Von Guten Mächten

This year is the eightieth commemoration of Bonhoeffer’s death. We want to use this special Sunday to commemorate it. Of course we do not want to glorify a human person. Rather, we want to look at his life that could bring us closer to Jesus Christ. Just now we sang the famous hymn whose text he wrote from a prison. It is used with different musical tunes. I want to contemplate the text of the song in relation to the Word of God. We do not treat the text as the Word of God - it is of course not the Word of God. Bonhoeffer himself was a theologian so when he wrote this text, there is a certain biblical depth in it. We want to dig deeper and ask what biblical narrative and principle we can learn from it.

The first verse speaks about ‘by gentle or by good forces’. He certainly had many reasons to speak about evil powers/forces. We can learn from him this perspective of grace. It is not an escape from reality. He has spiritual eyes to see the sufficiency of the Word of God and of God’s grace as well as blessing in his life. This should not be taken for granted. Sometimes the harsh reality of our lives forces us to be pessimistic. We then no longer see the sufficiency of the grace of God. We cannot say anything about the good and gentle forces. But what do ‘good and gentle forces that faithfully surround him’ actually mean? I want to quote from a letter from December 19, 1944, where he wrote to his fiancée: ‘I have repeatedly experienced that the quieter it became around me, the more clearly I felt the connection with you. Thus I have never felt alone or abandoned for a single moment. You, the parents, all of you, the friends, the students in the field, you are always completely present to me. Your prayers, good thoughts, bible verses, long past conversation, pieces of music, books, take on life and reality as never before. It is a great invisible realm in which one levies and whose reality one has no doubt about where the old children’s song about the angel says two to cover me two to wake me. This protection in the evening and in the morning by good invisible powers is something that we adults need today no less than children, so you must not think I am unhappy.’. It is not that those things have powers in themselves, but it’s a power given by God to strengthen Bonhoeffer in his very difficult life. Again, it is very important to be able to see the blessings from God in everyday life and to not only focus on the negative things, difficulties, etc.

The next verse ‘Yet the old wants to torment our hearts, yet the burden of evil days oppresses us.’ indicates that bad things in life are not glossed over. Again, this is not an escape from reality. This is no toxic positivity. However, Bonhoeffer did not talk about evil powers but evil days. In Paul’s epistles there are some passages which say that the days are evil and therefore we have to redeem our time. Again, it is not about evil powers but evil days. We are directed to be more sensitive to the moments appointed by God so that we can live according to His will. Furthermore, it is also important that we clearly understand salvation from God, as mentioned in the text ‘the salvation, for which Thou created us.’. Salvation, which is grace from God, is not the same as good fortune. That is why there are still evil days. It may still contain the bad, the evil, sufferings in life. This is in agreement with the theology of David as in Psalm 23, especially verse 4, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’. The clause ‘I will fear no evil’ means there is evil. David did not say, ‘There is no such thing as evil.’. Instead, ‘God is with me.’, says David. God’s very presence in the midst of danger, sufferings, and bad experiences, is the only thing that matters. It is not about minimalizing bad experiences. You might hope so but it is not. It is also not an instant turn to goodness. It is the ability to enjoy God’s presence.

The next verse ‘and when Thou extend to us the heavy chalice, the bitter one of suffering’ again describes the experience of evil. As our Lord Jesus Christ faced this cup of bitterness, we who claim to follow Jesus Christ, will walk the same path and the same way as well. Again, it is not that we glorify suffering. We should not glorify suffering. We are not masochists. The substance is the true fellowship with Jesus Christ. As He is the suffering Christ, the fellowship includes sharing in His suffering. Otherwise it is a different Jesus and not the biblical one. Suffering here is not one that is caused by our own transgression or stupidity, but one due to us sharing in Christ’ life. Because of your faith in Christ, you suffer in everyday life. This is suffering out of love, not only to Christ but also to our neighbors. Bonhoeffer not only teaches theology but also lives out his theology and belief. Jesus in Gethsemane decided to be fully obedient to the will of His Father, and Bonhoeffer followed this story in his own life. Christianity is never about sentimentalism, where people are touched with beautiful stories. Books like Chicken Soup of the Soul are very touching and romantic but remain at the sentimental level. It is not necessarily wrong, but if there is only the sentimental part, it is a problem.

