WE CONFESS, HE BUILDS

In his Church Election sermon of July 23, 1933, Dietrich Bonhoeffer confessed the Christ who builds in a church that confesses Him.
It is not we who build. [Christ] builds the church. No man builds the church but Christ alone. Whoever is minded to build the church is surely well on the way to destroying it; for he will build a temple to idols without wishing or knowing it. We must - confess-he builds. We must proclaim--he builds. We must pray to him--that he may build.
We do not know his plan. We cannot see whether he is building or pulling down. It may be that the times which by human standards are times of collapse are for him the great times of construction. It may be that the times which from a human point of view are great times for the church are times when it is pulled down.
It is a comfort which Christ gives to church: you confess, preach, bear witness to me and I alone will build where it pleases me. Do not meddle in what is my province. Do what is given to you to do well and you have done enough. But do it well. Pay no heed to views and opinions. Don't ask for judgments. Don't always be calculating what will happen. Don't always be on the lookout for another refuge! Church, stay a church! But church, confess, confess, confess! Christ alone is your Lord; from his grace alone can you live as you are. Christ builds.
This selection is found in No Rusty Swords, Vol. I of the collected work; of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Harper and Row, 1965).

PRAYER:
Blessed Lord of the Church,
Lord my calling, that I may answer,
Lord my thoughts, that I may think,
Lord my words, that I may speak,
Lord my actions , that I may act,
Lord my steps, that I may walk,
Lord my seeing, that I may see,
Lord my hearing, that I may hear,
Lord me, and my all, according to and within the bounds,
of Your calling, O Lord, my God and Savior.
In the boundless blessings of Your name,
I pray Lord Jesus. Amen.

WISDOM FOR LIVING IN MIDST OF DEATH

When it comes to living and dying, it is believed that the struggle for most people is often the inevitability of death, of things coming to an end. Yet, I believe that this is not so much the struggle as is the issue of how to live daily with this reality and inevitability of death.
Everyday, death is always in the picture of every person’s life. For some, it is very prominent and overwhelming. Christian are not immune to this same struggle but the struggle is perhaps a little different. If someone, say an angel came and told someone that they were going to die tomorrow at noon, it would be hard, but they would face it and know that the Lord would come and take them to the place prepared. The issue is not death, the issue is how to live if you know you’re going to die. What plans can one make if they’re going to die? What future do they have apart from what Jesus will do for them in death?
The believer life isn’t about dying, it’s about living in the midst of dying. Jesus died and in Him we have already died. The issue for the believer is about living the life Christ redeemed each of us to live. The life God created us to live. Jesus told us that tomorrow will take care of itself, today has enough of its own troubles. By faith in Christ, we live today for the sake of others who are facing today’s troubles, helping them to live through and beyond their troubles by faith in Christ alone.
It’s God’s job to deal with death and no one else’s. That is why He sent Jesus to live and die for us so that we could live in the face of and the midst of death. The death Christ died, he died so that we would only have to live in the shadow of death. The believer’s life is about living, not dying. The Bible is not a book about death, it’s about life, new life and living by faith in Jesus Christ, even in the midst of and despite the power of death.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Second Corinthians 5:17.

PRAYER
Blessed God and Father,
how great must be the curse of sin,
that You’ve judged the power of death to be its consequence.
Yet, O Lord, how much greater must be Your love for me,
in that You sent Your only begotten Son, to suffer
- the curse of my sin and the sin of the whole world,
- the power of my death and the death of the whole world,
- and Your omnipotent wrath that I and the whole world rightly deserves.
Yet as great as all these, so much greater is the Son of God and the Son of Man.
He is truly the propitiation for my sins and those of the world in that
- His suffering and death, He has paid the price, the ransom for my release and the release of the whole world.
- And by His perfect life, He has gained the Holy Favor of God toward me and the whole world.
Give my heart a right measure of Your Holy Spirit that I might rightly grasp this blessed grace and believe accordingly.
Give my heart a right faith that I may trust in no other love or Lord, but Jesus Christ alone.
And ever open my lips that I may praise You,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
now in this world and even in the world to come
through Jesus Christ, my Lord and the Lord of all.
Amen.