GodReflection: Power Words

It’s been almost 50 years since Professor Gerald Kendrick spoke in our class on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s horror and description of man’s tendency to make grace cheap. Nothing comes at a greater cost than grace. It should not receive abuse. It is the wrapper for forgiveness.

I could tell Bonhoeffer’s writings captivated him when he enrolled in a German Language class to be able to dig deeper into the gold Bonhoeffer found in Jesus.

Three years ago, with the release of Eric Metaxas’ biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, I too started to trace the vein of gold left by the writings of this German prisoner. One reward received by my re-encounter with Bonhoeffer at this point in life is the availability of his writings in English through the translation work of others over the past five decades.

Bonhoeffer is a great fit for my retirement years.

Since leaving the treadmill of employment responsibilities, I began to see the clock as my friend rather than an enemy. I find myself taking time to read Scripture and other books with time to think in a calmer and more circumspect manner.

I am finding that it is not as easy as I previously believed to sort truth from fiction.

It is a satisfying experience to discover missing pieces of the eternal puzzle. There are times I feel a deep desire to throw discovered puzzle pieces at “those who are not so enlightened.”

Dietrich speaks to my arrogance.

Bonhoeffer lived when there wasn’t much Jesus in German churches. People gave their allegiance to a formal structure rather than to the Son of God.

The young Dietrich encountered Jesus in the Gospels.  The living Jesus—contrasted to cold religion—was vibrant. Bonhoeffer discovered the gift of forgiveness and extended it to others. He saw himself as a sinner forever in need of God’s forgiveness.

This past week I came across a quotation of the young German. It reminds me to refrain from throwing newly mined puzzle pieces at those who differ from me.

I stand in awe at the maturity of his insight: “Finally, as a true theologian he should know that, even where his perception of the truth and purity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ sets him apart from heresy, he stands alongside his mistaken and misled brethren, sharing their guilt and interceding on their behalf, and that he himself subsists, not on know-it-all dogmatism, but solely on forgiveness.”

It is a good reminder that I too stand in the need of forgiveness. Truth is never about proving others wrong.

Bonhoeffer reminds me that my search to know God uses newfound nuggets to enrich my relationship with the Creator rather than for use as spiritual slingshot ammunition.

It is a good week for each of us to remember how needy we are of daily forgiveness. It is also a good week to remember to offer the gift of forgiveness to others.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – Reflecting on Forgiveness

Gary@GodReflection.org