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.