LIVING THIS SIDE OF THE CROSS: PART III
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was an early 20th century German theologian. He was educated at the Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and rose to become President of a theological seminary in Germany while he was in his early thirties. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a brilliant scholar. He was also morally outraged by the tyranny of Adolph Hitler. In fact, he was so upset by the atrocities committed by Adolph Hitler that he actually became involved in a plot to assassinate him. The plot failed, and Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Gestapo. He was executed a mere 23 days before Germany’s surrender in World War II.
On that day – April 9th, 1945 – a fellow inmate wrote: “Pastor Bonhoeffer held a little worship service that touched the hearts of all. He had hardly finished his closing prayer when the cell door burst open. Two evil-looking soldiers came in and barked, ‘Prisoner Bonhoeffer, come with us.’ The words meant only one thing…the scaffold. But as Pastor Bonhoeffer bid us goodbye, there was a light in his eyes. He said, ‘For me, this is the beginning of a new life – eternal life.’”
Like I said, Dietrich Bonhoeffer had a brilliant theological mind. During his 24 months in prison he continued to work out his theological convictions. In what was then referred to as the modern era, the consensus among theologians was that God had been pushed to the gaps of human existence. In other words, God was only relevant in places where human logic and sound reasoning failed. Why, it was almost as if God was being kept offstage in the play of human drama – until all was apparently lost – and then only lowered into the fray on stage in order to solve the unsolvable and explain the inexplicable. According to the best theological minds of the day, God had been pushed to the gaps of human existence.
Bonhoeffer wrote, “It is wrong to use God as a stopgap for the incompleteness of our knowledge. We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don’t. God wants us to realize his presence not in unsolved problems, but in those that are solved.” What he proposed was what he called a “religionless” Christianity – a faith that looks for God in what we know, and not in what we don’t.
Bonhoeffer’s reflections raise many important theological questions. By no means did he deny that God has acted and continues to act in human history. But he did reject the notion that God’s activity is only to be found in the mysteries of human existence. Yet if God is not to be found only in the gaps – if God is not the hypothesis we only use to explain what reason cannot – does that mean that God does not intervene in human history at all? What, then, does the Christian faith mean when it affirms that God acts or intervenes in the world as we know it? Keep that thought in mind as we move on.
This is the third in a series of sermons entitled, Living This Side of the Cross. The thesis of the first sermon was pretty much summed up in verses 14 and 15 in the 4th chapter of the book of Ephesians. There the Apostle Paul writes, “We must no longer be children tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head…into Christ Jesus our Lord.” In other words, this is a sermon series on growing up in Christ.
Last week we talked about how the church is meant to represent the kingdom of God on earth. We said that the kingdom is here, but not fully here. Could it be that the church we have is exactly what God intended when he created the church? Could it be that the church we have provides the very conditions necessary for growing up in Christ? While we live in a throw-away society these days, perhaps there are some things we shouldn’t throw away. After all, the providence of God means that wherever we have gotten to – whatever we have done – that is precisely where the road to heaven begins.
It is generally believed that Paul wrote the book of Ephesians while he was in prison in Rome. As it says in verse 1 of chapter 4, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” Perhaps the first question, then, is this: What does it mean to lead a worthy life?
Allow me to begin by citing the work of a great Methodist theologian by the name of John Wesley. He taught what is now referred to as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. Although John Wesley never used the word “quadrilateral” himself, the Wesleyan Quadrilateral was nevertheless inferred from his work. He taught that we lead a worthy life by building on the foundations of Scripture, tradition, reason and experience. In other words, we base our decisions in life first on what the Scriptures say, second on what our tradition teaches, third on what our reason infers, and finally on what our experience tells us. Scripture, tradition, reason, experience…in that order.
My theory is that, these days, we have reversed the order. We base our decisions in life first on what our own experience tells us. Then we might consider reason. Since we don’t really know what our tradition teaches, and now that biblical illiteracy is rampant, we hardly consider them at all. How can we lead a worthy life if we don’t even know what a worthy life is?
The Greek word Paul uses for worthy is axios. An axios is literally a set of balancing scales; the kind of scales formed by a crossbeam balanced on a post, with pans suspended from each end of the crossbeam. For example, you place a one-pound weight in one pan, and then measure out flour in the other pan, until the two pans are in balance. Balance means to be in equilibrium. So does a worthy life. A worthy life is a life lived in equilibrium.
The question now is: What are the two things that need to be in balance? Paul says to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called. Therefore, perhaps the two things that need to be in balance are these: God’s call…and our walk of faith. Again, the two things that need to be in balance are God’s call, and our walk of faith. For you see, when God’s call and our walk of faith balance…then we are truly growing up in Christ.
A man who is probably the best preacher I’ve ever heard graduated from Wooster College in the early 1970s. He became the senior minister at a large Presbyterian church in New Jersey while he was still in his twenties. Trust me, that doesn’t happen very often. About ten years later, he became the senior minister at one of the largest Presbyterian churches in the country, the Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas. Not long after that, he became the senior minister at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in downtown New York City…one of the most prestigious pulpits in the world.
That sounds like a man who was leading a balanced life, does it not? He was clearly balancing God’s call upon his life with his own walk of faith...and with a great deal of success, I might add. Then he hooked up with a seminary intern who was working at his church. He lost his wife, he lost his family, he lost his church, and he lost his ordination to the ministry. Then the husband of the woman with whom he had the affair sued him for a million dollars…and the church for three million more. That’s what can happen when God’s call and our walk of faith fall out of balance.
God calls us to serve him, and then God equips us with the gifts we need to serve. For example, I think of a woman who was appalled by the fact that there are so many couples who are not raising their children in the church. Young people who grew up in the church now have nothing to do with it, and thus, their own kids have nothing to do with it either. So she formed a group that gets together to pray for those kids – some of whom are their grandchildren. The group is called Grandmas in Prayer. And if God doesn’t listen to grandmas in prayer, I suspect he doesn’t listen to anyone.
I think of another woman who was appalled by the fact that the high school no longer held baccalaureate services for graduating seniors. So she formed a committee out of the high school’s senior council members to bring back the baccalaureate service. She involved her husband as an advisor to the senior council, and she involved me as a member of the Meadville Area Ministerial Association. Since her husband and I are both afraid to tell her no, we agreed to take part in the cause as well. The baccalaureate service has been growing every year for the past 8 years. Like I said, God calls us to serve him, and then God equips us with the gifts we need to serve. This applies to each and every one of us. And by the way, in case you were wondering, the word “retirement” is not in the Bible.
There is a catch, however. God calls us to serve him, and then God equips us with the gifts we need to serve. Note that I said, “God calls US,” and, “God equips US.” In other words, this is not just a conversation between God and me. Jesus is more than my personal savior. This is a conversation God wants to hold with each and every one of us. Thus, a worthy life – a life that is truly growing up in Christ – is a life formed in community. Christian maturity develops as we form friendships with the friends of God…not just the friends we prefer. In other words, if we are to grow up in Christ, we have to do it in the company of others who are responding to the call of God as well. Whether we happen to like them or not…has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Now back to the questions Dietrich Bonhoeffer posed at the beginning of this sermon. He said, “It is wrong to use God as a stopgap for the incompleteness of our knowledge. We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don’t.” The question was, “What, then, does the Christian faith mean when it affirms that God acts or intervenes in the world as we know it?”
I think the answer to that question…is us. God chooses to act and intervene in the world through us. In fact, that may be the most convincing argument for the existence of God there is. We see how God acted in the past when we read the pages of Scripture. We see God acting today...when we witness the heart-felt convictions of those who serve him. Amen.
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