I.N.I.

a homily to be preached at Village Lutheran Church, Bronxville, NY at their mid-week Lenten service on 8 March 1995, the Wednesday following the first Sunday in Lent. Based on the text Romans 10: 8-13, on something to do with Lenten customs in Germany, and on the martyrdom of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (all as assigned by the pastor of the congregation).

Grace, mercy, and peace be yours in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Dear Friends in Christ,

Our Lenten mid-week services this year look at customs that are associated with Lent in various countries. We also will be bringing in heroes of the Christian faith who lived in those countries. Tonight’s country is Germany.

Traditional German customs associated with the season of Lent seem to cluster around the very beginning of the penitential season, or actually immediately before it. Those customs are tied to the last days of Epiphany, to the carnival, to Fasching. In the same way that Mardi Gras in New Orleans and South America drain exuberance from the people before the quiet and solemnity of Lent, the Karneval or Fasching partying do the same in Germany. A fun time is had by all. There are parades, floats, and parties. There are odd looking masks and people doing odd things for the sake of a good time.

Christianity makes some people do odd things, too. If you’ve read the brief biographical sketch in the bulletin regarding Dietrich Bonhoeffer, you know that this man had many opportunities to save his skin by staying out of Germany as World War II progressed. Bonhoeffer could have stayed in safety in US or England, but returned to Germany. What an odd thing.

He disobeyed the governmental authorities. How odd, perhaps especially for a Lutheran.

He preached the plain and simple message of the cross of Jesus. Odd again, at least in the view of the world, and of supposedly sophisticated, modern theologians.

Bonhoeffer’s understanding of the Gospel prompted him to want people in Nazi Germany to be treated equally. That was certainly an odd thing then.

St. Paul tells us in Romans 10:12 that “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ” (v. 12) Bonhoeffer believed this with his whole heart. He showed this in his last Lenten season on this earth as he ministered without animosity both to Germans and to Englishmen, even though this was during World War II.

The way that God treats people is odd, too. He treats us all equally.

Bonhoeffer was taking on himself the attitude of our Lord. The Lord is the one who treats us without distinction. We are all equal in His sight. No one of us is better, or more worthy, than the next. No one of us is worse, or less commendable than the next.

You might be asking what significance there is in this. Why is it worth mentioning?

It makes a big difference to us. The difference is this: you cannot feel any further away from God than the holiest saint. While you may feel overwhelmed by sin, while you may want to crawl into a hole to hide your filthy ugliness from our pure and beautiful Savior, while you may want to withdraw from interaction with other people and with the Lord, you can be assured that you have no more reason for wanting to do this than does the best, brightest, most praiseworthy Christian past, present or future. Any Christian you might look up to.

Our sinfulness was inherited from our ancestors, going back to Adam and Eve. Each and every one of us is born and lives in sinfulness. The tragedy of the human condition is that we can’t do anything to pull ourselves out of the swamp of sin. This is where we stay.

We can, perhaps, through education and hard work, improve our lot in life. We can, perhaps, through saving and investing, amass enough money to live in comfort and ease. We can be kind to animals, help senior citizens across the street, and coach a kids’ sports team. But none of these things means that we have pulled ourselves out of darkness and into God’s marvelous light.

What these efforts at goodness do not do is deal with our separation from God, our violation of His holy law. These efforts at goodness only deal with surface appearances. They don’t deal with the real issues of our life with God.

God’s one simple demand is that we be perfect. Here, again, you can see that “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek” for two reasons: First, because everybody is placed under the same legal requirement. And, second, because there is no one that has met that one criterion for goodness. We are all one just like the other because none of us has been perfect. None of us.

Everyone must avail himself of, must take advantage of, the means for escape from this darkened, dead end alley. We all have to call for help. And the Lord is “generous to all who call on Him.” (v. 12). The Lord is generous.

He gives us more than what would satisfy our mere immediate needs. He gives us more. He showers us with blessings that surpass anything we could think to ask for. He showers us.

Our calls for help rise to the ears of the Lord. We “confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord,” (v. 9) just as did his first disciples, as did the prophets of the Old Testament, as did the thief on the cross, as did believers through the ages, as did Bonhoeffer and the Christians who suffered with him under the Nazi regime.

We confess Him, and “believe with our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. ” We believe with our hearts as did Bonhoeffer, as did Polycarp of Smyrna, as did John Hus of Bohemia, as did Kaj Munk of Denmark, and as did so many other martyrs for the faith who gave up their earthly lives rather than submit to the demands that they give up their faith in Jesus.

Yes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer died for his faith. He was put to death in a Nazi prison camp on Palm Sunday exactly 50 years ago, just 11 days before the Allies liberated the camp. Bonhoeffer died because he saw through the evil of Hitler’s regime and had been involved in plots to assassinate him. Pastor Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor and seminary professor, had plotted to put an end to Adolf Hitler’s life in order to save the lives of millions of others. He was convinced that the cross of Christ demanded such action.

The cross of Christ changes lives. The cross of Christ brings us new life. The cross of Christ, the innocent death of Jesus on the hill of execution outside Jerusalem, is proof in the pages of human history that God considers each of us worth saving.

Our salvation cost God more than any of us could begin to repay. It cost God His only Son. You and I and every person on earth are beneficiaries of the cross. We live in its shadow as God’s children. We’re his disciples, because he paid that high cost for us.

We may be called one day to hand over our lives because of our faith, but whether we are or aren’t, God holds us dear to Himself. God calls each of us precious. God considers each of us worthy of His loving attention. “There is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.”

The Lord is generous with His love. The Lord is generous with His forgiveness. The Lord is generous with His support. The Lord is generous with His care.

AMEN

May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.

S.D.G.