in Jesus. Instead, it is the obedient deed. How is this direct relation between call and obedience possible? It is quite offensive to natural reason. Reason is impelled to reject the abruptness of the response. It seeks something to mediate it; it seeks an explanation...
But the text is stubbornly silent on this point; in it, everything depends on call and deed directly facing each other. The text is not interested in psychological explanations for the faithful decisions of a person. Why not? Because there is only one good for the proximity of call and deed: Jesus Christ himself.
Levi got up. Levi got up and followed. Was there a time of deliberation and debate about whether this was an appropriate act? The story simply gives us the kernel of the event. Call...deed. They are not two actions. It is one reality. When Jesus, the Christ of God calls, we are within the realm of a whole new world and new life. Do we live within it...do we follow? Or do we stay in place and contemplate whether it is the best thing to do? The story says we go...we follow...we take the step. It is not about us and what we have been able to put together so that it makes sense to us. It is all about the Reign of God - at hand - now. If we are there in that domain, we reflect it because we trust that it is indeed a call from the one we call Lord. We are being called - all of us - into a life. That means action...that means movement...that means discipline...that means a vision...that means leaping beyond what we control and living within that which Jesus sets before us. The call and the deed.
Connection: So as followers of Jesus, what do we know about what that means as we hit the road today. Is it simply a sweet kiss on the cheek that says do what ever you want because you will be always be my beloved....or does it mean that we are beloved...so be beloved. There is quite a bit of life packed within that gracious status.
When we fall down, O Lord, you are there to pick us up - that is a promise. And yet, before we have anything over which we trip, you are there also, bidding us to come and follow. Let your promised Spirit of life shine on us so we may take part in the life that is promise and reality. Amen.
"As Jesus was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he got up and followed him." (Mark 2:14)
The call goes out, and without any further ado the obedient deed of the one called follows. The disciple's answer is not a spoken confession of faith in Jesus. Instead, it is the obedient deed. How is this direct relation between call and obedience possible? It is quite offensive to natural reason. Reason is impelled to reject the abruptness of the response. It seeks something to mediate it; it seeks an explanation...
But the text is stubbornly silent on this point; in it, everything depends on call and deed directly facing each other. The text is not interested in psychological explanations for the faithful decisions of a person. Why not? Because there is only one good for the proximity of call and deed: Jesus Christ himself.
Levi got up. Levi got up and followed. Was there a time of deliberation and debate about whether this was an appropriate act? The story simply gives us the kernel of the event. Call...deed. They are not two actions. It is one reality. When Jesus, the Christ of God calls, we are within the realm of a whole new world and new life. Do we live within it...do we follow? Or do we stay in place and contemplate whether it is the best thing to do? The story says we go...we follow...we take the step. It is not about us and what we have been able to put together so that it makes sense to us. It is all about the Reign of God - at hand - now. If we are there in that domain, we reflect it because we trust that it is indeed a call from the one we call Lord. We are being called - all of us - into a life. That means action...that means movement...that means discipline...that means a vision...that means leaping beyond what we control and living within that which Jesus sets before us. The call and the deed.
Connection: So as followers of Jesus, what do we know about what that means as we hit the road today. Is it simply a sweet kiss on the cheek that says do what ever you want because you will be always be my beloved....or does it mean that we are beloved...so be beloved. There is quite a bit of life packed within that gracious status.
When we fall down, O Lord, you are there to pick us up - that is a promise. And yet, before we have anything over which we trip, you are there also, bidding us to come and follow. Let your promised Spirit of life shine on us so we may take part in the life that is promise and reality. Amen.
Monday, October 2, 2006
3 October 2006
Today's quote again comes from Bonhoeffer in "Discipleship" - again he distinguishes between cheap and costly grace.
When Faust says at the end of his life of seeking knowledge, "I see that we can know nothing," then that is a conclusion, a result. It is something entirely different than when a student repeats this statement in the first semester to justify his laziness (Kierkegaard). Used as a conclusion, the sentence is true; as a presupposition, it is self-deception. That means that knowledge cannot be separated from the existence in which it was acquired. Only those who in following Christ leave everything they have can stand and say that they are justified solely by grace. They recognized the call to discipleship itself as grace and grace as that call. But those who want to use this grace to excuse themselves from discipleship are deceiving themselves.
These illustrations are so helpful when it comes to trying to explain how grace can be considered cheap or costly. In one case, the race has been run...the journey taken on...the path followed and all that matters is the promise that was giving from the very first day - beloved are you. In such a case as this, within the realm of this grace, we risk to be who we are and to be the one beloved of God. In the other, we dare not live or risk or leap because there is no use to it - life is as we have it and want it...there is no need to experience what is not already in hand. The graciousness of our God in Christ, Jesus, is the power that grabs our heart and convinces us of a life to live that may take us beyond anything we would consider for ourselves. We follow Jesus because we see clearly the way Jesus goes and where he bids us to come. That will always take us outside of our self-centered world and into new life - unknown for now...but bursting open before us.
Connection: There is someone in need around us - what do we do. We could say we need not do anything because we do not need to do anything to live within the gracious realm of God. Then again, we can also turn that around and say because we live within this gracious realm of God we will respond to the need of those around us.
