Reprints of 2007 Services - Discussions

SAAL New Year’s Eve in Bayswater
Elder, Dr Rolf Beilharz

Welcome to the last Service in the Temple Society Australia for the year 2007.
The coming of a new year is an opportunity for us to review the past and what we can expect to happen in the coming year. And if our expectations are pointing in the right direction, we can think about what changes for the better we should start to work on in the coming year?

We Templers have recently already undergone a change. We are settling in a change of leadership in Germany as well as in Australia. This change is also partly a generation change. Younger people have replaced the older leaders. There may well be real differences in the way younger people see the goals we set. Young people may also interpret the world in which we live differently from how the older people see it.

In this end of the year Saal we also stop to remember the Templersa and friends that are no longer with us. Those of you who can easily stand, please rise while I read the names of our members and friends who have left us in 2007:

Members in Australia; Gerd Aberle, Ruth Leschinsky nee Haar, Helene Varjabedian nee Bäuerle, Meta Herrmann nee Richter, Elisabeth Werlein nee Frank, Rolf Weller, Gerhard Beilharz, Karl Trefz, Friedhelm Bulach, Elma Nolte, Emma Kolb, Thea Frank nee Schneider, Erika Scheer nee Alle, Hans -Jürgen Kirchner, Erich Imberger and Ilse Heinzle.

Friends in Australia; Irene Petz, Elfriede Benz nee Hardegg, Erich Kimmel, Arnold Hennel, Hans Kipperer, Helen Hoffmann nee Passmore, Rudolf Beilharz, Gretel Ottenhoff nee Steller, Franz Korbel,

Members and friends in Europe (all but the last in Germany) Ursula Hildmann, Herta Struve nee Stütz, Werner Frank, Käte Unger nee Weberruss, Annchen Schuhmacher nee Beilharz, Beate Struve nee Richter, Richard Grossmann, Gerda Berger, Luise Beck nee Braun, Jimmy Harding (in England),

Thank you, you may be seated.

This was quite a large number of people to have lost. To obtain a better perspective, here is a list of children who have been born in 2007 to members in Australia and also to friends born, with one exception, in Australia:

To members; Chloe Isabella Hoefer, Isabella Roma Knaub, Lachlan Ferdinand Green, Joel Darcy Löbert, Keanah Vizi Messner and Felix Guy Smethurst,

To Friends; Stirling Hugo Lankester Van As, Anika Michaela Sutterby, Julia Hannah Klink (born in the USA), Patrick Niklas Weber,
Hutson Walter Bell and Amelie Jule Sydenham.

So, we can still look forward to holding confirmation classes in 12 to 16 years time.

We’ll start the main part of the service with the hymn Nr. 27 ‘Ein Jahr der Sterblichkeit’. We sing the verses 1,2 and 5.

Sing the three verses.

This hymn assumes having a faith in God, our heavenly Father. A simple faith which has helped our parents, grandparents and great grandparents to live in peaceful, cooperative communities and to survive the many hardships they had to face to bring us younger people into the pleasant situation we now enjoy in Australia. We younger, scientifically educated, present-day Templers should continue to respect the simple faith in God, our father, which sustained our ancestors.

Our text for today is Psalm 139: verses 1-18. In the psalm King David describes the many powers of God who is always looking after and protecting him. King David loves God but at the end of the psalm he tells God that he hates those who oppose God and he wishes God would slay these murderers. I find this psalm by itself not suitable for what I want to tell you today. So I will instead read some passages from the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. These are only some examples of many good teachings in the three chapters 5, 6 and 7. These teachings are likely to have come fairly directly from Jesus. The first is Ch. 5, verses 21 and 22:

‘You have heard that our forefathers were told, ‘Do not commit murder; anyone who commits murder must be brought to justice’. But what I tell you is this; ‘Anyone who nurses anger against his brother must be brought to justice’ - and this verse goes on to spell out other kinds of punishment for other evils. Then come verses 23 and 24: ‘So if you are presenting your gift at the altar and suddenly remember that your brother has a grievance against you, leave your gift where it is before the altar. First make your peace with your brother; then come back and offer your gift’.

In Chapter 6, verse 9 is ‘This is how you should pray.’ And then comes what we call the Lord’s prayer. Here the prayer ends with verses 12 and 13; ‘Forgive us the wrong we have done, as we have forgiven those who have wronged us. And do not put us to the test, but save us from the evil one.’

The following verses 14 and 15 are a comment Jesus made on the prayer we have just read. ‘For if you forgive others the wrongs they have done, your heavenly Father will forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs that you have done’.

These passages from the Sermon on the Mount demonstrate that Jesus was introducing a new way of looking at the older, existing Jewish religion. The hatred King David expressed in the psalm is no longer appropriate for Jesus.

The followers of Jesus clearly were greatly affected by his teachings. The teachings were so different from existing teaching that a break from the present way of looking at religion would have been recognised by all Jews of that time. Not everyone liked Jesus’ way of seeing how people should live because some were doing very well in the existing interpretation of the Jewish religion. This is likely to be the reason why Jesus was eventually executed on the cross. Too many powerful Jews were feeling threatened by what Jesus taught. As time passed Christianity grew out of the teachings of Jesus, as understood by his disciples and other followers, like Paul.

But was the break in religion that came with Christianity what Jesus had wanted? What really happened at the beginning of Christianity? Let’s have a closer look at the readings from the Sermon on the Mount to see the points Jesus was making.

For me it is clear that Jesus is spelling out how people should behave towards others so that all can live together in harmony in their communities. Don’t stop just when you are on the point of killing someone. Don’t even think of it! There is a huge difference between on the one hand living with restrained anger against someone, even if your anger never becomes physical and you kill him, and on the other hand living with that person as a friend. It is important to make a friend out of someone you have a grudge against. It is more important to make a friend than carrying out a religious rite even when you are bringing a gift, a religious sacrifice, at the altar. Make the friend first, the religious ceremony can wait. And forgive other people. Again that is so important that Jesus suggests God won’t forgive us if we don’t forgive others.

All these teachings describe what all ordinary people like we are can do in their every day life to create such harmonious community living that you can call it a Kingdom of God. The first two gospels clearly have Jesus preaching that such a kingdom is here now for us to enter. But one’s behaviour must be appropriate to achieve it. We need no superhuman act, neither do we have to wait for a special intervention by God. God has created people so that they have built into them the possibility to live as friends. Let’s do it!
Looking back, I am convinced that the simple faith of our forefathers was like this. They created such situations where helping friends was part of daily life, in their settlements in Palestine, in internment camps and in their communities in Australia and Germany since the most recent internment. The faith came from the teachings of Jesus in the bible. And it was completely consistent with modern scientific ways of interpreting the world.

We Templers find it easier than most other Christians to see Jesus as an ordinary biological human, although he obviously had extraordinary wisdom. I am interested about what is known about Jesus and what he actually taught his followers to do and how to live. He urged people to strive for and create the ‘Kingdom of God’. Today we can say he was talking about a better, more truly humane, life that humans can achieve if they radically alter their behaviour. Scholars agree that the teaching of Jesus is mainly about this’ kingdom’, which was here on earth for us to enter. He taught that, above all else, people should strive to achieve this state. That is the Templer motto, and you can read it on the Chapel wall. It is something humans can achieve if they change their values from selfishness to a sense of fairness and equality for all. Over more than 100 years in our settlements in Palestine, and then in our community life in Australia, Templers have largely succeeded to live in this spirit.

In mainstream Christianity, a different tradition grew up about Jesus in the early Christian church. This trend focused on the person of Jesus. He was special, he was the Messiah, who had been prophesied by the prophet Isaiah. Jesus the Messiah came to be seen as more than human. In fact he became defined as a part of God in the formula of the Trinity early in the 4th century. In this tradition, Jesus became important not because he taught us sensible values and appropriate behaviour, but because he was born by a virgin directly from God, and therefore had no original sin. This allowed Jesus to die on the cross as an innocent sacrificial lamb so that God can pardon the original (and all other) sins of all people who accept and believe in Jesus.

Jesus fulfilling Isaiah’s prophesies can be seen in two ways. Perhaps Isaiah really had some knowledge of the future. Perhaps this knowledge was given him by God. Alternatively, the followers of Jesus may well have rewritten the story of Jesus so as to make him ever more like that prophesied saviour whom Isaiah had already described so many years ago. Bishop Spong, a theologian who questions many of the traditions that have been accumulated in the mainstream churches, makes this point very strongly in his recent book ‘Jesus for the Non-Religious’. As time passed, Jesus became described more and more like the prophesied messiah. But note, he thinks the disciples were trying to describe how and why Jesus had produced such a huge effect on them and their lives, and that they used symbols of religious greatness from their existing history books. Their aim was not to deceive people but to find ways of expressing the important effect of the life of Jesus, in terms of adoration, which all religious Jews readily understood.

It seems that as time passed and the original followers of Jesus were no longer alive, the later followers have taken the symbolic descriptions as real. That made Jesus superhuman. Christianity was then taken over as the religion of Rome, by Constantine, the Roman Emperor. In the following years, political arguments became mixed with holy ones, It was this Roman emperor, Constantine, who called the gathering of bishops which decided that God was a Trinity of God the Father (the creator), God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit (which was given to the disciples at Pentecost).

It is this picture of mainstream Christianity that you will usually meet in the Christian religion practiced in Australia. It is also the religion into which young Australians grow up if they are religiously inclined. Many young Australians with a modern, secular education find this dogmatic religion, which includes believing supernatural incidents, difficult to accept. So it is no surprise to me that many young Australians reject religion. This is where the Temple Society has such a huge advantage. Our theological founder Christoph Hoffmann was among the first modern theologians to again take seriously what Jesus himself had said, that is, what the real message of the gospels was. He took seriously the idea of the kingdom of God, as something that people can strive for, here on earth in our everyday life. I try to follow Christoph Hoffmann. I try to read in the bible what Jesus himself might have said, not what people later wrote about who he was. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew is very important to me for that reason.

Jesus himself once summarised what true religion is. When asked, what is the most important commandment he said: "Love God with all your heart, mind etc. Equal with this commandment is the following: Love your neighbour as yourself." Just think what this means. To me it means that we should have reverence for any higher power that there might be, and for what this power created, the universe in which we live. In the time of Jesus this highest power was called God. Jesus visualised God as a caring father. In his time, no one doubted that God was the name of the power that created the earth and the universe. But Jesus did not describe, or give us any other commandments about what God was like. We might say it does not matter how we picture this higher power. Think of him as a good father interested in the welfare of his children and his creation. And the way you express your reverence of God is to love his creation, his children (us), other people and the rest of life.

The main thing is that we should not lose our respect for the world in which we live and, as a result, become arrogant. Natural selection is an amazing phenomenon. It has brought about the great diversity of life on our earth and has made all forms of life very efficient at using the resources available in their environment. Life is fine-tuned to its environment. If we think that with our technology we can control the environment, we usually finish up doing harm to it. And people have just now woken up to the fact that we are about to suffer the consequences of having thoughtlessly polluted the world’s atmosphere with the waste products of technology.

I want to refer once more to the biblical texts I read earlier. But let me ask you first: ‘how would you answer the following question that a historian or a modern scientist might ask’. ‘What was the science at the time when Jesus was teaching?’ Just think about this for a moment. How did people in those days interpret why they were alive and how the world around them did work?

The science of that time was what the Old Testament religion told the Jews, the myths about Gods that the different groups of people in Greece made up, and generally, the religions of the different peoples around the world, or the dreamings as we would say of the Australian aborigines. For early humans, religion and understanding of how the world works were the same thing. It was the product of thinking people who told others and somehow had their thoughts passed on to future generations. Science, as we know it, did not separate from religion until about 500 years ago in the ‘western world’. But since then our science, the knowledge of how the earth and life work, has made rapid progress and is continuing to do so. Nevertheless, the separation of science and religion has been a slow process. It is only within my lifetime, about the middle of last century, that many people in the ‘Western World’ have deliberately rejected religion in favour of science. This rejection has coincided with people living selfishly for themselves. Advertisers have very cleverly built up the idea that we all have the right to live as well as we can for ourselves. What this does to others is not our problem. An increasing proportion of our contemporary classmates at school or university have grown up with their parents being divorced. This is not the best of situations for young people to become confident adults. Much of modern life seems to be unnecessarily sad.

Many modern people reject religion not because of the religion, but because the science of the time in which the religion was written is now wrong. This is a huge, and quite unnecessary, mistake. Religion has usually included moral values and rules about how people can live peacefully with each other, but of course expressed in words of their time. Throwing the moral values out as religion, because the science of religion is no longer correct, contributes strongly to the widespread lack of purpose for living among modern western people. Knowledge without moral values readily leads to suicides, or to drug addiction and many other modern problems.

We can understand our forebears’ faith in God the caring father in the same way as modern people believe in a universe, which started with a big bang. We can’t explain and describe a big bang. But the universe and the world we live in are the creation of whatever happened after the big bang. We should respect this creation and care for our earth. Templers have found it easy to embrace modern science and take up the technology that has arisen from it. This follows naturally from Christoph Hoffmann’s recognition that the main message of Jesus was about us humans, that people can and should live in peace. This interpretation of Christianity needs nothing supernatural. And we have not thrown away any of the values that Jesus taught us. In fact, we should whenever we read the bible, ponder about the values the writers were telling us about, even if we know that the stories containing the values are no longer true.

What matters more than any speculation about the nature of God or the big bang is that we should get our relationships with other people right and, as well, avoid polluting or destroying our environment. These are the things we can do on this earth in this life. Doing that is equal to the highest commandment. We can say that striving for perfect relations among people, ‘setting up the kingdom of God’, was the good news that Jesus preached. Doing this is, and has always been, the best way for people to express their reverence for the higher power, which created our universe. Even if you think there is no higher power, having good relations among people is how human life should express itself. And this is true even for agnostics and atheists, and all non-religious people, if they want to live a good, satisfying life. The religion of the Temple Society requires no supernatural interventions. And if other religious groups are not aware of this possibility, then Templers have an opportunity to explain the teaching of Jesus as entirely relevant and eminently practical in our modern age. But more importantly, the daily life of Templers should radiate the attitude that makes such living possible. All other aspects of religion, the many rites and traditions being practiced, are just trappings which are supposed to help us achieve our aim.

Let’s go back to the texts from the Sermon on the Mount and see how we might express them for modern secular people.

Just imagine the mood of a person waking up every morning with the thought that he dislikes his neighbour intensely, so that he would kill him if that was allowed. Can such a person be happy? Living with a perpetual anger harms your life. Making friends with this neighbour brings a vast improvement in the person’s mood and his whole life. This can happen only if the person tries hard and succeeds. Asking God to solve the problem without you working on yourself is unlikely to help you.

