What kind of imposition is Jesus on our lives? Sure, there are all the benefits of Jesus that we freely embrace: forgiveness, love, new life, and so forth. But what about the more difficult aspects of discipleship: loving our neighbor, forgiving others, feeding the hungry, working for justice, etc.? Much as we try to isolate ourselves from some of these latters practices at times, we cannot follow Jesus without integrating both the benefits and the impositions.
Bonhoeffer is so bold (a recurring theme here) to write that the imposition of following Jesus "includes much humiliation and dishonor for the disciples themselves." The example from Matthew 5 of seeking to mend broken relationships shows the sort of humiliation and dishonor that comes from following Christ. It is not only humbling, but even humiliatin, to have to engage these sorts of conversations with others. Who among us likes to admit our guilt or our wrongdoing?
Yet this is perhaps a part of the costly grace of Holy Communion. This meal was paid with Jesus' body and blood - a fact unlikely lost on us during Holy Week - and we, therefore, must not take that gift lightly. Doing so means that, in the words of Martin Luther, we are eating and drinking to our own damnation.
We see the path full of grace that comes with discipleship when we integrate our faith fully in our lives and revere the gift of Jesus by tending to the relationships around us even if that brings with it humiliation and dishonor. The humiliation and dishonor Jesus suffered on our behalf on the cross is a much steeper price than we will ever have to pay!
Pastor Joel
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
