It was mentioned earlier that the Nazis attempts to usurp the church into their plans of racial prejudice were opposed by courageous people of faith who were willing to lose their lives to follow Jesus.
The Gospel Reading for this Second Sunday in Lent (March 4) is from Mark 8: 31 -38 where Jesus warns that “those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it”.
There is a good example in the Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller who, along with another Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Reform theologian Kart Barth, led the formation of the German Confessing Church to oppose Hitler's Christian Church.
True to Jesus words, on March 2, 1938 Martin Niemoller was sentenced to 7 months imprisonment.
This is what he said about his trial: “First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me”
The call during Lent is for self-examination. We are reminded of our humanity and what makes us all the same. Perhaps such reflection will help us feel what others feel, see what they see, experience what they experience, speak out when they are hurt and defend the defenseless.
That is what it means to lose one's life for Jesus' and the gospel's sake.
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