Category: Books and Quotations

5 Must-Read Statements on the Church

Matt Erickson1 Comment

It’s no secret that one of my favorite theologians is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. His book Life Together is, in my opinion, the best book written on the nature of true community in the church. It is a must-read for many reasons, but one of the most important is the way that Bonhoeffer directly deals with something all of us face with the church: disillusionment. If you have not experienced disillusionment at some point in your involvement with the church, then you probably have not been that involved. At a time when people struggled with living their faith individually and together, when the church was rent apart by conflicting allegiances and hypocrisy, Bonhoeffer stepped forward to train young pastors to serve Christ’s church.

Here are 5 must-read statements on the Church by Bonhoeffer from Life Together which I like to post here from time to time. I hope you find them as challenging and encouraging as I have over the years:

  • “Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world.” [26-27]
  • “Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.” [27]
  • “Thus the very hour of disillusionment with my brother becomes incomparably salutary, because it so thoroughly teaches me that neither of us can live by our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and Deed which really binds us together – the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ.” [28]
  • “If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is not great experience, not discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.” [29]
  • “A pastor should not complain about his congregation, certainly never to other people, but also not to God. A congregation has not been entrusted to him in order that he should become its accuser before God and men….Let him pray God for an understanding of his own failure and his particular sin, and pray that he may not wrong his brethren. Let him, in consciousness of his own guilt, make intercession for his brethren.” [29-30]

[These quotations are taken from John W. Doberstein’s classic translation of Life Together. A more recent translation with thorough annotations and a helpful introduction is found in Volume 5 of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works.]

Bibliography for “The Tree and the Vine: Psalm 1 and John 15”

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When I draw near to the end of a sermon series, I usually share resources I utilized in my study and preparation for sermons. Here is the bibliography for our recent series, “The Tree and the Vine: Psalm 1 and John 15.” I hope some of these books are as helpful for you as you explore the thought-provoking book of Ecclesiastes.

Bibliography for “The Tree and the Vine: Psalm 1 and John 15” [Lent 2024]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Life Together and The Prayerbook of the Bible. Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works Volume 5. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1996.

Raymond E. Brown. The Gospel According to John, XIII-XXI. AB. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1970.

F. F. Bruce. The Gospel of John: Introduction, Exposition and Notes. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1983.

Walter Brueggemann. The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1985.

Gary M. Burge. ‘I AM’ Sayings.” In Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, pp. 354-356. Edited by Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, and I Howard Marshall. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992.

D. A. Carson. The Gospel According to John. PNTC. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1990.

Ellen F. Davis. Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Nancy deClaisse-Walford, Rolf A. Jacobsen, and Beth LaNeel Tanner. The Book of Psalms. NICOT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2014.

Sidney Greidanus. Preaching Christ from Psalms. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016.

Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller. The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms. New York: Viking, 2015.

Derek Kidner. Psalms 1-72. Kidner Classic Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014.

C. S. Lewis. “Sweeter Than Honey.” In Reflections on the Psalms. New York: Harper, 1958.

James Luther Mays. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1994.

J. Ramsey Michaels. The Gospel of John. NICNT. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2010.

Eugene Peterson. Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1989.

________. Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008.

M. M. Thompson. “John, Gospel of.” In Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, pp. 368-383. Edited by Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, and I. Howard Marshall. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992.

Willem A. VanGemeren. “Psalms.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, volume 5, edited Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008.

Norman Wirzba. This Sacred Life: Humanity’s place in a Wounded World. Boston: Cambridge University Press, 2021.

N. T. Wright. “The Story of John.” In The New Testament and the People of God, pp. 410-417. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1992.

________. The Case for the Psalms. New York: HarperCollins, 2013.

Resources from the Bible Project:

How Does Spiritual Formation Happen?: themes of Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart

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DallasWillard-sm

Because of some work we’re doing on our staff in relation to discipleship, I have been returning to some classic guidance on spiritual formation and reflecting on how spiritual formation happens in our individual lives and in the church as a whole. Dallas Willard’s Renovation of the Heart is a fantastic book on this topic, and I wanted to offer a high level summary of Willard’s thinking in that book here.

Willard says that spiritual formation must take account of the various aspects of our being: spirit (heart/will), mind (thought/feeling), body, social, and soul. It is only when we thoughtfully account for all these aspects of our person that whole spiritual transformation will truly happen. He writes:

“It is the central point of this book that spiritual transformation only happens as each essential dimension of the human being is transformed to Christlikeness under the direction of a regenerate will interacting with constant overtures of grace from God. Such transformation is not the result of mere human effort and cannot be accomplished by putting pressure on the will (heart, spirit) alone.” (41-42)

Such transformation happens according to “the general pattern of personal transformation, which also applies to spiritual formation” (85), which Willard describes with the acronym VIM, which stands for vision, intention, and means.