And how can my ‘always forgiving other people’, who should stop cheating me, be of any use to me? The answer is very similar to the last example. Will I be happy to wake up every morning knowing that my neighbour has done something wrong to me? I will be the person in a bad mood. I can remove this bad mood and cheer my life up by forgiving the neighbour. If I forgive by having a quiet chat with my neighbour, he may well be moved to not cheat me again, because he is likely to react positively to my forgiving him.

So, there is nothing supernaturally holy in what Jesus taught. It is simple common sense to live in peace with one’s neighbours. It lets all of us have happier lives. Jesus seems to have had a very good understanding of humans and what makes their lives better.

Recently there has been a growing interest in finding the truth about what really happened when holy scriptures like the bible were created. The movement is called progressive religion. Christian theologians, and also Jewish scholars are working along the same lines towards the same goal. One could say that the progressive Christianity is trying to find and undo what went wrong over the history of Christianity. At a 4-day conference of progressive Christians and Jews, and probably also Muslims, last August in Sydney, Mark Herrmann, Herta Uhlherr, Ingrid Turner and I took part. I became convinced that the Temple Society is at the forefront of Progressive Christianity.

Until recently, I had thought that the Temple Society was a tiny, unimportant group, next to the large mainstream churches believing in the supernatural death and resurrection of Jesus and so on. The conference showed us that there are now a growing number of scholars of theology and history who think in the same way as the Temple Society about Jesus. Bishop Spong who has written numerous books along this line of thinking gave several inspiring talks. So the mainstream churches are starting to see Christianity in the way we have done for over 100 years. This is a wonderful sign.

What I found most fascinating is that we Templers seem to be the only group, which actually has put the teaching of Jesus to the test in daily life in our settlements and communities. We obviously have a big opportunity to show other progressively thinking Christians our community life, welcome them in if they wish to join or suggest how they can live similarly in their own communities. This is an opportunity that the Temple Society should follow up in the coming years.

Let's now finish this service with another hymn, one that many of us like to sing. It is Nr. 17 ‘Brüder singt ein Lied der Freude’, with its lovely melody by Ludwig van Beethoven, and which many of us love to sing.

We’ll sing the first 3 verses. (Sing in German or English).

Sing the 3 verses.

For all that can stand easily, please rise for the Lord’s prayer.

Our Father in heaven
Hallowed be your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us when in temptation and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours forever.
Amen.

Please sit.

Thanks to Veronica Rutowicz for her lovely music. Thanks for those responsible for flowers and other decorations, for the food and drink to come. And thanks to all others that have helped the Temple Society in 2007. My best wishes to all for the coming New Year.

And be proud of what the Temple Society has already achieved in the way its members have lived their daily lives. We should let others see how we live in healthy and happy communities. Others can have that too, whether as Templers or by creating their own communities.

Veronica plays the final music.

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Saal at Bayswater Chapel
9th December 2007

Elder: H. R. Uhlherr
Pianist:: Monika Strasser

Text: Eph. 4 (17-24) – Begin a new Life (not used)

Hymns: Trachtet ruft... No. 1 – v.1,2 and 9
Ich singe dir... No. 47
Lobe den Herren... No. 64

Good morning and welcome to you all. (Sing No. 1)

In both regions of the Temple Society, i.e. in Germany and in Australia, there has recently been a major change in leadership, dare I say with a sense of generational change; a new era could be beginning.

We have a new president and two new regional heads. Over the years, the worldly affairs of the Temple Society have changed and have been managed successfully. The standing of religious beliefs in the world around us have changed, and some may see a challenge to our Templer beliefs in that. Questions are raised – are we keeping up with the times, do our beliefs speak to the people of today, and is what we say still relevant? So now seems an opportune time to re-examine our Templer motto and idea, which have not changed since the founders established them 150 years ago. Also around the beginning of December each year, Templers remember Christoph Hoffmann, one of our founders, who was born and died in December (born on 2.12.1815, died 8.12.1885) and his legacy, that is by focusing on one of the core messages of Jesus as expressed in the New Testament of the Bible, namely our motto: ‘Set your mind on God’s Kingdom and his justice before everything else, and all the rest will come to you as well.’

For Christoph Hoffmann, Jesus stood in the centre of Christian faith; Jesus’ message of the ‘Kingdom of God’ was the focal point, and Jesus was the one human being who had the most ‘God-like’ qualities.

In his book Occident and Orient from the 1870s, Christoph Hoffmann wrote the following, and I am quoting excerpts from the English translation:

‘Knowing God – the prerequisite for true inner and outer divine worship – does not consist of comprehending what man cannot possibly understand, namely the nature of God and of those things we cannot apprehend with our senses; even less does it consist of blindly accepting dogmas constructed about these things by ancient and modern theologians. Rather, it is firstly a growing consciousness – available to all people – of the eternal power and divinity which reveal themselves in God’s works, i.e. in the creation of the universe, and secondly it is an understanding of God’s ways, in particular of his dealings with humanity. The prime purpose of God’s education of the human race is to achieve that spiritual and social condition of humanity which the prophets of Israel described as the Kingdom of God on earth, and which Jesus made it his mission to realize.

The Temple Society wants to help people gain an insight into the nature of the Kingdom of God and thus to strengthen them in their efforts to bring it about.’
End of quote.

With the concept of God’s Kingdom, Jesus expresses a new way of life – for our personal life, it is that which gives our life a real purpose and renews us.

For many people, the term Kingdom of God is a stumbling block on their journey to find God and understand what Jesus taught in the broader context. For some, this barrier is so great that they turn back and never complete the journey. Others grapple with the term which Jesus used extensively, but they never find a satisfactory understanding. Then there are those who reject the whole topic, and with it the term ‘Kingdom of God’, as meaningless and unimportant for their lives.

However, the Kingdom of God was and still is central to the faith of the Temple Society, but that does not make it any easier for us to understand it with our intellect, since Jesus spoke about it only in parables, which speak more to our intuition. He did not leave us with a definition, or a precise description. Therefore, there are differing opinions within the community and the broader population about the meaning of the Kingdom of God. Some may even feel uncomfortable talking about it. It is more of a personal and intuitive belief than a clear rational understanding.

So we may ask, does the term Kingdom of God have the same meaning for me, for us, as it had for Jesus, or, say, for Christoph Hoffmann? Can and do we today still believe in the Kingdom of God at all?

Comments like: the term ‘Kingdom of God’ should be modernized; it is out of date; it has no meaning or relevance in today’s world; it is too obscure and mysterious; it is impossible to achieve among today’s humanity; it is a totally impractical concept, all underline the lack of comprehension of Jesus’ message, in my view.

Other comments suggest that many people could be willing to accept the idea of the Kingdom of God if they were provided with a brief and precise description of it, with the personal benefits clearly defined and personal commitment required kept to a minimum – made as convenient as possible. This may sound a little exaggerated, but such an attitude towards the Kingdom of God as proclaimed by Jesus, can only lead to disappointment.

Jesus was a man of his time; His thoughts and actions were formed and driven by the social environment of his time. His language, parables and other statements addressed the way of life and living conditions, beliefs, assumptions and knowledge of a long time ago, and they were certainly very different from ours today. 2000 years ago, the majority of people had only limited knowledge about the infinite universe, or even the immensity of just our galaxy. Nothing was known about the real age of the solar system, but that is not surprising, since we are still modifying the picture today. Focused scientific development had not started and technology, if it existed at all, was very primitive.

Most people lived on, and off the land. Social services or help for the poor or disadvantaged were available only within the family framework. In general, sickness and death were widespread, anxiety and superstitions more common. So, if that was the world in which Jesus lived and taught, how has what he said and did any relevance for us in the third millennium – especially to our questions relating to our use of medicine, technology, environment, beliefs and so on?

There is at least one area in which Jesus’ teachings are very relevant even today; that is in the area of our relationships with, and attitudes towards other human beings, in fact, towards all other living things. It is here that our present world has not advanced much, if at all, since Jesus’ time 2000 years ago. The same very human attributes of egotism, greed, vindictiveness, hate, revenge, scorn, deceit, arrogance, etc., are still much in evidence everywhere today.

I don’t think humanity today has come very much closer to establishing a broader functioning Kingdom of God amongst ourselves, despite our good intentions and efforts, than when Jesus declared this to be the main task for humanity, in order to become more balanced, more spiritually complete beings. I don’t think I’m stating anything revolutionary when I add that we can grow spiritually only by having faith in God, by practising love for God, ourselves and our fellow humans in our daily life.

In my view, Jesus was not an idealist, with his head in the clouds; he gave no signs of believing that the world could improve by itself, any more than that individual human beings could become better on their own terms.

What Jesus said, he did not say to draw attention to himself or to make himself look important, he said it because he felt he had to say it, because for Jesus this was the only way we humans would grow and develop spiritually. For him there was only one way to find God, and that was to practise the twin commandments of love. Apart from that, Jesus did not give us a plan of action, or even a code of ethics and certainly not a programme of reforms. But he challenged us to keep our ego in check and urged us to soften our opinionated human mind and to develop more faith.

Sing Hymn No. 47, v. 1,2,3 and 8 (Ich singe dir mit Herz und Mund…)

If we look at the Temple Society in the context of today’s world, my personal view is that we are as relevant as ever, if not more so. Slowly, Progressive Christian groups within the mainstream churches are approaching the position our Templer founders took and fought for 150 years ago. These progressives are going through similar struggles now with their traditions as our forefathers did; namely, to refocus on the Jesus of Nazareth in the New Testament, the human being, the man who, through his teachings and actions as recorded in the Bible, brought a new message of faith and trust in God, goodwill and hope for all of mankind.

However, our founders (and Bible scholars today), emphatically differentiated between what Jesus taught and the many embellished stories about him which were most likely added later, specifically to prove that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah as foretold in the Old Testament.

What are the ‘core’ messages of Jesus?
I refer you to the Temple Society’s golden booklet – Religious Perspective: one is our motto, ‘Set your mind on God’s Kingdom and his justice before everything else, and all the rest will come to you as well’; the other is the twin commandment of Love: namely ‘Love God with all your being and love your neighbour as yourself.’
For today, or, I believe, for the foreseeable future nothing has replaced these guidelines for the shaping and living of our lives. All too often we allow ourselves to be driven by selfishness, or our opinions, by our all too human emotions and weaknesses such as anger, arrogance, etc. and ignore Jesus’ basic premise to reach our full human potential – he personally proved it was possible.

So, although the Kingdom of God as described by Jesus is a spiritual one – a state of inner awareness – it seems the way for humans to physically participate in this kingdom and reach this state of mind, is by showing compassion, love, caring for each other in our daily lives, thereby making egotism, selfishness, materialism and so on, a lesser priority, or of no importance in our life. Therefore I read in Jesus’ message that while we are not asked to create God’s Kingdom, we are called upon to get in touch with this kingdom within ourselves and then spread it among us. We can fulfil this task by making the choice to take on board this message that will give our lives a new direction even if it will remains a daily challenge for us.

When Jesus spoke of God’s kingdom on earth, his concern was for a new relationship, a connection with the divine power we call God, through an improved co-existence with our ‘neighbours’, our fellow humans – a new way of life – for our personal life. We should note that in seeking this new way, we do have choices.

We are free to determine our own actions in life, we can create and influence our surroundings; therefore we can also change our situation by changing the way we think – by modifying our attitude. We can, for instance, choose ‘peace of mind’, rather than anxiety – a lesson I am constantly struggling with – and although we may allow ourselves to be influenced by others, we alone carry the responsibility for our attitude and actions.

After all, we have been given the gifts of life, love, thought and speech, so that we can also use them to find and recognize the importance and realize the purpose for life and of God’s Kingdom that Jesus demonstrated.

While we may never reach a state of full perfection, our ever-renewed striving for greater perfection, our intentions, our actions towards this, however modest, are important and not without effect. I believe they have value and a lasting impact, that may not be instantly visible, but they are permanent and accumulate in a positive way. In our striving for God’s Kingdom – before all else – Jesus also included a continuous search for and practising of increased faith. Not the kind of faith that leaves everything in God’s hands, that He will make sure nothing untoward happens to us. Rather an empowerment, a faith that gives us the confidence and commitment to solve and overcome our own worldly problems; but also a faith that helps us grow and mature in spirit, and is reflected in our words and actions.

So, while the spiritual growth that Jesus stands for and asks of us may not be easily attainable with our modern lifestyle, and is perhaps quite impossible with the general, worldly attitude of today, that does not mean that we cannot step out at all along the path towards enlightenment. Our progress may be modest, we may be slowed down by the many distractions thrown at us by our lifestyle or by lack of motivation, but with the right attitude and determination, we will be going forward, growing in spirit and integrity.

With the spirit of God dwelling within us, we can decide to use the power given to us for good, by showing compassion for those around us in everyday, ordinary situations. I believe it is that compassion – that love – which Jesus envisaged, that makes the connection between the Kingdom of God concept in the human mind and our individual participation in establishing God’s Kingdom on earth.

May we have and use the wisdom, the courage and the strength to take up this striving towards God’s Kingdom on earth.

The Lord’s Prayer.

Hymn No. 64, v. 1,3 and 5 (Lobe den Herren…)

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Service at TTHA Bayswater
18th November 2007 10:00am

Elder: Herta Uhlherr
Music: Irene Blaich

Hymns: Nr. 10, Wenn ich, o Schöpfer, deine Macht
Nr. 13, Wie groß ist des Allmächt’gen Güte

Text: Markus 4, 16-29
Gleichnis von der selbstwachsenden Saat

Ich heiße Sie alle herzlich willkommen an diesem wunderschönen, weil regnerischen Sonntagmorgen und freue mich, mit Ihnen eine Zeit der Andacht teilen zu können.

Zum Anfang spielt Irene Blaich ein Vorspiel. Heute denken wir an alle, die jemand im Krieg verloren haben, und an den Volkstrauertag in Tatura.

Wir singen gemeinsam Lied Nr. 10, Wenn ich, o Schöpfer, deine Macht, Verse 1,2,3, und 4. Als Einleitungsgebet lese ich eins von Joachim Lange (1730), danach haben wir eine kurze Stille…

‘Gib, dass mir dieser Tag stets vor den Augen schwebe,
dass dein’ Allgegenwart mich wie die Luft umgebe,
auf dass mein ganzes Tun durch Herz, durch Sinn und Mund
dich lobe inniglich, mein Gott, zu aller Stund!

