July 21, 2015

“When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais; and we greeted the believers and stayed with them for one day. The next day we left and came to Caesarea; and we went into the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy. While we were staying there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He came to us and took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ” When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” Since he would not be persuaded, we remained silent except to say, “The Lord’s will be done.” Acts 21:7-14

“I have come to the conclusion that I have made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period of our national history with the Christian people of Germany. I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people. ….I was wrong in going. Such a decision each man must make for himself.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) A Letter to Reinhold Niebuhr, July 1939 “For All The Saints” volume IV (p. 297-298)

As Christians, we will find that once in a while we are bound, we are required to make difficult decisions. By the nature of being followers of Jesus, there will be times where we have to make the unpopular decision, follow the unwanted call, and sometimes move into the middle of the fray rather than run away, because we are “bound” in this calling to be disciples for Christ. Doing the right thing for Jesus’ sake is not always the popular thing to do, but it is usually the right thing to do. Bonhoeffer himself realized that leaving Germany in 1939 was not the right thing to do (he must have been one of the early proponents of asking “What Would Jesus Do?”) He returned to Germany, was arrested and as we know, killed in the Flossenburg concentration camp. Even if the masses say “no–no”, Christ may be telling us “Yes–Yes”. Each of us will need to see how Christ may be calling us to action — and that may be even when others tell us “No”.

Pastor Dave