God is a secret

Emden. Ein anglikanischer Weihnachtsgottesdienst – und die Martin-Luther-Kirche war am Sonnabend (2. Dezember) mit mehr als 260 Besuchern wohl gefüllt. Die Veranstaltung „Nine Lessons and Carols“ findet seit 2001 statt. Und in diesem Jahr war der damalige Superintendent des Kirchenkreises Emden, Dr. Friedhelm Voges, aus Stade nach Emden gekommen, um hier die Andacht zu halten. Seine Frau, die 2022 verstorbene Elisabeth Voges, hatte die Idee, in Emden einen englischen Gottesdienst einzuführen. Er wurde zu einem Erfolgsmodell, an dem regelmäßig auch viele junge Leute teilnehmen.

Gestaltet wurde der diesjährige Gottesdienst vom Ad-hoc-Chor des Johannes Althusius Gymnasiums unter Folke Jürgens, von Schülerinnen und Schülern des MAX , die unter Leitung von Anne Harms die Bibel-Lesungen vornahmen, von Stephanie Hegewald an der Beckerath-Orgel, von Pastorin Vera Koch und Dr. Friedhelm Voges. Seine kurze, aber gedankenschwere und doch heitere Andacht soll hier dokumentiert sein.

„This evening, I am thinking back to the 1st December 2001 – that´s when „9 Lessons and Carols“ started in Emden. My wife, who was born and brought up in Belfast brought a bit of her Christmas tradition to Emden. She had everything well prepared, but she was not present – having had a heart operation three days earlier. It fell to me to read the text she had written. Tonight she is missing for a different reason.

She would have been very pleased to know that this project of hers is still going on, by now and for many years with the support of the schools. „9 Lessons and Carols“ is a very traditional form of service. These days we might not select all of the same readings. My wife always gave us a few thoughts for today, and for tonight, I have wondered what she might have wanted to say. I am sorry to give you the result of my efforts from this chair, but I had an operation on my back a few weeks ago, and standing is quite painful. Thank you for your understanding.

Christmas is about God entering this world in a new, in a lowly way, in a stable. We sing „Glory to God in the highest“, but also: With the poor, the scorned, the lowly lived on earth our Saviour holy. A classical paradox. Who is God? How do we perceive him?

About three weeks ago I had a phonecall from my eleven year old grandson in London. In his religious education class an Imam had been visiting, and he had said what Muslims often say: In Father, Son and Holy Spirit Christians really have three gods. The children had been sent home with the task: Talk to people about it. Talk to Christian people. What do they say?

In a central London school this is not so unusual. There are Muslims in the school, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs, Christians and of course children with no religion. That makes for lively discussions. In Germany, we are not quite as multicultural yet. But even here – how do we talk about questions of faith with the Muslims? – Anyway, here I was on the phone, trying to find an answer for a boy of eleven.

I did not point him to the way water can have three states and still be the same – water, ice and steam. That analogy has often been used. Instead I said: There are different ways of experiencing, of encountering God. But he or she is still the same God.

Most people start with an enjoyment of nature. I recently saw a particularly bright rainbow, and all the people in our group were deeply impressed. It is not uncommon to say: Thank you God for giving us such a beautiful world. It can be flowers, butterflies, clouds – the experience of nature can give us a sense of awe. We don´t just call it nature. We also call it God´s creation.

But there is more to human life than that. People are wondering: What am I here for? In which direction should I go? We need guidelines, ethical concepts, and these are offered by all religions. Christians find particularly convincing what Jesus had to say. He didn´t just say: Love your neighbour. He said: Love your enemy. He questioned the rules of power and greed. Instead he said things like:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
Blessed are the merciful,
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

There is more to Jesus than that. As Christians we believe in his resurrection. But this is a different way of being impressed by God than being joyful about creation.

And lastly most people know how sometimes one can practically be transformed, at least for a moment. It is maybe a normal day, and you go about expecting nothing much. Then suddenly a situation arises where you do things you didn´t know you were capable of. Sometimes big moments in sport are like this, when a person or a team get into a flow.

But I think more of moments when you suddenly have the courage to speak your conviction in a hostile environment. When all the members of your chat group say something strange and you stand up and contradict them. Or when you don´t think before jumping in water where someone is drowning. A good spirit comes over you, a holy spirit.

Three ways of being moved, of being surprised, of being overcome. They are different and yet they hang together. „9 Lessons and Carols“ come from the Anglican church, and Anglicans like to say. Father, Son and Holy Spirit not only belong together, their interaction is an example of perfect community.

I prefer to say: Our understanding of God has limits. God is greater than our hearts, says the Bible. So just be glad when you have a sense of him in one, in two or even in all three ways. Christians do not have three Gods, but the one God is in one sense a secret. A secret with different facets.

I´ll stop here and just say with a happy smile. I didn´t get to read what my grandson wrote after our phone call. But he did get a good mark for it.“