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Comfort in a Dismal Time (Lk 24:1-12) |
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Presented by Hans Schwarz
Dear Anna, dear relatives, and friends. Liebe Trauergemeinde:
When Dietrich Bonhoeffer had to leave the concentration camp in Buchenwald to be shipped to Flossenbürg during the last days of the Third Reich, he said good-bye to his friends and told them: "This is the end, for me it is the beginning of life." A few days later he was put to death by the Nazi executioners. How could he be so composed and so positive about the future? Evidently, for him the talk about resurrection was no "idle tale."
1. Talking about the resurrection is no idle tale
The day before yesterday I was together with a colleague from the genetics department. In the course of our conversation he stated: "Sometimes I have tremendous difficulty with Christ's resurrection. How could this happen, scientifically speaking?" I must confess, I do not know it either. When we look at the resurrection stories in the gospels, there is no description of the resurrection event. God does not tolerate spectators when God does something. Moreover, there are many things in heaven and on earth that are simply beyond our imagination. But the fact is according to our gospel lesson: Jesus was buried. Early next day the women went to the tomb to show their reverence to their master, and then there was no corpse. Small wonder that, as Matthew tells us, some skeptics claimed that the disciples had stolen the corpse. Even Peter rushed to the empty tomb to see it with his own eyes but could not make sense of it. "He went home, amazed at what had happened."
Our situation, however, is not so simple. A young man is killed by an 86 year old driver. Yesterday would have been his 37 birthday. We do not understand why it happened. We show him our affection, he is buried, but the corpse remains. And what makes it even worse: Anna has no longer a husband who shares his life with her, she has nobody who shoulders his share of work and who, I am sure, also occasionally spoiled her. Moreover, the three-year-old Karl is in the intensive care unit. Will he make it? And if, will there be any permanent damage? There is only one response possible to this tragedy:
2. Our world is in agony
Daily the media tell us that our world is devastated by death and destruction. Just this morning roughly 40 people were killed through murderous attacks in Iraq. Atrocities like these happen all over. And then there are these horrendous accidents. The behavioral scientist Konrad Lorenz therefore wrote: "It is difficult to argue with those who believe that we are living in the days of the anti-Christ." No, this is not a theologian, it is a behavioral scientist who wrote this. Yes, our world is in the death throws.
We had a wonderful week. A one-week symposion, first in Regensburg, then in Neuendettelsau. Everything went as planned. At ten o'clock on Saturday evening the participants sat together and were brainstorming what they would do in the future in terms of strengthening the alumni network. Then one of our lecturers entered the room and I welcomed him to join the crowd. But, he said, he had bad news. He told us about William and Karl. Everybody was like paralyzed.
Even worse: there is this young woman. Five years ago together with her husband she came to Regensburg, learned German, which perhaps is not difficult if you are so verbal as is Anna. Then she completed her doctoral studies with excellence. She even gave birth to two beautiful children. Finally she secured an assistant professorship at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. This is no small feat in a time where positions are scarce. Her husband was going to have a part-time position as student chaplain so he could devote enough time to care for the two children. Their suitcases and boxes were half-packed. Within three weeks they were going to leave for the States. Now Anna, this young woman, is a widow and she is fighting for the life of young Karl. Whether we want to believe it or not, there is no paradise on earth. This is a fallen world. Even if life has been beautiful, our lifespan "is only toil and trouble." Our days "are soon gone, and we fly away" as Ps 90 tells us. As my mother often reminded me: "Before you know it, you are old." It comes as no surprise that more and more people develop a party mentality. Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we are dead. But such a mentality is short-sighted, its view ends with death. The voice of these heavenly messengers in dazzling clothes, however questions this short-sightedness saying: "Why do you look for the living among the dead?"
(continued)
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