Berlin:: a story of reconciliation

After the discipleship weekend - we moved on to Berlin to visit German friends, leaders, and Young Life staff in Berlin. Our goal was to equip the staff there to help start the Amicus program, as well as reconnect with former students for encouragement and leadership... we did some presentations about the exchange in some German high school classes which was lots of fun! This churhc below stands as a monument of reconciliation...read story below






here are some pictures from the "Gedaechtniskirche" in Berlin...as you can see, the church still has a hole in the top from being bombed by the British in the war on November 22, 1943. The picture on the left depicts the German congregation meeting in the bombed out church soon afterwards...

The Cross of Nails was a gift from a Church in Coventry, England. The Church in coventry was bombed by the German forces on November, 14, 1940. The Coventry church congregation erected a cross made of charred roof beams on the altar of the destroyed church. It also scratched into the stone wall behind the altar the words from the prayer of reconciliation:"Father, forgive." Finally, from the nails collected from the ashes it formed the cross of nails which has today become a symbol of worldwide efforts at reconciliation. There are now such crosses of nails in Dresden, East Berlin, and Wolgograd (formerly Stalingrad) in the Soviet Union.

The Prayer of Coventry Cathedral is as follows

"FATHER, FORGIVE
the hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class
Father, forgive
The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own
Father, forgive
The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth
Father, forgive
Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others
Father, forgive
Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee
Father, forgive
The lust which dishonours the bodies of men, women and children
Father, forgive
The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God
Father, forgive"

I was extremely moved by not only the images of destruction and loss, but by the resiliency of the church, meeting in their bombed out home after such a tragedy, and by the extravagant gesture of the church of Coventry. The prayer makes me realize how much I have to be forgiven - and the unending, undeserved forgiveness I have through Christ. Amen.

During this Advent season, I've been thinking a lot about the anticipation of Christmas... maybe that is the one reason I love it so much... the Bing Crosby crooning about chestnuts over an open fire...drinking hot cider on a cold night...thinking about how to surprise my family with gifts that would make them smile...and SEEING my gifts wrapped, and waiting for me to tear into them on Christmas morning...

then I think about the anticipation of the people of Israel for a "Messiah", a Savior. For thousands of years waiting for the one God had promised to bring this forgiveness and reconciliation... and He came, in the form of a child in a dirty stable...so outside of their expectations, my expectations.

The thought roaming around in my head this season is "what if I lived with expectations that God will show up?" I know I believe He is real and present, but most often live my life with little anticipation that he will show up and intervene in my daily affairs... instead I just try to work really hard because I really believe that if I don't make it happen it won't happen. Specifically when it comes to forgiveness - I am guilty of every one of those "Father, forgive" offenses...I pray that the beautiful anticipation of Christ's forgiveness and presence is real in my life and your life during this time...