Now we come to deep
waters, dropping off the continental shelf. As we work through the next four
chapters, which conclude Discipleship, please keep in mind that they
constitute a whole and that to appreciate what Bonhoeffer sees that we ought to
keep refreshing our minds with what we’re reading. The tapestry Bonhoeffer
weaves is intricate, Biblical, challenging, and densely woven.
Let’s remember
that Bonhoeffer does not write in an academic or ecclesiastical vacuum, but in
the midst of chaos and darkness and uncertainty within the German church and
society. What Bonhoeffer writes is, for him, supremely practical – for the more
heavenly a thing is the more value it will be on earth, consider the
Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. (This puts the lie to the saying that we
can be so heavenly minded as to be of no earthly good. To be truly heavenly
minded is to be incarnationally essential to those living on earth – once again,
consider Jesus Christ.)
If we, the Body
of Christ, do not know who we are, if we do not know who we belong to (Jesus
Christ and one another), then we will not live as citizens of heaven (Phil.
3:20). We will instead exchange our identity in Christ for earthly identities;
economic, political, national, social, racial, even religious. This is, of
course, what the German church was doing when Bonhoeffer wrote Discipleship,
it is, of course, what the American church is doing as you read this.
Bonhoeffer
begins Chapter 10 with writing that just as the first disciples lived in the “bodily
presence of and in community with Jesus,” that so do we who have been baptized
into the Body of Christ. We have already seen this theme in our reflections,
the first disciples do not have an advantage over us who have come after
them, in fact, if there is any advantage it belongs to us who are experiencing
the inner Presence of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Father as the Body of
Christ, in the communion of saints.
On page 193
Bonhoeffer writes that, “We live in full community with the bodily presence of
the glorified Lord.” Bonhoeffer wants us to become “fully aware of the
magnitude of this gift” (page 193).
Now to be sure,
Bonhoeffer realizes that the idea of us being baptized into the Body of Christ is
“very strange and incomprehensible to us,” (page 193), and therefore he is
going to escort us through the mysteries of our union with Christ and with one
another, mysteries that can be experienced, and glimpsed, but which (I think)
cannot be fully comprehended (you be the judge please). After all, we can
experience the Incarnation, but we can hardly explain it. We can experience
baptism and the Lord’s Supper, but we can hardly explain them. We can
experience the glorious Trinity, but we can hardly explain God.
Now if what
Bonhoeffer writes about the Presence of Christ in our lives is true, then we
have much to experience and learn and share. If what he writes is true, then
most of us have missed much during our time on earth. If what he writes is
true, we have much to share with others.
On page 194
Bonhoeffer terms the Incarnation as “the miracle of all miracles,” and he
writes of the Son of God shouldering and carrying “all of humanity.” He
continues his focus on the Incarnation into page 195, insisting (as does the
Bible) that “God became human.” Bonhoeffer tells us that, “The body of Jesus
Christ, in which we together with all of humanity are accepted by God, has now
become the foundation of our salvation.”
Now this
thinking may be a surprise to most of us, for we tend to limit our focus on the
Incarnation to Advent, to the historical birth of Jesus Christ.
(Yes, as some
readers may realize, there is a major Christian tradition that emphasizes the
Incarnation in, what I’ll term, a holistic sense. However, what I find puzzling
is that this tradition confines its definition of the true Church to its own
group, insisting that its faith is the true faith – thus, in my view,
fragmenting the Body of Christ and doing violence to the very Incarnation they
emphasize. It seems we all have a propensity to fragment the Body of Christ, in
the face of our protestations to the contrary.)
Then in the
second half of page 195 we have this, “The incarnate Son of God was thus both
an individual self and the new humanity. Whatever he did was at the same time
also done on behalf of the new humanity which he bore in his body.”
What is
Bonhoeffer talking about!? Where is he taking us? Did he have some bad
mushrooms for dinner? Too much fine German wine?
Well, seriously,
he is taking us to some beautiful places in the Scriptures and in Christ, but
they are places that may be new to us, places we may have skipped over in the past,
places that were considered too challenging for us by our teachers, or places
that we refused to enter because they required too much effort.
Whatever the
reason, most of us are unfamiliar with where Bonhoeffer is taking us, into the
depths of Jesus Christ and His Body.
But before we
move further along the path, we have some homework in two parts. The first part
is to read the Biblical references to the Son of God and the Incarnation that
Bonhoeffer lists on pages 194 - 195:
1 Cor. 8:6; 2
Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:6ff; Eph. 1:4; Col. 1:16; John 1:1ff; Heb. 1:1ff; Rom. 8:3;
Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:6ff; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15.
The second part
is to read Romans 5:12 – 21, and 1 Corinthians 15:42 – 49 in its context. This
second part has to do with Bonhoeffer’s discussion of the “new humanity,” so as
you read these two passages ask yourself how they might relate to this idea.
Bonhoeffer cites both passages on page 195 and we’ll explore them when we
continue, but I think it is better if we read them first to give us some
background.
Do you recall
that I wrote that this is “dense” territory?
One last comment
before we close this reflection, a plea I suppose. Please stay with Bonhoeffer,
work through this journey with him (and with me). Obtain a copy of Discipleship
and mark it up, underline it, highlight it, make comments, ask questions. I’m
not certain that anything more beautiful has ever been written about our life
in the Body of Christ than what Bonhoeffer wrote in Discipleship. We
likely have to return to the Fathers to find comparable beauty, and even then I’m
not certain that we will discover anything as dense as what we have in these
few chapters.
My sense is that
it is only when we have worked through all that Bonhoeffer writes that we can
begin to truly appreciate the parts that he has written.
Also, be patient
with Bonhoeffer’s concepts and terms. These things take time to grow in our
understanding and in our hearts and souls. Ponder the Scriptures Bonhoeffer
points us to, ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you through this journey.
Bonhoeffer is on
a journey as he writes, let’s see where he takes us.
God bless you…much
love…Bob
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