Ian Maddock - Saturday, 23 April 2022
Talk 4 - Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Discipleship
From Series: "Dead Guys and Gals we should know"
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants Ian Maddock - Guest Speaker
Gathering Growing Going
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CloseDietrich Bonhoeffer (1906 – 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident, and key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writing on Christianity's role in the secular world have become widely influential.
Related Topics: History | More Messages from Ian Maddock | Download Audio
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants Ian Maddock - Guest Speaker
Who do you follow? | Tim Baxter | Sunday, 3 January 2010 | Listen | ||
The Best Man and the Bridegroom | Daniel Wood | Sunday, 13 December 2009 | Listen | ||
I wanna know what love is! | Tim Baxter | Sunday, 6 December 2009 | Listen | ||
Praying with the end in sight | Tim Baxter | Sunday, 29 November 2009 | Listen | ||
Blind? Deaf? Surely not me? | Richard Luckensmeyer | Sunday, 22 November 2009 | Listen | ||
Never Waste a Good Shipwreck | Tim Baxter | Sunday, 15 November 2009 | Listen | ||
Evidence that demands a Verdict | Tim Baxter | Sunday, 8 November 2009 | Listen | ||
Conspiracy and Ambush | Tim Baxter | Sunday, 1 November 2009 | Listen | ||
A clear and present danger | Tim Baxter | Sunday, 25 October 2009 | Listen | ||
What is Jesus all about? | Bruce Bennett | Sunday, 18 October 2009 | Listen |
Jesus has finally made it to Jerusalem. As Matthew prepares us for His entry into Jerusalem, he helps us confront Jesus’ authority, and the way in which it restores the concern of God for the outsider, and confronts the insider. This is the start of the Passover week. Jerusalem is a roiling maelstrom of religious and political fervour. And Matthew organises the narrative of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem around displays of His authority, rooted in recognition of His ‘old power’ – four Old Testament quotations structure the passage. As we come face-to-face with Jesus’ authority, three truths stand out. First, Jesus’ authority is extensive and all-encompassing. Second, Jesus’ authority is for the outsider, and rooted in God’s deep commitment to bring the outsider inside His kingdom. And, third, Jesus authority confronts the insider, and urges them to repentance. Come and meet Jesus, the King, in all His authority, as He enters Jerusalem!
What is greatness? In particular, what is greatness in the kingdom of God? That is the question addressed in the passage from Matthew today. Jesus is approached by two different groups. First, the family of Zebedee: James and John and their mother. Second, two blind men. Jesus asks both groups the same question “What do you want me to do for you?” What they request is quite revealing. And so is Jesus’ response to their requests. The Zebedees request position, status, reward for effort. The blind men request mercy, for their eyes to be open. Which request lines up with Jesus’ teaching previously? Which request do we tend to go to ourselves?
The Department of Home Affairs has an Australian Values Statement on its website. Visa applicants for residency/citizenship must sign this. And one of its key principles is that we are a ‘fair-go’ country. We would all agree with that. I suspect, too, that we would summarise our ‘fair go’ culture by stating that ‘you get what you deserve/what you work for’. In fact, many of us have established our relational, social and work ethics on this very principle. But is that what the ‘kingdom of heaven is like’? What is its value statement? What is the hallmark of such a kingdom, and its ruler, even its citizenship? Today, after Jesus has assured his disciples that the dependent will be provided for by their king, he now uses the same ideas to issue with them a warning not to abuse, misuse, ignore or become entitled in the face of the kingdom of heaven hallmark—which is grace.
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