Herr, segne was ich tu, ja rede und gedenke!
Durch deines Geistes Kraft es also führ’ und lenke,
dass alles nur gescheh zu deines Namens Ruhm
und dass ich unverrückt verbleib dein Eigentum!
Amen.’

Stille… Danke.

Der heutige Bibeltext steht im Markus-Evangelium: Kapitel 4, Verse 26-29. Es ist das Gleichnis von der selbstwachsenden Saat, und handelt vom Reich Gottes, oder Gottes neuer Welt.

Zu den versammelten Menschen sagte Jesus: ‘Mit der neuen Welt Gottes ist es wie mit dem Bauern und seiner Saat: Hat er gesät, so geht er nach Hause, legt sich nachts schlafen, steht morgens wieder auf – und das viele Tage lang. Inzwischen geht die Saat auf und wächst; der Bauer weiß nicht wie. Ganz von selbst lässt die Erde die Pflanzen wachsen und Frucht bringen. Zuerst kommen die Halme, dann bilden sich die Ähren und schließlich füllen sie sich mit Körnern. Sobald das Korn reif ist, schickt der Bauer die Schnitter, denn es ist Zeit zum Ernten.’ (Gute Nachricht) Lied Nr. 126 im roten Gesangbuch ist Wir pflügen und wir streuen. Verse 1 und 2 vorlesen, die gut zum Text passen..

Der Bauer tut das Seine – er sät, wir können ruhig annehmen, dass er das zur rechten Jahreszeit tut, obgleich das nicht extra gesagt wird. Auch passt er sicher auf, dass Ziegen und Rind nicht in das Feld kommen und die jungen Ähren auffressen. Aber sonst verlässt er sich auf die Natur und auf Gott. Er weiß nicht genau, wie die Saat wächst, aber sie tut es ganz von selbst. Der Bauer legt sich nachts schlafen und steht morgens wieder auf und vertraut auf Gott, dessen Wirken er in der Natur sieht: Gott lässt die Saat wachsen und gedeihen, lässt Tag und Nacht und die Jahreszeiten ihren Lauf nehmen.

Mit diesem Gleichnis – eines in einer Reihe über das Reich Gottes – deutet Jesus an, dass Gottes Neue Welt, sein Reich, genauso natürlich und unaufhaltsam wächst. In der Oktober Warte des Tempels schreibt Klaus Simon (von der ‘Öklumenischen Initiative Reich Gottes – jetzt!’): Es ‘gilt die Jesus-Botschaft, dass sich eine bessere Welt wie von selbst einstellen wird, sobald wir das zulassen und fördern. Wir müssen das Reich Gottes weder erwarten noch herbeiführen. Es ist längst da.’ – Obgleich wir viel Not und Elend in der Welt sehen, sind das nicht Zeichen vom Ausbleiben des Gottesreichs, sondern das Ergebnis von menschlichem Verhalten, welches das Wachsen des Gottesreiches behindert.

Als ich mich mit dieser Idee, dass ‘sich eine bessere Welt wie von selbst einstellen wird, sobald wir das zulassen und fördern’ beschäftigte, fragte ich mich: wie und wo lassen wir diese bessere Welt nicht zu? Wie oder wo stehen wir ihr im Weg?

Wir wissen alle längst, dass gehässiges, neidisches, selbstsüchtiges Benehmen nicht das Gottesreich fördert, darüber verliere ich keine Worte. In den letzten Wochen haben wir unschöne Beispiele im Wahlkampf gesehen, wo man uns überzeugen wollte, für diese oder jene Partei zu wählen – da geht es oft nicht fair zu, wenn die Wünsche einer relativ kleinen Wählergruppe vor das Gemeinwohl des Landes und des Planeten gestellt werden, um noch ein paar mehr Stimmen zu gewinnen.

Noch ein Beispiel von wie man dem Gottesreich im Weg stehen kann. Heute meinen viele Personen im ‘zivilisierten’ Westen, dass jeder – und besonders er selbst – dazu berechtigt ist, ein bequemes Leben mit allem Drum und Dran zu haben. Dass er – bei den Billionen Erdenbürgern – damit die Welt kaputt macht, geht der Allgemeinheit in jüngster Zeit allmählich auf.

Ihr, die ihr Kriege durchgemacht habt und mit wenig habt auskommen müssen, ihr wisst, dass man auch ohne überviele Habe Freude erleben und zufrieden und dankbar sein kann.

Wenn also mehr Menschen, die eigentlich genug haben, aufhören würden, immer noch mehr besitzen zu wollen – damit würden sie mehr von Gottes Reich zulassen. Indem mehr Menschen bereit wären, die Früchte der Erde zu teilen – damit würden sie dieses Reich fördern. Und wir? Wir können ein gutes Beispiel sein und manchmal unsere Jungen mit ein paar lieben, weisen Worten daran erinnern. Jetzt, wo Maßhalten so aktuell ist, hören sie vielleicht auch darauf.

Zur Zeit Jesu galt der Begriff ‘Reich Gottes’ als heile Welt, in der Gottes Wille in allem und von allen beachtet wird. Wenn das Verhalten der Menschen von Nächstenliebe und Achtung bestimmt, dann keimt das Reich Gottes immer mehr auf. Die Evangelien beschreiben die Züge einer neuen Gesellschaft, und Jesus lebte sie mit seinen Anhängern: In so einer Gemeinschaft wächst und funktioniert das Gottesreich wie von selbst – sein Reich kommt, weil sein Wille (für ein liebevolles Miteinander) geschieht.

Nun, es gibt noch andere Gleichnisse von Jesu, die mit Säen und Ernten zu tun haben. Während in unserem Text der Bauer nur sät und die Erde und Gott den Rest tun, so dass der Bauer schließlich nur noch ernten muss, beschreibt die Geschichte vom Sämann, der ausging zum Säen, viel genauer, was alles dazugehört, damit die Saat erfolgreich wächst. Z.B. geht der Samen auf dem Weg nicht auf, und auf felsigem Boden oder inmitten der Dornen gedeiht er nicht. Dagegen scheinen in unserer Geschichte keine besonderen Anforderungen zu gelten. Vom Hegen und Pflegen ist keine Rede. – Will Jesus uns dazu ermuntern, den Dingen ihren Lauf zu lassen?

Ich glaube, das fällt manchen in der heutigen Zeit schwer, wo so viel und hektisch herumgerannt wird. Villeicht gelingt es einem mehr, je älter man wird? 

Etwas sein-lassen-können kann befreiend wirken. Auch die alten Taoisten im fernen Osten wussten das schon. Sie hatten erlebt, dass man in Ruhe, in meditativer Besinnlichkeit und mit Gelassenheit dem ‘Dao’, dem Weg der göttlichen Kraft, näher kommt – ohne mit großer Anstrengung danach zu streben. Natürlich gehört Arbeiten zum menschlichen Leben, aber Arbeit ist nicht dasselbe wie eifriges Streben nach Dingen, die vielleicht gar nicht gut für uns sind. Geduld und Vertrauen auf den gottgewollten Lauf der Dinge gehören auch dazu – wie auch das Zufriedensein mit dem, was man ist und was man hat. Wenn man in sich harmonisch und froh und dankbar ist, und man die Mitmenschen achtet, dann fließt einem ziemlich sicher Gutes zu, ohne dass man es partout an sich reißen will.

Neue Kraft und Freude können auch dadurch kommen, dass wir das Staunen wieder lernen. Zum Staunen braucht man Zeit und Ruhe, was man im Alter eher wieder hat, und Aufnahmebereitschaft, wie die Kinder, die alles beobachten und darüber echt staunen können. Die Welt um uns und in uns wartet darauf, dass wir sie sehen und schätzen – das hält uns lebendig und macht unser Leben reich. Ich erzähle Euch ein Beispiel, und vielleicht will auch sonst jemand sagen, was ihm heute aufgefallen ist und Freude gemacht hat.

Als wir oben die Vorhänge zurückzogen, saß heute früh eine Eule 5 Meter vom Fenster auf einem Ast, aufgepludert, mit wunderschön gezeichnetem Gefieder, gut getarnt. Mein Mann und ich staunten über diesen seltenen, kleinen Besucher und freuten uns.

Will jemand etwas beitragen? (Einige taten es).

Etwas, über das wir oft staunen können und das zu unserem Gleichnis passt, ist das Wachsen – im Frühlingsgarten, bei Kindern (aus Babies werden Persönchen und schließlich Erwachsene) und auch das innere Wachsen und Reifen, das mit dem Äußeren einhergeht. Aus dem Büchlein ich staune von Ulrich Schaffer lese ich vor:

Ich staune über die Veränderung in meinem Leben.
Bin ich noch der, der ich war?
Ich lerne loszulassen und weiter zu werden,
das genaue Wissen abzugeben und das Ahnen zu üben.

Manchmal staune ich darüber, was ich einmal geglaubt habe
und wie ich gelebt habe, voller Überzeugung und Sicherheit.
Wenn das von mir abfällt, wer bin ich dann?
Gibt es einen Kern in mir, der gleich bleibt?
Oder bin ich der, der ich ständig werde?

Ich staune über meine veränderte Form und begreife tiefer und tiefer,
dass ich nicht statisch bin, dass kein Mensch stillstehen muss.
Wachstum ist eine Frage der Entscheidung.

Wer sich nicht entscheidet, im Vertrauen auf die göttliche Kraft es zu wagen, sich zu verändern – aus kleinem Samenkorn erst Halm, dann Ähre, schließlich reife Frucht zu werden – der bleibt irgendwo stecken, und erfülltes Leben bleibt ihm wahrscheinlich fremd.

‘Die ungeahnt positiven Möglichkeiten weiterer Entwicklung werden sich in dem Maße für uns auftun, wie wir den Mut zu liebevollem Verständnis für Mitmenschen und Umwelt aufbringen. – Das ist in heutigen Worten die Botschaft vom Reich Gottes.’
So formuliert es der vorher erwähnte Klaus Simon.

Wir singen gemeinsam Lied Nr. 13, Wie groß ist des Allmächt’gen Güte, Verse 1, 3 und 5.

Wir sagen gemeinsam das Vaterunser.

Zum Abschluss singen wir noch den Segen – die Worte stehen auf dem Blatt, die Melodie ist bekannt.

Irene spielt uns noch ein Nachspiel.

Ich wünsche allen einen schönen Sonntag!

Sydney Service 23 September
Elder: Mark Herrmann

Introductory music – Erni Weller

Good morning and welcome to this important day in the life of the Sydney Community – the occasion of your Annual General Meeting, deferred from last month. My name is Mark Herrmann an Elder of the TSA from Melbourne. It is indeed a pleasure for Nanne and me to join with Hartmut Beck, his committee (or Focus Group under the new structure) and all the community members today. We naturally bring with us the best wishes of the Regional Council and Elders’ Group for a successful day.

Before the formalities of the meeting, I would like to spend some time presenting my thoughts through a service. I would like to start by reading a story and talking with the youngest people in the Community. The conclusion to the service might also be a little different – both visually and aurally – but I hope not too confronting when taken in context of the other service elements. Overall, my hope is that every one of you can take at least a little piece out of today’s service. The danger, of course, is that you all only remember the bits you didn’t like!

Now for the story … “Big Al”

Why was Big Al lonely? He had no friends because the other fish were scared of him
What did he try to do to make friends? Disguise himself, be clever and a bit silly, make himself smaller, change his colour
Did this help? No, he still didn’t have a single friend
What happened to the smaller fish then? They got caught in a fishing net
What did Big Al do? He ripped a hole in the net and all the little fish could get out
But what happened to Big Al then? He got stuck in the net
How did Big Al escape the net? The fishermen threw him back into the ocean
How many friends does Big Al have now? More than anyone else

Why did Big Al end up with so many friends? The little fish were all grateful that he had saved them
Do you think Big Al only helped the little fish to make some friends? No, he realised they were in danger

We can be a true friend by not pretending to be someone we are not
We can be a wonderful friend by helping other people who need our help
We don’t just help people to make us feel better

[I understand you will be doing some activity (out the back) with Ingrid now. Have fun!]

I now call on Emmy to read the lyrics of a piece of popular music to you.

“On the turning away” – Pink Floyd

Last month I was fortunate enough to come to Sydney for a four-day religious conference under the title of “Common Dreams”. Ingrid also attended and gave some of her impressions in the September Templer Record. Crossing Hyde Park on the first morning of the conference, Dr Rolf Beilharz and I were approached by a dishevelled man seeking money. We slowed momentarily, but walked on, as did all those around us. Why? Did we feel threatened or embarrassed by this man’s request and presence? We probably would have preferred not to have been confronted by it. Did we think that ignoring the man’s plight would alleviate the problem? No, it shifted the problem to someone else – the next passer-by – but left us wondering. Did we believe that any amount of money would benefit this man’s situation a little? No, but we never took the time or trouble to find out. Guilty, your honour, on all charges!

Occasionally at the Office in Melbourne we have strangers come, spin their story and seek financial assistance. Having been conned before, I admit to being very wary of the vast majority of them – OK, all of them. And, before you start to think that I am a heartless person, let me assure you that I will always endeavour to help those I believe are genuine in their need. Therein lies my dilemma. If I was faced with little fish caught in a net and I had huge, strong teeth, like Big Al, I wouldn’t hesitate in helping. Sadly, I estimate only a very small percentage of such cases are real, and, given my inability to distinguish between the genuine and the phoney, I tend to “play them hard”. I certainly have little sympathy for all the fakes, but am concerned if the one or two of genuine need are turned away. I wish I was better at this.

Social justice and public issues are areas the TSA, as an entity, has preferred not to be particularly vocal in, in the past. Many times I have heard the argument that the TSA cannot prescribe to its members. I understand and support this statement, after all who would do the prescribing? One of the strengths of the Temple Society is the freedom to formulate one’s own beliefs, opinions and behaviours – all within a common framework of “loving God – whatever image or presence we acknowledge or feel comfortable with – and loving your neighbour as yourself”. So, while we don’t expect the TSA to represent all of our thoughts and views – for it cannot – neither should we rely on this to stay silent or not form an opinion at all. I would therefore like to see the TSA conduct open forums and discussions on social issues affecting us and those around us – whether directly or indirectly – in order for members to hear what others think and to enable all to be better informed. In Melbourne, as part of our local Ministers’ Association, I know that the other churches and their congregations are much more vocal in this regard.

