Sermon for 05/10/09 New Life

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Welcome! Come and see! God invites you to His family!

A member of the Ethiopian court is on his way back to his home country. He had visited Jerusalem and the Temple. He had looked and longed for the teaching and fellowship of the people who shared the same belief. But he went away empty.

At that time a lot of people came to visit the temple. Some of them were Jews living outside Judea. Others were so called “faithful people”. People who believed in the Almighty God but had not converted to Judaism. The eunuch was one of the “faithful people”. He had come to the Temple to do what the Law prescribed. He wanted to worship and find people to talk to. But when he came to the Temple, no one talked to him. No one invited him to join their prayer.

Instead he was told he was not welcome in the Temple. The Laws of the Temple forbade eunuchs to join the temple or even enter it. Eunuchs were seen as unclean. And so the doors were closed to him. He went away. Empty. Unfulfilled. Outcast. Hurting. But on his way home he meets Philip and he finds more than he had ever looked for. God invited him into the family of all believers.

Philip baptized him into the community of God. And with that the eunuch became part of God’s family. He had found what he had looked for in Jerusalem: the eunuch had found a home.

With the baptism begins a new life for the eunuch. He is not an outcast anymore. He has found people who care for him. And he has found a place in the community of faith. The eunuch was able to hear the good news of the gospel: you are welcome here. God loves you. You are a part of us. The message of the risen Christ proclaimed freedom to the eunuch. The children of God had welcomed him.

But today, today we as the children of God have become the people of the Temple. We decide whom we welcome and whom not. The poor, the homeless, the sick? We all to often do not want to see them. Those who annoy us, those who disagree with us, those other - Missouri Synod - Lutherans? We most of the time don’t want to have anything to do with them. The immigrants, the foreigners, the gay and lesbians? We might find them suspect and turn away. But God does not turn away. He invites people to come. Even and especially those our society has made into the eunuchs of our time. God invites them and us all. Not because we are so pure, or so lovable; but because God is so loving!

But to what does God invites us to? He invites us to become a member of His family. He calls us through the waters of baptism to become children of God.

But why water? Why something so common as water? Could God not think of something more divine, more special, more impressive to make us part of His family? Water! How unimportant!

But let us look a bit closer. Water might be very common, at least here where we live, but without it we cannot survive. Water is essential. About 60 % of our bodies are made up of water. About 70% of the earth is covered with water. We all need water to survive. Often when we feel tired, it is because we need some water. Often when we cannot concentrate, it is because we need some water. When we have a headache, it can be because we need some water. When we are cranky, it is because we - well, sometimes it is because we are cranky that day - but sometimes it is because we thirst for water. Water is indeed a very important part of our lives.

Just try to imagine life without water. There would be no life. No green leaves, no crop to harvest. There would be nothing to drink. Water is precious. Even though we seem to live in an abundance of water, only 1% of all the water around us is actually drinking water. Water might be common. But it is also of very great value. Water is indeed one of the foundations of life.

God uses this foundation to call us to the ultimate foundation of our lives: God Himself. Through baptism we are welcomed into the community of the children of God. Even though the waters of baptism are for our eyes nothing more than the water we use every day to drink, clean, and bath, they are so much more for our souls. We cannot see it but we know that through God’s promises that water becomes Holy Water. It becomes the Holy Water of life in Christ. It also becomes the water of death.

In this water we drown. Our old self; Our sins, our brokenness and our fears die. The old Adam and the old Eve drown in this Holy Water. Through this water of drowning God forgives us all our sins. All the dirt and sin that cling to us, are washed away.

We die in the waters of baptism. And then the waters become the waters of life. And we are made alive again. Through God’s forgiveness and love we gain new life in Christ.

God makes us alive again. And He sends us out to share this new life with the whole creation. We have been given a new life. But what does this new life mean?

It means that we are, like Philip, called to welcome everybody into our midst. I know this is difficult. Because it might mean that we have to welcome people we do not like. Or do not get along with. Or even worse; who have hurt us. But God calls us to welcome them all. God calls us to forgive even those who hurt us and to welcome them into the new life in Christ.

This does not mean that we welcome people to continue to hurt or even abuse us. But it means that we let go of our anger and allow God to take care of them and us.

