Bonhoeffer: Discipleship and the Word

Bonhoeffer’s chapter “The Call to Discipleship” begins with Mark 2: 14, the call of Levi (Matthew) out of his work as a tax collector and into discipleship.  “….the cause behind the immediate following of call by response is Jesus Christ Himself.  It is Jesus Who calls, and because it is Jesus, Levi follows at once.  This encounter is a testimony to the absolute, direct, and unaccountable authority of Jesus….Because Jesus is the Christ, He has the authority to call and to demand obedience to His word.”  

“Because Jesus is the Christ, He has the authority to call and to demand obedience to His word.”  It is not just obedience to His spoken word, it is obedience to Jesus Christ the Word Made Flesh.  Christ Jesus is the One about Whom John writes in the first chapter of his gospel:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.  In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”  (John 1: 1-4).  Genesis 1:3 says “And God said…”.  God’s Word has power to create things out of nothing, to create substance out of the formless void.  According to Hebrews 1: 1-4, while God in the past spoke through prophets,  “…in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, Whom He appointed heir of all things, and through Whom He made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.”  We have God’s word in the Old Testament scriptures preserved for us; we have God’s word in the New Testament gospel narratives and epistles.  And when Jesus lived and breathed here on earth, incarnate and en-fleshed, He was the living, breathing Word of God.  It was God’s Word which called the disciples to faith and obedience; when Jesus called Matthew, Matthew obeyed because the Word of God has power:  God’s Word created the universe, God’s Word creates faith in the hearts of people.  

Again, Bonhoeffer:  “When we are called to follow Christ, we are summoned to an exclusive attachment to His person.  The grace of the call bursts all the bonds of legalism.  It is a gracious call, a gracious commandment.  It transcends the difference between the law and the gospel. Christ calls, the disciple follows: that is grace and commandment in one.” 

It is grace and commandment in one because it is the gift of faith which enables the following; it is the power of the Word of God in the person and voice of Jesus which enables faith—the same faith present in the heart of the Virgin Mary when she heard God’s Word spoken to her about her impending motherhood and she responded with a confession of obedience and faith.  This gift of faith is given by God’s Word; the emphasis on the power of the Word of God is somewhat unique to the Lutheran church and its confessions.  This emphasis is obvious in Bonhoeffer’s writings, as he further discusses the importance of putting oneself in a location where the call—the Word—can be heard, e.g., going to church.  Bonhoeffer describes this as “the first external act which is the essential preliminary to faith.”  I find this discussion (starting on pg 65 in my text) somewhat confusing and contradictory, even un-Lutheran.  Bonhoeffer reiterates the Lutheran refutation of Pelagianism (the notion that humans have enough good left in them to choose God of their own volition), but then appears to go on to say that we must of our own volition choose God, choose obedience, choose to go to church and initiate faith.  The whole discussion becomes somewhat circuitous, which is maybe simply a function of the complexity of the topic:  faith is a gift of God, given by His Spirit and Word, and saving faith in Christ does not spring to life in the human heart apart from God’s Spirit and His Word.  Paul in Romans 10: 14, 15 describes the necessary relationship between hearing and believing.  The living, breathing Jesus Christ is no longer present with us today; instead, He has given His promised Spirit, the Comforter and Counselor Who “will teach [us] all things and remind [us] of everything [Jesus had] said... (John 14: 26) – that is, the Spirit will teach us and remind of the words of Christ.  

Bonhoeffer immediately adds “…this step is, and can never be more than, a purely external act and a dead work of the law, which can never of itself bring a man to Christ….If we think our first step is the pre-condition for faith and grace, we are already judged by our work, and entirely excluded from grace….we can only take this step aright if we fix our eyes not on the work we do, but on the word with which Jesus calls us to do it.”