Hymn – “The Servant Song” – number 114 – verses 1 to 4

A community, by its very definition, strives to work together for a common aim or goal. As such, the Temple Society – whether a slightly larger gathering as in Melbourne, a smaller group like here in Sydney or a single member anywhere – is about trying to be the best they can be in responding to the challenge of putting the message of love (of peace) into practice in daily life. Thus our commitment is to work towards balanced personal and collective development in harmony with the environment, thereby enhancing the quality of life and contributing to the growth of the kingdom of God (a continuing perfecting of humanity) in the world (our world).

Above all else, community is about helping and generally sacrificing self-interest for the common good. I know that the Sydney Community – although relatively small in number – manages to function effectively and, in the main, harmoniously, achieving much of value to many in the process. It is in this vein that today’s AGM can be approached with confidence and with hopes of continued positive outcomes. I wish you well and look forward to being able to share in its atmosphere.

Some of you are probably wondering about today’s allocated text. It comes from Luke Chapter 10, Verses 25-37 and is commonly referred to as the Parable of the Good Samaritan. I am sure that most of you are familiar with it. However, I won’t be reading directly from the Bible, since I have tried – in a number of ways – to tell the same story via other means. I hope you can accept and have been able to recognise that.

How, when and to whom we administer as a “Good Samaritan” is our daily challenge through so much of what we face. We expect to be treated as we treat others, so let us strive – me as well – to be more inclusive and less selective in our contacts and attempts to share and grow our Templer Community.

I would like to ask Ingrid to read the closing ritual from the Common Dreams conference as a prayer. Please stand if you are comfortably able to.

We have a dream, a common dream
Where the sacredness of creation is honoured
Where all people are treated with respect
Where the land is tended with love
The great oceans are whole and healthy
The air is clear and clean
And the world is at peace
We share a dream – a common dream

May our common dreams transform us
May our common dreams empower us
May common dreams for peace be a common reality

Amen


DVD – On the Turning Away (time ~6 minutes)

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Founding Day Service in Bayswater 24 June
Elder: Irene Bouzo
Text: Luke 15: 3-7 The parable of the lost sheep
Musician: Monika Strasser
Hymn: Trachtet! ruft mit ernstem Worte (Seek ye first of all God’s Kingdom)

Welcome
Welcome to our Founding Day Service today.
I extend a special welcome to our Templer community members and to any visitors who are here.
It is my great pleasure to welcome the confirmands who are sitting in the front row and to their parents and relatives.

Introduction
Almost 150 years ago in 1861 a group of 64 Swabian-speaking people, just like many of those who are present today, met at a place a long way away from here; a place called Kirschenhardthof in southern Germany that not many of us have ever been to. They called themselves the Friends of Jerusalem and signed the founding charter that formed the German Temple, “der deutscher Tempel”. They were opposed to rigid dogmas imposed on ordinary people by higher Church authorities; they rejected the idea that religious rituals change the course of events. They were disillusioned by some of the corruption and hypocrisy that people saw in the State Church at the time, however they felt the confirmation of young people was important and fought with local authorities to keep doing that. They believed in one God, in the inherent goodness of people and in the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, the man. That’s why our Templer community exists today.

The Founding Day service is a time when we reflect on the origins of our religious ideals and some of the remarkable achievements of our faith community. To know where you are going, you need to know where you came from. A local non-Templer historian (Josef Vondra 1981) described the story of the Templers as one of idealism, faith and courage maintained for over 100 years of wandering under quite difficult circumstances.

Christoph Hoffmann, Georg David Hardegg and Christoph Paulus were important religious teachers and leaders in the founding of the Temple Society. I’m going to take a different historical perspective and acknowledge the founding of many Templer communities by many people in five different countries throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

I’m going to use two texts to explain some related ideas. First I’ll use the Bible text in the Gospel of Luke 15, 3-7 on the parable of the lost sheep and then I will use a confirmation lesson by Dietrich Dyck published in 1926.

But first I would like to address the confirmands who are sitting here in front of me, and you the community can listen to my address to them for a few minutes.

Dear confirmands
I believe that today will be the 3rd lesson of your 10-week Confirmation Course.
Confirmation marks the beginning of you as young adults taking part in more serious discussion about the meaning of life; your place in the world; about the mystery of God, the creator and superior power in the universe.

You will be thinking and talking about things from an inner spiritual point of view and developing your spiritual intelligence.

I want to tell you something that you may not know. Your Confirmation Course is offered to you by the community sitting behind you, not just your teaching elders. Turn around now and look at them. They are all smiling back at you. If you can see someone you know from you family you can give them a little wave. OK all look to the front again.

It is the whole Templer community that offers you your Confirmation Course because they have endorsed the Elders Council which then decides how to run the course and who will be the teaching elders.

It is the whole community that wants you to do this Confirmation Course. Not just your parents, but also the whole community are delighted that you are here today and they want to get to know you and read and hear about your activities. They want you to introduce yourselves to them. So let’s do that now.

Confirmands please stand up, line up along the side here and step forward one-by-one, and then clearly and loudly say hello and tell us your full name and then sit back in your seat.

Confirmands introduce themselves.

150 years is a long time since the founding of the Temple Society and lots of young teenagers have been confirmed since then. Most of the people sitting behind you did their 10-week Confirmation Course. Some did it in a country called Palestine and some did it in the war-time internment camp at Tatura in rural Victoria. Since our founders started this religious community, some things have changed and other things have stayed the same.

The things that change are often the way that things are done so that they fit in with our lifestyle. Some older people told me that they did confirmation lessons and Bible study classes at school because they went to Templer Schools. Another person told me that in Palestine the confirmands used to sit in the front row of the Saal, the Templer service, and the Elder at the front conducted the lessons, while the whole community came along and sat at the back and listened.

I want to ask you confirmands…do the elders ask you questions in your lessons? Can you answer the questions? Some are quite hard because they are spiritual and religious questions. Well in those classes back in Palestine, they had questions too and the confirmands found them quite difficult and sometimes even a bit embarrassing because they hadn’t thought hard enough about the subject. Imagine, those confirmands had to answer their questions in front of the whole community which was sitting behind them listening. Is that correct, people who are sitting behind the confirmands. Can anyone relate to what I’m saying?

The world has changed and now you have your own lessons in a small group, you go on camps, and visit the Klink’s place at night in the hills of Woori Yallock to look through the telescope at the stars. You use computer technology and the internet to keep in touch.

What hasn’t changed is the spiritual message passed through the Templer generations, and the desire for a better life. These things keep us connected; give us roots and a strong foundation to grow on.

I’m going to read from the two texts now. First the parable of the lost sheep in the Gospel of Luke Chapter 15, verses 3 to7.
3 So Jesus told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Templers are not so much concerned with the salvation of sinners but rather about making our world a better place (Werner Frank 1984 p200 Templer Handbook). The parable of the lost sheep is about losing something precious and finding it again. Spending some time securing and rescuing one sheep is more important than staying with the main group of 99 sheep. Jesus of Nazareth showed us a model where we should value the ones who are different. Today young people who attend confirmation classes come from different backgrounds. Some went to Sunday School and learnt Bible stories, and others didn’t. Some come from families where only one person or parent has a Templer religious experience. The parable of the lost sheep teaches us about the importance of making time for each one who might be a bit different from the others.

Now I want to show you this book “Neue Wege im Konfirmationsunterricht” / “New methods for the Confirmation Course” written by my great-uncle Dietrich Dyck, a Templer elder and member of one of our founding families in Russia. It’s written in German and in a different script. Maybe some young people who use the computer a lot know the modern name for the font used in this book. The elder tried to up-date the confirmation lessons that were held in 1907, exactly 100 years ago. He tried to present the lessons from a more scientific and logical point of view.

I’m going to read you a translated extract and you can decide for yourselves if you think the message has changed since then or still remains the same:

Dietrich Dyck said to the confirmands in Russia:
“Dear students
On the completion of your education so far, the community offers you this confirmation course. Its purpose is to stimulate you to develop your independent spiritual growth. We hope you will reach that aim by us showing you all the elements that make up the inner life of a person, his or her true self and inner spiritual character. As a result of this, more crucial questions will arise concerning the meaning of life.”

Does that sound like what you’ve talked about so far? 100 years ago confirmands were encouraged to ask questions about religious subjects. In the 1960s, some 40 years ago Dr Richard Hoffmann encouraged my confirmation group to remain true to ourselves and always dare to ask questions.

Maybe you can continue that discussion amongst yourselves and with your teaching elder when you go to your lesson.

In a few minutes the confirmands will leave the chapel and go to their classroom to continue their lesson. Before you go, we will sing a hymn that was written in the late 1800s by one of our founders Christoph Hoffmann. It is a special hymn for the Templers because its message contains the essence of our faith. If you don’t already know this hymn, then listen carefully because you will get to know it later in your lessons.

Please turn to hymn no. 1 in the red hymn book Trachtet! ruft mit ernstem Worte (Seek ye first of all God’s Kingdom) and we will sing verses 1, 2 and 3 in whichever language you feel most comfortable.

Wir singen das Lied Nr. 1 Strophen 1, 2 und 3.

All sing the hymn No. 1

Thank you, confirmands for listening and taking part this morning. On behalf of the community here today, we wish you well. You may stand and go out to your lessons.

Confirmands stand and leave.

Dear Community members and friends
Idealism, faith and courage; these are the three themes I intend to use as we look back and celebrate our society’s history which is very complex and full of triumphs and traumatic events. The Templer communities were repeatedly destroyed through two world wars. Their members had to continually re-settle in different countries to do the hard work of rebuilding the faith community. Their accomplishments are remarkable. I want to explain how I saw them inspired to follow their hopes and dreams.

Their idealism is represented by the message in the scriptures of trying to create the Kingdom of God on earth. It was the ultimate inspiration of our founders to try to achieve the perfect world by the way we live every day.

The Templer faith is represented by various elements: freedom of personal belief, no need for priesthood, freedom from Church-prescribed dogma and most importantly the freedom to interpret the Bible scriptures ourselves. In this way our founders followed the traditions of the pietists who sat in a ‘Saal’ or hall and interpreted Bible meanings without the help of priests. This approach to faith gives us the freedom to focus directly on the teachings of Jesus in the religious scriptures. They provide guidance for living according to the principles of the Kingdom of God on earth. We often need guidance to help show us the way but we also need something else. We need the support of others, and the more the better. We need a community of people to share this journey with us.

Courage refers to the courage our founding members had to do something different. They dared to break away from the 99 sheep and to spend time to find what the lost sheep needed in order to come back.

After rejecting the Church sacraments, the divinity of Jesus, the notion of the trinity and ritualistic forms of worship; after rejecting so much, the Templers came back to the Christian faith and dared to do something remarkably different. They dared to practice living in communities of like-minded people and to work cooperatively. This is a very hard thing to do. It often requires a person to say that the good of the community comes first and my individual needs come second.

Correct living requires both guidance and motivation. Our faith provides us with the guidance for abiding by good and moral standards. Living in a community of like-minded people provides us with the motivation to try harder to put our faith into action in our day-to-day living.

Now I want to reflect on the historical founding of Templer communities in five different countries.

Palestine
After the main group of Templers was founded in Germany, religious persecution caused a large group of them to migrate to Palestine in 1868 and the following years to set up flourishing religious settlements there. Their achievements in historic Palestine are still remembered today and acknowledged by Israelis; such things as the Templers’ remarkable building construction, how they developed transport systems, introduced new agricultural methods and established many transnational businesses that connected the Middle East and Europe. I’ve heard of many personal stories told by local Arabs and non-Templer Germans of the kindness and generosity of the Templers whose actions sometimes changed other people’s whole lives. Despite all those other accomplishments, the Templers’ main aim, and greatest achievement was always to maintain their faith communities. Sadly Templer properties were destroyed during two world wars and our members were sent to Egypt, Germany, Cyprus and Australia. Eventually the Palestine communities were disbanded completely.

Russia
In 1857 Johannes Lange attended a three-year course at the Hoffmann-Paulus educational institution in Kirschenhardthof, Germany (Sauer 1991:187). He was followed by several young German men from Russia, including my family ancestors, who attended a religious course over several months at the School. They were so inspired and spiritually liberated by the Templer faith that they returned to southern Russia, seceded from the German Mennonite community and founded the Templer Community in Russia with many followers. They built up a prosperous and peaceful community of landlords that Nikolai Arndt called a “paradise on earth.” Their community was eventually destroyed by the political upheaval of the revolution in 1917 and again later by Stalin’s cruel purge. The people kept their faith and, those who could, went to Palestine to join other Templers, who were subsequently horrified by the brutality endured in the Russian Templer communities.

America
Another group went to America in the 1860s and successfully set up several small Templer communities there, but eventually economic hardship made them disperse until they were so widely scattered over the country that they no longer had a viable community (Sauer 1991:183-7). Individuals were forced to practice their faith by joining with other churches. We don’t know much more about them and our Australian community has no organised contact with them.

Germany
Back in Germany less is known about what happened to those who stayed behind. In Germany a number of fragmented Templer groups continued from 1860s onwards in different towns around Stuttgart and the Black Forest (Templer Handbook 1995: 187-8). They survived serious disruptions especially during the Second World War. Our members suffered terrible hardships in Germany during the war years. A lot of time-consuming and hard rebuilding work was done by Templers after the war. Relief parcels were sent to them by their friends and families in Palestine, Cyprus and Australia immediately after the War to alleviate their hardship. Eventually in 1962 a general assembly of members succeeded in legally founding the Temple Society in Germany (Templer Handbook 1995:189). Today the Templegesellschaft Deutschland is a small but vibrant Templer community whose central hub is in Degerloch near Stuttgart and many of us still visit there regularly.

Australia
The first Templers arrived in Australia as accidental immigrants. In 1941 large groups of Templer civilians from Palestine were deported to Australia and interned for much longer than the war years. On coming out of the detention camps, they were dispersed all over Australia due to harsh government policies but managed to regroup mainly in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs and some in Sydney and South Australia. The Temple Society Australia was officially founded with much hard work on 20 August 1950 as an independent religious society in East Malvern. Others came here from Germany, Palestine and Cyprus in the late 1940s, 50s and 60s to rejoin the community. Again quietly, with little drama, the Templers built up language schools, aged care facilities, sporting and social clubs with much dedicated volunteerism. They never lost sight of the main aim of the community, to maintain the faith. First and foremost their main core value was always a religious society.

In summary the story of so much disruption and hardship is a remarkable story of idealism, faith and courage. In every place where the Templers formed communities, they deeply influenced and inspired those who came in contact with them. Wherever Templers have lived I have heard heart-warming stories about their spirit of generosity, how they lived a quiet, simple life and remained true to their faith.

