GOD'S NEW WORLD, DAY 13 (we shall overcome)
The paradox of the kingdom of God.
The
book of Revelation is clear – it is precisely by dying for their faith
that the martyrs “overcome” the “beast”, the “world” and all the enemies of
God. Jesus showed us the way to true
victory – by giving up his life on the cross, he defeated the “principalities
and powers” (cf. Col. 2.14-15). Despite
the fact that everyone – including the disciples – believed that Jesus’ death
was a defeat and proof that he was not the Messiah after all (cf. Lk.
24.19-24), the New Testament consistently insists that the opposite was in
fact the case. The cross was Jesus’
“enthronement” as Messiah, as King of Israel, and constituted his victory over
the true enemies of the people of God – sin, death and all the forces of
evil (cf. Eph. 6.12). The New Testament
tells us again and again, lest we miss it – the kingdom of God is an
upside-down kingdom. That is to say,
God’s powerful reign functions in the opposite way from human
regimes. For God, true power is
manifested in weakness, humility, suffering, humiliation, service – yes, even
death (cf. Lk. 1.51-53; Mk. 10.42-45; 2 Cor. 12.10). Humans “do” power motivated by fear and
pride; God does power by humility and self-giving love (cf. Phil. 2.5-11). That being said, it takes a lot of courage to
follow Jesus on the path of the cross and of self-denial (cf. Lk. 9.23); it
requires bravery to trust God, to render oneself vulnerable to attack,
rejection, and mockery instead of defending one’s rights and status. We are members of Jesus’ subversive kingdom,
called to “fight” with the “weapons” of compassion and service. As those who are – according to the world’s
standards – powerless (if they only knew), we are called, not to escape
this world – or indeed, suffering for our faith – but rather to engage our
world (even those who are hostile to us) with the love of God, which is more
powerful than hatred, violence and all devices that humans can conjure.
Modern martyr. A relatively recent example of just this kind
of courageous discipleship is that exemplified by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
(1906—45). Bonhoeffer was a young German
pastor/theologian who was invited by friends to escape trouble by going to the
U.S.A. once Hitler came to power in Germany.
Bonhoeffer initially accepted the offer, and was warmly welcomed in
America and was offered many opportunities to teach in seminaries and publish
books – in short, to become a theological sensation. However, as he enjoyed the safety of America,
Bonhoeffer was tortured by the thought that he had abandoned his nation at the
moment when she needed him the most.
Finally, after a few months in New York, he decided to return to Germany
and face whatever fate awaited him. He
went home, joined a “coalition” of “confessing” churches who refused to swear
allegiance to Hitler (the National Church of Germany, known as the “German
Christians”, had endorsed Hitler), founded an underground seminary to train
leaders for these dissident congregations, continued to write theology, and
even worked as a double-agent, feeding information to British operatives
through his activities as an agent of German military intelligence. Eventually, his involvement in the Valkyrie
plot to assassinate Hitler was discovered, and he was imprisoned by the Gestapo
and eventually hanged on April 9, 1945, just a few weeks before the end of the
war. Bonhoeffer had only recently turned
39 years old. What a clear example of
following Christ courageously on the way of the cross! Bonhoeffer turned his back on personal
prestige, comfort and safety and deliberately chose to do the hard thing – to
go into the lion’s den and serve Christ in the midst of an extremely traumatic
time in Germany’s history, where fear was rampant and the temptation to be
co-opted by the Nazi regime was all but irresistible. Bonhoeffer lived the book of
Revelation. In the face of seemingly
insurmountable odds, when it must have felt like everyone was against him, he
served Christ and the gospel, resisted the pressure to conform to the demands
of a demonic regime, and took the consequences.
Bonhoeffer overcame; he triumphed.
A call to bold engagement. I put it to you that this is how we should
read the book of Revelation – not as an invitation to escape the world or its
troubles, but rather as a challenge to serve Christ faithfully in the midst of
whatever trials and upheavals may be occurring around us or to us. As far as the author of Revelation was
concerned (and the members of “the 7 churches of the province of Asia”),
following Jesus was risky business. To
be a disciple of Christ was to be, at best, inconvenienced and at worst, put to
death. The fact is, facing opposition is
a given for a follower of Jesus. Perhaps
for us, this will never take the form of violence; but the resistance that we
face is more subtle and maybe even more dangerous – that of the omnipresent
lure of simply letting go and allowing ourselves to drift with the current of
our society’s godless attitudes and behaviours (which often enough, is not
overtly “evil”; rather, it consists of a self-centred lifestyle which eclipses
any need to look beyond the satisfaction of my desires in the present
moment). Following Jesus in our Western
world requires constant, intentional, deliberate awareness of what our Lord
asks of us – are we ready to be inconvenienced?
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