Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship Part II – Reflections (13)

 

“In the community of the crucified and transfigured body of Jesus Christ, we take part in Christ’s suffering and glory. Christ’s cross is laid upon the body of the church - community” (pp. 201 – 202).

 

Now Bonhoeffer moves into the realm of suffering for Christ, but it is not suffering in the way we typically think of it. The Biblical suffering of which he writes has two distinctive elements most of us are unfamiliar with; one is that we truly are sharing in Christ’s sufferings, the other is that we are suffering on behalf of others – that is, we are bearing the suffering of others, we are even suffering so that others may not have to suffer, as Christ suffered so that we would not have to suffer.

 

“No greater glory could Christ have granted to his own; no honor could be more astonishing for Christians than to be granted the privilege of suffering “for Christ”’ (page 202).

 

Bonhoeffer tells us that through the work of Christ we are now freed to exist for Christ “in death and suffering.” This is not what we are normally taught in church, on the radio or online, or in books. Our mentality is that we are freed to do what we want to do, to pursue a pain-free life, to accumulate pleasure upon pleasure, to get what we want and to keep what we get. We may have a bifurcation in which we subscribe to correct doctrine, in which we are expected to believe what we are taught, or at least give ascent to it, but we aren’t really expected to “take up our cross” and follow Jesus, denying ourselves, losing our lives for His sake and the Gospel’s (Mark 8:34 – 38).

 

We may admire others who suffer for Jesus, but surely that is not our calling or gift. As someone said, we judge others by their actions, and ourselves by our intentions.

 

“Even though Jesus Christ has already accomplished all the vicarious suffering necessary for our redemption, his sufferings in the world are not finished yet. In his grace, he has left something unfinished in his suffering, which his church – community is to complete in this last period before his second coming” (page 202, italics mine).

 

Bonhoeffer writes that we “are permitted to bear what others are spared” (page 203). Also, that, “There is a specific amount of suffering which has been allocated to the body of Christ” (page 203).

 

Among the passages that Bonhoeffer cites are Phil. 1:29; 2:17; Rom. 8:35ff; 1 Cor. 4:10; 5:20; 13:9; 2 Cor. 4:10 – 12; 1:5-7; 13:9; Phil. 2:17; Col. 1:24; and Gal. 6:17).

 

Consider Col. 1:24: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.”

 

“Always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4:10 – 12).

 

The koinonia of His sufferings (Phil. 3:10) is a deep sharing in the Cross as our Way of Life. It includes intercessory sufferings on behalf of others. When we suffer, our suffering is not solely about us, it is so that we may know Christ and bear the hurt and pain and suffering of others. “If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation” (2 Cor. 1:6).

 

We may not see or understand the particulars of our suffering, but we can be assured that it is for the glory of Christ and the blessing of others. No suffering should be wasted. All suffering can be offered up to God for His glory and the blessing of others.

 

Intercessory suffering is a prominent theme of the Bible, for our life in Christ is to be cruciform. We are positively called to suffer on behalf of others, we are called to know Him in the power of His resurrection and the koinonia of His suffering. Suffering is embedded in the call of Jesus to us (Mark 8:34 – 38).

 

Within the Body of Christ we suffer for one another. The Body of Christ suffers for the world. As the Father gave the Firstborn Son, the Father gives His corporate Son. As Christ gave His earthly body, Christ gives His entire Body.

 

“Such vicariously representative action and suffering, which is carried out by the members of the body of Christ, is itself the very life of Christ who seeks to take shape in his members (Gal. 4:19)” (page 203).

 

Of course I don’t really know, but I suspect that the New Jerusalem will be an uncomfortable place for many American Christians, for after all, the Lamb is the focal point of the City, the Lamb is the Light of the City – and it is the Lamb who was slain. The Lamb was slain for “the least of these.”

 

The Lamb will ask why we didn’t care for the least of His brethren. He will say, “But I gave you money, knowledge, the keys to medicine and education and housing, I gave you and gave you and gave you. Why didn’t you use what I gave you for others?

 

“Why didn’t you care for the alien seeking safety and food and care for his family? Why didn’t you care for the children born in your own country, just a few miles from where you lived? Why did you isolate the widows and widowers?”

 

Perhaps most telling of all is when He asks, “Why didn’t you join Me in my sufferings for others? Why wasn’t your heart joined to Mine? Why hasn’t your heart been breaking so that others may be comforted? Why did you enter into this great City more of a stranger than as a son or daughter of our Father?”

 

Well, again, I don’t really know about these things, and yet I do. For we will be held accountable, O yes, we will. Matthew 25:31 – 46; 1 Cor. 3:10 – 15; 2 Cor. 5:9 – 10.

 

If we are not bearing the brand-marks of Jesus (Gal. 6:17), if the Cross is not planted deep within us and emanating from us, if our lives are not formed by the suffering Lamb of God, then what do we really have?

 

We may talk about the Cross, sing about the Cross (though not as in previous generations), we may have crosses and crucifixes hanging in our churches and homes, we may have finely-tuned doctrines of the Cross embedded in our confessions and catechisms, but if the Cross is not our Way of Life, if we are not suffering on behalf of others – as individuals, as congregations, and as movements (if we must have movements) – then something is amiss.

 

The Cross is not only a stumbling block to the world, it is a stumbling block to the professing church (1 Cor. 1:17 – 31; Gal. 2:20; 5:11; 6:14).

 

Peter sought to spare Jesus from the Cross (Mt. 16:21 – 23; Jn. 18:10 – 11). In Matthew Jesus rebuked him with the words, “Get behind Me, Satan!” When pastors and teachers and churches spare us from the Cross, they are not helping us, they are not representing the Way of Jesus Christ.

 

Is the Cross simply something outside us, an external object which we have not touched, and which has not touched us? Or is the Cross of Christ living in the depths of our souls, is it the center of life, the source of life, and is sharing it the object and mission of life?

 

Are we following the Lamb wherever He leads us?

 

I will, the Lord willing, share more on suffering on behalf of others in our next reflection in this series.