Saturday, March 13, 2010

Read Mark 8:27 - 9:1

It seems that Dietrich Bonhoeffer – like Moses or even Apostle Paul of biblical times and Thomas Merton or Dorothy Day of modern times – was one of God’s stunningly unlikely choices! He was born into German privilege. Grand houses, grand friends, grand art, grand educations and achievement, and grand parties were the staples of his upbringing. Why at such a young age he chose theology as a profession is anyone’s guess, for he was essentially unchurched. Moreover, Bonhoeffer thought little about the concept of church until the latter years of his theology studies.

Yet, Bonhoeffer became a powerful witness for Christ who proclaimed shortly before his death in 1945, “In Jesus, God has said Yes and Amen to it all and that Yes and Amen is the firm ground on which we stand.” This proclamation captures the essence of Bonhoeffer’s extraordinary journey. He dared to cast aside his bourgeois identity to minister to the destitute. He dared to immerse himself in the Sunday morning services of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church when segregation was at the heart of American social policy. He dared to challenge the ecumenical movement of the 1930s to recognize the universality of the church and to fight for world peace wherever needed. He dared to rail against Germany’s churches as they succumbed to Nazism and anti-Semitism. He dared to join the German Resistance Movement as a double agent. He dared ultimately to reject two decisive opportunities to avoid the Nazi gallows. He dared to leave behind a powerful body of writings that decades later strip us naked and challenge us to wrestle with the question: “Who do You say that I am?” In my view, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is the greatest theologian the world has ever known!

Prayer: Father, may we daily take on the cross of Jesus Christ as we strive to be and to act.

Mary Carter-Williams, Ph.D.