The Path of Reconciliation -
Lent with Bonhoeffer Day 35– Purity 1007
Purity 1007 04/03/2023 Purity 1007 Podcast
Purity 1007 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo of a sunlight pathway on pouring
through brick windows over hardwood floors comes to us from yours truly as I captured
this scene while visiting the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North
Adams on Saturday. I was moved to take
this photo because I was happy to see something pure that the Lord decided to put
on display after being somewhat disillusioned and disturbed by what man would
call art. Some of the displays were man’s
best attempts to create beauty out of things that had been broken and discarded
and some of the themes revealed that the artists may have felt that way about
themselves. Other displays were a distortion of things God created and others wittingly
or unwittingly paid homage to “gods that were not God” or to Satan
himself. While I certainly wouldn’t
discourage anyone from paying a visit to the very impressive venue of Mass MoCa,
I would suggest keeping your spiritual eyes open and see the subtle but inherent
dangers that come from man forcing their vision and definition of beauty on the
world and in the ways the enemy spurs on that prideful self-expression of
rebellion and how he can tempt these “artists” to give him glory to him by
including symbols and images that represent him in their work.
I guess that’s what happens when the Lord calls you
to follow Him and to pick up the mantle of a spiritual warfare ministry: you
can’t help but see the subtle and not so subtle ways the enemy attacks us and
actively seeks to steal, kill, and destroy the things God has created. I was
moved and impressed by many of the exhibits at Mass MoCa but I also said a
prayer of repentance this morning to cleanse myself of any demonic permissions
or assignments that may have tried to attach themselves to me through the more
sinister elements on exhibit at the museum.
Well, It’s Monday again and while I have to prepare
for another week of work at my day job at a telecommunications company, I had
to pray that prayer of repentance to prepare myself for a possible confrontation
with the spiritual forces of darkness this evening as I will be leading another
man from the Freedom in Christ course through the Steps to Freedom in Christ this
evening. And considering this man was oppressed
with nightmares that involved bears, imprisonment, chaos, and sexual temptations
the evening after he submitted his paperwork for his freedom appointment, the
enemy may not be happy with this man’s decision to repent and could attempt to
resist our efforts this evening.
If we had to face off against the enemy in our own
strength I would have serious concerns but because we are relying on the power
and authority given to us by God because of our faith in Jesus Christ, I am relieved
and confident that no demon could stop us from performing what God wants us to
accomplish. So we will trust in the Lord
and the power of His might and follow where He leads us.
Well, after Palm Sunday yesterday, we are in the
midst of Holy Week and I looking forward to Resurrection Sunday this weekend
but we have to take this journey through Lent one day at a time. So let’s continue by taking one more step
into the 35th day of Lent, and into Day 35 of our current series, the
40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
As a reminder, and as we will say each day of this
journey, we take this path to mark the season of Lent and to draw closer to God
in anticipation of the celebration of Easter, knowing that if we take this
journey of repentance seriously, we will not only see the days and seasons
change, the Lord will use it to change us too.
You can sign up to get this devotional yourself by
going to the Biblegateway link on the blog ((https://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/40-Day-Journey-Dietrich-Bonhoeffer/today)) .
Day 35
Bonhoeffer writes:
“Thus there remains only one path for those who in
following Jesus want to truly serve God in worship, and that is the path of
reconciliation with their sisters and brothers.
Anyone who comes to the word and sacrament with an
unreconciled heart stands judged by doing so.
Such a person is a murderer in God’s sight.
That is why you must “first be reconciled to your brother
or sister, and then come and offer your gift.”
It is a difficult path Jesus imposes on his disciples.
It includes much humiliation and dishonor for the
disciples themselves.
But it is the path to him, our crucified brother, and
thus, it is a path full of grace.
In Jesus, service to the least brother or sister and
service to God became one.
He went and was reconciled to his human kindred, and then
he came and offered himself, the one true sacrifice, to his Father.”
Biblical Wisdom
“So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember
that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there
before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother and sister, and
then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24
Questions to Ponder
- Bonhoeffer states that: “It
is a difficult path Jesus imposes on his disciples.” What makes it
difficult?
M.T. Clark: The path of reconciliation that Jesus imposes on us is
difficult because it requires our complete surrender to His Lordship which in
turns requires our humility, our profession of faith publicly, and our sincere
efforts to be “peacemakers” in a world that is hostile to God. Just yesterday, I was accused of being either
an “idiot or a liar” for sharing the belief that the Bible is the word of God. Our natural inclination as men is to fight
fire with fire but because of my skeptical and atheistic past, I know that the criticism that would call me dishonest or
ignorant is coming from a place of ignorance and dishonesty (they either “don’t
know” God’s word or are stating that they “know” for certain it isn’t His word –
which I would think they couldn’t honestly say). While I don’t think I will be
reconciled to this person, I still felt moved to respond, thanking them for
their honest feedback, and tried to encourage them to seek out the veracity of
the claims regarding God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ for themselves by asking the
question: Could the One who created the universe be unable to share His story
and reveal His will to those He created? Obviously, I had to humble myself to
respond to someone who laid such obvious criticism at my feet. And even though this is extremely mild treatment
on the persecution scale, it demonstrates in a small way the difficult path
that Jesus imposes on his disciples to be reconciled to our brothers and to make
peace where and if it is up to us.
