Some people have books that they read multiple times or that they come back to in different seasons of life. This Lent has brought me back to The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The book was first published in 1937 after the Nazis came to power in Germany. Bonhoeffer was outspoken against Hitler’s regime and worked with the German resistance. Bonhoeffer was eventually arrested and linked with a plot to assassinate Hitler. He was executed at the Flossenbürg concentration camp on April 9, 1945, just two weeks before the camp was liberated by Allied forces.
In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer makes a distinction between what he calls “cheap grace” which is juxtaposed with “costly grace.” Bonhoeffer asserts that cheap grace was bringing about the ruin of society and one of the reasons that allowed for Hitler’s rise to power. Bonhoeffer describes cheap grace as “the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
Contrasting this with costly grace, Bonhoeffer writes “costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy for which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Finally, he states it is costly because “it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son.”
The first reading this Sunday from the Book of Genesis recounts the story of God asking Abraham to offer up his son Isaac. Isaac was not Abraham’s only son, but he was most precious to him. Even though it was never God’s intention for Abraham to actually kill Isaac, he wanted to see if Abraham was willing to offer up anything at the Lord’s command, to see if he was willing to make even the most costly of sacrifices. This reading serves as a segue to the Gospel of the Transfiguration. As Mark recounts the Transfiguration of the Lord, we are told that his glory is revealed to Peter, James, and John, the glory that will only be revealed after the Resurrection…after the Cross.
It was through the mystery of the Cross that the glory of Christ was ultimately revealed and the same is true for us, that Christ’s glory in us can only be fully realized when we are willing to take up the crosses of our lives and unite them with his own. The glory of God was revealed in Christ, not by any cheap means, but by the Father’s willingness to offer up his only son and the son being willing to offer up his own life. In light of the reading from Genesis and Mark’s account of the Transfiguration, we must ask ourselves if there a price that we are not willing to pay in our own discipleship? Is there only so much that we are willing to give in order to share in the Lord’s glory? Am I settling for cheap grace in life instead of seeking true grace from the Lord even though it may be a costly grace?
May the grace of our Lenten journey help us to grow in deeper relationship with the Lord, to understand the true cost of discipleship and remind us exactly who it is calling us to follow him. When we come to truly know God and the depth of his love for us, we will be willing, even desiring costly grace. To borrow from St. Ignatius of Loyola, we will find that we are willing to lavishly give of ourselves and not count the cost.
Lenten Wisdom
"As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus’ thirst…He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you.” – St. (Mother) Teresa of Kolkata
Blessings to you and yours for the week ahead!
Father Chris House