Sermon by Daniel Garrone for the closing worship of Kirchentag

I enjoyed reading, translating and then listening to this sermon and the more than 100,000 people at the service yesterday seemed to enjoy it enormously too. The most difficult part was where the English and German translations of the Bible don't quite have the same tone or content. This is a challenge in a lot of the work I get for translation.
The German says Rede und Antwort and the English in the NRSV says "make your defence". Also not helped by the fact the Kirchentag often makes its own translations of the Bible texts it uses. I did not have time for that on Saturday!
Now off to catch my train.

Sermon for the closing service of the German Protestant Kirchentag
by Daniele Garrone
Bible text: 1 Peter 3 9-17
Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called - that you might inherit a blessing. For
‘Those who desire life
and desire to see good days,
let them keep their tongues from evil
and their lips from speaking deceit;
let them turn away from evil and do good;
let them seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’
Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.

At the beginning of this Kirchentag we were posed a question which is still with us now as it closes:
"Mortal where are you?" The welcome to the Kirchentag added: "This means you and only you." We didn't understand this as a question the church was asking the world as a warning or complaint. From the outset we've heard this question from God as: "Christian, where are you?"
Or even more pointedly "Protestant Christian, where are you?"
I heard "little Waldensian Christian where are you?"
So "you, where are you?"
At the end of this Kirchentag, here and now, the Bible text poses us a similar question and asks us to give account for the hope that is in us.
A Kirchentag of accountability that calls heaven and earth into question? - God wants to bless us even through this.
"Christian, where are you?"

We live in a plural and democratic Europe, thank God! Sixty years of the ba-sic law in Germany, 63 years of the Italian constitution. We are integrated into our society and accepted by it, unlike those Peter was writing for. We are not subjected to hostility and certainly not to organised persecution. We can worship here publicly, even on this "Bürgerweide" (literal translation "citizen's meadow"), this is a real gift!