Come, Lord, Jesus, and be the one who guides our daily routines so that we find joy in the simple ways that your grace takes us and shapes us and uses the events of our lives as opportunities to follow you alone. Amen.
When Faust says at the end of his life of seeking knowledge, "I see that we can know nothing," then that is a conclusion, a result. It is something entirely different than when a student repeats this statement in the first semester to justify his laziness (Kierkegaard). Used as a conclusion, the sentence is true; as a presupposition, it is self-deception. That means that knowledge cannot be separated from the existence in which it was acquired. Only those who in following Christ leave everything they have can stand and say that they are justified solely by grace. They recognized the call to discipleship itself as grace and grace as that call. But those who want to use this grace to excuse themselves from discipleship are deceiving themselves.
These illustrations are so helpful when it comes to trying to explain how grace can be considered cheap or costly. In one case, the race has been run...the journey taken on...the path followed and all that matters is the promise that was giving from the very first day - beloved are you. In such a case as this, within the realm of this grace, we risk to be who we are and to be the one beloved of God. In the other, we dare not live or risk or leap because there is no use to it - life is as we have it and want it...there is no need to experience what is not already in hand. The graciousness of our God in Christ, Jesus, is the power that grabs our heart and convinces us of a life to live that may take us beyond anything we would consider for ourselves. We follow Jesus because we see clearly the way Jesus goes and where he bids us to come. That will always take us outside of our self-centered world and into new life - unknown for now...but bursting open before us.
Connection: There is someone in need around us - what do we do. We could say we need not do anything because we do not need to do anything to live within the gracious realm of God. Then again, we can also turn that around and say because we live within this gracious realm of God we will respond to the need of those around us.
Come, Lord, Jesus, and be the one who guides our daily routines so that we find joy in the simple ways that your grace takes us and shapes us and uses the events of our lives as opportunities to follow you alone. Amen.
2 October 2006
After a retreat and some illness, it is back to Dietrich Bonhoeffer on grace.
I am liberated from following Jesus - by cheap grace, which has to be the bitterest enemy of discipleship, which has to hate and despise true discipleship. Grace as presupposition is grace at its cheapest; grace as a conclusion is costly grace. It is appalling to see what is at stake in the way in which a gospel truth is expressed and used. It is the same word of the justification by grace alone, and yet false use of the same statement can lead to the complete destruction of its essence.
Grace pulls us into the life of following - discipleship. If everything is simply thought of as white washed before we even act...as though we can go ahead and act as we please because we are justified by grace...then we will not follow Jesus. We will follow whatever we want to follow. One of the aspects of protestantism that has done us no good at all is a sense of rejection of discipline - following. Cheap grace has nothing to do with calling us to follow Jesus. It is a pronouncement made to us that seems to say "now go your own way...you have been saved." And yet, we are never called to go our own way. To do that is nothing more than idolatry - my way and my views and my life becomes the god to which I bow down. Costly grace encourages us to come and follow Jesus and to be bold about that following. It is not something that "let's us off the hook." Rather it is the power that see us through to the cross...and new life.
Connection: When grace is seen as something that is all about me...it is very easy to forget about the way of life Jesus calls us to walk. The power of the Good News is that we are freed up from our self centered ways and able to consider and enter the many ways of living in relationship to others in a way that is guided by the love of God. It is still a strange discipline.
Again we ask that you, O Lord of Life, be the encouragement of this day so that as we walk along the way of your beloved, Jesus, we will be find within our lives the joy of being a gift to others and we will also enjoy the gifts of life freely given to us by others. It makes us a community of great expectation and freedom. Amen.
I am liberated from following Jesus - by cheap grace, which has to be the bitterest enemy of discipleship, which has to hate and despise true discipleship. Grace as presupposition is grace at its cheapest; grace as a conclusion is costly grace. It is appalling to see what is at stake in the way in which a gospel truth is expressed and used. It is the same word of the justification by grace alone, and yet false use of the same statement can lead to the complete destruction of its essence.
Grace pulls us into the life of following - discipleship. If everything is simply thought of as white washed before we even act...as though we can go ahead and act as we please because we are justified by grace...then we will not follow Jesus. We will follow whatever we want to follow. One of the aspects of protestantism that has done us no good at all is a sense of rejection of discipline - following. Cheap grace has nothing to do with calling us to follow Jesus. It is a pronouncement made to us that seems to say "now go your own way...you have been saved." And yet, we are never called to go our own way. To do that is nothing more than idolatry - my way and my views and my life becomes the god to which I bow down. Costly grace encourages us to come and follow Jesus and to be bold about that following. It is not something that "let's us off the hook." Rather it is the power that see us through to the cross...and new life.
Connection: When grace is seen as something that is all about me...it is very easy to forget about the way of life Jesus calls us to walk. The power of the Good News is that we are freed up from our self centered ways and able to consider and enter the many ways of living in relationship to others in a way that is guided by the love of God. It is still a strange discipline.
Again we ask that you, O Lord of Life, be the encouragement of this day so that as we walk along the way of your beloved, Jesus, we will be find within our lives the joy of being a gift to others and we will also enjoy the gifts of life freely given to us by others. It makes us a community of great expectation and freedom. Amen.
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