The following sermon was delivered by two voices
upon our return from two weeks in Germany.
CHRIS
Just a warning—We returned yesterday from two weeks in Germany
—Key places we visited included Eisenach, Erfurt, Weimar, Leipzig, Halle,
Wittenberg, Berlin, Dresdan and the Bavarian Alps
—My best guess is that each stop gave us at the least two or three sermon
illustrations
—You do the math
—The good news is you may finally hear a sermon without any Minnesota stories.
DOUG
Guten Tag. Ich spreche wenig Deutsch. Ich bin American. Sprechen Sie Englische?
So began most every encounter of our trip
—A greeting and then indicating that we spoke only ein wenig/“a little”
German.
Yet there was no time when I felt totally lost or unable to communicate
—There was a genuine spirit of wanting to communicate—To understand.
CHRIS
Sometimes that understanding had to take place in an atmosphere that went
beyond words.
A lot of times people already knew what we needed before those needs were even
voiced.
In a strange way that is what Paul had in mind in our second lesson today
when he says
—The Spirit helps us in our weakness for we do not know how to pray as
we ought,
but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.
DOUG
There are some things that need no translation.
On the first Sunday we were in Germany
—At the very hour that 8:30 morning worship began here at Holy Spirit
—We were seven hours ahead of you--into the day
—and standing before the very altar—on the very place before that
altar
—at the Augustinian Monastery in Erfurt, Germany
where Martin Luther in July of 1505—497 years ago
—first became an Augustinian monk and began a journey of faith
that led to the Reformation.
CHRIS
Our guide at that moment was a member of the Communitat Casteller Ring
—basically a community of what we might call Lutheran nuns
who live at the monastery—now known as Augustinerkloster.
—She spoke no English but we could tell by the reaction of the group she
was guiding
that she told great stories—all in German.
—We wished we could have understood why others laughed or nodded so sternly
—But the words escaped us until she led our group to a part of the tour
that needed few words
—We walked out of the sanctuary and through the cloister
—to the various rooms Luther would have lived and studied and prayed in
DOUG
At the end of the tour we informed her the best we could
that we had reservations to stay at the cloister for the night
—then she smiled.
—She took our room key and showed us the way to unlock all the exhibit
halls
—and invited us to take all the time we wanted in Luther’s rooms
—We apologized for not speaking better German
but she assured us she had said nothing
that two Evangelishe/Lutheran Pastors didn’t already know.
We stood on the third floor of the old monastery
—looking into the monks cells Luther occupied
—Where a Spirit of Grace first began
—planted as a small seed in a man of faith
—There were no words
—No words could describe the Spirit’s beginning point for the Reformation.
CHRIS
The next morning at the cloister we had the words
—printed words in the morning matins
as we joined the religious community for morning worship at 7 a.m.
—The challenge was that the words were still all in German
—We struggled a bit to chant and sing with them
—then came the reading of the Gospel for the day
—A flood of German until we heard the phrase “zwei Fisch and funf
Brot”
—two fish and five loaves
—We looked at each other and smiled as we heard another number
—“funf tausend”—5,000
—And we knew the Matthew text of the Feeding of the 5,000
—As we listened the words seemed to open to us
—A miracle of feeding
—not just food but God’s word multiplied through the centuries
—The service ended with prayers offered by the community
gathered as we were around this ancient altar
—General prayers followed by the invitation for everyone
to offer their personal petitions—there were needs spoken and unspoken
—petitions for peace in India—Afghanistan—Palestine
—requests for healing and comfort
—in languages not only of words but of the heart
—The service concluded with the Lord’s Prayer “auf Deutsch”—in
German—
But as Paul observes
—in such moments “the Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”
DOUG
And sometimes the offering to God is more than words can describe
—in forms that touch the Spirit without concern for language or words
—Today is July 28—A day designated by the church
as a day of commemoration and remembrance of the lives
of two of our church’s great composers—J. S. Bach and Frederick Handel.
We visited Bachhaus in Eisenach—the same town where Martin Luther grew
up
—and Handelhaus in Halle—not far from Leipzig
—In both cases we were struck by the fact that
these great composers were not bound by language or culture
—the magnificence of Bach hymns and chorals
is known around the world in places that have never heard
of Lutherans or German but know the beauty of music.
—And the glory of Handel’s Messiah
—perhaps his most famous composition
—soars to the heavens in the rising refrain of the Halleluia Chorus.
Music is witness to the power of the Spirit
to move us beyond limitations of time, place, culture or history.
