Heroes

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was an amazing person living in a confusing time. In the midst of the chaos and darkness of Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer found a Christ big enough even for that time. For Bonhoeffer it was within the community of God that he encountered God most fully. It was in sharing life with his brothers and sisters that he was fed and transformed by the love and presence of God.

All religion has a tendency to create a god in our own image. A god that reinforces our opinions, affirms our prejudices, and secures comfort for us. The Jesus of the Bible is altogether different. The 'Lion of the tribe of Judah' is no religious god to be controlled or managed. C.S. Lewis learned this truth when he became a follower of Jesus later in his life. In Christ he found a God who was far more interested in our transformation than in our comfort.

Martin Luther started as a man very much of his time.  His picture of God was of a fearsome, disapproving, demanding tyrant. But He kept searching and dived deep into the word of God to discover Truth. In it he found a world and a God that was dramatically different from what he had been taught. He discovered a life and salvation that is by faith alone, in Christ alone, through grace alone, as revealed in scripture alone.

Our current series provides some personal illustrations of how God uses people in our lives to shape and to mold us. As part of the "great cloud of witnesses" referred to in Hebrews 12,  these people instruct us with their teachings, inspire us by their acts of faith, and encourage us to endure life's hardships. An introduction to another of God's "instruments" whom God used to make His Word relevant and life-giving to those who struggle with life.

‘My "hero" is more of an anti-hero, because I disagree with a lot of what he says. His theology challenges my certainties, provokes my understanding of truth and causes me to question what I previously accepted. But it is sometimes by wrestling with those who think differently that we begin to realize what is really important, and maybe even to see that God is bigger than we think.’

Singer and artist Bono has always been Marcel's hero. In this sermon he tells us why.