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Come and Die

Vicar Todd Liefer
March 3, 2010

My guess is, for most of you, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is not a name you're familiar with. Or maybe you've heard it, but just don't quite remember who he is.

Well Dietrich Bonhoeffer has a pretty incredible story. He was a Lutheran pastor in Germany during World War II. Let me tell you a little bit about this man's story.

Bonhoeffer was a pastor, like I said, but his sphere of influence went much farther than his own congregations. This man was famous. First of all, he was quite a scholar. He was in college by the time he was 16, and by the time he was 21 he was presenting his doctor's thesis for his PhD in theology. Needless to say, he was smart. And Christians flocked to his ideas. He wrote books, he gave lectures, he spoke at seminars; he was even broadcast on the radio. And that, the radio, was what got Dietrich Bonhoeffer in a little bit of trouble.

You see, he wasn't afraid to speak God's Word. Even when speaking on the radio about the Gestapo, the Nazi party, and Adolf Hitler. In 1933, he broadcasted a lecture to the people of Germany, and chastised them for following this Hitler, this leader, this man who Bonhoeffer guaranteed would become a misleader of the nation. Well, Hitler didn't like that. And the broadcast was shut down even before it was finished.

Over the next ten years, life was a real struggle for Bonhoeffer. As Hitler grew stronger, this Lutheran pastor had to run underground churches. He wasn't allowed to preach freely. Bonhoeffer was banned from speaking, or writing, and under no circumstances was he allowed to enter the city of Berlin. But that didn't stop him. He spoke the truth, he taught what Christ says, and every day Dietrich Bonhoeffer faced being arrested and killed by the Gestapo.

I wish I could say that Dietrich lived happily ever after, but he didn't. Eventually, the Gestapo caught up with him. He was arrested, and put into a concentration camp. He was imprisoned for two years. But even then, he wouldn't stop teaching what Christ taught, and living how Christ lived. And eventually, he was sent to the gallows and hung. April 9, 1945. And that was exactly two weeks before the camp was liberated by the U.S. Army.

That's the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Pastor. Scholar. Teacher. Martyr of the faith.

But you see, Bonhoeffer didn't die in vain. No, he got it. He lived exactly how his faith taught him to live. Speak the truth, speak the word of Christ, no matter what. Even if it means death. This is what Bonhoeffer meant when he wrote this: "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." He wrote this phrase six years before he was imprisoned by the Gestapo. But this is how he lived, right up to the end. If you're following along on the sermon outline, this is the first line to fill in: "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."

That's exactly what Christ is talking about in our text today in Luke chapter 9. If you brought your Bible along, or want to use one of the ones in front of you, go ahead and open those right now. Open to Luke 9, and we'll start with verse 18.

Luke writes, 18 Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" Jesus loved to ask questions. It wasn't that Jesus didn't know the answers; but he often asked them for benefit of his disciples. So what do his disciples answer? Well the crowds are saying, 19 "John the Baptist. But others say, Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen." These are pretty good answers. Basically, people are saying that one of God's great servants—John the Baptist, Elijah, or someone else—has risen from the dead and is back teaching and proclaiming.

But Jesus prods on: Verse 20: "Then he said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?'" There's this awkward silence. And Peter answered, "'The Christ of God.'" Thomas smacks his head and says, "Ahhh, I was just going to say that."

The Christ of God. You can't miss how important this part of Luke's Gospel is. This is the culmination of everything that has happened so far in the book. Jesus casts out demons, he heals, he raises people from the dead. All to show that he is God. Now, the disciples get it. This is the Christ. The one sent by God.

And at this point Jesus basically says, "Great! Good job! Now don't tell anyone." At least not yet.

21 And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." Peter might have gotten the fill in the blank question right, but Jesus is giving them the short answer. Here's what the Christ of God does: he suffers, he's rejected, he's killed, and he's raised.

And at this, the disciples are thinking, huh? Suffer and die? No! The Christ is supposed to restore Israel. The Christ is supposed to overthrow the Romans. The Christ is supposed to make Israel the greatest nation of the world. Suffering, rejected, killed, and raised? That doesn't sound like the Christ they've been looking for.

This is not good news for the disciples. And guess what, it gets worse.

23 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

Jesus asks them to take up their cross. The disciples, even Peter, scratch their heads. They're thinking, Jesus, this doesn't sound right at all. Where does the part about Israel becoming the greatest nation fit in to all this? A cross? Really? That sounds like suffering.

Exactly. Jesus continues, 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."

Jesus tells them, point blank, people who follow me are willing to die. That's the whole point of this text. That's what Bonhoeffer got. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. When you follow Christ, you are willing to die for him.

The same goes for you today. Have you ever heard someone use that phrase, "I'm taking up my cross"? Sometimes when people say this, they're talking about a struggle they're going through. But that's really not what this text here is talking about. It's more pointed than just a general struggle. This is Jesus saying to you, "Follow me to the point of death." Pick up your cross. Carry it with you every day. Because if you're a Christian, one day you might need it. Come and die.

