Hitler, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Kids

We all need heroes. Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of my all-time heroes. This was underscored during my recent reading of Eric Metaxas’s masterful and often heart-wrenching biography of Bonhoeffer’s life [1].   I came to the conclusion that Bonhoeffer was indeed my hero, but for reasons that were not immediately apparent. Yes, it is true, he almost singularly stood up to Adolf Hitler. Yes, at the risk of life, limb, and liberty, he fearlessly led the resistance of Germany's “confessing church” against Hitler’s attempts to undermine the church’s mandate to embrace the “other” – including Jews and other “non-Aryans.” Yes, he defiantly stared down intimidating pressure from the Third Reich to concede to their strange hybrid doctrine of Nazi ideology and theology based on race; that is, the so-called, “German Christian Movement.” Yes, he continued to stand firm as the pressure increased, leading to his arrest and imprisonment which included Buchenwald Concentration Camp. But, tragically, only days before Hitler surrendered to the allies, Bonhoeffer was executed by the Nazis for his perceived role in the failed Valkyrie plot to assassinate Hitler, leaving his fiancée bereft of a life partner. Bonhoeffer had come to the conclusion, along with others, that eliminating Hitler was the only course of action left after every other means had been exhausted. Millions of Jews, elderly, and disabled, continued to be exterminated in the concentration camps and Bonhoeffer believed, that as reprehensible as violence was, it had become immoral not to act. Yet, even though his life was cut short, he packed multiple “lifetimes” into his brief 39 years.

  

Academic Genius Who Didn't Fit Our Categories 

Bonhoeffer was a genius, but that is also not the primary reason that I regard him as a hero. Yes, he was schooled in the world renowned Berlin University’s theological faculty, and he had obtained a Ph.D. by the time he was 21 years of age. He was a curious mix of theological liberalism and conservatism and to this day, it is still hard to pin him down into a theological or political category. He was supervised by the famous liberal theologian, Adolf von Harnack, who was a direct spiritual descendent of Friederich Schleiermacher, regarded by many as the father of modern day liberal theology. Even though Bonhoeffer rarely came to the same theological conclusions as von Harnack, they still mutually shared a deeply respectful and honoring friendship their whole lives. Bonhoeffer greatly respected Harnack’s theological methodology while Harnack greatly respected Bonhoeffer’s razor sharp mind even though their viewpoints often led them to respectful differences. Bonhoeffer was also personally mentored by the great Swiss theologian, Karl Barth. In addition, he was profoundly impacted by the passion and vitality of the African American church while attending Union Seminary in New York City. Bonhoeffer's keen theological mind, combined with a deep relationship with Christ which was immersed in the Scriptures, prayer, and community, provided the resources to confront one of the greatest evils in history. 

Bonhoeffer and Children

 

But no, it was not just Bonhoeffer’s remarkable courage in opposing Hitler that impressed me, nor his willingness to go to the gallows for his convictions. Nor was it because of his remarkable mind, gaining him a Ph.D. by the time he was 21. Neither was it his remarkable contributions to our Christian journey through his weighty classics such as, Life Together, and The Cost of Discipleship.

What impressed me the most in my recent reading of Bonhoeffer’s life was his heart for children, and his willingness, with all the acute demands on his schedule, to take on a significant role in children’s lives. Bonhoeffer loved kids so much that he seriously considered becoming a pastor instead of a theologian. His highly aristocratic and educated father and brothers thought this would be a waste of his great mind, but he strongly believed that if he couldn’t communicate the most profound thoughts about God and the Bible to children, something was wrong. In other words, his Ph.D. was useless. For Bonhoeffer, there was much more to life than academia! 

This conviction drove Bonhoeffer to constantly be involved in the lives of children and youth. As a theological student, he was required to do volunteer hours in church work. When he could have done otherwise, he purposely chose to work with youth and children. Somehow, with all the demands of his academic work, he found time to prepare each week for a Sunday school class. He creatively used stories, even fairy tales, to convey truth. Not content to just teach children once-a-week on Sundays, he, along with his youngest sister, Susanne, began having kids into their home to play games, as well as take them on outings throughout Berlin. He was deeply taken with children and they with him! He became so popular that children from other classes left their classes to join his!  