The Word, the Word, the Word – the saving, faith-giving Word of God, whether understood as the spoken Words of Christ which actually moved air molecules and banged against the ear drums of the disciples; or understood as the Spirit-inspired Word of God which we read off of printed pages in our physical Bibles which we hold in our hands and view with our eyes, or preached faithfully by pastor’s and teachers which we hear with our ears and comprehend with our minds.    For those of us raised in faith, those who heard the Word of God preached weekly in church or taught daily by faithful parents or in Christian dayschools, we were blessed with exposure to the faith-giving, calling Word of God.  For those touched by faithful friends, coworkers or neighbors who offered Spirit-filled, truth-filled Words of calling, who heard Jesus words through the members of His body, they are blessed by the faith-giving Word of God.  It is the Word which calls and gives faith; it is that same Word which we should seek to faithfully offer to those who do not believe because they have never heard.  

The true, unadulterated Word of God is in short supply these days.  It is obscured by misunderstandings of Scripture, of assumptions based upon half-remembered poorly-explained Sunday-school lessons and of fragmentary quotes quilted together with human platitudes.  It is cast out of schools and neglected in homes; in some places it is illegal and difficult to find; in others, illiteracy or language proves a barrier to the Word.  It is skimmed over by preachers who feel it is not flashy enough, that the Word is too passé, irrelevant and outdated; it is mangled by teachers who fail to prepare or who have not been trained; it is ignored and taken for granted by those who should be feasting on it instead.   Bonhoeffer’s simple statement that we should “come to church!” seems old-fashioned, from an era where going to church was more part of the culture and practice.  Should someone wander into a modern Christian church on any given Sunday—are they guaranteed to hear the Word of Christ?  Will it be preached faithfully; will scripture be read and taught?  Or will there be a diluted message of niceness; a fuzzy message promising happiness; a stern message offering only demands for righteousness?  Should someone enquire as to the nature of your Christian faith or my Christian faith, will the answer clearly tie back to the inspired and inerrant Word of God, the scriptural basis for faith, the truth revealed by the Spirit of God in the Bible?  Or will it be vague generalities spoken out of simultaneous confusion and desire not to offend?  

Paul in Romans says “’The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,’ that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  (Romans 10: 8, 9).  The Word of God in mind and heart is the Word of faith.  It must be confessed, and it must be preached and taught.  We are not privileged to hear the actual Words of Christ reverberate in our ears, but we are privileged to have His Word in Scripture and to have faith without sight because God’s Word has that power—the power to call, the power to give faith, the power to inspire obedience.

1)      Paul in Romans asks a series of hypothetical questions, trailing backwards but getting to the importance of someone to be sent to preach (Romans 10: 14, 15) in order for God’s Word to be heard and to inspire belief.  Not everyone is called or sent to preach as pastors preach, but we are all called to “confess Jesus is Lord” (Romans 10: 9) and to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3: 15).  How are you confessing Christ to others, giving a reason for the hope of your faith, and assisting in sending those who can preach the Word?

2)      God’s Word has power.  It has power to give and sustain faith.  Do you prioritize time reading, studying and hearing God’s Word to sustain your faith; or not?  If not, contemplate the reality of the power of God in His Word which makes the Bible unique among books.  Is not like reading and studying a famous author or philosopher, it is not like reading a self-help or parenting book.  The Bible is God’s Word to all of us, and to you.  Consider how this perspective might help you prioritize time in God’s Word or add value to the time you already spend.

3)      Within Christendom, people will talk about “God speaking to me…a word from the Lord….” but frequently these are more personal revelation and personal opinion than they are based upon God’s Word.  How is reliance on human wisdom and insight apart from God’s Word a dangerous practice? 

4)      Consider this statement from Bonhoeffer:  “….we can only take this step aright if we fix our eyes not on the work we do, but on the Word with which Jesus calls us to do it.”  The emphasis is not on our work but on Jesus' Words and the power in them--and the atoning work which He has accomplished to bring us into a right relationship with God.  The faith we have is a gift; our response is also a gift.  We are freed from worry about "doing it right" or "doing enough."  It is done for us.  What does this mean for you as you respond to the call of Christ to discipleship?