WORDS // BONHOEFFER // The Invitation

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke up on you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for you souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). Since Jesus spoke these words, there should be no person on earth who feels so abandoned that they could say of themselves, "No one has asked about me. No one has wanted me. No one has ever offered me help." Whoever have once heard these words in their life and speak like this are lying. Indeed, such persons despise and mock Jesus Christ and the seriousness of his words. He has not made his circle narrow. He has not gathered around himself a spiritual-religious aristocracy. Rather he has made the circle as wide as possible, so wide that actually not a single person could say in good conscience that Jesus' invitation was not meant for him or her because they were not among the weary and burdened. On the contrary, what is so astonishing about this invitation is that it actually puts people in the awkward position of having to admit that Jesus' invitation was meant for them too. In fact, perhaps for them even more than others."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from A Testament to Freedom, 234