A Sermon for Monday, April 9th - Daughters of the King
On Monday, April 9th, the Episcopal Church
recognized the life and ministry of Dietrich Bonhoeffer – a theologian and
martyr. Bonhoeffer was a founder of the Confessing Church in Germany during the
rise of the Nazi regime. This Confessing Church played a central role in the
Protestant resistance to the Nazis. In addition, Bonhoeffer was well educated
and a prolific writer. His best-known works are The Cost of Discipleship and Life
Together. Both have endured the test of time and are widely read in most
Protestant seminaries today.
Bonhoeffer
is best known for the events that led to his execution on April 9, 1945 at
Flossenburg Prison. After 1939, Bonhoeffer became involved in talks that sought
to overthrow Hitler from power. After repeated efforts to reach a peace
agreement failed, Bonhoeffer become a part of a conspiracy to assassinate
Hitler. While a pacifist, Bonhoeffer believed it would be a greater evil to let
Hitler continue in power.
Eventually,
Bonhoeffer was linked to the plot to kill Hitler and arrested in 1943.
Following church services at the prison on Sunday, April 8, 1945, two soldiers
summoned Bonhoeffer saying, “Prisoner Bonhoeffer…come with us.” He said to
another prisoner, “This is the end. For me, the beginning of life.” He was hanged
the next day at Flossenburg.
In his
book, The Cost of Discipleship,
Bonhoeffer quotes Proverbs 3:17, “Do not be wise in your own eyes.” In a time
and place where truth and wisdom was corrupted by lies and false propaganda,
these are powerful words to let sink in. As the Nazi regime rose to power, most
did not recognize the evil that it would soon commit against millions of Jews
and countless others.
Through the course of history, it
is amazing to note just how destructive human wisdom has been. In particular, it
is both astounding and heartbreaking to recount the number of times intelligent
human beings have failed to prevent terrible evils from happening in this
world. How could they be so blind?
In response
to this history, I hope we find the grace to pray, “God, help us not to be so blind to the evils we let happen. Help us discern what is truth and what
is a lie. Help us to rely on your
wisdom and not our own.” In a real way, God has answered this prayer in our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
On Good
Friday, I preached to this saying, “Jesus died to expose the lies and
half-truths that we have convinced ourselves to live by, lies that are masked by
the pursuit of power and control. Jesus died to reveal the truth that we as
humans are so often blind to because of our self-important agendas. Jesus died
so that we might die to the lies of the world and live for the truth of God, a
truth discovered in a love poured out for the life of the world.”
In the end,
Bonhoeffer’s life and witness gives testimony to the power of God’s love
proclaimed in Christ crucified. Through Christ crucified, God gives us the
strength to resist the lies of this world. In Christ’s resurrection, God gives
us the strength to trust in God’s wisdom rather than our own for God’s way
endures death and the grave. May the foolishness of the cross and the hope of
resurrection give you the wisdom to pursue the truth that begins and continues
in Christ Jesus.
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