Quoting another note Bonhoeffer wrote from a prison, ‘when one has completely renounced making something of oneself, then one throws oneself completely into God’s arms. Then one no longer takes one’s own sufferings seriously, but rather the sufferings of God in the world. Then one keeps watch with Christ in Gethsemane. And I think that is faith. I’m grateful I have been allowed to recognize this and I know that I could only have recognized it on the path I have taken. Therefore, I think of the past and the present with gratitude and peace.’. We see here clearly Bonhoeffer’s faith. What does it mean to drink the bitter chalice? It is not to be too sensitive toward our own sufferings. It is important not to be self-conscious as if you are the champion among the most suffering people in the world. Sufferings of course are real but if we grow more and more mature I think we will be more sensitive and contemplate more about Christ’ suffering and the suffering of others. There is this growth from self-consciousness to self-forgetfulness.

The next verse ‘but if Thou want to gift us enjoyment once more of this world and its sun’s gleam..’ describes an eschatological hope in the afterlife. It is not an escape. Rather, it gives hope to joy here on earth. The part ‘if Thou want to gift us enjoyment once more of this world’ refers to this world - he’s still hoping. On the other hand, the better condition here and now, which is given by God, does not make a believer reluctant to be with God. We should not feel at home in this world despite all the good things in our life because this is not our home. Despite the better condition here and now, our eschatological hope should always be strengthened. The following line ‘then our life belongs to Thee fully’ indicates a hope that he wants to be with God despite the better condition. Sometimes when things are going well in our life, we want to be here on earth and do not need heaven. However, when life gets difficult and we become disappointed, we suddenly have a strong eschatological hope. It is caricatural to understand Christianity as a religion or belief for depressed people who have an imaginative hope of heaven because life is just too difficult here on earth. That is certainly not the case with Bonhoeffer. The next verse, ‘When the silence thus engulfs us, so let us hear that vibrant sound of the word, which invisibly enshrouds us, all Thy children’s high lauding hymns.’, I think, is one of the most beautiful verses. In the midst of darkness, Bonhoeffer could listen to the hymn of praise of the congregation of the church of all times. It can extend from the Gregorian chants of monks and nuns, the reformation chorals, motet, cantata, the songs from the religious spiritual awakening, all music by composers from the past to modern times. This is the vision of the kingdom of God during the darkness. It is the beauty of music not only as an aesthetical experience but also the unified hymn of praise of the one, holy, catholic, apostolic church. It is the Kingdom of God who will be present and has already been present. It reminds us of the eschatological vision in the book of Revelation. Chapter 7 verse 9-10 says ‘… a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”. I believe this was what Bonhoeffer actually heard. It is a very vivid eschatological vision in the midst of darkness.

The seventh, last, verse, normally sung as the refrain, says ‘By good forces wonderfully sheltered we await confidently, what may come. God is next to us in the evening and the morning, and most assuredly on every new day.’. That God is with us is the Emmanuel motif. God is with us in Jesus Christ. This is the Christmas message. The saying ‘You are with me’ in Psalm 23 by David anticipates the Christmas message. God is indeed with us in Jesus Christ. The phrase ‘in the evening and the morning’ reminds us of the creational language. The book of Genesis mentions it is evening first and then morning. There is not only assurance that God is with us but also this recreative power that is always renewed every day in your life and my life. The evening is a description of darkness and there is of course darkness in our lives. When morning comes, there is this hope that is grounded in God Himself. Perhaps in modern times we are not so sensitive anymore because we have so many electric lights. We can still work at night in the middle of darkness. The ancient people naturally expected new things in the morning and the evening was a moment to close the day and sleep, so the hope comes with the morning. We should understand this not only in the physical or natural meaning but also in the spiritual meaning. Even in the midst of darkness, in the evening, God is still with us. Darkness cannot overcome God, the brightness of God, the true light which is God Himself. Most assuredly on every new day keep hoping. This is the end of the year. Bonhoeffer is already gone but he gave us a legacy of his christian faith. Let us walk with Christ, following his example in walking with Christ. (S.W.)