It means to let go of our grudges against each other. And it means to allow God to heal us so that we may be able to live a reconciled life.

The waters of baptism are also a reminder. They remind us to be careful where we draw our lines. Because we can be sure that most likely God will be on the other side of that line! Whenever we exclude people from our midst, we exclude Christ from our midst also. For example we might struggle to welcome gays and lesbians into our midst. But God does it every day. He even did it in our story. Because the word eunuch in the New Testament most of the times means not what we would expect it to mean but it describes someone who is homosexual. God invites the Ethiopian eunuch into His family. Without asking him who or what he is.

God invites the outcasts of society to come and share in His family. And He invites us to welcome them also. God does not stay inside the boundaries we set Him. He is bigger and more loving than that!

We all know of that call. We all know of our new life in Christ. We all know that God forgave all our sins at our baptism. But we also know that we constantly fall short. We still sin. We still break each others hearts. And we still turn away from God.

Does that mean we need a new baptism every once in a while? Does this mean that our baptism is like paint which faints over time and needs a new overcoat?

No, though baptism we are forgiven. Once and for all! And no matter what we do, nothing will change that. Our texts for today remind us: God loves us. He cares for us. Every time we come to the table God comes also to meet us and to declare the forgiveness of all our sins. The table is therefore also reminder of our baptism.

We don’t need a second baptism for forgiveness. God has already declared us righteous through Christ. So whenever we doubt we can go back. We can go back to the table. And we can go back to our baptism. There we will find strength and faith for our way ahead.

Sometimes it is enough to remember our baptism or to just see water or bread to feel strengthened. But sometimes we need more. So today I would like to invite you to remember your baptism. Most of us won’t have any memories of the event because we were way too young to remember today. But there are other ways to remember.

I invite you to come and gather around the fountain and remember your baptism.

Maybe you wonder right now if you will be welcome around the waters of baptism. Maybe you feel that you are too broken to come. Or maybe you have been outcast before. But remember God welcomes us. And so do we today as the Body of Christ. Come! Feel welcomed! And find new life!

(Continue with Affirmation of Baptism p. 234)

May the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Doubts / Sermon for 04/26/09

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our risen Lord Jesus Christ.

Are you still doubting? Are you still at times unsure if Jesus really rose from the dead? Do you sometimes wonder if this was and is all real or if you are just believing in a big, huge nothing?

If so, welcome to the world of the disciples and apostles. They had seen Jesus die. They had also seen the empty tomb. Some of them had even seen the risen Lord. They had heard and met witnesses who told them about the resurrection. But they still could not believe. Even when they finally met Jesus, they were afraid, and they were not sure what or whom they were seeing. Dead people do not come back to life. That was as much true then as it is today.

They were doubting. And so are we.

We cannot see or meet Jesus in person. We only have the promises of God written down in the bible. And when we look around we might have a hard time seeing and experiencing God. We do not see the promises fulfilled in our lives or in the lives of those around us.

And so we start to doubt. Just watching the evening news for ten minutes is enough to make us doubt God’s promises. Where is God when children die of hunger? Where is God when people are killed by tornados, floods or earthquakes? Where is God in all the pain and suffering? Where is God in our pain and suffering? We doubt because we have lost sight of God’s work in this world. We search and search but we struggle finding God in this world. Or we might be angry with God. Because we cannot see or experience God’s promises for us.

If we cannot see or find God maybe we look for Him in the wrong places. I cannot see or find God in the dying of starving children. But I can see God’s work in those people who help the hungry. I cannot see God in the destruction of an earthquake. But I can see Him in the people who risk their lives in trying to safe others. I cannot see God in the death of a loved one. But I can see Him in the care others give the bereaved.

I cannot see God in the evil around me but I can see Him in the good that results from even the worst we can imagine. Those are the places where we can find God: in the good that happens around us.

But where can we turn to in our doubts and our anger? Where can we look for or even find Jesus when we struggle? When the disciples doubt Jesus sits down and eats with them. They share in a special meal together.