A Rowdy Inner-City Confirmation Class

One of Bonhoeffer’s assignments was to take on a confirmation class of 50 boys, aged 14 and 15, in a very rough inner-city district of Berlin, where people lived in extreme squalor and poverty. The boys had been so unruly that they had literally driven Bonhoeffer’s predecessor to his grave! In Bonhoeffer’s first class with them, the boys were rioting, chanting and even throwing various items as missiles! Bonhoeffer refused to react or raise his voice, patiently waiting for them to quiet down, which they did eventually. Somehow, his peaceful demeanor seemed to spread to the whole class. He began to creatively tell stories, deliberately keeping them short which always left the boys wanting more. During the week, when he began to visit these boys in their homes and meet their families, he witnessed the deplorable conditions they lived in. Against social custom, he moved from his privileged area in Berlin into a small flat in their neighbourhood, operating with an open-door policy for the boys to come and visit, ask questions, and play games. He even saw miraculous healings, including one time when he visited and prayed with a boy at risk of having his leg amputated in the hospital. Miraculously, the boy’s leg was saved after Bonhoeffer had prayed with him. Bonhoeffer won the boys’ hearts. His confirmation class altered the lives of each of those 50 boys forever.  

“Herr Volf ist Tot!”

One of my favourite and perhaps defining stories of Bonhoeffer with children occurred during a season of ministry he had in Barcelona, Spain with German ex-pats. Again, he was assigned to a Sunday school class which started with just one girl! The next week, thanks to an energetic campaign to invite more children, 15 attended, and again, during the following week, he visited all of these 15 children in their homes and met their parents. The class quickly grew to more than 30 which never declined during his season there. 

One day, a 10 year old boy came to his office on an errand from his parents, but the boy clearly had other things on his mind. He began wailing, “Herr Volf Ist Tot!” that is, “Mr. Wolf,” (his dearly loved German Shepherd dog), “was dead.” The little boy cried out his anguish, but after awhile, he said hopefully to Bonhoeffer, “But, I will see Mr. Wolf in heaven, right?” Bonhoeffer didn’t know how to respond. He knew that even a “Well, we don’t know…” would be a “No” for this little boy, so he responded, “Look, God created human beings and animals and I’m sure he also loves animals.  And I believe that with God, it is such that all who loved each other on earth – genuinely loved each other – will remain together with God, for to love is part of God. Just how that happens, we admittedly don’t know.” The boy’s countenance changed dramatically now that he was confident that he would once again play with “Herr Volf.” Bonhoeffer repeated several times to the boy that “We don’t know how this happens...” but later he wrote, “The little boy knew.” After a few moments, the boy remarked, “Today I really scolded Adam and Eve for if they had not eaten the apple, Herr Volf would not have died!” 

Bonhoeffer wrote, “There I stood, I, who was supposed to ‘know the answer,’ – feeling quite small next to this little boy, and I cannot forget the confident expression on his face when he left.” Pastoral and theological genius came together in Bonhoeffer's interaction with this 10 year old boy. 

Yes, Bonhoeffer was heroic in standing up to Hitler and the Nazis. Yes, he was a theological and academic genius. But, he’s my hero, mostly, because in addition to all of these things in his very full life, he made time for children and passionately invested in them. In light of all that Jesus had to say about kids, I believe this, by far, was his most lasting legacy. 

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[1] Eric Mertaxas: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 2010. I am so indebted to Mertaxas for this brilliant (re)telling of Bonhoeffer's story, which I read on an Okanagan pool deck in April. The photo is from the cover of the book and I have drawn heavily from excerpts in this blog.

Sabbath: Stopping When It Is Time To

As part of a course I’m taking, I recently read another book on Sabbath, this one by Wayne Muller. I felt an initial resistance to reading it, namely, because Sabbath had already been such a huge focus of my life over the past year. In 2015, I took a 5 month pastoral Sabbath and invested three months before-hand, preparing our church for it, practically and theologically. In addition, over the past twenty years, I had cultivated the practice of a pastoral “Monday Sabbath” which I would attribute to the current longevity I am enjoying in pastoral ministry. Over these years, I have gotten to know myself and what Sabbath rhythms are needed for me to live sustainably. Frankly, I was feeling I had the subject covered, thank you very much. Nevertheless, this presumption was soon overcome by a number of surprising and enriching insights that Muller brought to my understanding of Sabbath. I would say the overall impact has been a paradigm shift with regards to the relationship between Sabbath and the other six days of the week. The tendency is to see Sabbath as a stopping point for one day, so we can be more effective on the other six days that we work. Muller argued that it was actually the reverse – the other six days are “for the Sabbath.”  What does this mean? To be honest, I am still trying to work that out at a cognitive level, but throughout the book, the various nuances and perspectives on Sabbath that Muller introduced have provided practical entry points for me live out Sabbath more meaningfully as a way of life. Allow me to give three examples.

