This weekend’s quote is from a book called, The Cost of Discipleship by the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer was a vocal critic of the atrocities of the Nazi dictatorship during the second world war which led to his execution in 1945.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’ These men without possessions or power, these strangers on Earth, these sinners, these followers of Jesus, have in their life with him renounced their own dignity, for they are merciful. As if their own needs and their own distress were not enough, they take upon themselves the distress and humiliation of others. They have an irresistible love for the down-trodden, the sick, the wretched, the wronged, the outcast and all who are tortured with anxiety. They go out and seek all who are enmeshed in the toils of sin and guilt. No distress is too great, no sin too appalling for their pity. If any man falls into disgrace, the merciful will sacrifice their own honour to shield him, and take his shame upon themselves.”
Bonhoeffer’s perspective pushes against our culture of convenience in which we tend to serve God’s purpose when it suits us. He reminds us of the cost of following Jesus. The more we feel this cost, the more we will value what is given to us by God’s grace.
Surrender yourself to God’s will and trust him with your life.
Read Matthew 16:24-27.