- He also states that, “it is
a path full of grace.” Where is the grace?
M.T. Clark: This path is full of grace because it is established
by the grace of God. God’s grace saved
us, giving us mercy and favor, and it is only though God’s grace are we able to
forgive and offer mercy and favor to others.
The grace is in me as I seek to be reconciled to others, but it comes
from God, and if God moves within the situation, it can be received by the
other as well.
- How did Jesus model the
truth that, “service to the least brother or sister and service to God
became one”?
M.T. Clark: Jesus’s earthly ministry of proclaiming the
forgiveness of sins through faith in Him, His miracles, His acts of service,
and His death on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins all model the truth
that He is servicing the least brother or sister and simultaneously performing
the service that God called Him to do. All
the things Jesus did was in service and obedience to God the Father’s commands,
but they also serviced to men’s physical and spiritual needs. Thus we can service God and man by answering the
call to do good works in the name of God here on earth.
Psalm Fragment
O guard my life, and deliver me;
do not let me be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for you. Psalm 25:20-21
Journal Reflections
- Is there someone with whom
you need to be reconciled? Write about the circumstances that led to
alienation from this person.
M.T. Clark: Need to be reconciled? Yeah, I would have to say because I still
have unfinished business regarding the terms and conditions of my divorce, I
need to be reconciled to my ex. While our marriage covenant has been broken and
legally severed, our marriage home needs to be sold in order for the terms of
our divorce agreement to be fulfilled and to be able to move forward with our
lives independently of one another. I
have taken what legal action I can to move things to completion but am waiting
for this matter to be resolved. It’s a difficult situation and I await the day
we can be reconciled in this matter because I know that even though it may be
difficult to get there, both parties will be better off when it is finished.
- What step(s) might you take
to begin the process of reconciliation?
M.T. Clark: I don’t taken the right steps with legal action but
I know that I wasn’t getting anywhere without it. I could try to extend an olive branch of
peace but the other party has made it clear that they don’t wish to speak to me
and I fear that further actions on my part to be reconciled in this matter
would only make this matter worse. So we
wait. It is difficult path, right?
Prayer for Today
Gracious God, thank
you for reconciling me to yourself; now make me a reconciler.
In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
(40-Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Copyright © 2007
Augsburg Books, imprint of Augsburg Fortress.)
***As we are being
provided with Bible verses from the 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, we
will are taking a break from sharing a verse of the day from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”. We plan on
resuming that normal installment of the blog following Easter.***
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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The
Sovereignty of God.”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
By
ARTHUR W. PINK
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE VALUE OF THIS DOCTRINE continues
We shall now consider
the Value of the doctrine in detail.
3. It repudiates the heresy of salvation by works
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a
man; but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Prov. 14:12). The way which “seemeth right” and which ends in “death,” death eternal, is salvation by
human effort and merit. The belief in salvation by works is one that is common
to human nature. It may not always assume the grosser form of Popish penaces,
or even of Protestant “repentance,” i.e., sorrowing for sin, which is never the
meaning of repentance in Scripture; anything which gives man a place at all is
but a variety of the same evil genus. To say, as alas! many preachers, are
saying, God is willing to do His part if you will do yours, is a wretched and
excuseless denial of the Gospel of
His grace. To declare that God helps those who help themselves is to repudiate one of the most precious
truths taught in the Bible, and in the Bible alone; namely, that God helps
those who are unable to help
themselves, who have tried again and again only to fail. To say that the
sinner’s salvation turns upon the action of his own will is another form of the God-dishonoring dogma of salvation
by human efforts. In the final analysis, any movement of the will is a work: it
is something from me, something which
I do. But the doctrine of God’s
sovereignty lays the axe at the root of this evil by declaring “It is not of him that willeth, nor of
him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy” (Rom. 9:16). Does some one
say, Such a doctrine will drive sinners to despair.
The reply is, Be it so; it is just such despair the writer longs to see
prevail. It is not until the sinner despairs of any help from himself that he
will ever fall into the arms of sovereign mercy; but if once the Holy Spirit
convicts him that there is no help in
himself then he will recognize that he is lost,
and will cry, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and such a cry will be heard. If the author may be allowed to bear
personal witness, he has found during the course of his ministry that the
sermons he has preached on human depravity, the sinner’s helplessness to do anything himself, and the salvation of
the soul turning upon the sovereign mercy of God, have been those most owned
and blessed in the salvation of the lost. We repeat, then, a sense of utter helplessness is the first prerequisite
to any sound conversion. There is no salvation for any soul until it looks away
from itself, looks to something, yea, to Somone, outside of itself.[1]
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tomorrow------------------------
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Encouragement
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