Freedom from the Need to be “Finished”

A few weeks ago, I was working with my wife, Kathleen, weeding our church community garden which is located on our church property at St. David of Wales. We had both committed to two hours of labour on a Wednesday morning so that there would be some space for her to get a break before she headed off to her tutoring work a few hours later. Our plan was to work from 10:30am-12:30pm noon. We were weeding some plant beds in front of the church that had become infested with horsetail weeds. They were difficult to dig out, so we were kneeling in the dirt to pull them out, using every tool we could find, including hoes, shovels, and pitchforks. We had almost completed the whole bed, but there was one line of weeds left to do. I could have completed it in 15 minutes. Nevertheless, it was 12:30pm and I remembered our commitment. I was so tempted to take the needed 15 minutes to get rid of that last batch of weeds, but I remembered Muller’s words, “We do not stop because we are done – we stop because it is time to stop.” Stopping required surrender on a number of levels. It was surrender to the reality that we are never “finished.” Sabbath frees us from the need to be finished. As I reflect on this experience, I am struck by how hard it was for me to stop. It was a distinct act of surrender and submission to cease working at that point. I am mindful that there were elements of pride that I had to combat. For example, “How would the unfinished weeding look to others who would see the work we did?” as if that was what this was all about! Surrender also required that I remembered that this was a “community garden,” which means that a whole community puts their hands to it and offers the time and effort that each person is able. Sabbath is surrendering to the whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. It was a surrender to community rather than persisting in individualism, independence and performance. It was an admission that the world could, indeed, continue without me. On my regular Sabbath day, I return to these realities rather easily. However, this was an important experience of this reality in the middle of my work week, and I was surprised how difficult it was to embrace.  

Symbol and Ritual

Secondly, I was inspired by Muller’s encouragement to use practices of symbol and ritual that are related to Sabbath. I live in a city that has one of the highest costs of living in the world. The impact of this is that people’s margins are thin, with the perception of little time and money available for volunteerism, including church involvement. I was challenged by Muller’s thoughts on seeing Sunday worship as a "Community Sabbath"  My heart goes out to our congregants who, because of their lifestyle, where margins are so thin, can find Sunday worship to be the most stressful time of the week!  I long for Sunday worship to be restful, delightful, and joyful – a reminder that we worship a God who has abundant margins for all of us. Consequently, the employment of symbol and ritual is helping to renew this sense of Sabbath to our Sunday worship, even if it is still a journey we are just embarking on. For example, we are now employing several Benedictine practices. Because of our location in a heritage Anglican building, we are now able to sound the bells throughout our neighbourhood when it is time for worship. These bells constitute a call to worship, and are rung at least 8 times in tandem. Then, as we gather and welcome everyone, we invite one of our preteens to light a candle that is centred at the altar before a magnificent stained glass window. The lighting of the candle is then accompanied by an additional sound of the “toll bell” and a time of silence.  These simple practices, that involve intentional "seeing and hearing," are helping us be more more attentive and aware of the “God of Sabbath” in our midst, who is inviting us into rest.  

Sensuality and Delight

For many of us, sensuality and delight seem to be the farthest thing from Sabbath. Yet, Muller argues that this is exactly the point of Sabbath. As it happened, when I read this, Kathleen and I were on a recent spring vacation in Osoyoos. Inspired by my reading, I went for my regular morning walk, this time, paying particular attention to the colours, the fragrances, and the sounds of the blooming desert in the southern Okanagan. I literally wept as I took in this multi-sensory experience, so tenderly made available to me by God. When I arrived at the lakeshore, even though it was awkward, I took off my shoes and socks, and walked on the sand and in the water, just so my bare feet could feel the sensation of both. I felt I was on holy ground. Is it possible that God told Moses to take off his shoes because all ground is holy and having our naked flesh touch the earth helps keep us grounded in God?

A few days later, back in Vancouver, on a clear starlit night, I was standing on our bedroom balcony with a group of Korean students, which included our homestay daughter, Soyoun along with some of her friends, enjoying the grandeur of the heavens, gazing up at the Big Dipper pointing to the North Star. One young guy kept exclaiming, “This is so awesome!” I literally felt his heart reaching out to worship. Though we were from the opposite sides of the world, perhaps even from different faiths, we found a sacred commonness as we gazed into the heavens. This growing sense of perceiving the sacredness of all things is another gift that Sabbath has given me when I have been willing to stop when it is time to stop.

We Have Promises to Keep

I experienced a "butt-kicking" event in my early twenties and I mention it because it changed my life. It came from my pastor at the time when I was a youth pastor, full of zeal and excited about an opportunity to take on the leadership of a moderately sized youth group of 15-20 teens. Over the next few years, we saw a significant move of God that resulted in more teens and young adults giving their lives to Christ, many of whom went on into church leadership and other forms of ministry. 