Conclusion
I would like to see today’s Founding Day service as a celebration of the quiet but remarkable achievements of many founding members, both men and women. It is our duty to those founding members whoever and wherever they were, to carry on just as our forefathers and mothers did; to practice the faith quietly, diligently and cooperatively. Size of the community is not as important as our striving to carry on. One of our founders in Australia Dr Richard Hoffmann said in the 1980s (Vondra 1981:176) “We wish to be known as a religious community” and we should always remember that too. I would like to conclude by saying; we hope to see many more confirmation groups.
Let’s say the Lord’s Prayer. Would those who are able to, please stand.
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us when in temptation and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours forever.
Amen.
Please be seated.
We conclude by singing verses 7, 8, 9 and 10 of Hymn No 1: Trachtet! ruft mit ernstem Worte (Seek ye first of all God’s Kingdom).
Nr 1 im Gesangbuch, wir singen Strophen 7, 8, 9 und 10.
And now Monika will play the closing piano music.
Monika plays.
I would like to extend a hearty thanks to Monika for the uplifting music, to those who arranged the beautiful flowers, to the coffee and tea volunteers for their diligent preparation and to all of you, for your attendance and attentive listening. I wish you a lovely day and invite you to join us for refreshments in the foyer.

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Saal in Sydney 27 May, Rolf Beilharz

Dear Sydney Community of Templers,
It is a great pleasure to be your guest.
Sing Hymn (No 37 Großer Gott wir loben dich V. 1,2 and 5)

Our text for today is from Mark Chapter 1 verses 6,7 and 8. These 3 verses describe John the Baptist and what he said about Jesus who was still to come. I’ll put it into context and read the verses 1 to 14.
Read verses 1 to 14 of Mark Ch. 1.

These 14 verses contain much information. John the baptist is the messenger in the prophesy of Isaiah. He says that Jesus is much more powerful than he, John, is. Instead of baptizing with water, Jesus will baptize people with the Holy Spirit. To me, this is information added by the early Christians to what really took place. Jesus became the promised messiah of the prophesies. The Holy Spirit in the shape of a dove coming from heaven is also an addition. Verses 14 and 15, reflect what Jesus actually preached. The Kingdom of God is here. People can enter it if they change themselves. This remains true for the Templer religion of today. For Jesus this kingdom of God was available to us people on earth, if we changed our way of living so that we could live in peace. I think that Jesus preached about ordinary activities among people. The supernatural part of the story about Jesus was added when the early Christians emphasised the death and resurrection of Jesus, rather than the concepts Jesus actually taught. The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew brings more of the direct teaching of Jesus.

At least this is the way it seems to me. I agree that everyone has the right to believe whatever she or he believes is true. I don’t want anyone to change what they believe just because I say so. To change what you believe, you have to convince yourself that it is really so. I have been, and still am, a scientist in all my professional life. As a scientist, I find common sense advice about values and how people can live in peace if they sincerely try, in what seems to be what Jesus said. The state of living he offered is immensely better than what our news media tell us every day. There is so much sadness out there. It need not be there if you accept that what Jesus said is possible among ordinary people as long as they are truly honest with themselves and others, and strive for the good of the whole, say the community, or the state, or the nation, rather than simply for one’s selfish self. I am thankful that the Temple Society encourages us to contribute, to a better life for ordinary people, in my case to scientific understanding. For me there is no conflict between science and religion.

I have recently been working on an article about the Temple Society and why it is still here. I recognise two occasions when the Temple Society could have collapsed. But it didn’t. I have called the Article:
THE AMAZING SURVIVAL AND POTENTIAL OF THE TEMPLE SOCIETY.
A condensed version of bits of it will come in the June Templer Record. My talk today stresses why the topic is serious.

THE BEGINNING

In 1848 the theologian Christoph Hoffmann won an election to the seat of Ludwigsburg in the first German National Parliament against Dr. David Friedrich Strauß. Hoffmann was supported by church-going villagers and farmers. There were more of them in the electorate than educated city people who supported the University man Strauß. Today Strauß is the highly regarded initiator of the scientific study of the books of the bible. You will see later that this election result is an irony.

Hoffmann, in the late 1840s / 1850s, became convinced that existing Christianity had failed to create the Kingdom of God that had been described by the prophets of Israel in the old Testament and taught by Jesus. Hoffmann and his friends, the Paulus brothers, in their journal, today known as ‘die Warte’, spread their ideas widely. Like many others, they expected the second coming of Christ as described in the Revelation of John. This return of Christ was to bring about the kingdom of God and people would live in peace in the way Jesus had preached in the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere in the gospels.

The important recognition here is that humans should be able to live in peace on earth. For Hoffmann and his friends this translated itself into the very down-to-earth assembling of those people who were prepared to migrate to ‘Jerusalem’ (then actually Palestine, a province of Turkey). In ‘Jerusalem’, living as befits true followers of Jesus would set an example to trigger thorough reforms in Christianity and other religions. The people they gathered became known as the Friends of Jerusalem. One who joined was the very capable merchant, Georg David Hardegg. As a revolutionist, he had been jailed and his only reading in jail had been the Bible. He became one of the leaders.
The Friends’ did not hide their negative feelings towards the Catholic and Protestant churches. This provoked similar negative reactions from the existing churches. Hoffmann came into conflict with the local Lutheran church administration. The community in Kirschenhardthof, founded by the Friends of Jerusalem, was allocated to the Pastor in Erbstetten in whose district it lay. Hoffmann felt his completed theology studies and examinations entitled him to the religious pastoral care of this community. But he had not applied to become a pastor of the Lutheran church (and would probably have been given a different community if he had). Because he nevertheless carried out a confirmation in Kirschenhardthof, he was banned from becoming a pastor in the Lutheran church. His community at Kirschenhardthof, chose to follow him and all members were also banned form the church. In 1861 the Friends of Jerusalem founded the German Temple. Their justification is expressed in the following declaration:
‘In view of the general disorientation of mankind caused by the fact that none of the existing Churches aspires to making man into a Temple of God and to establish the sanctum at Jerusalem for all nations, we, the undersigned, dissociate ourselves from Babylon, that is to say from the existing Churches and Sects, and unite to establish the German Temple, to carry out the Law, the Gospel and the Prophesy’.

PALESTINE

Some years earlier (in 1858) the friends of Jerusalem had sent 3 people to Palestine to explore the possibilities of settling there. This commission comprised Christoph Hoffmann and Georg Hardegg and the wine grower Joseph Bubeck. On their return they reported that settling there would raise many difficulties, but was possible for people who nurtured the agricultural ground and who supported each other in the true spirit of followers of Jesus (non-dogmatic Christianity, the rich supporting the poor and people living honestly in their striving for the Kingdom of God on earth).

Bubeck later withdrew from the Templers. Was this a sign of a problem developing? A rift did develop between the two leaders Hardegg and Hoffmann. Hardegg was head of the worldly administration of the Temple. He was the practical doer and Hoffmann was happy that Hardegg took this job. Hoffmann took the title of Bishop and was responsible for the spiritual life of the Temple. One factor contributing to the rift was Hardegg’s insistence that the spiritual gifts of 1 Corinthians 12 like healing by laying on of hands was part of the spiritual goals of Christianity and should be practiced by Templers. One elder, Martin Blaich, did such acts of healing. Hoffmann, when looking at what took place identified deception by a woman who ‘had been healed’ and was associated with ‘healing’ others. He insisted that such healing had to stop. Despite this open opposition between the two leaders they continued with others to work together preparing for migration to Palestine.

Their planning took time. Some young Templers could wait no longer and several small groups of young Templers migrated to Palestine against the wishes of the leaders. They had difficulties and some settlers died. The official migration started with the two leaders and their families leaving in August 1868. The Templer Office in Germany, now led by Christoph Paulus, and the budding settlements in Palestine controlled further migration carefully so that persons with necessary trades and professional experience arrived when and where this was needed. This planned migration was successful and the settlements prospered and grew.

The last pages of Hoffmann’s autobiography describe the long journey of the 2 leaders and their families. Calling on consuls and Turkish officials to obtain papers necessary for settling on leased land delayed them greatly. They had still not got the required papers when they left Constantinople. The permission never arrived and they had to buy land anyway. The journey was difficult enough. But the real tragedy is that both leaders were ‘hampered in their activities’ by the rift that had grown between them. Imagine approaching a long cherished goal, arriving in a promised land, while a severe quarrel between the two family heads inhibits the steps that each would have taken to make their joint future more secure. And what about the wives and other family members? No word mentions them.

The last page of the book records the visit by survivors of earlier unsuccessful migrant groups to the leaders when they arrived at Haifa. Hardegg asked Hoffmann to do what he had always done in similar situations, to hold a religious meeting. Hoffmann, not wishing to start again on earlier terms, which he no longer accepted, ignored the suggestion. His book ends: ‘So our life in Palestine started with a difference of opinion, perfectly understood by us two, but quite unexpected by the others’. This is the first occasion where survival of the Temple Society was at risk.

An offer of property from a failed American settlement in Jaffa was accepted by Hoffmann, who led a Templer settlement there. Later he started a settlement and school in Jerusalem. Hardegg, headed the original settlement in Haifa. Later Hardegg was accused of misusing Templer funds. He resigned from the Temple Society. This triggered a resignation of a significant group of Templers in Haifa. They all rejoined the Lutheran church. (At this point I have to say that most of the Templer literature of that time was written by Hoffmann. This record of their differences of opinion is from Hoffmann’s perspective. Hardegg’s perspective may well have been different.)

Despite this strife at the top, the existing settlements prospered and new settlements were started as the next generation of Templers grew up in Palestine. For the youth of Haifa the twin settlements of Waldheim (for the Lutherans) and Bethlehem in Galilee (for the Templers) were located five kilometres apart. I am not aware of any significant quarrel between Templers and Palestine Lutherans. They continued to work together in the same spirit that made the settlements successful.

The first World War led to internment in Egypt of Templers from the southern settlements. Repatriation to Germany followed. For several years these settlers were not allowed to return to their settlements. But they did return. Great Britain had been given a Mandate Government of Palestine. The settlements were restored and they flourished again. Templers got on well with the Government and marriages between Templers and British officers were not uncommon. There were plans to buy more land in the Middle East for new settlements when the outbreak of World War 2 brought an end to the Templer settlements in Palestine. We Germans were suddenly enemies in the land in which we had settled and lived peacefully since 1868. We had pioneered and opened up the country. Jewish migrants had increased in numbers. Arabs had worked on our farms and in our houses and had learned to trust completely the word of these German settlers. But we were transported to Australia or back to Germany. Many could then have thought that the Temple Society was now dead. This is the second occasion where survival seemed unlikely.

REESTABLISHMENT AFTER WW2

Our older Templers will remember the events during the war and afterwards. Serving soldiers fell in battle or finished up in prisoner of war camps in various countries. A large group of Templers was transported to Australia in the Queen Elizabeth, and then interned in camps near Tatura and elsewhere. Others were exchanged from Palestine to Germany for Jewish migrants to Palestine. Some Templers remained in Palestine until the British Mandate neared its end. Their camps now provided security for them from Arab-Jewish fighting, The Government used army trucks to allow these remaining settlers to flee to the coast. They crossed to Cyprus and lived in a tent camp by the sea, until passage could be obtained for them to travel to Australia or Germany.

In Australia, many young Templers in the German language school in camp went on to Universities or Technical colleges. Many became professionals, in Universities and Colleges in various fields of study, others became medical doctors and nurses. Still others became very successful in trades and farming. In general, Australia presented big opportunities for young Templers. The older Templers had to work hard, but most succeeded and improved their lives.

As Templers were allowed to leave internment camps, they thought about maintaining contacts with other camp inmates. The circular letter of the Temple Society was started in the Tatura internment camp and the first meeting of Templers in the Melbourne area took place at Mornington within months of the first families being released form camp in 1946. In August 1950 the Temple Society Australia was founded in Melbourne. Three communities, Boronia, Bayswater and Bentleigh were founded in Melbourne about or shortly after 1950. This community in Sydney was also founded in 1950 and there were smaller groups of Templers in country areas like the Barossa Valley in South Australia and elsewhere. Like in Palestine the Templers and Palestine Lutherans continued to live and work together and help each other in the same spirit as in Palestine.

In Germany, it was probably harder for the Templers to overcome the serious war damage. But as in Australia, the Temple Society of Germany was formed and its membership continues to live a rich Templer life. Templers today administer themselves independently in the Temple Society Australia and the Tempelgesellschaft in Deutschland eV. Since the early 1970s the two regions have elected a joint Templer President (Tempelvorsteher), whose role is to represent the Templer ideals in both regions and to guide each region to follow the same Templer faith. Australians and Germans have served as presidents.

TODAY

The Temple Society in Germany joined and contributes to the Association of Free Christians. German Templers also interact with Israeli historians and architects in the documentation of Templer achievements before the state of Israel was created. Israel has become very interested in what Templers had achieved in the country before they arrived. Original houses of Templer settlements are being preserved. German Templers actively service two Cemeteries in Israel in which the remains of Templers from the various community cemeteries have been reburied. The membership of German Templers is ageing and numbers of members will decrease in the near future. To survive, Templers in Germany must increase the numbers of younger people joining the society.

In Australia, Melbourne Templers started quite early to use English in meetings and religious services. This has allowed the younger generations to be confirmed in English and then join as members. Membership numbers have reduced as the Palestine-born have aged. But in recent years this trend has slowed and membership may even increase again as Australian born children of members and their friends join the Society. In Sydney the community persisted with German religious services for longer. An active younger generation of Sydney members have so far not become members because apparently they associate religion with German language. I expect you are all working on this.

There are archives in both Germany and Australia. Particularly in Germany, the archive is being used by academics from Israel and others interested in Templer history. In Australia historians are starting to use the archive to document Templer history in Australia.

Like in Germany the Australian Temple Society has sought cooperation with other religious groups. In the Bentleigh area we have been members of the Glen Eira South Ministers Association, our cooperation started by our first Regional Head, Dr. Richard Hoffmann. In Bayswater, we are founding members of the more recently formed Knox Interfaith Network. This is an initiative of the Knox City Council with the purpose of defusing hostility between different religions, particularly with Islam, because Muslims have been accused of committing atrocities in the current ‘War on Terror’. This Knox Interfaith Network has been a wonderful association where we Templers have met people from many religions. Currently a Muslim is our Chairman, a Sikh is Deputy Chairman, a Roman Catholic is Secretary and I am the Treasurer. The activities of this interfaith network reflect the harmony within Australia’s multicultural population, which is thriving particularly well in Melbourne.

