( 1 Sam 2: 1-8 ) - [ Deutsch ]
She did not expect that, not in her life, dear Congregation! And yet she has counted on it so very often, as long as she can remember.
She has counted the days, hoped, and waited. Over the years, she became despondent and hopeless. All her friends have long since had children. And she? She has tears. The tears are always in her throat. She has long since lost her appetite. It is definitely not her husband's fault. He has children... with the other one. Only she does not have any. Her sadness is so deep that she cannot speak. Prays wordlessly. Stammering so that someone else thinks she is drunk.
And then, years later, as if it were the most natural thing in the world: her son: the long-awaited child arrives. Unbelievable! No longer planned, not calculated, not in her life. And the happiness is unimaginably great. There are no words. There is only music:
1 Then Hannah prayed and said: “My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high. My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I delight in your deliverance.
2 “There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed.
I have experienced it first hand, sings Hanna. I have become pregnant. God has blessed me. Me, who everyone thought she withered and dried up long ago. Life breaks through where nobody believes it. Everything is possible with God. I would not have expected it, not in my life. But now there is a future. For me. For the people. For the world - and for God.
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry are hungry no more. She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons, pines away.
6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles, and he exalts.
8 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honour. “For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; on them he has set the world.
At the beginning of the books of Samuel, the story of the rise of Israel, there is a story full of "fragility, surprise and faithfulness", of a woman who finds her voice and sings of God's glory.
Dear congregation, another woman also finds her voice and sings. Not like Hannah, because this woman never counted on it. Not in her life. She did not expect it at all! She was still so young, almost a child herself. Yet suddenly there was the angel. And after weeks, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, the child bounces in her belly. Moves. Moves her.
46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name.
50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty
54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful
55 to Abraham and his descendants forever just as he promised our ancestors.”
Without Hannah, no Mary. Without Mary, no Christmas, and no Easter. The songs of the two are very similar. In their joy not far from each other. Long awaited and hardly hoped for by the one, surprised and taken by surprise, by the other. The experience: God is unpredictable. He is simply there and creates facts and shows us the way. Sometimes in a completely unusual way than we have imagined. He turns upside down and downside up, he makes life new and is on the side of the insignificant and sometimes despised. With the weak, women and children. He makes those great who count for nothing with others. He creates life and hope and a future. And then? Then death intervenes and thwarts all plans. The acclaimed child dies on the cross.
Is God doing violence with his arm, so different from what has just been sung about? Did the women on the cross expect this or were they hoping for a miracle? If God wants life, if he gives life, how can he let Jesus die on the cross like that?
They did not expect this, dear congregation. Not in their lives! And certainly not in death. Mary, the other one. And Salome. And Mary of Magdala. The tears stick in their throats. They hear humiliations from others. As if they were chasing a fantasy. Their dreams have come to an end. They had hoped and waited. In vain. There is no song in the air. Only the young man at the grave.
He is not here. Where then? As if it were the most natural thing in the world. And then this: you will see him. Is that a joke now? Hanna's song so closely stated: 3 “Do not keep talking so proudly or let your mouth speak such arrogance, for the Lord is a God who knows, and by him deeds are weighed.
They first need to understand this.
God has something against death? Yes, exactly. God is against death. God is in favour of life. Hanna's song rings in the air:
6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles, and he exalts……. “For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; on them he has set the world.
The foundations are shaken. God leads to the realm of the dead and back up again, is that really true? Who can count on that? Life is unpredictable. It breaks through here. Love is breaking through today. Back then on Easter morning. Today, on Sunday morning, the resurrection happens because God loves. God's love for eternity - that does not mean: until death do us part. It means beyond that. Death does not have the power to end relationships. And certainly not the relationship with God. And not the relationship between us and our departed.
Christ has risen, the women at the tomb hear. Only slowly can they grasp it. It often takes a lifetime to realise this.
If Jesus lives again, does that mean that our loved ones can also live? Then life is possible? Yes, that is how it will happen. There life is renewed. There where everything is empty, dried up and withered. Even when all of a sudden it turns out differently than planned.
Future is possible. For us, for the world - and for God. Nobody expected it, not in life. But since then, we can count on it. Not just in life, but far beyond. God has something against death:
Christ is risen, dear congregation. -
He is truly risen. Amen