Our hopeless cries do not rise up to heaven (v.12). We do not suffer for the sake of justice (v.17). We could hardly even claim that anybody casts aspersions on our good way of life (v.16). At any rate, not here.
Elsewhere things are different and not only for Christians …
What form of accountability is asked of us?
How do we enter into debate with out fellow human beings?
Christianity is no longer the formative or even the over-ruling culture of Europe - if indeed it ever was. We are - even in the state churches - reduced to a minority. We are not so much oppressed, rather no notice is taken of us.
Of course there are critical voices, who dispute the Christian heritage of Europe. We should listen to them because they may be a channel through whom God is calling us to repentance.
If Christians - for instance in the debate about the European constitution - proudly talk about the role of Christians in European civilisation - about the Christian roots of Europe - then we should not forget how much violence, intolerance and blood the absolute claims of Christians have given rise to.
When churches talk about human rights and freedom it sometimes sounds as if these human rights and freedoms were discovered by the churches. We must look at the facts: human rights had to overcome resistance based on Christian arguments.
Church positions sometimes have the effect of seeming to want to trump a politically mature world, trying to show the world that has come of age that it would not be able to live without "God" as guardian.
In terms of apologetics, we quite like to argue that there are still the "ultimate questions" - death, guilt, and, today, the beginning and end of biological life. These will still remain the "hunting grounds" of the churches.
Can the One who blesses us, calls us to freedom and gives us hope really be reduced to being a mere guardian of others?
No, Peter's demand to always be ready to give an account to everyone goes in a very different direction!
And that is our call, even as a relatively small minority (and let's not exagger-ated that either!), not to live in a kind of languishing victim mentality. Perhaps this situation will actually mean that the message of hope can come to the fore.
The critical questions which are posed to us as Christians, may also be a source of blessing and healing self-questioning. It isn't enough when, unasked, we simply trumpet something or other in order to gloss over the weakness of our posi-tion.
At the Kirchentag I have learnt that trumpeting is good when a piece of music comes out, but not when a gratuitous piece of advice comes out! Our Christian voice should never be reduced to mere moralistic teaching - just think of that magic word "values"?
I fear ethics has become the area that we hope will attract people's interest, because we do not have enough hope to expect such interest in the Gospel. Protes-tants tend to prefer to do social ethics, Evangelicals to concentrate on sexual ethics and Catholics to be engaged in both areas. All of us are open to the temptation to use ethics as a way to gloss over our own lack of giving account of the hope that is in us. Peter, however, warns us loud and clear, "Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you".
Even between Christians ourselves, in the area of ecumenism, hope is not the first thing we notice. Our frustration is often more in evidence than the courage to dare to do something, we sense more realism than trust, more politics and resignation than vision.
“Christians, where are you?"
Here we are … and we can take Peter's warnings as signposts, as solace and encouragement to take new steps of hope in our situation of being both integrated and put to the test. In the first place these new steps must be led by Peter's words: "Do not repay evil for evil … on the contrary, repay with a blessing."
Whoever lives from blessing, from chewing the cud of the good Word that God has spoken, can only repeat that word and blessing. Whoever lives from the good works that God has done has no other task than to dare to do that which God's action makes possible. Don't you in German say "to offer a blessing", to "hand out" or "share" a blessing? Perhaps we Christians should do nothing more than those things related to the words "offer" and "share".
And we should do this - Peter warns us - with gentleness and reverence or ac-cording to other translations in a friendly and respectful way … Here we have a beautiful way to resist the Zeitgeist which seems to be dominated by the "revenge of God", by fundamentalist speeches, by obsession with truth and identity delusions.
In such a situation it is not enough to be a little bit less arrogant, to be a little less of a know-all, less condescending and old-fashioned.
It is not just a question of style, it's about the issue itself.
It's about the will to seek a dialogue which takes the point of view and criti-cisms of others seriously. This is not a result of relativism or a pick and mix approach to life as is so often claimed, nor is it a result of indifference. On the contrary … it is based on the awareness that only God is holy.
Gentleness is the way "to keep God holy in our hearts", the only way to bear witness to God's ways, without us thinking that these are our ways or trying to sell our ways as God's ways. Gentleness and reverence, friendliness and respect are the signposts along the way that God is calling us onto, without wanting to direct us.
Only in this way can we have a clear conscience. A conscience based not on the hubris of the know-all or I'm always right. A good conscience is not the false se-curity of taking one's own actions as right.
A good conscience is the gentle serenity to able to act and speak in a way that is based on what has been promised and given to us - by God.
A good conscience lives from hope and trust, not from ownership and fear.
It seems to me to be the most beautiful and most important embodiment of the Christian message in the world, in every situation to only say that which is promised to us. To only offer that which has been offered to us - and that was offered to all and for ever. Blessing shines forth from those who live blessing.
" Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an account of the hope that is in you!" (V. 15).
We are called to an apologetics of hope and our only defence is hope itself. We are to defend hope - and not how reasonable or essential Christianity is. Hope -and not teaching or faith in morality. Hope as the first word of our Christian profile when others ask us to offer an account.
Yes, - hope which we can neither prove nor undermine. If hope is at the cen-tre, then the core of our message is no longer what it currently is, what we already have, already understand, what we can substantiate and defend. But rather, quite sim-ply - God himself, who comes and renews and creates until all in the end is com-pleted.
Hope turns our gaze from ourselves and gives us a grace-filled direction be-yond ourselves. The hope that is our driving force, in us and amongst us - is not a character trait or a spiritual quality. It comes to us from outside, it grips us. It is a sur-prise and a discovery in spite of ourselves and the world.
It really is as Luther taught us: The only things that are sure and true and those things that take us beyond ourselves.
If this is so - and even I as a Reformed Waldensian in the Calvin anniversary year can say that it is so - then we can close this 60th birthday of the Kirchentag full of hope!
AMEN

Provisional translation from the German

Your hand for ecumenism - WCC youth interns blog

The five WCC current youth interns helped run the stand in the market of possibilities at the Kirchentag. They brought creativity and vitality to the stand and we had young people queueing up to draw around their hands and put up their hands for ecumenism.
Emma, Katarina, Packiaraj, James and Mark have also started a blog which I hope they manage to keep up. I'm looking forwards to reading it and hearing more about their impressions of Kirchentag.

