Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christmas Sermons

Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christmas Sermons Copyright © 2005 by Edwin Robertson Previously published in the UK as I Stand at the Door Requests for information should be addressed to: Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bonhoeffer, Dietrich, 1906-1945. [Sermons. English. Selections] Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christmas sermons / editor and translator, Edwin Robertson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ). ISBN-13: 978-0-310-25955-8 ISBN-10: 0-310-25955-X 1. Advent sermons. 2. Christmas sermons. 3. Sermons, German- Translations into English. I. Title: Christmas sermons. II. Title. BV4254.5.B68 2005 252'.61-dc22 2005017160 This edition printed on acid-free paper. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Interior design by Beth Shagene Printed in the United States of America 05 06 07 08 09 10 /?DCI/ 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Barcelona March 1928-February 1929 ON FEBRUARY 15, 1928, Bonhoeffer was appointed assistant pastor to the German-speaking congregation in Barcelona. He left the children reluctantly, but looked forward to the opportunity of regular preaching. He had become very close to the children. In his diary in Barcelona he wrote: On January 21, 1928 we had our last children's service. I spoke on the man sick with palsy, and particularly on the saying, "Your sins are forgiven you," and tried yet again to reveal the kernel of our gospel to the children. They were attentive and perhaps affected a little . . . For some time, the congregational prayer has often sent cold shivers down my spine, but when the throng of children with whom I have spent two years prayed for me, the effect was incomparably greater. The Parish in Barcelona Bonhoeffer suffered a culture shock when he began to meet the people of his first parish. He was the assistant minister, under Dr. Olbricht. This senior minister was well liked by his congregation, whom he did not trouble much apart from Sunday services and pastoral visits. He enjoyed their privileged company. It was left to the young assistant to start Sunday school work and even weeknight meetings for lectures. The shock was to discover the complacency of these businessmen and even their children. In a letter to his grandmother in June, contrasting the youth of Berlin with the youth of Barcelona's German community, he wrote: They know little or nothing of the war, revolution, and the painful aftermath of these things, they live well and comfortably, the weather is always fine- how could it be otherwise? The Youth Movement period in Germany passed by without a trace here. All the young people seemed to assume that they would continue in their fathers' businesses and took this comfortable way of life for granted. The restless young pastor was soon stirring things up-not always to the approval of his senior. But it was preaching that concerned Bonhoeffer most. He had to get to know the country, the people, their problems, and their needs. He found himself spending a great deal of time preparing his sermons and writing them out in full. "Writing sermons still takes up a great deal of my time," he wrote to his parents, "I work on them the entire week, devoting somBonhoeffer, Dietrich is the author of 'Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Christmas Sermons ', published 2005 under ISBN 9780310259558 and ISBN 031025955X.