"YOU CAN'T WALK"

My pastor at the time happened to also be my Uncle, Dave Lagore. You need to understand that growing up as a kid, Dave was one of my favourite adults. He was funny, energetic, and generous to a fault. I always looked forward to our visits. He always seemed to have Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum handy for me when I came around asking for one. He had a great knack for relating to children and youth. He had an energy and charisma about him that always made me feel like the world was a lot better than it had been before he arrived. As a child, Dave was born with club feet. The prognosis was that he would spend his life in a wheelchair. However, his dad, my grandpa, took him to every healing meeting imaginable on the Canadian prairies, including an Oral Roberts tent revival. There was no healing but my grandpa refused to quit. One day, a relatively unknown woman evangelist came to town and my grandpa took Dave to get prayer from her. She laid her hands on Dave and she told him to run. He began to run around the building, completely healed! He went on to be a great athlete, playing football, hockey and baseball. He not only played well, he was also a great team leader inspiring others to up their game, which was evident in his pastoral leadership. 

Fast-forwarding about 60 years to a year ago, Dave had to get an X-ray for calcium deposits on his feet. The doctor took a look at the X-rays and asked for another one. He looked again, and called Dave into his office. He said to him, “You have no tendons in your feet. It is physically impossible for you to walk.” The doctor now has this standing joke every time Dave visits him by saying, “Oh, you’re the guy who can’t walk.” For all these years, Dave had been walking, running, working, playing, with no tendons! He’s literally a walking miracle. He continues to live his life in simple faith and trust in God’s supernatural power to heal the sick. I’ve seen him face unimaginable obstacles and setbacks, and continue to live worshipfully and faithfully. 

THE GREATEST GIFT

So, certainly the greatest gift that Dave gave me was the gift of faith. This was not only faith in God, although it included that, but a faith in me. I know this sounds humanistic, but it was because of his faith in God that he believed in me. He made room for me. He trusted me. He entrusted this youth group, which included his own kids into my care. I was allowed to stretch my wings, and fly, and develop as a young leader. On the weekends, as a youth leader, I would take the youth out to Stephen Avenue Mall in downtown Calgary to share about Jesus. This was actually where we met Gordie Guiboche, the founder of our chili-wagon for the very first time. Kathleen and I and our small group would first meet at the church, pray, and then head downtown. While there was always the expected resistance, we never failed to find people who were hungry and open to discuss spiritual things, and through the years, we saw a significant number of people come to faith in Christ. 

One time, I had planned to meet a group of teens on a Saturday afternoon at the church and head downtown. However, for some reason, only one or two showed up, so I cancelled it. A little while later, Dave asked me how it went. I told him that I had cancelled it. I’ll never forget what he said to me. “Gordie, never do that again. If you only have one person show up, you go.” He wasn’t harsh or judgmental, but I remember his words went like a scalpel through my heart. Yes, they were strong words, indeed, a clear rebuke, but they were infused with faith, the kind of faith that my grandpa had demonstrated in refusing to give up in seeing my uncle healed. They were words that came from the same faith that Dave had demonstrated towards me in giving me room to grow. It was a faith that demonstrated that God was just as concerned about one person as he was with hundreds. If I wasn’t faithful with one or two, how could I be faithful with more? 

UNDER-PROMISE - OVER-DELIVER

I decided from that day on, I would, by the grace of God, be faithful with whatever God entrusted me and never despise the day of small beginnings.  I decided that I would be a person who, by the grace of God, would endeavor to keep my promises. I decided that I would always do my best, by the grace of God, to under-promise, and over-deliver.  While I couldn't commit to everything, what I did commit to, I would do with all my heart. During my sabbatical, I was reading through the books of Joshua, Judges, Kings, and Chronicles, and it struck me how important it was for people to "just show up" when called upon. Over and over this came up in the narratives. Just show up!

Presently, now as a lead pastor, as I engage with our kids and youth at VEV, one of the things I’ve found them most sensitive to is broken promises. Their hearts that were made to trust can stop trusting because they often can't believe what adults say they will do. They don’t need bling, pizazz, or the latest flavour of the month. They need integrity, credibility, and people who keep their commitments. Only God can help us do that and God knows that sometimes it’s difficult to keep a commitment even when we have had the best of intentions. We can get sick, something can go sideways beyond our control, and circumstances can change drastically. But, we can still keep the spirit of our commitment. We can find creative alternatives like, “Hey, it’s impossible for me to do this now, but how about if I do this instead...?" In that spirit, there is much grace to be found. Yes, we need to under-promise and over-deliver. We need to be slow and careful about making promises, but we must make them none-the-less. Then, when we do make them, we must fulfill what we've said we would do. 

Perhaps the greatest "sign and wonder" in our day is credibility and integrity. Thank you Dave, because your loving butt-kicking rebuke formatively changed my life!  

Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?  Who may live on your holy mountain? ² The one…     keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; Whoever does these things will never be shaken (Psalm 15).