CHRIS
So it was that in Leipzig we found ourselves standing last weekend in Thomaskirche
—the church where Bach was organist and choir director for 27 years
—We then walked a short distance across the city square to Nicolaskirke
—Where Bach introduced a number of his compositions
and Martin Luther once preached.
DOUG
And where the peaceful unification of East and West Germany is said to have
begun.
St. Nikolas Chuch in Leipzig was founded in 1165
—But 800 years after its founding
and 450 years after it brought Luther and the Reformation to Leipzig
the church found itself in a new role.
—In the early 1980’s Leipzig was part of communist East Germany and
the church struggled
—a small group of young people committed themselves to gathering
each Monday evening for peace prayer services
—The Monday evening gatherings became over time a focus for concerns of
justice and peace
—a gathering place for unions and justice activists in a strict repressive
environment
—As the years passed there were often Monday evenings
when non-Christian activists and unionists out numbered the Christians
but always the Monday night gatherings included the Words of Jesus being shared
and prayers for peace being offered
—The state became increasingly uncomfortable with the Monday gatherings
—Beginning in May 1989 state authorities
began closing driveways and roads around the church on Monday nights
—There were temporary detentions
But by October of 1989
the Monday evening gathering was overflowing the 2,000 seat sanctuary.
Tensions in Leipzig climaxed on Friday, October 7, 1989
when uniformed police battled people in the streets—hundreds were arrested
—local editorials called for a counter revolution by armed force.
The question for Thomaskirche was what would happen on Monday evening.
Could there be a service?
Should there be a service coming out of this weekend of violence?
—By 2 p.m. on Monday afternoon the sanctuary was beginning to fill
—Well before the evening service was scheduled to begin the sanctuary overflowed
and speakers were set up in the street.
—Tens of thousands gathered outside—They listened as the service was
broadcast
—thousands heard the reading of the beatitudes—offerings of prayers
—Then shortly before the service ended—before the bishop gave his
final blessing
—Appeals were read by Professor Masur, chief conductor of the Gewandhaus
Orchestra
followed by others who supported the call for non-violence.
There was solidarity between church and art
—music and the gospel in the face of the threatening situation.
CHRIS
The prayers for peace ended with the bishop’s blessing and an urgent
call for non-violence
—The organ began playing as more than 2,000 people—many secret police
—left the church for the street
welcomed by tens of thousands who were waiting outside
with candles in their hands
—On a fall night in Leipzig it takes two hands to keep a candle lit
—One to hold it and one to protect the flame
—Troops, military brigade groups and police were prepared for stones and
clubs
but instead the various members of the crowd held candles
and engaged the local forces in conversations of peace and justice
—There were thousands in the churches
—hundreds of thousands in the streets around the city center
—But not a single shop window was shattered—not one arrest was made.
DOUG
Horst Sindermann of the Central Committee controlling the secret police
was quoted as saying later
—“We planned everything. We were prepared for everything.
But not for candles and prayers.”
CHRIS
By the fall of 1989 the Monday night prayer services
had spread throughout the churches of East Germany
—And the witness of peace and the power of non-violence in Leipzig
burst into bloom across Germany one month later
when on the night of November 9, 1989
people poured forth from the churches and in Berlin began dismantling the wall.
—Without a shot being fired the wall came down
—An answer to prayers that were offered for decades in sighs too deep for
words.
DOUG
We concluded our two weeks in Germany
spending 3 days in the Alps on the border with Austria.
We hiked mountain trails—struggling up—strolling down
—crossing mountain streams—around alpine lakes.
No words can describe what we saw in grandeur and beauty
—But two words from our hiking stay with me.
Every wanderer we met on the path—in the shops—in the café
or on the trail
greeted us warmly
—But the greeting was not the expected “Guten Tag”
that we had known throughout the rest of Germany
—Instead the litany of the mountains was “Gross Gott”
—The phrase literally means “God is great or powerful”.
In the shadow of mountains—surrounded by the beauty of creation
—the miracle of such glory and the wonder of the Spirit’s presence
is beyond words
—More than once we found ourselves standing quietly
—just looking at the alpine images before us as a wanderer passed
and the words we heard were “Gross Gott”
—Truly moving deep within us there was nothing more that could be said
—“Gross Gott”—Gross Gott—God is great.
Even when the words fail us the Spirit knows and leads us to discover new moments
of grace.
Gross Gott—More than words—Gross Gott.
Amen.