  • Vision: “The vision that underlies spiritual (trans)formation into Christlikeness is, then, the vision of life now and forever in the range of God’s effectives will—that is, partaking of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 3:1-2) through a birth ‘from above’ and participating by our actions in what God is doing now in our lifetime on earth….What we are aiming for in this vision is to live fully in the kingdom of God and as fully as possible now and here, not just hereafter” (87).
  • Intention: “We can actually decide to do it…first of all to trust him, rely on him, to count on him being the Anointed One, the Christ…Concretely, we intend to live in the kingdom by intending to obey the precise example and teachings of Jesus….Now, on intention is brought to completion only by a decision to fulfill or carry through with the intention (87-88).
  • Means: “Here the means in question are the means for spiritual transformation, for the replacing of the inner character the lost with the inner character of Jesus: his vision, understanding, feelings, decisions, and character” (89).

This must be vigorously and holistically applied to our lives with God’s grace for growth. When we do that, what does it look like? Willard cites these passage as a “New Testament descriptions of what the apprentices of Jesus are to be like”:

  • Matthew 5-7
  • 1 Corinthians 13
  • 2 Corinthians 3:12-7:1
  • Galatians 5:22-6:10
  • Ephesians 4:20-6:20
  • Philippians 2:3-16; 4:4-9
  • Colossians 3:1-4:6
  • 1 Peter 2:1-3:16
  • 2 Peter 1:2-10
  • 1 John 4:7-21

In the local church, while the individual work is intimately involved, the plan for spiritual formation is built around the definition of Matthew 28:18-20:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Specifically, Willard describes three essential emphases for churches to really move toward this reality of spiritual formation in their life together (240):

  1. Making disciples – the church must aim for actually apprenticing people to Jesus in their lives
  2. Immersing the apprentices at all levels of growth in the Trinitarian presence – the church must call disciples into the lived presence of the Triune God that is accessible and available at all times and in all spheres of our lives
  3. Transforming disciples inwardly – through spiritual practices/disciplines, the church must help disciples grow in such a way that doing the words and deeds of Christ is not the focus but the natural outcome or side effect of living

This is Willard’s basic thrust in Renovation of the Heart, which helps us see how true spiritual formation in Christlikeness happens in the lives of the individual believer and local church.

Prayer (I) by George Herbert

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george-herbert

One of the most powerful pictures of prayer in poetry comes from George Herbert’s stunning poem “Prayer (I).” Herbert (1593-1633) was a poet, preacher, and pastor in the Church of England, serving as the rector of the parish of St. Andrews Church, Lower Bemerton. Today is designated as a feast day commemorating George Herbert and his work both as a pastor and poet.

His poetry, collected in The Temple, is associated with the work of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century, including John Donne, Andrew Marvell, and others.

Eugene Peterson borrowed the title of his book on Revelation, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination, from this poem. Pastor and author John Piper writes: “For me, the phrase ‘reversed thunder,’ as a description of prayer, is worth more than a hundred explanations.”

Here is that marvelous poem:

Prayer the church’s banquet, angel’s age,
God’s breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth
Engine against th’ Almighty, sinner’s tow’r,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six-days world transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear;
Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss,
Exalted manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,
The milky way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul’s blood,
The land of spices; something understood.

The Radiant Brilliance of God in Us: Athanasius on Psalm 1

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In my message, “The Planted Life,” at Eastbrook yesterday, I shared a quotation from St. Athanasius related to Psalm 1 and the invitation to meditate on the Word of God. Athanasius was a 4th century bishop in Egypt and advocate for orthodox faith reflected in what we now know as the Nicene Creed. He speaks of our meditation on God’s instruction in this way:

The splendid brilliance of God’s grace never suffers an eclipse. No, it is always at hand to enlighten the inner thoughts of those who really want it. Great good comes to people who, enlightened by the grace of God, make it their habit to apply the truths of holy Scripture to their lives. They receive just such a blessing as the psalmist describes….Those blessings come because the person who accepts God’s grace is not illumined by mere physical light from the sun, the moon or even the whole host of stars. Rather, he glows all over with the radiant brilliance of God. [1]

This image of light is so striking, bringing to mind Moses’ descent from Mount Sinai after he had met with God. We read about it in Exodus:

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. (Exodus 34:29-33)

May we delight ourselves in God’s way and instruction to such a degree that God’s glory might also radiate from our lives.

[1] Athanasius, “Festal Letters 5.1,” quoted in Craig A. Blaising and Carmen S. Hardin, eds., Psalms 1-50, ACC, OT VII (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2008), 7.