In the rain, not exactly singing but sort of ...

Dr B just sent me these words written by Wolfgang Borchert which features in Das Leben der Anderen.

Stell dich mitten in den Regen,
glaub an seinen Tropfen Segen.
Spinn dich in das Rauschen ein
und versuche gut zu sein.

Stell dich mitten in den Wind
glaub an ihn und sei ein Kind.
Lass den Sturm in dich hinein
und versuche gut zu sein.

Stell dich mitten in das Feuer,
glaub an dieses Ungeheuer
in des Herzens rotem Wein
und versuche gut zu sein.

And here's an English translation from Youtube
place yourself in the middle of the rain
believe in the blessing of its drops
spin yourself in its whirring
and try to be good

place yourself in the middle of the wind
believe in it and be a child
let the storm come into you
and try to be good

place yourself in the middle of the fire
believe in its monstrosity
in the red wine of the heart
and try to be good

Stuffed or starved? A European obsession with chicken breasts wrecks the Cameroon market in locally produced food

All afternoon "stuffed or starved" was the focus of the Future Centre at the Kirchentag. I was interpreting for Cameroon rural activist and anti-corruption campaigner Bernard Njonga.
He explained how because of a perceived need to supply the growing urban popoulation with cheap food, the Cameroon government started importing frozen chicken pieces from the European Union. These chicken pieces are created as a by-product of chicken breast production. The frozen chicken was so cheap that it undercut the locally produced chicken, driving small sustainable farmers out of business.oon session
Hans Herren began the afternoon by giving a brilliant summary of the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development. He did that in just 11 minutes and given that even teh executive summary is 29 pages long that's quite something.
What was interesting in the various rounds of discussions that followed his presentation was how reluctant the representatives of the German farmers were to leave the present model of cheaper production at any price for the planet. Herren stated that in order to prevent people starving the enormous research that IAASTD had undertaken showed clearly that supporting women, small scale farmers, paying them to farm sustainably would bring food closer to those who really need it, take people out of starvation and also help manage the planets resources. He also showed how cheap food policies and the obsession with eating red meat leads to a muon footprint.
A fascinating afternoon. Not just food for thought but food for transformation.

Migration on the high seas

There was a demonstration at the event I was interpreting for yesterday against an organisation called Frontex. The outdoor stage in Bremen's harbour area had a fairly small seating area in front of it so the representative of the company had the placards facing him the whole time - and quite some heckling too. The panel discussion was on how migrants who try to come by sea are treated. Frontex are one of the the private firms that the EU uses to coordinate oversight of the patrolling and security of its external borders.

The panel began with a passionate introduction from Stefan Schmidt captain of the Cap Anamur which five years ago saved 37 Africans who were in the Mediterranean because the small vessel they were in had sunk. When he then landed his boat in Italy he and two other senior members of his crew were taken in for questioning and he found himself facing trial, a four year prison sentence and 400,000 euros fine for "aiding and abetting illegal migrants". Schmidt has now founded an association which does not take sides on the migration debate but tries to gather information about what is actually happening to migrants on the seas.
The main panel discussion included the German minister of the interior Wolfgang Schäuble and François Boko the former minister of the interior of Togo who had fled into exile when the political situation in his country became dangerous, with executions and killings.
Naïve that I am I had not realised that today even coordination of external state borders is outsourced, I imagine that the excuse from the EU is that this is a way of avoiding creating a Europe-wide body to do the work. One of the effects of course is that it diffuses responsibility for who is at fault when their are violations of refugees' or migrants' rights.

Desiring God

This God who is my God, the right object of my desire and my love, is the quintessence of my inner self and therefore by no means identical with it.
Hannah Arendt

Word of the day "macht"

It was only when reading the press release about a Kirchentag presentation by Joachim Gauck entitled "Macht Spiritualität Macht?" that I realised that the word macht has more than one meaning. As a noun it means power and as a verb it means make. "Does spirituality make power?"
Gauck particularly addressed this issue by looking at the experience of people in the GDR 20 years ago when the system collapsed and people had to try and take responsibility rather than complain about those at the top. His speech is not yet online but I look forward to reading it. The issue of spirituality and power is an interesting approach to analysing political and social change.
Gauck was for many years in charge of the authroity dealing with access to the papers gathered by the Stasi in former East Germany.