I am sure most of you have some deep and meaningful memories of past meals that happened around your table at home. Or around the table in your parent’s home. They might be memories of past Thanksgiving meals or Christmas meals. They might be happy memories, or uplifting or sometimes even challenging. Most of the time we remember those special meals because we were given something special during that meal. We might remember gifts of laughter, or the friendly back and forth between Aunt Edna and Uncle Gus. It might have been the gift of happy fellowship or maybe the gift of grieving together. Whatever it may be, we remember because something special happened.

Some of my dear and deep memories are about Thanksgiving Dinners around our table. Both Matthias’ and my family live far away in Germany. So there is no family to celebrate Thanksgiving with. Still we have never been alone on Thanksgiving. Most years since we moved to the US we celebrated Thanksgiving with strangers.

Foreign students from Cornell who had signed up to spent Thanksgiving with a family to see and experience what this holiday is all about. And so people came to our house. Some could hardly speak English, others felt uncomfortable about the candles on our table, others were surprised or maybe even disappointed by the food. But still we had wonderful conversations, sharing in the lives of one another. And after the meal they would leave something with us. Something I would like to share with you today: their thanksgiving. (Show table cloth) All that you see (or maybe not see because you sit like a good Lutheran in the last pew) are their prayers and words of Thanksgiving. They were able to share their thanksgiving with strangers. They were able to be thankful even though they were far away from home and loved ones. They were able to be thankful even though their time in this country might not have been as they had hoped for. Even as strangers they were able to see God’s promises.

Whenever I struggle and doubt I try to remember all those different faces and voices that have blessed our table over the years. I try to remember their willingness to be thankful in the midst of uncertainty.

And I try to find my own voice before God to give thanks for those gifts in my life. I try to go back to what they have left me.

Jesus also leaves something with His disciples. He leaves with them His words and teachings. He leaves with them His forgiveness and reconciliation. And He sends out His disciples to share this good news with all nations. We today can go back to this good news and to those witnesses. We can hear and read about the life and work of Jesus. And we can hear and learn about our forgiveness that has come to us through the death and resurrection of Christ.

But sometimes that is not enough for us. Sometimes no matter how hard we try we cannot get rid of our doubts and fears. All we can see is darkness and all we can hear is silence. Even coming to the table, yes even to that table at times becomes nothing more than routine.

Where can we go when this happens to us? What can we say or maybe even do when we not even have the voice to pray for faith?

In the second lesson this morning we heard about another witness of Jesus and His life. We were told that we are God’s children. And as that we have become brothers and sisters in Christ. We all are one family.

And as family we carry one another’s burden. We as family carry even one another’s doubts and fears. If you doubt today; if you feel frightened, angry or lost we as your church family are here for you. If you feel like you have lost your faith, we will believe for you. We will believe for you until you will be able to have faith again. We will pray for you when you have lost your voice for prayer. We will carry you because you are our sister or brother and we are all connected through God’s love. We are all united into the body of Christ and as that we will care for you as Jesus has called us to do. We are not alone in our doubts. Peter, the rock on whom Jesus would built the church has at times be more rocky in his witness than rock hard. And at his death even Jesus doubted and even became angry and called out to God: “Father, why have you forsaken me?” Our doubts and our anger towards God connect us as much with God and another as our love does.

But, might some of you say right now, but is doubting not sinning? And does not the same text that calls us children of God also tell us that those who are the children of God do not sin? Instead, so the text, the children of God are righteous. How can we be the children of God and still sin and doubt and be angry? How can that be?

It can be through the death and resurrection of Christ. Because with Christ our sins have died on the cross. And so we have indeed become righteous before God. Our sins have died once and for all. They are all blotted out, forgiven and erased.

But we also still live in the brokenness of this world and with our own brokenness. And so we sin. Yesterday, today, tomorrow. We stop trusting God and put ourselves in the middle of our lives instead. We turn away from God and try to proof that we can do it on our own. But God calls us back. He turns us around and brings us back to Him. No matter how far we run or how stubborn we are, God is even more persistent and brings us back to Him. Yesterday, today, tomorrow. He brings us back because we are His children and He loves us so much. He loves us so much that He even gave His only son Jesus to die for us.

It is this love that forms and transforms our lives. God loves us and cares for us. He is with us even when we doubt and cannot see or hear Him. He is with us and protects us every single step of our lives.