The problem is, for us today, it might be hard for us to apply this to our life. You see, we don't live in Nazi Germany where you could get sent to a concentration camp for proclaiming God's truth. We don't live like the Christians in China and the many other places throughout the world where Christian have to worship in secret, have to hide their Bibles because the government persecutes believers. By comparison, it's easy to be a Christian in America—easy in the sense that, we don't usually face getting executed for following Jesus.

Well, just because we don't live in a culture where Christians are persecuted, we still live like we would die for our faith. Luke 9 applies to all people. If you are following Christ, you live like you would die for your faith. No matter if you live in China, Africa, Germany, or America … you pick up your cross and follow Jesus.

But, sometimes, we don't live like this. We don't live like we would die for our faith. Sometimes we're ashamed of it. We're ashamed of who we are. Christians. Have you ever been afraid to tell someone who you are? That you go to church on Sunday? That you read your Bible? We might be afraid to tell people we're Christians—not because we fear for our life—but because we fear for our reputation. What will they think of me? Will they start acting differently around me? I don't want to risk that!

Other times, we're ashamed of what we believe. When we see people caught up in sin, sometimes we're afraid to tell them the truth. Gossiping is wrong. Stealing is wrong. Homosexuality is wrong. Cheating is wrong. Telling dirty jokes is wrong. Committing adultery is wrong. But sometimes, when we're in that moment, with our friend, with our family member, with our coworker, or maybe even our boss, sometimes, we're not that bold. We're afraid to say what we believe—not because we fear for our life—but because we fear for our reputation.

Sometimes we're ashamed of who we are and what we believe. So do we live like we would die for our faith? More often than not, I don't think so.

You may not be willing to die for your faith. But Christ did. Christ died for your faith.

Remember, that's what Christ declares in Luke 9. He is the Christ, and that means certain death. He's going to be killed. He suffered for you. He let himself be arrested, beaten, flogged. He let himself be rejected. Brought before Pilate, sentenced to death. The murderer Barabbas was set free, but they wanted Christ killed. And he let himself be killed on a cross for you. Even as everyone fled from him. His disciples ran away because they were afraid. Peter even denied that he knew the man. After his death, the disciples even went into hiding because they were so afraid. In Luke 9, Christ asked them to pick up their cross and follow him, but on Good Friday they ran the other way.

They were ashamed. They were so afraid that they forgot. They forgot the fourth part of the list: Suffer. Rejected. Killed. Raised. They forgot what Christ promised. They forgot what Christ said in Luke 9:27: But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. And on Easter morning, they saw it. The kingdom of God. Jesus raised from the dead.

And that changed everything. Christ's death and resurrection made the disciples bold. They spread the word. They stood up to the Jews, to the Romans, to anyone who didn't know Christ. And, sure, they faced death. They faced persecution. But Christ died for them, and they were willing to do the same so more people could hear this great story.

And during this time of persecution—you know what?—the church thrived. People were dying for their faith. They believed this with all their hearts. And faith in Christ spread like wildfire. One of the earliest Christians was a man named, Tertullian. He lived in Africa. And he said this: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." When people live like they're dying for their faith, that's when the faith spreads. People see that being a Christian isn't just a title, but it changes how you behave. And people notice!

Now, you see you savior on the cross. Now, you see him back from the dead. Now, you see how much he loves you. Christ died for your faith! Christ's death and resurrection makes you bold, too. Unashamed. Ready and willing to tell others who you are and what you believe.

Now, like Paul writes in Romans 1:16, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Now, we're not ashamed. Now, when our savior asks us to "come and die"—we do it gladly. We'll do anything for our savior. We'll do anything so that people know who we are, and what we believe.

I hate to say it, but our country could get worse. It could, and probably will, get harder for Christians to live freely—even in America. It could come to the point where preaching or speaking out against homosexuality becomes a hate crime. It could come to the point where we can't actively evangelize … because it would be offensive to others. But even if it does, that won't change how we act. We tell people what's right. Like Bonhoeffer. We pick up our cross, carry it with us. Christ asks us to come and die, and we do it.

I don't know how many of you watch the Oprah Winfrey show, but a few years ago, Oprah was talking about how there are many ways to live—millions of ways, she said—to get to the same God. Have you heard this story? Well as she was talking, one lady in the crowd spoke up and said, "But what about Jesus?" Oprah looks into the crowd, finds the lady and says, "Well what about Jesus?" And the lady said to Oprah, "You say there isn't only one way. There is one way, and only one way, and that is through Jesus." That lady was surrounded by over a hundred audience members. Literally millions of people were watching her on TV. She was talking face-to-face with Oprah Winfrey, arguably one of the most influential people in our country. Yet this woman was bold. Unashamed. She was unafraid of who she is and what she believes.

Members of St. Paul, you may not ever get the chance to go on national television. But, believe me, you will have chances to tell others about Jesus. And when they come, be bold. Be unashamed. Tell them who you are and what you believe. Come, pick up your cross, and follow Christ. Come and follow him, from death unto life.