Our current position, both in Germany and in Australia, gives us an opportunity to contribute to religion and to peace on earth, when mankind seems to be having trouble avoiding wars and atrocities. Will we be able to make a contribution? Let us look back over our history once more. What might we achieve in the future?

THE FUTURE

How did the Temple Society survive the serious differences of opinion between our founding leaders? After all, other attempts to settle in Palestine had not succeeded, and the Zionists with their dream of living in Palestine, only started to settle there in numbers after Templers had been successful. And how did the Temple Society overcome the complete loss of its life’s work, its settlements in Palestine?

Christoph Hoffmann wrote numerous religious works. Other early Templer leaders, Christoph Paulus and Georg Hardegg, also contributed but with relatively few works. The first part of Hoffmann’s book ‘Occident und Orient’ (translated into English as ‘The Temple Society and its Settlements in the Holy Land’) is for me the best source for finding answers. This book appeared in 1875, when Hoffmann could look back over the successful migration to Palestine and the growth of the Templers’ Christian settlements. It is clear from this book that Hoffmann had undergone great changes in his understanding of religion and general knowledge based on science since he, Hardegg and others started the German Temple.

Chapter 3, entitled ‘What Templers Believe’, is just 5 pages. The following quotations contain some very important statements.

‘The way to ensure that the right philosophy of life is preserved in a religious society is not by teaching to the members the doctrines which try to express this philosophy. It is far better to make sure that spiritual leadership is placed in the hands of people who possess a mature religious understanding. More of that later …’ and we skip a little.
‘It follows then that the Temple Society does not stipulate a particular creed which one must accept in order to become a member. Much less do we wish to restrict free research in science or history through articles of faith. On the contrary, it is the Temple Society’s wish that its members carry out thorough research, in order to progress towards greater enlightenment and become proficient in all the gifts of the Spirit.’

In this paragraph Hoffmann has freed the Templer religion from dogmas and creeds and opened it up to study and knowledge, not just in theology but in all of science. It follows that religion is not separate from science. Religion should use science to achieve the true religious goal, that mankind should strive above all else for ‘the kingdom of God’ (that is living in peace with others and in harmony with all life on earth). By doing that all other problems (poverty, sickness, etc.) can be solved. This goal is expressed biblically in Matthew 6: 33 and has become the Templer Motto. Hoffmann also says, shortly after:

‘It is true that modern theologians claim that the idea of resurrection was first borrowed by the Israelites from the teachings of Zoroaster during their captivity in Babylon. Dr. Strauß and his school are supposed to have discovered that the description of Jesus Christ in the Gospels is that of a fictitious legendary character. But even if this were so, it would not alter the fact that this ideal and the way to its realization as demonstrated by the Christ of the gospels meets a profound human need and therefore shows us the goal we must strive towards and the way to attain it.’

The irony I mentioned earlier is that Hoffmann’s election to the German National Government was successful because devout country Christians, with their creeds and dogmas, backed him against Strauß, who had started the scientific or historical search for what actually happened in biblical times. Hoffmann, even 27 years after that election, may still not have seen clearly just how much he actually did open up the Templer religion to studies such as Strauß had initiated. It may be that Strauß’ colleagues took scientific study as being opposed to religion. This would have contributed to Hoffmann’s continuing skepticism about Strauß’ work just expressed above. Dr. Brigitte Hoffmann, regional head of the German Templers, recently wrote in an article that we Templers would probably have voted for Strauß if that election had taken place today.

Now for the really important matter. I believe that what Hoffmann had written in this chapter seems to have been what the original Friends of Jerusalem had understood and why they had joined the German Temple when it was formed. These ordinary, thoughtful, people used available knowledge and their common sense to promote success in settling and in living completely honestly and in neighborly love in their settlements. Obviously they also treated their Arab labourers and their Jewish business and agricultural clients or competitors in the same way. They demonstrated what peace humans can achieve on earth, if your religious goal is to achieve such real peace. Their growing of little forests suggests they were striving for long-term sustainable use of their environment. With such striving for lasting peace, these ordinary but highly motivated Templers must have been able to continue, despite deep rifts among the leaders. In the same way, the theological division into Templers and Lutherans apparently did not affect the common striving for real peace.

If I am right in my analysis, then it is obvious that the Templers’ striving for the ‘kingdom of God’, understood with modern common sense, provides answers to many of the world’s current problems. For the Temple Society to grow in the future it is up to us to make use of the many connections we now have. Our world has changed greatly from that of the Temple Society in Palestine and even Australia when we came here. Fewer people live in small communities where mutual help grows naturally. Sadly, our western world emphasises progress of the individual before the health of our community, particularly for those living in cities. We will have many opportunities for us to let goodwill grow between what are essentially strangers in our neighborhoods. Our world is full of challenges for our Templer religion, simple as it is, to be applied in practice. Even atheists, interested only in the welfare of people but without religious trappings can agree that living in peace and cooperation is necessary if humans are not to contribute to our own extinction.

There are well-known people moving in the same direction as our religion. The theologians Bishop Spong, and Robert Funk of the Jesus seminar, speak highly of Dr. Strauß. They are also discovering what the original Templer Settlers have already put into practice. We should make efforts to meet them and to offer them our cooperation.

It is not enough to sit back and relax, and say: ‘Yes our ancestors understood Jesus properly and they have set a good example. That would be hypocrisy which Jesus condemned. No, we should be grateful for the tremendous fortune we have had in growing up in the Temple Society despite wars, removal to a new country and internment. We can spread the wisdom of Jesus, and then strive above everything else for that possible better state that humanity can achieve, the Kingdom of God expressed in modern words. It is important for us to start taking concrete steps.
Our reward will be a more satisfied life.

Let’s finish with the Lord’s prayer.

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us when in temptation and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours forever.
Amen.

We conclude with the hymn 121 (Was Gott tut das ist wohlgetan V. 1.2 and 4)

My thanks to Ernie, for the music, and to all of you for listening. Have a wonderful day!

Elder: Rolf Beilharz.

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AGAPE 

Thursday, 5th April 2007
Templer Community Chapel, Bayswater – 6:00pm
Elder: Herta Uhlherr

Music: CDs
Meal: Renate Weber (15 people attended)

Welcome – Seid alle heute Abend herzlich willkommen – welcome! Wir werden wie üblich zusammen die drei Gs feiern: Gedenken – we come together in remembrance of Jesus’ last night of earthly life; Gebet – prayer, also silent contemplation and music; and Gemeinschaft – community, all in the spirit of agape, compassionate love. I will be speaking in German and English. In einigen Stunden feiern unsere Freunde in Stuttgart auch Agape.
Much of the Protestant, and certainly Templer tradition, has become more focussed on the head, with sermons and text analysis, rather than on the heart, to which the Catholics speak with ‘bells and smells’, incense, etc. We do well to, at least occasionally, engage the heart, and so enrich our experience by opening our hearts and souls, as well as our minds, to the deeper dimension of Spirit. Perhaps we will get a sense of the presence, or the voice, of the Divine, maybe even be grasped by it. It’s not something we can force to happen, but we can open ourselves to the possibility of being touched by it.
We’ll set the mood by listening to Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine. This canticle (or song) is our fervent opening prayer, asking the Divine to look favourably upon those here assembled, and to be with us with grace and blessing.
CD Praise II, Track 13, 5:26 mins.
Holy Week traditionally has services held after dark on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. The darkness, the emotive events, the solemn texts and the wonderful and intense music combine to make Tenebrae – these dark services – one of the most powerful experiences in the Christian year. We’ll hear from Rachmaninov’s setting of the All Night Vigil, also called Vespers, from the Russian Orthodox tradition: Bless the Lord, o my soul, based on Psalms 103-4. It is full of devotion, Andacht, und ist echter Gottesdienst. You’ll hear ‘gospoda’, that means ‘Lord’ – It’s an ancient Orthodox chant.
Lights off
CD: Rachmaninov Vespers, track 2, Blagoslovi 5:35
Each person lights a taper for the sand box.

1. Gedenken – Remembrance
Telling the story again each year with words, symbols and music, keeps the memory of it alive; it helps illuminate the stories of our own individual lives and binds us together.
Unsere Agape-Feier geht zurück auf die ersten Christengemeinden. In der Apostelgeschichte (2:42, 46) lessen wir: ‘Sie bildeten eine enge Gemeinschaft, ließen sich von den Aposteln unterweisen, hielten in gegenseitiger Liebe zusammen, brachen das Brot miteinander und beteten gemeinsam.’
‘They met regularly to hear the apostles teach and to share communal life, to break bread together and to pray.’ (Acts 2:42).
They remembered their friend and Master, Jesus, and studied and reinforced his teaching, they practised communal sharing – community – and prayed and ate together, everything in the spirit of agape – love. this we want to do, too. Wir wollen heute Abend auch in Gemeinschaft und Liebe unseres Leitbilds und seiner Botschaft gedenken.
‘Seine Gesinnung und seine Lebenseinstellung haben seit damals immer wieder die Menschen berührt, und eine veränderte Sicht ihres Lebens bewirkt. Auch für uns ist er Richtungsweiser für das, was wir Menschen von Gott her sein sollen und was uns in unserem Leben aufgegeben ist.
‘Nicht nur in seiner Lehre vom wachsenden Gottesreich ist Jesus den Menschen im Gedächtnis geblieben, sondern auch in seiner Bereitschaft, für die Wahrheit einzustehen und dafür leiden und selbst den Tod auf sich zu nehmen.’ Dieses Vorleben und Vor-leiden führt uns das wahre Menschsein überzeugend vor Augen.
Versetzen wir uns jetzt an seinen letzten Abend unter seinen Freunden. Er hat das Brot gebrochen, gedankt, den Wein herumgereicht... do this in memory of me – denkt dabei an mich. Dann kommt das zu Herzen betrübte Ringen im dunklen Garten Gethsemane. Hier hören wir den Gesang aus Taizé: ‘Bleibet hier und wachet mit mir, wachet und betet’ – stay here and keep watch with me, watch and pray. But his disciples, exhausted, keep falling asleep while Jesus agonises over his impending suffering – and the temptation to avoid it and escape.
Have we had such a dark night of the soul – have we been so sorely tempted?
CD Gesänge aus Taizé, track 10, 3:32 Bleibet hier…

2. Gebet – Prayer
Von Jesus wissen wir, dass er sich oft ins Gebet vertieft hat. Bei jeder Mahlzeit hat er Gott gedankt. Die inner Verbindung zu Gott war ihm größtes, innerstes Bedürfnis. Sein Gebet in Lebensgefahr im Garten Gethsemane ist zutiefst bewegend. But, despite his understandable fear, he is finally able to pray: not my will, but Yours be done. – Have you had such moments? – I remember when my beautiful little son was in grave danger, and I fervently willed him to live – prayed if it be possible, let him live! But finally I was able to say – not my will, but Yours be done… that was so hard , but also a relief to surrender.
‛Im Beten sucht der Mensch die Verbindung zu Gott, zu der Kraft und Wirklichkeit, die ihn hält und trägt’. Wie andere von euch es sicher auch schon erfahren haben, habe ich in jener kritischen Nacht die Kraft gespürt, die mich hielt und trug – und seither immer wieder trägt. Praying for the best outcome for our family, our community, our country, the planet… is a way of saying to the Infinite Intelligence we believe is guiding the universe: Your will be done. We have faith that, at some level that we do not understand, it all makes sense. Human beings have a deep need for their lives and their suffering to have meaning, a strong need to feel safe in God, although he remains a mystery to our limited understanding.
Next we’ll hear from the contemporary composer Morten Lauridsen with his O magnum mysterium – oh great mystery.
The careful dissonances remind us that the Ineffable – ‘God’ – is not predictable, not graspable. Sensing him can make our feelings soar like the music, but there is much that puzzles us as well. Feel the base vibration that hold and carries the rest of the music.
CD: Praise II, track 14, 6:24, or fade out at 4:30; 5:15.

3. Gemeinschaft – Community
We are told Jesus said, ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in your midst’. We welcome his presence here.
‘Das Miteinander-zu-Tisch-Sitzen stiftet Gemeinschaft. Das Miteinander-Essen im Geist Jesu stärkt nicht nur den Körper, sondern auch die Zusammengehörigkeit’ – man überwindet Unterschiede und betont, was allen Menschen gemeinsam ist: das Bedürfnis nach Geborgenheit, Zuwendung und Liebe.
We are reminded that, when Jesus and his disciples gathered for that Last Supper, he washed their feet to show them that, in a true community, no one person is superior to another; each one is called to serve the others. On the whole, I think Templers are quite good at that.
Still, we pray that we might increasingly speak and act with agape, with unconditional love, with joy and a peaceful heart. We pray for the experience of being cared for and valued, and that we ourselves can value and care for one another.
We think of those who are not here, including our families…
of those who need support and our good thoughts…
of those whom we have hurt, or who have hurt us… help us to forgive and be reconciled.

We are urged to ‘watch and pray’ –‘wachet und betet’. Let us be aware, and take every opportunity we can to be there for people in pain. But if we do fall asleep because we are exhausted, let us forgive ourselves.
Shortly, we’ll share ‘bread and wine’ in remembrance of the Last Supper, a simple meal, perhaps a little like the early Christians and perhaps our Templer forebears did. [Here Meta Beilharz said that she remembers being at the last such service in Haifa – probably in the early 1920s?] We’ll break the bread as it’s passed along to symbolize our sharing. (Luke 22:19 – Keep doing this in remembrance of me).
Let us join hands for grace:
We give thanks that we can meet like this in safety; we give thanks for this bread and this wine, that symbolise our bond with our Master and all his friends. We ask for blessing on this food – may it make us strong, loving and cheerful. Amen.
As food is brought, here is a piece by the Venetian, Gabrieli; it’s called O sacrum convivium. I haven’t found a translation, but it sounds to me like ‘sacred conviviality’, like ‘have a lovely feast in the spirit of agape’ J.
CD: Praise II, track 9, O sacrum convivium 4:03
Change CD – Galway: Wings of Song for during the meal.

Conclusion
We have focussed on remembrance, on prayer and community and shared a meal.

