Commitment

 

Many people become used to a dualism in which their lives are divided into parts, and this is a great strain. We find this also among so-called religious people –perhaps especially among them. But Jesus was absolutely single-minded. He demanded that we sell all other jewels in order to buy the one pearl of great price. We should not look at one thing with one eye and try to follow him with the other. If we ponder this deeply, each of us will realize he has to confront the division in his own heart. We must give up all dividedness. We want to be of one heart and one soul both in ourselves and with our neighbor. It is a question of life and death. Unless we find singleness of heart and mind, our dividedness will tear us to pieces.

 We must be prepared to stand by our own convictions, even to suffer death for the sake of Jesus. In the Hutterite Chronicle * there is a story about a sixteen-year-old boy, the son of a miller, who converted to the Anabaptist way of life. When he was caught and sentenced to be beheaded, a wealthy nobleman offered to take him and raise him as his own son, if he would only recant. But the boy kept faith with God and was executed. If discipleship is really the way we want to go, we must be prepared for such sacrifice – however hard it is, and in spite of ourselves and our failures.

 A promise made to God cannot be made on the strength of human faithfulness. We must depend on God’s faithfulness. No one is strong enough in his own strength to endure, for instance, what the early Christian martyrs and others throughout history endured; but God is faithful. If we give ourselves to him, his angels will fight for us.

Do we still have our first love to Jesus, our readiness to give everything, even to face death for his sake? Today we have house and home, but we do not know what the future will bring. The times are very uncertain. In the course of our Bruderhof history we have had to go from one country to another. We can offer no human (Jn. 15:20) security. Jesus promises his disciples that they will be persecuted and that they will suffer. We can promise nothing better. Our only security is Jesus himself.

We must not forget that Jesus taught us a way of complete love – a way that means loving even our enemies and praying for those who persecute us. As disciples of Jesus we are not promised good days only. We must be prepared for persecution. Throughout history people have been killed for their convictions. We should be thankful that we have been protected till now, but we should also be ready to suffer for our faith.

A Christian’s commitment to Christ cannot be changed through circumstances. This must be quite clear. For us at the Bruderhof, the larger protection of the church community might be taken away at any time. But even if through persecution only one person from our communities were left, he would still be bound to his commitments.

If we love God with all our heart, soul, and being – if we live our lives for the sake of his honor and for the kingdom of God – then we can speak of him with as Ps. 28.1 surance in our prayers as “My Lord, my Rock.” It does not matter if we have enemies or what those enemies say about us. We will hear the voice of God in our hearts and be faithful.

We must be faithful to the end. For a Christian the most dangerous time is the middle of life. At the beginning, when our faith is new, God may seem especially near to us. After a few years, however, lukewarmness often sets in. If we are dedicated, God will carry us through our middle years, though we must still be watchful. But let us not have fear. If we are true to God, nothing can separate us from his peace.