Bonhoeffer: Serving as the Body of Christ

In Chapter 30, The Visible Community, Bonhoeffer extends his discussion from Chapter 29 on The Body of Christ.  He starts this chapter in this way “The Body of Christ takes up space on earth. This is consequence of the Incarnation.  Christ came into his own….the Incarnation does involve a claim to a space of its own on earth. Anything which claims space is visible.  Hence the  Body of Christ can only be a visible Body, or else it is not a Body at all…..A truth, a doctrine or a religion need no space for themselves….But the incarnate Son of God needs not only ears or hearts, but living men who will follow him.  That is why he called his disciples into literal, bodily following….” 

 Bonhoeffer describes multiple ways in which the Body of Christ exists as visible and tangible. First, the disciples who as real, living human beings were called to follow and serve Christ. Second, the Church of Christ on earth which exists to preach and teach the Word of God to the World, the Word which produces faith and which existed as Christ and now brings the Holy Spirit to produce faith and the fruit of good works.  Third, the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which are physical and tangible elements flowing “…from the true humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the two sacraments he encounters us bodily and makes us partakers in the fellowship and communion of his Body, and they are both closely linked to his word.”  

As members of the Church of Christ, we are here in the world as Christ was in the world.  This chapter discusses the service and suffering which is part of being the Body of Christ, the Church in the World.  We are not just here as “spiritual” beings, thinking spiritual thoughts and meditating on spiritual ideas:  we are here to serve our neighbors.  “The otherworldliness of the Christian life ought, Luther concluded, to be manifested in the very midst of the world, in the Christian community and in its daily life.  Hence the Christian’s task is to live out that life in terms of his secular calling.  That is the way to die unto the world.  The value of the secular calling for the Christian is that it provides an opportunity of living the Christian life with the support of God’s grace, and of engaging more vigorously in the assault on the world and everything it stands for.”  We are not yet to be pulled out of this world, but are instead planted here to serve the world—the physical, tangible, created world by being the Body of Christ, a physical, tangible entity.  

A recent podcast discussed popular evangelical theology and hit on the doctrine of the rapture as it is commonly understood in modern Christianity.  The speaker referred to Jesus’ words in Matthew 24, where he talks about people being “taken.”  Those taken away are commonly viewed as those who are raptured up to heaven with Christ, but a closer reading reveals that those “taken” are those taken away for judgement—read carefully verses 37-39 where those drowned in the flood are described as being taken away by the flood.  Those left behind are not unbelievers, but instead believers who are left here on earth as the new heaven and the new earth are revealed and as unbelievers are taken away and cast out of God’s eternal presence.  When Christ returns, there will be a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1); indeed, our unspoil-able, imperishable inheritance exists now and is kept in heaven for us, as we persevere through trials (see 1 Peter 1: 3ff).  This current sinful earth will pass away, but ultimately there will be a new Creation which we will live in for eternity—we are being prepared now for eternity, an eternity which will be both physical and spiritual.  Therefore the things we do now both physically and spiritually resonate into eternity, as they are done in faith.  

In 1 Corinthians 3: 10 – 17, Paul describes the foundation as being faith, laid by the true preaching of God’s holy word which brings faith.  Upon that foundation we build—some with gold and silver, others with hay and straw.  When Christ returns “…the fire will test the quality of each man’s work.  If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.”  And also in 1 Corinthians 12: 25 ff, Paul discusses how God’s voice will shake the earth and only those things which cannot be shaken—those things founded on Christ—will remain.  As we live as the Body of Christ, we are building upon the foundation of the faith given to us.  When Christ returns, the world will be shaken and all that is unholy will be consumed by fire, but as we build in holiness and in faith, certain things will remain.  It will not just be spiritual things which sustain into eternity.

Look around you at the world.  [I believe and think that scripture supports this notion.] Those things built in faithful service to Christ will exist into eternity.  Certainly our families, baptized into Christ, raised in the faith and sustained by the Spirit, will endure.  But imagine other parts of the world—bridges, buildings and roads designed and built by faithful Christians, purposed to serve the neighbor in love; blankets knitted and quilts sewn in faithful love and service; toys constructed out of love for children, houses built to shelter beloved families.  I believe that these things may well endure into eternity, after the shaking and the fire destroys the old, sinful earth.  More than all of this, our faith in Christ Jesus will endure.  And now, in body and spirit, we live out that faith as the Body of Christ.

Bonhoeffer says “…the Church of Christ has a different “form” from the world.  Her task is increasingly to realize this form.  It is the form of Christ himself, who came into the world and of his infinite mercy bore mankind and took it to himself, but not withstanding did not fashion himself in accordance with it but was rejected and cast out by it.  He was not of this world.  In the right confrontation with the world, the Church will become ever more like to its suffering Lord.”   Every Christian must believe that he or she lives in the last days.  The timeline of the world is moving closer to the end, and each generation of Christians is closer to Christ’s return.  We are given the Word and the Sacraments to strengthen us in faith, as we seek not to escape the world but to endure.  

“The world is growing too small for the Christian community, and all it looks for is the Lord’s return.  It still walks in the flesh, but with eyes upturned to heaven, whence he for whom they wait will come again.  In the world, the Christians are a colony of the true home, they are strangers and aliens in a foreign land, enjoying the hospitality of that land, obeying its laws and honoring its government.  They receive with gratitude the requirements of their bodily life, and in all things prove themselves honest, just, chaste, gentle, peaceable and ready to serve….They are patient and cheerful in suffering, and they glory in tribulation….But they are only passing through…at any moment they may receive the signal to move on. Then they will strike tents…and following only the voice of their Lord who calls.  They leave the land of their exile and start their homeward trek to heaven.”

We live as strangers and aliens here.  We are creatures of both body and spirit, and we seek to abandon neither, but rather to fully serve our neighbor in love and faith until Christ returns to reconcile the whole world—all of creation, the physical and the spiritual—to himself.  

1)      You are a creature of both body and spirit.  God has created you this way, and sustains you accordingly.  In light of this, how does Bonhoeffer seem to encourage you to view the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, as well as the hearing of God’s Word?

2)      The world tempts us to “do, do, do” and “buy, buy, buy.”  Whether exciting vacation experiences or luxurious purchases for “self-care”, we are constantly encouraged to relish this current age.  This can create dissatisfaction, greed, frustration and disappointment.  But we know that all of the good and beautiful parts of this created world will be part of the new heaven and the new earth.  I would posit that the splendor of the Grand Canyon, the comfort of a warm bubble bath and cool, clean sheets, the joy of gardening, carpentry and other work or hobbies, and the fun of a family board-game, will all exist—perfected and made holy—in the new creation.  How does knowing that God’s good creation will continue into eternity help keep you from discontent, covetousness and “fear of missing out”, and allow you to focus on enduring, serving and suffering in faith?

3)      Bonhoeffer describes limits to the ability of the Christian to participate in the world and how we should expect to ultimately suffer for our faithfulness.  “The limits and claims of the secular calling are fixed by our membership of the visible Church of Christ, and these limits are reached when the space which the Body of Christ claims and occupies…clashes with the world’s claim for space for its own activities.  We shall know at once when the limit has been reached, for every member of the Church will then be obliged to make a public confession of Christ, and the world will be forced to react, either by calculated restraint or open violence.  Now the Christian will suffer openly.”  Certainly Bonhoeffer saw this happen in his own age.  How do you see it happening now?  In what ways are you preparing yourself to suffer as a Christian?