Fellowship as a Gift
of Grace
One of the books I most appreciated re-reading this past
summer was Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Life Together”. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor and teacher
in Germany before and during World War II.
In the first paragraph of the first chapter he writes: “Jesus Christ lived
in the midst of his enemies. At the end
all his disciples deserted him. On the
cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For
this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God.”
He then quotes the reformer Martin Luther: “The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your
enemies. And he who will not suffer this
does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ, he wants to be among friends, to
sit among rose and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people.”
What Bonhoeffer declares is that the gathering of Christians
in fellowship is not only a reason for joy and encouragement but we our being
able to gather is itself a gift of God’s grace, for it is by grace that we are
able to live in fellowship with one another.
And the reason is this, it is because we come not as ‘demanders but
instead we come thankful’ for the grace that is ours in Christ, a grace that
has been given to share for the sake of another.
Bonhoeffer writes: ‘Is the divine gift of Christian
fellowship anything less than this, any day, even the most difficult and
distressing day? Even when sin and misunderstanding burden the communal life
(congregational life), is not the sinning brother or sister still a brother and
sister with whom I, too, stand under the word of Christ?’
And then he adds these words that have always caught my
attention: ‘Will not their (my brother
and sisters in Christ) sin be a constant occasion for me to give thanks that the
both of us may live in the forgiving love of God in Christ? Thus the very hour
of disillusionment with my brother becomes a reason for celebration because it
so thoroughly teaches me that neither of us can ever live by our own words and
deeds, but only by the one word indeed which really binds us together… the
forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ.’
Bonhoeffer wrote these words 73 years ago but they continue
to speak to us today, for we too as a congregation, as a community of faith, as
a fellowship in Christ gather and serve together only by grace of God that is
ours in Christ Jesus. This grace is what
is best about who we are, it defines who we are, we are God’s forgiven and
forgiving people called to be community where his grace is declared, trusted,
and lifted up.
May the Grace of God continue gather us for a life together
as we service together, pray together, and worship together. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Mark
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