The mid-1930s were a tumultuous time on the European continent. World War I had left several countries in incalculable debt, and the Great Depression had become a global crisis. In Germany in particular, this combination of economic misery—along with deep dissatisfaction over the government’s apparent failure to manage the crisis—created the conditions that led to the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
As the Nazi Party took root in Germany and began to enmesh its ideology into every institution, including the church, a man named Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a book entitled The Cost of Discipleship to confront the hollowed-out gospel that had plagued Germany.
The main treatise of Bonhoeffer’s classic is the contrast between what he calls “cheap grace” and “costly grace.” Cheap grace, according to Bonhoeffer, “is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” (1) Costly grace, on the other hand, “is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.”(2)
We’ve said in previous sermons and posts that the Gospel of Mark is most likely Peter’s account of Jesus. It’s interesting that the first words spoken to Peter (called Simon) in Mark 1:16 are “Follow me.” It is doubtful Peter knew all that those two words would entail. Perhaps he had a view of military reign as the Messiah would overthrow Rome. Or perhaps he saw himself as a wise Rabbi one day, with students he would invest in. Undoubtedly he had a theology of glory. The next three years would be a masterclass with Jesus learning a theology of the cross. Jesus showed Peter him that the pathway to glory is always through the fields of suffering. Peter learned that there is no such thing as cheap grace.
Christian discipleship must be one of costly grace. I believe this reality was stamped on Peter’s heart when he and Jesus were walking on the beach after Jesus’ death and resurrection. In John 21, Jesus confronts Peter’s failure to acknowledge Jesus in the darkest of nights–with truth and grace–and then restores him to the purpose of his call: to feed Jesus’ sheep. Interesting to note, that just before Jesus ascended to the heavens, his very last words to Peter recorded are the same as his first: “Follow Me” (John 21:22). Amazing what three years of discipleship and the filling of the Holy Spirit would do for him as seen through the book of Acts.
I imagine Bonhoeffer saw something in Peter that caught his eye. He saw a man transformed–from self-preservation to sacrificial love, from fear of speaking truth to boldly proclaiming the Gospel, from disillusionment of suffering to embracing it (1 Peter 1:5, 5:10). What would cause someone to undergo so great a transformation? Bonhoeffer would say that he had truly experienced and embraced the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He states, “Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “[you] were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.” (emphasis mine)
As Bonhoeffer looked out across Germany, seeing so many Christians compromise their faith by siding with the Nazi party, the only explanation that he could see was a failure to understand and experience true grace. Compromise is easy if grace is cheap. Impossible if it is costly.
As we read and consider Jesus in 21st century Middle Tennessee, Peter and Bonhoeffer help us to grasp the weight of Mark 1:16–that when Jesus calls disciples to himself, “he bids him come and die.”
grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “[you] were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”(3) (emphasis mine)
As Bonhoeffer looked out across Germany, seeing so many Christians compromise their faith by siding with the Nazi party, the only explanation that he could see was a failure to understand and experience true grace. Compromise is easy if grace is cheap. Impossible if it is costly.
As we read and consider Jesus in 21st century Middle Tennessee, Peter and Bonhoeffer help us to grasp the weight of Mark 1:16–that when Jesus calls disciples to himself, “he bids him come and die.” (4)
(1) Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship.
(2) ibid
(3) ibid
(4) ibid