Obligation
On February 4, 1906 Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born... 100 years ago yesterday. He was a German protestant pastor with great skills for ministry, writing, and teaching. Before he was 30 he was teaching in seminary. At 31 he wrote "The Cost of Discipleship," the most important book of the twentieth century.
Bonhoeffer lived in a dangerous place during a dangerous time: Nazi Germany. Such a setting forced him to make many important ethical and spiritual decisions during his life. The Protestant Church of the 1930's began to give in more and more to the will of Hitler and his Nazis, but Bonhoeffer refused to bow to such evil. The lives of Bonhoeffer and other like-minded Christians were soon threatened.
In 1939 he fled Germany to safety in New York City, but within weeks he was on the last ship back to his homeland. Like Jonah in the Old Testament, Bonhoeffer's conscience would not allow him to flee his call and stay in the United States. God had called him to proclaim the gospel to his brethren in Germany. He accepted his obligation and returned. After his return the Gestapo continuously harassed Bonhoeffer and soon he was forbidden to teach or publish his writings. He was arrested in 1943 and imprisoned for fifteen months. On April 9, 1945 he was murdered by the Nazis in the Flossenburg Concentration Camp.
How blessed we are to live in freedom today. But being a Christian is not always easy, even in the United States in 2006. Just two days ago five Baptist congregations in Alabama were burnt to the ground for no good reason. More and more Christians are the object of ridicule and prejudice in our society.
But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:16 "If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no reason for boasting, for an obligation has been laid on me, and woe to be if I do not proclaim the gospel." Bonhoeffer lived by these words and as an obedient servant he proclaimed the gospel to his Christian brothers in Nazi Germany. God was his strength and guide through those difficult years. When things get tough for us as well today, God is our help. While it might not be easy we all are called to proclaim the gospel.
Bonhoeffer lived in a dangerous place during a dangerous time: Nazi Germany. Such a setting forced him to make many important ethical and spiritual decisions during his life. The Protestant Church of the 1930's began to give in more and more to the will of Hitler and his Nazis, but Bonhoeffer refused to bow to such evil. The lives of Bonhoeffer and other like-minded Christians were soon threatened.
In 1939 he fled Germany to safety in New York City, but within weeks he was on the last ship back to his homeland. Like Jonah in the Old Testament, Bonhoeffer's conscience would not allow him to flee his call and stay in the United States. God had called him to proclaim the gospel to his brethren in Germany. He accepted his obligation and returned. After his return the Gestapo continuously harassed Bonhoeffer and soon he was forbidden to teach or publish his writings. He was arrested in 1943 and imprisoned for fifteen months. On April 9, 1945 he was murdered by the Nazis in the Flossenburg Concentration Camp.
How blessed we are to live in freedom today. But being a Christian is not always easy, even in the United States in 2006. Just two days ago five Baptist congregations in Alabama were burnt to the ground for no good reason. More and more Christians are the object of ridicule and prejudice in our society.
But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:16 "If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no reason for boasting, for an obligation has been laid on me, and woe to be if I do not proclaim the gospel." Bonhoeffer lived by these words and as an obedient servant he proclaimed the gospel to his Christian brothers in Nazi Germany. God was his strength and guide through those difficult years. When things get tough for us as well today, God is our help. While it might not be easy we all are called to proclaim the gospel.
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