Something Divine in Us

This is a powerful quote I shared in my sermon on Sunday.

This is a report given by a pagan official, Aristides, to Emperor Hadrian who was seeking justification to outlaw Christianity. It is from the early 2nd century.

“Christians love one another. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If someone has something, they give freely to the one who has nothing. If they see a stranger, Christians take them home and are happy, as though he were a real brother or sister. They don’t consider themselves siblings in the usual sense, but instead through the Spirit of God. And if they hear that one of them is in jail, or persecuted for professing the name of their redeemer, they give that person what they need. If it is possible, they bail them out. If one of them is poor and there isn’t enough food to go around, they fast several days to give them the food they need. This is really a new kind of person. There is something divine in them.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer on real love and community

I honor the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who gave his life today (April 9) living the way of Christ in the face of evil.

Two of my favorite quotes are from “Life Together,” and very profound in these times of divisiveness, when those who have led the charge in leaving the UMC were, in my opinion, more interested in their vision of what community should be like than in actually being in genuine community, and more interested in what they thought love ought to be like than in giving themselves to Christ’s love. Lord, have mercy. It breaks my heart.

“Every human wish and dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.”

“What love is, only Christ tells in his Word. Contrary to all my own opinions and convictions, Jesus Christ will tell me what love toward the brethren really is. Therefore, spiritual love is bound solely to the Word of Jesus Christ.”

I still have the book of devotional excerpts my daughter Deborah gave me years ago, and I open it from time to time. It is dear because she gave it to me.

Unlike Shane Claiborne, I’m unwilling to say  his attempt on Hitler’s life was a mistake. Ethics are rather complex when it comes to extreme evil.