Read the fictional, journalistic-style description of the execution of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Consider the depth of his devotion to the will of God and his willingness to sacrifice. Relate this to your own life—what is God’s will for you, to what lengths would you be willing to go to fulfill this call, how has God promised His faithfulness and sufficiency to us in times such as these, how was Bonhoeffer an “imitator of Christ” for us, how might our witness—like that of Bonhoeffer—impact others?

DISTANT DATELINE: Theologian Bonhoeffer Executed on Order from Hitler

FLOSSENBURG PRISON April 9, 1945. Today the controversial theologian,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, along with other members of the Admiral Canaris
resistance group, was executed here by hanging.

Bonhoeffer went calmly to his death. This morning as he was led out of his cell,
he was observed by the prison doctor who said, “Through the half-open door I
saw Pastor Bonhoeffer still in his prison clothes, kneeling in fervent prayer to
the Lord his God. The devotion and evident conviction of being heard that I saw
in the prayer of this intensely captivating man moved me to the depths.”

The prisoners were ordered to strip. Naked under the scaffold, Bonhoeffer knelt
for one last time to pray. Five minutes later, he was dead.

Bonhoeffer was condemned for his involvement in “Operation 7,” a rescue
mission that had helped a small group of Jews over the German border and
into Switzerland. The 39-year-old theologian had also been involved in planning
an unsuccessful assassination attempt on the life of Adolf Hitler. His
participation in the murder plot obviously conflicts with Bonhoeffer’s position as
a pacifist. His sister-in-law, Emmi Bonhoeffer, cited his reasoning. He told her,
“If I see a madman driving a car into a group of innocent bystanders, then I
can’t, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe and then comfort the
wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the
hands of the driver.”

Interestingly, Bonhoeffer had safely escaped the troubles in Europe and gone
to teach in New York in June, 1939. He abruptly returned less than a month
later saying, “I have had time to think and to pray about my situation, and that
of my nation, and to have God’s will for me clarified. I have come to the
conclusion that I have made a mistake in coming to America. I shall have no
right to participate in the reconstruction of the Christian life in Germany after
the war if I did not share in the trials of this time with my people. Christians in
Germany face the terrible alternative of willing the defeat of their nation in
order that civilization may survive, or willing the victory of their nation and
thereby destroying civilization. I know which of these alternatives I must
choose. But I cannot make that choice in security.”

Even while in prison, Bonhoeffer maintained his pastoral role. Those with him
spoke of the guidance and spiritual inspiration he gave, not only to fellow
inmates, but to prison guards as well.

In a letter smuggled out of prison Bonhoeffer showed no bitterness but rather
explained how, “We in the resistance have learned to see the great events of
world history from below, from the perspective of the excluded, the ill treated,
the powerless, the oppressed and despised . . . so that personal suffering has
become a more useful key for understanding the world than personal
happiness.”

EDITOR’S POSTSCRIPT: In the same month Bonhoeffer was hanged, on April
30, 1945, Hitler committed suicide. Seven days later Germany surrendered.

When I look at the story of Bonhoeffer, I have to admit that I stand in awe of a man with that much commitment. He left the comforts of the United States, went back to his home nation that was run by an oppressive regime, and defiantly stood for the Gospel up until his last moment on this Earth. I think it is a tall order to die for what you believe in, and I think there are many individuals who attend Church on a regular basis who would not be willing to die for their faith. As I reflect on my own life, I know there is a fear of death and the "unknown". It was something that I struggled with greatly when I was younger. Now as I look at where I have come and where I think I am headed in this life, I would be amiss to say I don't struggle to come to this conclusion. I would truly sacrifice my life for what I believe in, but I would hope that it would not have to come down to that. I would love to spend my life preaching the word of God well into my 80s and 90s and dying peacefully and pain free, but the truth is that I don't know what the Lord has in store for me five minutes from now, let alone 60 years from now. I think I will continue to follow the example of Paul and Bonhoeffer in that I will work to have every part of my life infiltrated by the mission of Jesus Christ, and to live my life according to his word all of my days, however long they might be.