This sounds so wonderful. But where, if God really cares for us, is all the pain coming from? I have to admit, that I have no answer for that. I do not know where pain, suffering and evil are coming from. But I trust that God who loves us so much keeps His promises of love and care for our whole life. In the end it is not important for me to know where the evil is coming from but to know that God walks with me every day of my life. God is our loving Father and as that He would have no joy in our suffering. That is what I believe.

And on those days were we doubt all that and can only see the darkness around us and cannot see all the beauty that is also there? On those days we go back. We go back to the promises of God. We go back to Jesus and the good news of love and forgiveness. And we go back to you- all our brothers and sisters in Christ, knowing that together by the will and strength of God we will carry each other in need. And that I will never doubt!

Amen.

The love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with us always. Amen.

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PHILADELPHIA, PA, US	04/22/2009	1:40 A.M.	OUT FOR DELIVERY
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Seminary 1

Wie vor langer Zeit versprochen: hier die ersten Bilder vom Seminary. Als erstes mein Zimmer... / As promised long ago pictures from the seminary. This time: my room...

Mit Schnuffi und A-bella / With Schnuffi and A-bella

Kueche/Kitchen

"Wohnzimmer"/"Living Room"

Und der Platz, an dem ich am meisten Zeit verbringe...

And the place where I spend most of my time...

Creation / Sermon for 04/19/09

Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Risen Lord Jesus Christ!

No matter how often I hear this gospel story, I feel sorry for Thomas. Just imagine you were Thomas. You hadn’t been with your friends last night. And this morning they tell you that they have seen the risen Lord Jesus. Would you have believed them? Even if more than eleven people had tried, I still wouldn’t have believed it. Seeing someone who has died; and not only seeing but touching, and feeling, is not something I would easily believe. I would rather believe in a joke or prank. A silly or even mean one, but still: just that a prank.

The other disciples didn’t behave any better than Thomas. Even though Mary had told them that she had met Jesus at the empty tomb (in the Johanine tradition Mary does not run away saying nothing to no one but she stays after Peter and the beloved disciple have left the empty tomb) the disciples had hid themselves in a locked room because they were afraid. That does not sound like they felt or believed any better than Thomas the other day. They couldn’t believe what Mary had told them earlier.

So what changed them? What turned them from frightened and scared people into disciples?

They had met the risen Christ. Jesus had come into their midst, had greeted them, talked to them, and had blessed them. But Jesus did more than being with them, he also left something with them: the Holy Spirit. The gospel describes this as breathing onto the disciples.

This is not the first time we heard something about breath and life in the bible. In Genesis we read: “the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” God brings life through His breath at the beginning of all life. And now at the beginning of the new life in the risen Christ, the Lord gives again life through His breath. He gives new life to the frightened and scared disciples, so that they may be able to share and witness the good news of Jesus’ resurrection. The Lord is creating something new. He is creating a new community shaped by the encounter with the risen Christ. He is creating a new life for all people. A life, where, as Luke describes it in Acts, people share everything they have so that no one would have to live in need or poverty.

I don’t know about you but as beautiful as this community of sharing sounds, hearing about it makes me uncomfortable because I do not live that way. And I am not even sure I would want to. I am not sure if I want to give up all I have, the house, my car, my camera and the other things that are dear to me, to share everything I owe with those in need. I might feel guilty about this, but still I would have a hard time doing it. But selling everything we own and give away all the profit is only one way of sharing all we have. Throughout most of Acts people do not give away everything they own. Instead they share everything they can. They might not sell their house but open their house to the early church for worship space and fellowship. They might give money for healthcare or food. They might cook for those in need or give money to those who do so.

This idea was nothing new. During that time it was expected that the wealthy would support those in need. But here is the difference between those who have encountered the risen Lord and those who have not: those who have encountered the risen Lord and have been created into something new, share without expecting something in return. They give without making mental lists of IOU’s. They would give substantial amounts of money to the early church but would not expect to be treated any different from those in need who could not give anything at all.

This idea is maybe even more challenging and radical because this model is do-able. But would we be willing today to follow this model? Would we be willing to share our gifts without expecting anything in return? Neither from those we helped nor from God? How often have we thought: “OK, God, I did this or that now please do what I ask of you for me today?”

