Third Last Sunday after Trinity 11 Nov 2012

Dr Lutz Ackermann (Friedenskirche, Hillbrow)

Earthling (Job 14:1-6) Grace be with you and peace of the one who was and is and is to come. Amen. Dear Congregation, dear guests, friends; brothers and sisters: good morning. I have brought this plant with me. It grew from an avocado seed, but when winter came it dried up and lost all its leaves. I was hoping that when only it would get enough water, it would live again but so far it doesnt look like I am lucky. I am afraid it is probably dead. I want to read us a passage from the book of Job: We are all born weak and helpless. All lead the same short, troubled life. We grow and wither as quickly as flowers; we disappear like shadows. Will you even look at me, God, or put me on trial and judge me? Nothing clean can ever come from anything as unclean as human beings. The length of our lives is decided beforehand--- the number of months we will live. You have settled it, and it can't be changed. Look away from us and leave us alone; let us enjoy our hard life---if we can. (Job 14:1-6) [prayer]
2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW

Earlier this week we heard that one of our long standing church members, Fred Merbold had died. We know that he has had an operation recently and that he was still weak recovering from that, and yet we were all taken by surprise. When a person dies at the age of 65, often we find that was an untimely death. And so, if Job in his lament starts off by stating that human life is short, in this and in many other cases we would agree. Now, of course, there are many who live a more advanced age. My father is now approaching the age of eighty and my grandmother was in her nineties when she died. But it has to be said, whether one only reaches 60 or 80 or even 100, if one compares it to the time spans of history or even to the age of our planet earth, human life is indeed short. Behind an expression of sorrow, as it comes out in our Old Testament reading stands, of course, the expectation that a good life, a blessed life is a long one. In the book of Genesis you can find that the patriarchs like Abraham or great leaders like Moses were blessed with a long life, well beyond the age of 100. And consequently, a short life is seen as something sad, something to be lamented. Not only was it like that in the biblical times, but the same is true with us today, and I guess, most of you would agree, if you maybe think of a beloved person, who passed on while they were still young. In his speech, Job compares human life to that of a plant. It can grow quickly and wither quickly. While it is growing and blossoming and bringing fruit it is a
2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW

lovely sight. And it is lovely to see human life unfold. Last week we celebrated with nine young people their confirmation in this church. They are already full of life, expressing talents and character, but just imagine what will become of them in ten, twenty years time! Each one of them in his or her own way will have grown and we may be surprised to see, what they will have achieved by then. It is wonderful to see growth, to see fruitful lives. It goes quickly, says Job, and I think he is right. If I think of our own children, it seems like it was just yesterday when they were still young; and now some are getting university degrees and prepare to get married. Even the youngest will be in school for only two more years. How quickly that went! Life is like a plant, says Job: it grows quickly but it also withers quickly. We human beings share this with all living organisms: this cycle of coming into existence, growing up, being fruitful and productive; but then also deteriorating and coming to an end. When we lay to rest our dead we say that they return to the earth from which they have been taken: dust to dust, ashes to ashes. I once had an argument with someone who felt that this should not be part of a Christian funeral. Words like that, he felt, do not reflect the glory of resurrection. Well, one might say, indeed throughout the Old Testament any ideas of an afterlife, where they exist at all, are rather gloomy, and a concept of resurrection is not very well developed, before we come to the New Testament. So it may not be too surprising to find, that
2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW

the book of Job speaks in these terms about life and death. But I think, if we take a closer look, maybe this image of a plant can help us, to get to terms with our own mortality. Because the whole idea of our connectedness to the earth is not something that applies to our final stage, death, only. No, even when talking of the origin of life, the Bible uses this image. Remember, in the book of Genesis, in the second creation story we are told how God forms the human being from soil. Like a potter creates something out of clay, so God shapes Adam. And here is a little word-play, which is not easy to translate into English, because in Hebrew, the human being is called Adam because he is made from ha_adama, from the earth. Maybe one could say: humans are earthlings or creatures of the earth. But if we know: one day we will return to the earth just as we have come from the earth; if both in our origin and in our destination, in our birth and in our death we are connected to the earth: maybe we should get used to being part of this earth, even in the few years in between, while we are alive? Maybe our problem lies in the fact that we would like to deny our origin and our destination. Maybe we are just too alienated from our being a creature of the earth? If I think of it like that, the thought loses some of its gloominess. I then think of earth as something valuable. At home, my father used to have a heap of compost, and once a year, usually in spring, that had to be turned
2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW

around, which used to be my job. I remember the smell of the fresh earth, which had come from rotting organic material: rich and fertile. Yes, our lives may be short. Job already says what Jesus later confirms: we cannot add to the length of our lives, no matter how hard we try. Now it may be true that at least statistically the human lifespan does depend on efforts and achievements in the field of medicine, we still have to admit: how long one particular individual will live, no-one can predict with absolute certainty. I am healthy, I am alive and yet tomorrow I might be dead. Or in thirty years I might still be alive. I do not know. Yes, our lives may be short as compared to the age of this earth that we are part of. But if my live reflects: I am an earthling, I am part of this earth, then going back to the earth as I die one day may almost be a bit like going home. I am still unhappy, that my avocado tree apparently died. I would have liked to see its fruit. But when it comes to our human lives, that is only part of the story. Yes, like the avocado tree, like every living organism we come into existence, we live and we die. But there is more. In a few weeks time we will celebrate Christmas: God becoming flesh in the human being Jesus of Nazareth. If it was possible for God to become one of us, one of these earth-creatures, how dignifying is that! In Jesus he walked with us, suffered with us, bleed with us and died with us!

2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW

Yes, life may be short, indeed. But as we walk and live our lives with Jesus, there is a new quality to it. Connected to Jesus and to his body through holy baptism, in faith we have access to this new life! And make no mistake, this new life is for us now and here. No matter how much or how little of my lifespan still awaits me here on earth: I want to live it with Jesus. Every moment! I want to live life in all its fullness. If Godself could not be contained in heaven but had to live as an earthling, die as an earthling, so do I want to live and one day die as a creature of the earth with him at my side. Or, as the Apostle Paul wrote: We do not live for ourselves only, and we do not die for ourselves only. If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For Christ died and rose to life in order to be the Lord of the living and of the dead. (Rom 14:7-9)

Amen. And the peace of God, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus now and forever. Amen.

2012 REVD DR LUTZ ACKERMANN FRIEDENSKIRCHE, HILLBROW