Samstag, 10. Mai 2014

What is the Song in Your Heart? - Erinnerungen an den ESC 2011...

In Kopenhagen läuft der Countdown zum diesjährigen ESC-Finale, auf dem Laptop läuft ein etwas bemühtes Warming Up mit Barbara Schöneberger und Adel Tawil - in Sachen ESC sind die Skandinavier einfach besser. Ich jedenfalls kommentiere das gerne auf Twitter, und erinnere mich ansonsten sehr gerne an den ESC 2011 in Düsseldorf. Ich war damals Vikar in Kaiserswerth, hatte für das Zweite Theologische Examen ein Praxisprojekt abzuliefern - und eine Gemeinde mit vielen Muttersprachen und Lust auf Neues. Also haben wir einen mehrsprachigen Abendgottesdienst zum ESC veranstaltet - und zwischen Werkwinkeln, Eurovisionsschlagern und Fürbitten in einszweidreivierfünfSECHS Sprachen viel Spaß gehabt!


Zur Nachlese nochmal die Predigt von damals, betitelt, wie der ganze Gottesdienst:


What is the Song of Your Heart?

(I.) 
When we started telling people about our plans concerning this ESC-service, reactions were almost entirely positive, or rather, downright enthusiastic: “Eurovision Service… wow, what a brilliant idea, I have never heard of such a thing before” – and that was what, on second thought, made most people wonder: “Sure, it is a brilliant idea… but why? What does the church have to do with the Eurovision Song Contest?” When you think about it, you’ll find a couple of rather striking similarities between the two. And some tiny, yet significant differences. First of all: It is all about bringing people together. People from different countries, different cultural backgrounds, coming together in a friendly, harmless, joyful competition. That has been the basic idea ever since the very first contest in Lugano in 1956, the Gran Premio Eurovisione della Canzone Europea. And we can experience that ourselves these days, with the city packed with people from all over Europe, chattering away in their own languages, recognizing each other from one of the finales or from one of the numerous parties. Now, admittedly, the church hasn’t been that good at that particular point. The church has always been very keen on bringing only the right people together, carefully shutting out those who - in one way or another - don’t fit in, strictly dividing between insiders and outsiders. However, I think we should be careful not to mix up things here. God wants to bring people together, it’s his fan clubs that keep on messing things up. The Good News is: God is still finding his ways through all our human boundaries and blockades, softening the walls we built, broadening our views and widening our hearts, ultimately bringing people closer to Himself – and to one another. For all we can hope for, he might even do so tonight, at this very moment, God is working our hearts and minds and creating an experience that we here are sharing. That is why we begin our services “in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. In that way, major events like the Eurovision Song Contest can remind us of the dream that Jews and Christians share and that we are likely to forget in the chaos of our everyday life: A dream of a world to come, in which all nations will be united in peace and worship, no more weapons, no more territorial quarrels, no more battle of the cultures, just peace, everlasting and stable. So, by the looks of it, we will all be spending eternity together – so why not try getting on with one another already here and now? I think, this year’s song from Denmark sums it up quite well: Come on boys, come on girls, in this crazy, crazy world, you’re the diamonds, you’re the pearls, let’s make a new tomorrow. Come on girls, come on boys, it’s your future, it’s your choice, and your weapon is your voice, let’s make a new tomorrow – today. And I would like to add: With God’s help. 

(II.) 
Secondly, it’s all about music, and singing in particular. And there is an obvious parallel, because singing has always been one of the most basic religious rites, one of the essential experiences and ways of expressing yourself in the presence of the Holy One. For all we can tell, the absolute oldest text in the Bible is just a song, sung for the very first time thousands of years ago, that has been passed on from mouth to mouth and from heart to heart. And when you scan through the pages of the Bible, you’ll meet loads of characters who whenever there are in great danger, whenever they are despaired, whenever they are bubbling over with joy, start singing. The psalms, for instance, are basically a collection of songs to be sung in all sorts of situations. So singing is a basic religious experience, because singing involves the whole body, muscles from your head to your toes, your mind and your soul. And so does God, by the way, faith is never just in your head or just in your heart. So singing enables us to get in touch with deeper lying emotions, deeper layers of ourselves. Victor Hugo, the famous French writer, is quoted to have once said: Ce qu'on ne peut pas dire et ce qu'on ne peut pas taire, la musique l'exprime. Musik drückt das aus, über das man nicht sprechen kann und über das zu schweigen unmöglich ist- Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. That’s why we asked you, at the very beginning of this project, when we started dishing out our posters and leaflets and tiny little business cards one of which each of you has been so lucky to pick up: What is the song in your heart? You have had some time to try and get in touch with this question, and I think that for those who can hear it, this room is full with all sorts of different songs, some glad and energetical, some sad and desperate, some laid-back and peaceful, some full of heartbeat and romance, some fast and confusing and hard to hear in this crazy, noisy world. At these stations, you found Bible verses as well as pictures and symbols and colours and stuff. And it was not all too difficult to find fitting verses – finding fitting songs was far more difficult, because the Bible is a book bursting with experience and feelings. And the one thing we can tell you today, whichever the song in your heart may be: GOD KNOWS. God knows. Not in a nasty “uuuh, God is watching you” sort of way, but God knows, because God himself has come down to earth, has become Jesus Christ, to get some first hand experience of how it is like, being human in this crazy, crazy world. Whatever song is in your heart – you are never alone, however lonely and detached you may feel, from the world, from yourself, from God – whatever song your heart is humming on, you can be sure there is someone who knows is and joins in. 

(III) 
And God, and that is the big difference from the Eurovision Song Contest, God won’t vote on you and your song, like the millions of fans from all over Europe will be doing this time tomorrow. God won’t judge on you like you are judging on yourself or like we all are judging on one another, by looks, by status, by any weird instinct or old habits. It’s not that God won’t judge or won’t vote, but God’s vote on all of us has already been given. And it is no such vote we will be seeing tomorrow, God’s vote won’t be like: “Here are the results of how Heaven has voted – you, zero points. You there, eight points. You, well, three points. You, ten points. You, you, you – zero.” And so on. The result of God’s vote cannot be expressed in figures, numbers and statistics. The result of God’s vote can be told in the Great Story of God and his people, and the result of God’s vote can be summarized like in the gospel according to St. John, chapter 3: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 

(IV) 
And maybe the effects of God’s vote could be seen on us. If you’re following the Eurovision Song Contest through the years, you might have noticed that you can always tell what the absolute best performance of the night will be, it has always been the same and I guess it won’t be any different tomorrow night: The best show is always the performance of the winning song after it has been announced. When all the pressure is gone, when it’s just about singing and dancing, when no jury, no voters have to be impressed upon anymore, when the other contestants don’t have to be fought, but can be hugged and invited to share the stage with the winner, when the show becomes just a good piece of music. And the same is true for our lives: You don’t have to fight. You don’t have to compare yourself to others all the time. You don’t have to be afraid of other people’s songs, just because they are different from yours. You don’t have to impress on the great judge in heaven. Let’s picture that for the moment. You may close your eyes, if it makes it easier for you. Imagine what the world could be like if we all remembered, that God already has spoken his word, his vote full of love and compassion and forgiveness. The battle is over. The contest is won. The votes are out. We are not each other’s rivals or competitors. We are just fellow human beings, neighbours, brothers and sisters, each and every one loved by God and destined to spend eternity with him. And now open your eyes again, take a look at each other. There they are, your brothers and sisters. Take that feeling with you. May God bless you, and may you become a blessing for those around you as well, in Düsseldorf or wherever the road may lead you. Amen.

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