Or how often have we reminded people that we had helped them earlier when we needed help from them? And how often have we only helped because we had hoped to gain something: maybe more power in a committee, or to get that job, or to get invited by someone? There are usually a lot of reasons why we share and help but most of the time we do not do it just because we love our neighbor but because we expect to get something out of it for ourselves. Would we be able to change that? Would we be willing to help and share just because we love and cherish our neighbor? Would we be wiling to allow God’s breath to work in and through us to create something new?

Did you know that even today there are enough resources in the world to end world hunger and poverty for good? We are not able to do this all on our own. But if we start to share and help out of love, this love will spread. It won’t be fast, and it won’t be easy but the change will happen. Love is irresistible and we cannot other than love back.

This is what also Thomas found out. He couldn’t believe what his friends, the disciples told him about Jesus, but when he finally met the risen Lord, he could not resist the love and started to proclaim the good news. Faith is nothing that we can do or that we can grown in ourselves if only we try hard enough. Faith is something that comes as a gift from God through the encounter of the risen Lord.

But what does this mean for us? We cannot like Thomas put our hands into the wounds or hear God’s words spoken to us. We cannot do that. Or can we?

We can and we do! Every single Sunday we hear, feel, and encounter the risen and living Lord. We hear the risen Lord in the words of forgiveness at the beginning of the service. We hear His words in the gospel and in the sermon. We can see God in the baptism. And we can feel and encounter Him in the Supper. Whenever we come and celebrate the Eucharist we not only remember that one meal long long ago but we really encounter the living Lord. How? In, through and under the wine and bread. When Luther was asked how Jesus could be in the bread and wine he answered: “I don’t know. But Jesus said he will be in bread and wine and I trust his promises.”

Like Luther I don’t know how Jesus can be in the bread and the wine. No matter what I say or do to the bread and wine they still keep being just this: bread and wine. But Jesus does something to them. He breathes through the bread and wine and so we can feel and encounter him in and through them. Even today. 2000 years after the resurrection.

Jesus says: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

We cannot see Jesus but through the bread and the wine we can meet him. And it is through this meeting that faith grows in our hearts.

Today Jesus invites you to come and meet Him. He invites you to feel and touch and encounter so that your faith may grow and become stronger.

The old life has ended on the cross and Jesus has breathed new life into us. Let us go out and share this new life with all. Let us share without expecting something in return. Let us just do it because we want to share the love that first has been given to us. Let us not go back to the old life of wanting to have power over other people. Let us instead enter the new community where we have power together with other people.

Christ is risen and He raised us with Him. Let us embrace our neighbors as brothers and sisters and let us all rejoice in the new creation of life.

Amen.

Let us pray:

Oh God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Witness / Sermon for the Sunday of the Resurrection of our Lord

Grace to you and Peace from God our loving Father and Christ our risen Lord!

Dear friends, I am ashamed. I stood with them and him. All the day on Friday. I was so scared. But I wouldn’t move. I, Mary Magdalen, stood there at the food of the cross. Waiting for the miracle to happen. But nothing happened. He died. This was the end. All that we had hoped for died with him. And we had many hopes, dear friends. Women were allowed to learn and talk and ask questions with him. He dinned with lepers, tax collectors and law breakers. We had even hoped that his kingdom would come true and that we would get rid of the Romans. Oh those cruel Romans. It was them who nailed him to that horrible cross. We took him from the cross after he died and laid him into the tomb of one of his followers. We couldn’t do more because it started to get dark and Sabbath was approaching.

But Mary, Salome and I had made plans to go back to the tomb the day after Sabbath and prepare his body for burial. I have no idea what we were thinking. After all the Romans had rolled this huge stone in front of the entrance to the tomb. How were we three supposed to roll it back? But we still had to go. We couldn’t help it. I had loved him so much I needed to see him once more and say good bye. But when we arrived the stone was already rolled away. I was scarred now. And I didn’t want to enter that tomb. But Salome insisted. So in we went. The tomb was empty! Well, not totally empty. There was a young man. Telling us that Jesus was not there. He showed us the clothes in which we had bound Jesus Friday. And he told us to go and tell Peter and the others to meet Jesus in Galilee. We ran out of the tomb. Terrified! Scared! Frightened!

