Bonhoeffer claims that “what [the sermon proclamation] must emphasize is not its proximity to the Volk but its alien character in the world.”64 Given the context in which Bonhoeffer was writing and his previous reflections on the relationship between the church and the state, it is not surprising that he speaks of a necessary separation from one’s ethnicity and nationality.65 Using the sermon to identify with people along such lines only undermines the efficacy of the church’s witness.