Worte zum Ausklang:
Die Welt lebt von Worten, die Gott zu uns spricht.
Wir wollen dich hören, verlass uns, Herr, nicht!
Die Welt lebt von Taten, die Gott durch uns tut.
Zu Tat und Gehorsam gib Glauben und Mut!
Die Welt lebt von Liebe, die Gott ihr erweist.
Und wir sind die Boten. Gib, Herr, uns den Geist!
Kurt Rommel

A sincere thankyou to those who helped create this celebration. My hope is that we have all been able to experience a sense of connection, of the unity that is part of community and of agape – may we carry it with us into our ‘normal’ lives.
There is a box for donations, if you would like to contribute. Tomorrow, the Good Friday service is here at 10:15am. The Easter service is at Bentleigh at 10:15 (bus) and at Phillip Island at 12 noon, both with egg hunts for the children.
Let us say the Lord’s Prayer together.
Our Father…
To close, we’ll hear a different Deep Peace from past Agape celebrations – Elgar’s Nimrod variation with the group Amici singing of eternal light and peace – and the hope of resurrection, lux aeternam luceat, may the eternal light shine – indeed! It’s a ‘rich tapestry’ of wonderful music.
CD: Amici track 9, 4:09.
When we’ve cleaned up, may we all go forth with light and deep peace in our hearts.
Happy holy days!

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This service is partly based on, and quotes from, Peter Lange’s Agape service of 2005 in Stuttgart. We sent greetings to the TGD Agape gathering, who no doubt thought of us, too.

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Alternative Service in Bentleigh, Saturday 5 May
Elder: Mark Herrmann

Introductory music – Ingrid Laemmle-Ruff

Good evening and welcome to this service, which I loosely advertised in the Templer Record as an Alternative Service. The obvious question to ask is alternative to what? One answer is tradition and habit.

I often wonder about attendance at our regular services. Are we doing enough to offer an alternative to the usual Sunday service, the only general variation being whether it is held in the morning or afternoon? With today’s busy lifestyles the notion of Sunday as a day of rest and going to church as an obligation has long past us by. We have other commitments and priorities constantly vying for our input and attention, and we make choices about how we want to spend our time. For many, comfortable in an increasingly secular world, religion – whatever we take that to mean – does not rank highly, if at all. With such changes in our routines, have we also been open to the challenges of reassessing the way we do things within our community?

Some of my fellow Elders questioned the sense or purpose of a non-Sunday service, asking who would come. Naturally, I didn’t know in advance, and could only suggest that if we didn’t try, we’d never know. Of course, I worried about only one or two people coming. If not a soul came, I would ask Ingrid to kindly play her piano music for my listening pleasure, I would warmly thank her, pack up the chairs and we’d both go home. The trial of a Saturday service – at least at this particular time of day and year – could then be confirmed as an abject failure. But, only a handful coming, apart from proving inconclusive, would have presented a rather uncomfortable sense of connectedness and forced intimacy for all concerned, particularly in this large space. Thankfully, a few more of you have ventured out this evening. Would you have come tomorrow (that is on a Sunday) anyway? Have you just come to offer support and bolster the numbers? Only you know the honest answers to these questions. Nonetheless, I thank you for braving the elements and sacrificing your customary viewing of the football or curling up with a good book beside the fire or sharing a good red wine at a dinner party with friends or whatever you usually do on a Saturday night.

So, having established you’re probably all here under false pretences (!), let me proceed with my thinking about tradition and habit. I will try to do this in a religious context that is in a fashion I can relate to and make some sense of. But, first, I need a basis from which to work. Housed in its Religious Perspective publication, under various headings including God, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Mankind and Bible, the Temple Society, as an independent, dogma-free Christian community, offers a succinct statement of the essence of its identity, faith and practical concerns in current times. As the preface declares, the statement is intended to serve as an agreed frame of reference and clear guide for our own members, and also as a useful point of departure for discussions and for exchanges of view with adherents of other Christian denominations or of other faiths. As you will have recently read in the Templer Record, the Elders are seeking to enhance this publication with excerpts from a collection of past services and other relevant material, thus providing examples to extend and broaden our understandings under these same headings. The Religious Perspective framework provides the scope for community members to formulate their own personal beliefs. And scope it certainly does provide. I well remember the publication’s initial printing and circulation to all members a few years ago. It sparked some resignations from individuals unable to reconcile their faith with the booklet’s contents. This is each individual’s right and is certainly not intended as criticism. What I found intriguing, however, was the fact that some resigned their membership because they considered the subject matter too religious, yet others resigned in disagreement with material they deemed not religious enough! Undoubtedly faith is a personal perception and experience. Apart from the Temple Society’s faith framework providing scope, I find another attraction to be its ability to accommodate change and development in the outlook of one’s belief. I shall return to this publication and its contents shortly.

Let us now sing together hymn number 2 "A New Commandment", twice, its text taken from a verse in the Gospel according to John.

In Alfred Klink’s final service, here in Bentleigh in November last year, he spoke about changes in our understanding of cosmology over the last 400 years. The astronomer Copernicus proposed a new way to visualise the solar system by displacing the Earth from the centre of the universe. However, because this by itself did not improve the understanding of what was seen in the sky, the proposal was not supported. Only through the subsequent work of Kepler and Galileo, involving the rotation of the Earth on its axis, did the Copernicus proposal gain credence and become the revolutionary step forward in our understanding of the universe. Apart from showing a keen interest in the subject matter, Alfred used the example to illustrate how people are reluctant to give up an idea, a way of thinking, they are used to or have become accustomed to. Again, tradition and habit … For me this then begs the question how much tradition and habit in what and how we believe is capable of change.

In his service Alfred also made reference to the writings of John Shelby Spong, the controversial American bishop, now retired. I sensed a resonance with some of my own thinking and decided to explore a little further. I borrowed one of Spong’s recent books – entitled "A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith is Dying and How a New Faith is Being Born" – from the library, although, here I do have a confession to make. I am not a reader, preferring numbers to words, particularly when looking for "answers". After all, I have a love of mathematics with its penchant for a solution. But here, and I must stress this, in the area of one’s faith and convictions, there can be no correct or incorrect answer. What I believe in and can reconcile in my mind, need not be what you believe in and can reconcile in your mind. In grappling with concepts and arguments that are powerful, confronting and challenging, and for which there is no prescribed solution in the back of the book, I believe one must be comfortable and honest with the assessment, interpretation and application of one’s faith. I did make an attempt to read Spong’s book and actually succeeded in tackling most of it. However, given I am far from a religious scholar, a firmer grasp of the concepts posed would probably benefit from at least a second and more thorough reading. Despite the less than familiar territory, I found that Spong builds his arguments carefully, thoughtfully and, I think, logically and convincingly.

Spong writes, "To suggest that God and one’s own understanding of God are the same is not only to stop growing, it is to die to the quest for truth." To me, this indicates the need for a belief system, not rooted in tradition and habit, but capable of growing and evolving with us. Spong realised his previous book entitled "Why Christianity Must Change or Die" had only shown hints, not well-developed ideas, about the evolving directions in which he hoped the Christianity of the future might move. The unanswered questions that had been raised for him by his readers now flooded his mind, crying out to be addressed. What does God look like beyond theism? Does such a God matter? Who is Christ when traditional concepts such as incarnation, atonement and the Trinity no longer communicate any meaning? Spong defines the theistic God as "a being, supernatural in power, dwelling outside this world and invading the world periodically to accomplish the divine will." He says, "Everybody wants a parent figure in the sky who is supernatural and will take care of me. Nobody wants to grow up and accept that we’re responsible for the world we live in." It is this concept of God, and with it much of what has traditionally defined the content of the Christian faith, that Spong proceeds to deconstruct. He finds himself prepared to lay the literalness of traditional Christianity aside in order to chart a new Christian future.

As Templers, Spong’s frequent references to a "new", a "future", a "reformulated" or a "radical" Christian vision may cause you to quietly smile to yourself. Already in the book’s introduction, I thought it was clear that Spong and the Temple Society have much in common. But I was wary of taking Spong’s interpretations of such concepts as God, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Mankind and Bible out of context and so read on with increased fascination. I will now try to show the strong parallels I believe exist between his thinking and the framework in which the identity, faith and practical concerns of the Temple Society are expressed.

PowerPoint slideshow
[use mouse-click to advance through the show, press Exit or the Close (X) Button to return to Mark's Service]

I hope this fairly detailed revisiting of the Religious Perspective booklet will not prompt any new resignations of membership!

If Spong and others like him provide a distinctive echo to the work and endeavours of the Temple Society, are we – its members – prepared to embrace and share with them? I have made some copies of the slides presented should anyone be interested. I invite further examination and would also encourage the possibility of future group discussion.

Sadly, I suspect that John Shelby Spong is blissfully unaware of the Temple Society’s existence and the fact that it was established close to 150 years ago. He is coming to Sydney in August of this year as part of an international gathering of religious progressives to affirm the contribution of reasonable and tolerant religion to public discourse in our society. A number of Elders have expressed interest in attending the conference and associated workshops promoted under the banner of "Common Dreams – progressive religion as a transforming agent". I wonder how receptive to the Temple Society and its ideals Spong and others at the conference will be upon being introduced. I view this as an occasion to be firmly grasped with both hands.

Let us now sing together hymn number 91 "Pebbles", both verses, because of the opportunities I think this comparative assessment – TSA and Bishop Spong – presents to us.

In 1999 the New York chapter of a humanist organisation presented Spong with their "Humanist of the Year" award. Almost immediately some of his ecclesiastical critics suggested that he was not really a Christian at all, but a humanist. In their minds being a humanist and being a Christian were mutually exclusive. This rhetoric revealed that in their minds a Christian was one who was defined by a negative view of humanity. The opposite of a humanist, Spong insisted, is not a Christian but either an anti-humanist or one who is inhumane. To those who say Spong’s religion is little more than a facile form of secular humanism, he replies that Christianity should issue in humanism, or it will issue in inhumanity, and he sees nothing wrong in becoming more human.

There are questions, questions and more questions, but the primary question Spong seeks to raise in his book is this: Can a person claim with integrity to be a Christian and at the same time dismiss, as he has done, so much of what has traditionally defined the content of the Christian faith? I am sure this same question has been levelled at Templers too. Spong himself is in no doubt, saying that his problem has never been his faith but the literal way that others have chosen to articulate it.

I have focussed much of this service on an examination of Spong’s book, borrowing considerably from its contents. I hope I haven’t given the impression that I am fully cognisant of all of the subject material. I struggle with concepts of spirituality, divinity and what could be called the "non-real" – notions beyond our earthly reality. What does make sense to me though is internalising God and understanding "Acts of God" – both good and bad – as human endeavours, consistent with the definition of a non-theist.

I acknowledge that much of this "religious" language takes some getting your head around – I have had the benefit of slowly becoming more familiar over a matter of weeks of preparation – and fear that for many good secular people it is probably a turn off. Yet, I hope that anyone who is prepared to live fully by sharing deeply, to love wastefully by spreading and giving away love, and to risk all in abandoning their defences and their self-imposed or culturally constructed security systems – irrespective of whether they acknowledge a belief framework or not – could feel comfortable and be honest with themselves in the midst of our community. But that, I feel, must wait for another day’s discussion.

As a concluding example, which reflects my limited level of progress but also offers a way in which I think the realisation of the Kingdom of God on earth can move closer, I offer this passage from Spong: "Human love begins as a love for the image of ourselves that we project onto others and then receive back onto ourselves. That projection is what happens when we love those who are, initially, only extensions of ourselves. We love our primary caregivers first, and then in ever-widening circles we move to our immediate family, our extended family, our friends, our neighbours, our tribe, our nation, and finally humanity itself. We pause in a kind of fearful anxiety at every boundary that marks a transition into a larger orbit. The further out we venture, the more difficult we discover it is to love; for increasingly, as the circles widen, we begin to see that we have to love for love’s sake, not for our sake."

Let us finish by singing together hymn number 108 "The Blessing", twice, where in place of "our God" you should feel free to sing "your God".

I thank you for stepping outside your comfort zone to attend this evening’s service and offer my appreciation to Ingrid and all the helpers. Please stay for a cuppa and biscuit which, though hardly a tradition, is still a very good idea!

Concluding music – Ingrid Laemmle-Ruff

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SAAL im Altersheim Bayswater, 15 April
Elder: Rolf Beilharz

Lied: 50, In allen meinen Taten, Verse 1, 2 und 3.

Text: Matth. 16: 13 - 20.

Meines Erachtens ist dieser Text erst später in den Mund Jesu's gelegt worden. Denn der Text drückt ja ganz genau aus was nach Jesu’s Tod geschehen ist. Seine Zeitgenossen hatten alle schon Jesus als jemand ausserordentliches erkannt. Daran konnte niemand zweifeln. Denn Jesus hatte während seiner Lehrerzeit viel Aufsehen erregt. Er hatte nicht wie andere gepredigt, sondern mit Autorität. Und er hatte nicht das Gleiche wie die anderen religiösen Lehrer, die Priester und Rabbis, gesagt, sondern Neues, das oft von den Autoritäten gar nicht gern gehört wurde. Deshalb hatten auch Leute sich Gedanken gemacht ob denn Jesus vielleicht doch Johannes der Täufer war, obwohl man gehört hatte dass dieser von Herodes umgebracht gewesen war. Oder war vielleicht Jesus einer der früheren Propheten wieder auferstanden?

Als Jesus dann selbst getötet wurde, am Kreuz, haben sich die Jünger als erstes nach ihrer Heimat, Galiläa, geflüchtet. Danach fanden sie wieder Mut, sammelten sich in Jerusalem und fingen an zu predigen über Jesus. Unter sich hatten sie die Gewissheit bekommen dass Jesus wieder lebte. Auf jeden Fall waren sie sicher dass der Geist Jesu, das was er ihnen mitgegeben hatte, ewige Wahrheit hatte und auf immer weiterleben würde. Ihr Glaube dass dieser ausserordentliche Mensch Jesus doch mehr als normal gewesen sein musste, dass er also doch der von den Juden erwartete Messias war, obwohl die Juden das nicht anerkannt hatten, wurde immer stärker. Und dieser Messias war ja Gottes Sohn, der Erleuchtete, also der Christus.

Nur die am Anfang ganz kleine Gruppe um die Apostel, die ehemaligen Jünger, hat damals behauptet dass Jesus der Christus Gottes war. Die zeitgenössischen Juden haben das strikt abgelehnt obwohl sie zugeben mussten dass Jesus ein ausserordentlicher Mensch gewesen sein musste. Diese Gruppe ist aber gewachsen und aus ihr ist die Christenheit entstanden. In dieser ersten christlichen Gemeinde hat Simon Petrus die führende Stelle gehabt und man konnte gut sagen dass er in Sachen Christenheit, alle Dinge binden und lassen hat können. Er hatte die Autorität und was er nicht erlaubte geschah auch nicht. Und er war der Fels, der Petrus, auf welchen sich die Gemeinde bauen konnte.