I am ashamed dear friends. Because we never told Peter or the others. Who would have believed us? I am not sure I myself believe what happened there in the tomb! How could Jesus go ahead to Galilee? I saw him dying! He was dead Friday when they closed that entrance. And now? And now? No, dear friends, I can’t talk about this? Who would believe me? Who?

Who would have believed her indeed? And who would believe us if we tell this story today? Isn’t that the reason why we always run away and say nothing to no one? We all are the Marys of this world today. We all are too ashamed, too intimidated, too afraid to witness to that person who died so shamefully on the cross but who was raised by God to eternal life. Do you talk about your faith? Or about what God has done for you? Do you?

Well, I most certainly don’t most of the time. Because I don’t want to be in the same boat with those weird Christians. Those loudmouths. Those people who always talk about what we have to do to earn eternal life. Or those who always talk about the last day when they will be saved and we, those not born again, won’t. See, I don’t want people to think I am such a crazy girl. And so I don’t say anything. Also who knows how people react when we tell. Maybe they laugh at us. Or maybe they won’t speak with us anymore. I don’t want to loose a friend over that!

Whatever our reasons are, we all fall short in being a good witness of God’s love and grace. And so we run away and keep silent, leaving the witness to other people. And then when we don’t like what those other people share about their witness, we complain.

We are not alone in this. As you know we do not have the original gospel texts. Instead we have copies of copies of copies of the original text. And somewhere along all this copying one of the people copying the gospel got uncomfortable with the text we read this morning. What kind of an end to the story is this? Mark starts his gospel with the words: this is the good news about Jesus. But what good news is this that ends with the words: “and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” ?!? That does not sound like good news at all. People still do not obey what God tells them. They run away, keep silent. They hide. And so our brave copyist had an idea. He could not change the ending since it was already very well known. But he added a few more lines. Now the end of the text reads:

“And all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter. And afterward Jesus himself sent out through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.”

That sounds so much better. This is the fitting end to a really good news. This is an ending Hollywood would be proud of!

But it this how our life in and with God is? The glossy Hollywood fairy tale? Or might this be one of those unexpected stories? Where the protagonist constantly messes up? Never listens? And in the end, totally undeserving, still is made a winner?

So what is this Sunday (and every Sunday) about? It is about the risen Christ. It is about God who forgave us all our sins. About God, who proclaims us good, even though we proof over and over again we are not worthy to be called good. This is the miracle of this day. This is the miracle Mary had been waiting for at the foot of the cross: That through our biggest sin, through the killing of God’s own son on the cross, God has declared us good and righteous. God has turned our biggest sin into His grace.

But together with Mary we have such a hard time believing this. We might feel that there are some things in our lives that God cannot forgive us. They are too horrible. Too mean. They drag us down. We live in shame because of them. And we fear that one day other people may find out and will run away from us. But Jesus died also for those sins in our lives. He died for all sins. No matter what we have done, God has forgiven us. Our sins, our bad past, those things we do not want to admit, are wiped out. They died with Jesus on that cross.

Or we might feel that God has other things in Her mind than our problems and concerns. God takes care of the big things, the really meaningful things, but not of our small, little, insignificant lives. But God loves all of us so much that He gave His only son for us. So nothing ever could be too small for Him.

Or we might think that God mostly helps those who help themselves. So we work hard, we try not to sin and if we do we ask God for forgiveness. We labour and toil and try to do what is good. But while doing this we have lost sight of our real sin: that we do not trust God with our lives. We are concerned about our behavior, while it is our heart that really sins. Because the biggest sin is not murder, or abuse, or whatever other horrible act we could imagine, but our unwillingness to trust God. We put ourselves in the middle of life instead. Thinking that we can do it on our own. Or we despair and feel that God’s promises are not for us and that we belong cast down into darkness and punishment. Both is sinning. God came down to us. He came down to help us. He became one of us. He lived with us. He shared our problems, feelings, and fears. He also died for us.

