Throughout much of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life, Jesus’ teaching found in the Book of Matthew, Chapters 5-7, known as “The Sermon on the Mount,” carried great significance. Bonhoeffer mentions the Sermon on the Mount continuously and uses it to shape how he lived his life and how he envisioned the church.
In a letter to his brother, Karl-Friedrich, Dietrich writes, “I think I am right in saying that I would only achieve true inner clarity and honesty by really starting to take the Sermon on the Mount seriously. Here alone lies the force that can blow all of this idiocy sky high—like fireworks, leaving only a few burnt out shells behind.” (Metaxas 260)
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls on his disciples to live in a way that is often counter to what is found in the rest of the world: to see the poor as blessed, to turn the other cheek, to love the enemy, to deny self through fasting, to put away judgment and worry.
It is these things that Bonhoeffer seeks to base his own identity and life around.
It is these things that Bonhoeffer seeks to base the church around.
In effect, Bonhoeffer says in the above quote, that it is this kind of humility and life lived that has the power to change the world.
How could our world be changed if we set aside our desires for power, vengeance, and getting ahead, and sought to truly take seriously Jesus’ words and live out the Sermon on the Mount?
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