Life Together

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The World War II-era German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book, Life Together,

Without Christ we should not know God, we could not call upon Him, nor come to Him. But without Christ we also would not know our brother, nor could we come to him. The way is blocked by our own ego. Christ opened up the way to God and to our brother. Now Christians can live with one another in peace; they can love and serve one another; they can become one. But they can continue to do so only by way of Jesus Christ. Only in Jesus Christ are we one, only through Him are we bound together. To eternity He remains the one Mediator.¹

In this way, Bonhoeffer summarizes the two basic dimensions of Jesus' work for you. He died and rose to reconcile you to God in heaven. And He also died and rose to reconcile you to your brother here on earth. Jesus is, and ever shall remain, the one Mediator between God and man, and between man and his brother.

It is precisely this work for which Jesus was sent to earth, incarnate by the Holy Spirit of a virgin. And it is precisely this work which Jesus predicts for the disciples today in our Gospel lesson: “The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” Notice the present-tense verbs. The end result of Jesus' life is already so sure, so determined by the will of God that it is as though it has already happened. He is already handed over into death, though He walks free for now.

But the disciples do not understand. They remain quiet, because they did not understand what Jesus was saying and they were afraid to ask Him. After all, who wants to have it spelled out that your beloved leader is marching headlong into His certain demise, especially when that demise will come by means of the cruelest method of execution available in Israel. So, what do they do instead? They walk along arguing about who is the greatest.

What is wrong with this picture? To put it simply – this is the wrong question.

For a disciple of Christ, the question of greatness in the kingdom is of no concern. However, in the minds of the people of this world, this question is a matter of great importance. And why is that? Because the heart of man is driven above all by his sin-sickened ego. The ancient desire at the root of sin is to be a god unto yourself, to be beholden and answerable to none, to be your own boss.

The depravity of sin locks you into a life-long game of one-upmanship with your brother. You strive and toil and work to be the king of the hill, the top dog. The world measures your worth by your wealth, your prestige, your power and influence. How big of a ripple have you made in the pond of life? You can never be content with what you have, because you always see your brother with something you do not have. It may not even be something you want, something you even have use for, but because someone else has it, you want it.

And because of all this striving, you disregard the needs and circumstances of your brother, of anyone around you at all. “No-limits consumerism” is what some contemporary political scientists call it. You, in your own way, are willing to step on your brother, to beat him down, to ignore his pleas for help in time of need. You would do whatever it takes to get ahead. That is the depth of depravity to which sin sinks you. You may be walking dead from God's perspective, but you are much worse from your brother's view, since you refuse to help him.

But it should be so among you, O Christians. Christians are all equal in the eyes of God, and in the Church, the one Body of Christ. Although you are all different in the ways God has created you to be, you are all equal. As St. Paul says, you are all members of one body, and – just as a body has a head, ears, toes, and many other members – you are are all united into one even though you work differently. Many different jobs and functions are carried out to keep the one Body living, breathing, and growing.

All the functions carried out by the Body of Christ are of equal importance, even if some are done in secret while others are done publicly. For the one who serves is not greater than the one who is served. Neither is the one who receives greater than the one who gives. For you are both giver and receiver, according to your various vocations. The father who leads and governs his household is also the son who honors and loves his parents and the citizen who serves and obeys his leaders. The daughter who receives the love and protection of her parents is also the sister who cherishes her siblings and sees to their good.

The pastor – the called and ordained minister of God – is not greater than those whom he serves. But neither are those he serves lords over him. For the pastor is called and ordained to be the steward of the mysteries of God. He serves the people of God with the Gifts of God. He is the voice crying in the desert, proclaiming the Word of the Lord to a people who sit in darkness. He is the servant of the King, bringing out the food for the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom. He is the emissary of the Lord of Hosts, proclaiming a word not his own, with a power not his own. He is not his own man, but answers to the One who sent him, to the One who is the Word he speaks.

The minister of the Lord is not the servant of those to whom He brings the gift. His charge is to be faithful to the One who sent him by doing what he was sent to do.

In spite of all your selfish grasping and striving, in spite of your trampling your brother on your way to the top, in spite of your ignoring the needs of your neighbor, you have all become equal, because you have all become one. The deed is accomplished, because Christ is crucified, buried, and risen again, just as He said.

Remember what He said to His disciples: “The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” This is accomplished. It is an historical fact. Christ Jesus our Lord has been crucified and raised again on the third day. And this has come to pass for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. He is handed over into the hands of men and killed and raised again so that you might be reconciled to God the Father through the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God in your place.

Jesus Christ came to this earth not to condemn you to death on account of your sins. Rather, He came to die the death owed to you on account of them. He was delivered over into the hands of men, that they might carry out the sentence due for sin. And now He is delivered over into the hands of men, that they might carry His Body and Blood to the people of God for the forgiveness of sins, to unite man to God and reconcile brother to brother.

The grace of Jesus Christ won on the cross now joins you together, one to another. There is no question of greater or lesser, because you all are equal in the sight of God your Father in heaven. You all love and serve the same God and Lord, and you are all members one of another in the Body of Christ, with Him as the head. The cross has lifted up Jesus as the one Mediator. He is the one Mediator who reconciles you to God, forgiving your sins and declaring you righteous. And He is the one Mediator who reconciles you and joins you to your brother in love and service. For in His glorious death and resurrection, Christ has shattered the death-grip of sin and your own ego upon your heart and mind, and He has freed you for love and service to others.

Now you, O Christians, live together in community in a way no other people on earth can. You live together as one body, knit together by Jesus Christ, who is your head and your life. It is the grace of God in Christ which animates you, which sustains you, which leads and guides you. In this community, you see the face of Christ embodied in the face of your brother, as you see in him the death of Jesus manifested in his body, that the life of Jesus may be shown forth.

You live in community with one another because Jesus Christ has forgiven your sins and cleansed you from all unrighteousness. And because He has forgiven you, you also forgive your brother his trespasses against you. You are reconciled to one another because you are reconciled to God in Christ. You love and serve one another because Jesus has loved and served you first. You live in community with one another in a spirit of mutual honor and service, the stronger helping the weaker and the weaker lifting up the stronger in prayer. You serve your neighbor in his body because your needs of body and soul are supplied by your heavenly Father, who has loved you and called you to be His own.

Lord of glory, You have bought us

With Your lifeblood as the price,

Never grudging for the lost ones

That tremendous sacrifice.

Give us faith to trust You boldly,

Hope, to stay our souls on You;

But, oh, best of all Your graces,

With Your love our love renew. (LSB 851.4)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

1Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together. New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. © 1954. p. 23-24