Tweet Bible world record attempt at the Kirchentag

So the German world record attempt to tweet the whole of the Bible during Kirchentag is well under way. If you go here you can join in with a selection of some of the biblical passages still to be rendered into 140 character bits - of course you will need to tweet in German!

Jetzt geht es wirklich los! Today things really get started

So today things are really getting started with Bible studies and podium discussions and midday singing and much, much more. Our WCC stand is set up and ready for business in the Market of possibilites and today's Kirchentag visitors will still have last night's music and the beautiful candle light floating around the city of Bremen in their minds as they begin today.
I'm off to the Harbour area to interpret this morning and then back there this evening for the Bread for the World international reception. Hope also to get back to the WCC stand and the International Centre at some point. Meanwhile, apologies to regular readers who think I'm writing too much but I'm also trying to give some English updates abotu Kirchentag to folk who are a bit lost here.
Have a great day - Mensch wo bist du? Ich bin hier in Bremen!

Do women ministers lay more importance on relationships than on power?

So the Rheinischer Merkur also has an article about women ministers which claims they lay more importance on relationships and less on power and that as a result they are changing the picture people have of the clergy.
I'm always wary of articles like this which state something in the opening paragraph which is based more on opinion than reproting. The article itself is interesting charting the path of three women in the German Protestant Church and pointing to this having not always been an easy decision.
But I wonder - does anyone ever go around and ask male ministers whether people find it easier to talk to them today, whether the way they were brought up helps or hinders them in their job, whether they are interested more in power or in the inner life?
In the last thirthy years things have changed massively for men in the church too.

60 years of the Grundgesetz

While the Kirchentag is celebrating its 60th birthday Germany is also marking the 60th anniversary of the German basic law or Grundgesetz. This is an important date, some political scientists say it takes three generations (or sixty years) for democracy to really take hold. Of course the Grundsesetz has only been the basic law for some citizens of the Federal Republic for 20 years part of Germany. When it was first written it was not intended to be a lasting constitution, as it clearly saw itself in terms of being an interim constitution drawn up to regulate political life in one part of the country before unity of the two parts of Germany could be achieved. There were discussions in 1989-90 as to whether it could really serve as the basic law for both parts of Germany. Dr B will no doubt add more to this.
The graphic comes from the Rheinischer Merkur and looks to me very much like a take on some artwork Klaus Staeck did in 1990 called Ordnung muss sein. Anyway, despite not at all being my usual reading the RM also has a feature about the GDR, Leipzig and the road to German unity.

Folded boats gently swim against the stream

As people streamed to the Bürgerweide for one of the Kirchentag's opening services some of the boats pictured here were being carried out from the service into the different parts of Bremen. Each carried by two people (a bit little like a pantomime horse) they moved as if they were bobbing on a sea of people and very gently making progress against the stream of people coming in the opposite direction. It was a powerful and beautiful image.
The special hymn which has been written for the Kirchentag "Mensch wo bist du?" also takes up the theme of the ship on the sea, knowing or not knowing where it's going. As we fold boats at the evening of encounters I shall think about small boats making gentle progress against the stream. More for my reflections on a spirituality of resistance - I always knew that origami was a deeply theological activity.

Singing and dancing from Kenya and Greenland

International visitors to the Kirchentag always get a special welcome. This year despite the credit crunch more than 3,500 people from overseas will attend. For the first ever Kenya has topped the list as the country with the highest number of visitors, for many of the Kenyans this is their first time outside Africa, they have taken holiday from work to be here and their flights will have cost them proportionately much more than the Europeans will have had to pay for their travel.
their presence really changed the atmosphere at the international welcome hour as well. When the choir from Nairobi began to sing the Kenyans in the hall sang along, clapped, stood up and became part of the praise, their presence changed the dynamics in a good way. to their voices from the south was added an extraordinary voice from the North, from the "roof of the world". A singer from Greenland invited us to close our eyes and listen ... so we did and it was quite extraordinary: a breathing, howling, quiet, loud lullaby-screaming song without words. Amazing.

