(M, C)br...
Illustration
(M, C)
Jesus makes clear that the condition for discipleship is a willingness to share his cup of suffering and his baptism into rejection and persecution. We do not like him to make discipleship so hard! To use Bonhoeffer's unforgettable phrases, we want "cheap grace," but Christ offers only "costly grace." What does the theologian mean? Listen:
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy for which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
If Bonhoeffer sounds too radical and unrealistic, remember he lived what he preached. He went to prison, because he dared resist the evils of Adolf Hitler. Others told him that to do so was foolhardy. He could have remained in a safe and comfortable academic position in the United States until Hitler had been vanquished. He chose instead to risk all by returning to his native land and people. Subsequently, he was incarcerated as an enemy of Hitler and executed by order of Heinrich Himmler when the allied troops were about to liberate Germany.
And old hymn exults that "salvation's free." Far closer to the reality of discipleship is the hymn: "Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all." Grace may not be as costly for us as it was for Bonhoeffer. But costly it will be! Of that, we may be certain.
-- Campbell
Jesus makes clear that the condition for discipleship is a willingness to share his cup of suffering and his baptism into rejection and persecution. We do not like him to make discipleship so hard! To use Bonhoeffer's unforgettable phrases, we want "cheap grace," but Christ offers only "costly grace." What does the theologian mean? Listen:
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy for which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
If Bonhoeffer sounds too radical and unrealistic, remember he lived what he preached. He went to prison, because he dared resist the evils of Adolf Hitler. Others told him that to do so was foolhardy. He could have remained in a safe and comfortable academic position in the United States until Hitler had been vanquished. He chose instead to risk all by returning to his native land and people. Subsequently, he was incarcerated as an enemy of Hitler and executed by order of Heinrich Himmler when the allied troops were about to liberate Germany.
And old hymn exults that "salvation's free." Far closer to the reality of discipleship is the hymn: "Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all." Grace may not be as costly for us as it was for Bonhoeffer. But costly it will be! Of that, we may be certain.
-- Campbell