All our sins, all that we do and did not do, nailed him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead. Jesus is risen and the tomb is empty. We had been captive to our sins and had been condemned to death. But Jesus died our death so that we may be free and live. This is the good news of today. This is the true kingdom of God. Not the kingdom Mary had hoped for. We are all still part of the community and all that is going on in that community. God did and does not change that. But through God’s grace we have been made into brothers and sisters. God is our Father and through Christ we have become heirs to God’s promises. We are His free people. Not bound to death and sin anymore. But free through Christ’s blood on the cross.

We might try to run away from sharing this good news like Jonah did. But the good news cannot be kept silent. God has made us free. God has made you free. The sin we were so ashamed of; the sin we fear if it is found out: forgiven. Not there anymore. Erased. Our feelings of unworthiness; our fears and our untrusting nature: forgiven. Our old self, our old Adam and Eve died on the cross with Christ. And together with Christ we now have come to new life.

This morning we ran away with Mary. Too scared to share the good news. But this world needs to hear the good news. This world needs to hear the good news of forgiveness and reconciliation. This world needs us to witness to God’s love for all creation. This world needs you and your witness!

So now we should come back to the tomb. And instead of running away let us proclaim the mystery, wonder and good news of this day.

Christ is risen! And let all the people here this morning answer “He is risen indeed!”.

Christ is risen! “He is risen indeed!”

Christ is risen! “He is risen indeed!”

Christ is risen! “He is risen indeed!”

Amen.

May the mercy of God and the love of our risen Lord be with you always!

Zuhause / At home

Und heute: ein Ringelkind - Mamatag. Mit Allem, was das Ringelkind so gerne mag:

• gemeinsam in der Badewanne planschen
• Haare schneiden (Fragen Sie mich nicht...)
• Lasagne essen
• Buechereibesuch
• Picknick
• Buecher lesen

...

Ich freu mich auf den Tag!

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And today a Ringel-child / Mama day. With all the Ringel-child loves:

• taking a bath together
• cutting his hair (don't ask)
• eating Lasagna
• visiting the library
• having a picnic
• reading books

...

I am looking very much forward to this!

Spitze / Lace

Frau Ringel nun also auch; Spitzentuecher... (Die Farbe ist eigentlich eher braun/lila mit leuchtendem blau hier und da. Aber das will die Kamera grad nicht zeigen.)

Well, now also Ms. Ringel: Lace Wraps. ( And no, it's not black. It's brown, purple and some bright turquoise. But that the camera won't show right now...)

Zuhause, zweiter Aufguss

Nachdem ich ein 3/4 Jahr in meinem Zimmer im Seminary gelebt habe, ohne es wirklich zu meinem eigenen zu machen, habe ich gestern in den sauren Apfel gebissen und habe den Raum als mein Zuhause entfernt von zu Hause erklaert.

Also habe ich Moebel umgeschoben. Bilder aufgehaengt und eine Liste der Dinge gemacht, die ich von "echten" Zuhause noch brauche.

Es faellt mir schwer irgendwo anders zu Hause zu sein, als dort, wo meine Familie lebt. Ich bin nicht wirklich gluecklich hier am Seminary.

Trotzdem bin ich so viel hier, dass ich nicht die ganze Zeit in einer Art Bahnhofsvorhalle leben kann.

Ein Grund mein Verhalten zu aendern ist vielleicht mein Gespraech mit meinem Supervisor. Sie hat mir ein schweres Ziel fuer meine Kaplanzeit gegeben:

"Sorge fuer Dich wie Du fuer die anderen sorgst."

Das ist fuer mich schwierig. Ich mag mich nicht. Ich finde meinen Koerper nicht schoen. Ich finde mich nicht wichtig.

Und jetzt soll ich all das hinter mir lassen und etwas Neues wagen. Schwierig. Sehr schwierig. (Und beaengstigend!)

Suche / Search

Bevor Sie das Computerprogram in den Muelleimer verschieben, weil es ja doch nicht funktioniert, gucken Sie besser noch mal, ob Sie es denn auch richtig verwenden. Koennte ja sein, dass das Program nur deshalb nicht funktioniert, weil Sie die Briefe des Paulus im ALTEN Testament suchen lassen....

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Before you move your computer program to the trash because it just doesn't work you might want to check if you handle it correctly. Because it just might be that you are looking for the Pauline letters in the OLD Testament...