The Kirchentag is 60 but remains forever young and has no thoughts of retiring

The German Protestant Kirchentag is celebrating its 60th birthday this year. Independence, faith and responsibility for the world have been the guiding themes over the years.
The Kirchentag remains a very young event, huge numbers of scouts and young people from youth groups attend, the music and atmosphere are always great.
And with a Kirchentag every year for three years (rather than once every two years) there's lots of work to do from 2009 to 2011, loads of volunteers to keep motivated and big challenges to meet this year in Bremen, next year in Munich and in 2011 in Dresden.
It's been fascinating to be part, in a very small way, of the discussions about whether the Kirchentag would manage to do three events in three years - rather than two in four. They took the decision that it was easier to maintain the volunteer networks by asking them to do a bit more than by closing down the Kirchentag for three years. It's hard work for everyone but they are certainly not planning for retirement any time soon.
Bookabout the Kirchentag here.

People from the URC in the International Centre

So it just had to be the case that some of the first people I meet in the international centre were from the United Reformed Church. Later in the week the IZ as it's called will be so busy that we might not have spotted one another. anyway here are some quick snaps of Richard Mortimer URC deputy general secretary, Peter Colwell who works at CTBI, Sheila Brain who representant the UK on the international committee of the Kirchentag also on the snaps are Jonathan who has just been appointed as an Archdeacon to the diocese of Europe and Margaret - sorry folks I didn't get your surnames.

Visitors from abroad to German Kirchentag

Later this morning we shall learn just how many visitors from outside Germany are coming to the Kirchentag. There was high emotion yesterday when over 100 Kenyans arrived at the main railway station just as the rehearsal for the opening worship was coming to an end. Most of the international visitors are lodged with local families to give them a real taste of German life in the region the Kirchentag takes place in. It's quite challenging logistically to match up host families and visitors. anyway we hope that the visitors arriving from Kenya had a good night's sleep and will be ready for the openign party tonight.
Find out more about Kirchentag in English here.

Origami openings for the Kirchentag's first Kirchentag of ships

Not sure I shall have time to blog much today we have meetings of the international committee this morning and afternoon. At some point I hope to meet up with other WCC colleagues arriving on the night train, we'll see what we manage. Meanwhile, I still cannot read my own blog from the hotel but hope to get to the press centre and go online in a less censored atmosphere once there. Perhaps I'm trying to do a bit to much and should go with the flow more!

Anyway tonight at the evening of encounter there will be about 50 huge origami boats which will be part of the carnival-style procession throught the streets. Visitors to the evening of encounter will also be able to fold their own smaller boats which will have Bible verses on them and then attach them to their rucksacks etc. I'm looking forward to doing a bit of origami at the Kirchentag.
Bremen has wonderful old port area and several large ships have come here especially for the Kirchentag - I think I'm due to interpret in one on Friday. The Kirchentag's youth centre is based in the harbour area away from the exhibition grounds. Perhaps some of the flotilla of paper ships which actually get to float.
Colleagues from the WCC have been busy setting up our stand so come and visit us there in the market of possibilities.
Edit: Found one of the bigger folded boats outside our meeting today and can finally post photos because I'm in the press room and not dependant on the hotel blog-banning internet!

Looking forward to the evening of encounter at Bremen's Kirchentag

Tonight at 18.00 the opening worship for the Kirchentag will launch the evening of encounter. More than a quarter of a million people are expected to attend and run lots of small and larger stands with food, games, music and much much more. The evening is due to draw to a close with a huge samba dance through the old city streets and with a specially commissioned son et lumière with singers and musicans performing all around the park that surrounds the city. This city likes carnival.
Bremen has promised an evening of encounter for all the senses. Now we just have to hope that it won't rain.