Heute weiss man dass die Evangelien erst 30 bis 50 Jahre nach Jesu Tod entstanden sind. Kann man erwarten dass alles was darin steht bis ins letzte Detail genau stimmt? In unserem Text stand im letzten Vers den ich las, dass Jesus seinen Jüngern verbot dieses Geheimnis, das er damals ihnen gesagt hat, weiterzuerzählen. Eben deshalb meine ich dass diese Geschichte erst später, als man schon erlebt hatte wie die Christenheit sich entwickelt hat, geschrieben worden ist, so als ob Jesus alles schon vorausgesagt habe. Warum denn? Warum liess man es nicht bei den genauen Tatsachen?

Als erstes war man sich nach mindestens dreissig Jahren nicht mehr ganz sicher was denn alles Jesus in den Einzelheiten gesagt hat. Man wusste den Sinn seiner Lehre, worauf er hinaus wollte. Aber es ist nicht zu erwarten dass nach so langer Zeit alle Einzelheiten bis ins letzte Detail stimmen. Aber viel wichtiger ist dass man in der Zeit Jesu die Ursachen des Weltgeschehens ganz anders verstand als heute. Menschen damals fanden es viel leichter an übernatürliche Wunder zu glauben. Der Gedanke dass Jesus direkt von Gott gezeugt wurde, und deshalb von einer Jungfrau geboren wurde, kam auch auf und wurde von vielen geglaubt. So ist es nicht übelzunehmen, wenn die ersten Christen immer mehr gewiss wurden dass Jesus, als Gottes Sohn, auch übernatürliche Gaben hatte. Die Christen konnten so ihren Messias gegen ihre ungläubigen Mitmenschen verteidigen. Wahrscheinlich half es der jungen Christengemeinde Anhänger zu finden wenn ihr Anführer mehr als normal menschlich, also göttlich, war. Wie Ihr wisst ist dann später Jesus in dem Symbol der Dreieinigkeit ganz als Teil der Gottheit anerkannt worden.

Ich meine also dass in der damaligen Zeit, aus ganz verständlichen Gründen, die frühen Christen den Menschen Jesus vergöttert haben. Das ist nicht nur bei Jesus geschehen. Auch Gründer von anderen Religionen sind vergöttert worden. Früher geschah das viel leichter als heutzutage, obwohl man auch heute noch in manchen Sekten Tendenzen in dieser Richtung findet.

Ich habe diese Betrachtungen über unseren Text gemacht um zu fragen: Ist Jesus uns mehr wert als Gott oder als Mensch? Zu wem haben wir mehr Vertrauen, zu Jesus dem Gott oder zu Jesus dem Menschen? Brauchen wir in dem Gründer unserer christlichen Religion übernatürliche Fähigkeiten, oder ist es uns lieber dass der ausserordentliche Charakter, der solch einen großen Einfluss auf die Weltgeschichte hatte, ein Mensch war, genau so wie auch wir es sind. Lasst uns mal diesen Gedanken etwas weiter verfolgen.

Wenn Jesus übernatürliche Fähigkeiten gehabt hätte, so zum Beispiel dass er voraussehen konnte wie die Christenheit sich nach seinem Tode entwickeln würde, dann wäre sein Leben als Beispiel für unser Leben weniger wertvoll als wenn Jesus nur Mensch gewesen war, genau so wie wir. Als Gott musste er mehr bewirken, mehr dulden, mehr aushalten können als unsereins. Sein Leiden und sein Durchhalten bis ans Ende wäre dann für uns nicht maßgebend, denn ein Gott kann sich über menschliches Leiden erheben. Er ist ja mächtiger als wir.

Dagegen wenn Jesus ein Mensch war genau so wie wir, dann ist sein Leben wahrlich ein erhebendes Beispiel für unser Leben. Die Weisheit seiner Lehre, die er in bildhaften Gleichnissen so klar uns mitgab dass ihr Sinn über Jahrhunderte hinweg bestehen blieb, ist überwältigend gross. Er hat Menschen so gut verstanden. Er hat gespürt was sie drückte, woran sie litten und worüber sie sich sorgten. Und er hatte großes Mitleid mit ihnen. Das biblische Bild ist so schön. Er sah die armen Menschen wie eine Herde Schafe die ihren Hirten verloren hatte, verängstigte Tiere die nicht mehr weiter wussten. Und sein Mitleid führte ihn dazu dass er diese Menschen beruhigen, aus ihren Ängsten befreien wollte, um ihnen den wirklichen Frieden zu bringen.

In der Sprache und in dem Glauben seiner Zeit sprach er ihnen Mut zu. Ihr sollt euch Gott als einen gütigen Vater vorstellen. Gott wird euch beschützen, habt nur vertrauen. So, und durch seine Gleichnisse in welchen er den Hörern zeigte wie sie sich untereinander zu verhalten hatten, beruhigte er sie, erlöste sie von ihren Ängsten. Er schuf eine Einstellung der Menschen untereinander worin die Liebe zum Nächsten, welche im praktischen Leben die Liebe zu Gott ausdrückt, ernst genommen wurde und so ein freudiges Leben, auch unter armen Leuten, zustande kam. Es ist kein Wunder dass die ersten Christen sich von ihren Ängsten und Sorgen befreit fühlten, durch die frohe Botschaft, dieses Evangelium, welches Jesus gebracht hatte. Bei vielen ging diese Besserung ihrer Umstände so weit dass sie dabei auch körperlich gesunder wurden. Jesus, als Mensch so wie wir, hat viele Leute gesund gemacht, weil sie auf ihn gehört haben, ihm vertraut haben, und sich in ihrem Inneren ganz nach Jesus umgestellt haben. Diese große Umstellung zum Besseren hat der Mensch Jesus, mit den gleichen Kräften und Möglichkeiten die auch wir besitzen, fertig gebracht. Ist das nicht ein erhabenes Beispiel? Und fordert es nicht uns auf uns mehr in die Lehre dieses Jesus zu vertiefen, so dass er auch noch jetzt uns weiterhelfen kann, und dass wir, dem Beispiel Jesu folgend, auch unsere Fähigkeiten zum Wohl unserer Mitmenschen einsetzen so gut wir es können.

Soweit mal was er uns gelehrt hat. Beinah noch mächtiger als Beispiel und Leitfaden für uns ist seine Leidensgeschichte bis zum Tode am Kreuz. Dieser wunderbare Mensch Jesus hat gewusst dass wenn er nach Jerusalem zum Passahfest ging seine Sache schief gehen könnte, und dass er durch diese Reise sein Leben verlieren könnte. Trotzdem ging er hin. Er glaubte dass seine Lehre besser war als die herrschende jüdische Religion, mit ihrem Gottesbilde von einem gerechten aber grausamen Gott der arme Leute heimsuchte, wenn sie seine Gebote nicht alle immer einhielten. Auch gegen die Scheinheiligkeit der jüdischen religiösen Führer, mit ihrem äusserlichen Waschen aber innerlichen unmenschlichen Gedanken, hatte er stark gekämpft. Jesus wusste aus der Erfahrung seiner bisherigen Predigten dass er Menschen mit seiner neuen Gottesauffassung, worin Gott der liebende Vater ist, froh und frei machen konnte.

Wenn er recht hatte, dann musste er auch seine Auffassung in Jerusalem, bei der großen Volksmenge, vortragen. Er konnte nicht einfach wegbleiben, nur weil es um seine Haut gehen könnte. Denn, wenn er wegblieb, was sollten dann seine Anhänger von ihm denken? Also musste er hingehen.

Er trat dann auch gewaltig auf, gleich am Anfang, als er den Tempel, das Haus seines Vaters, von allem kommerziellen Betrieb, allem Ungöttlichen, säuberte. Er musste das tun wenn er seine Auffassung konsequent vertreten sollte. Aber mit welcher Gefahr ging das einher? Denn ein großer Teil der in Jerusalem führenden Menschenschicht wurde dadurch direkt vor den Kopf gestoßen und in ihrem leichten Geldverdienen gestört. Das hat dann auch seine Folgen gehabt. Die Priester und Schriftgelehrten suchten ihm Fallen zu stellen und die Menge ihm untreu zu machen. Sie taten das mit Erfolg, die Menge die Jesus so jubelnd am Palmsonntag empfangen hatte fiel von ihm ab, soweit, dass am Ende Jesus nur noch einen ganz kleinen Haufen Anhänger hatte.

Jesus hätte immer noch sein Leben retten können. Nach dem gemeinen Mahl mit seinen Jüngern hätte er immer noch Zeit gehabt Jerusalem zu verlassen. Die Geschichte vom Garten von Gethsemane zeigt den inneren Kampf den Jesus kämpfen musste um gerade diese Möglichkeit. Aber er beschloss bei seiner Sache zu bleiben, auch wenn er dabei sterben müsste. Er ergab sich ganz in den Willen Gottes. Und dieses Vertrauen in Gottes Willen hat ihn nicht verlassen bis er am Kreuze starb. Noch mit Wunden, noch als er am Kreuze hing, hat er seine Sache nicht aufgegeben. Er hat Leute noch getröstet, noch seinen Mitgekreuzigten den Weg zu Gott gezeigt. Seine Bekannten hat er, der Sterbende, noch getröstet. Und das hat der Mensch wie wir, unser Vorbild Jesus, fertig gebracht.

Deshalb ist mir Jesus, als Mensch, so ein grosses wichtiges Vorbild. Wenn es uns mal schlecht geht, wenn wir krank sind, vielleicht auch wenn wir wissen dass wir dem Ende unseres Lebens zusteuern, dann dürfen wir an Jesus denken. Warum sollen wir Menschen nicht auch so aushalten können wie Jesus? Was hindert uns solch Vertrauen wie er es hatte, zu zeigen? Warum sollen wir nicht trotz unseren Gebrechen anderen Menschen helfen. Wenn wir das fertig bringen dann zeigen wir dadurch dass wir Jesus verstanden haben und ihm nachfolgen wollen.

Wir wollen beten: (Vaterunser auf Seite 269 im Gesangbuch)

Choral: 113: Verse 1, 3 und 4.

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Good Friday Service in Bayswater, 6 April
Elder: Renate Beilharz
Text: Mark 14:53 -72
Music: Jessica Blackwell

Welcome to today’s Good Friday service. Unlike Easter Sunday, where we celebrate new life, Good Friday is traditionally a sombre and reflective day. I remember that as a child, we used to only have Good Friday services in the Temple Society, and I distinctly remember everyone entering the hall very quietly and solemnly. Only after the service did we greet each other with the words ‘Frohe Ostern’ ‘Happy Easter’. In the house, Easter decorations did not appear until Easter Saturday or even Easter Sunday. Good Friday has it purpose, it is a day to contemplate our current lives and reflect on the conduct of our lives in the knowledge that our existence here on earth will end one day.

We will start by singing the hymn number 120 – Von Guten Mächten, By gracious powers. The words are on the separate sheet provided. Verses 1, 2 and 3.

Most of us would recognise the basic events in Jesus’ life that lead to the event remembered on Good Friday.
● Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, as celebrated on Palm Sunday.
● Jesus final days of preaching in Jerusalem, and his rage in the Temple over the money changers
● The Last supper with his disciples
● Jesus’ arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, and his betrayal by Judas
● Jesus’ trial in High Priest’s house
● Pontius Pilate’s sentence
● The crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

I must admit that I first became very familiar with the story over thirty years ago when I was obsessed with Jesus Christ Superstar, the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, which dealt with these events. I knew nearly every word of the musical, and a result of this had developed a broad knowledge of the story of Jesus’ last days. When I came to read the gospels themselves, I found myself humming the songs that match the words in the Bible. Webber did an excellent job of using the actual text in the gospels for his musical, but a closer look at the events as told in the gospels reveal more information and messages for us than the musical can provide. As a 11 year old Jesus Christ Superstar aficionado I could not claim to understand the stories. As a 45 year old, I still listen to Jesus Christ Superstar every Good Friday, and still cannot claim to a full understanding of the meaning of these events.

Hopefully today we can come a bit closer to an understanding of Jesus’ last days.

The text allocated for today comes from Mark chapter 14, and tells of events that took place during the night before the crucifixion. The text tells of Jesus’ trial and of Peter’s denial of knowledge of Jesus. I will deal with each of these events separately, and then draw together some common themes at the end.

The trial of Jesus takes place directly after Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he had gone with his disciples to pray after they had celebrated the Passover meal, now know as the Last Supper.

Mark 14:53-65

This is the first of a number of trial-like events that took place before Jesus was crucified. This one took place in the High Priest’s house in the middle of the night. The next morning Jesus was again before the Council, then later taken to Pilate, possible via a visit to Herod Antipas, if you follow the gospel of Luke.
Jesus was taken to a gathering of the Sanhedrin, which was made up of scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and elders of the people. The Sanhedrin usually followed very strict rules on how a trial was to be conducted, but in this case many of these rules were broken, showing the Jewish leadership’s desperate need to put an end to Jesus.

The Sanhedrin traditionally met in the Hall of hewn stone in the Temple, but this meeting was in the home of Caiaphas, the High Priest. Criminal cases were to be only held during the daytime, and completed during daytime, again obviously not the case here. There is a brief mention made of a meeting of the chief priests, elder and teachers of the law the next morning, ‘to make their plans’. This may have been an attempt to legitimise the midnight meeting. The other Sanhedrin law which was broken was that trial were not to be held during Passover at all.

The Jewish authorities had difficulty finding any evidence against Jesus. According to the rules all evidence against the accused had to be guaranteed by two witnesses, separately examined, and having not contact with each other. This explains why in our text it said that many witnesses came forward, but no two stories agreed, even on the accusation that Jesus said that he would tear down the Temple and build it again in three days. Jesus also refused to answer any of these charges brought against him, which as defendant he had the right to do. It was the law, that no person on trial could either be asked, or compelled to answer, any question which would incriminate him. It is interesting to note that in these aspects, procedural law seemed to be followed.

The main business of this night meeting of the Jewish authorities was to formulate a charge against Jesus. They were looking for a charge of blasphemy, a charge based on religious reasons. So the High Priest asked the vital question of the trial – Are you the Messiah, the Son of the blessed God?

This question is the crux of the whole trial. If Jesus has said no, he may have been able to walk out of there a freeman, as there was no possible charge against him. Instead Jesus answered ‘I am’, and qualified the yes with a quote from the book of Daniel in the Old Testament. This gave the assembled Sanhedrin the evidence required for a charge of blasphemy, and the High Priest tore his clothes, a customary action when a death penalty is to be applied, and, after the unanimous vote against Jesus, some of the gathering let out their anger and hatred against Jesus by spitting on him and hitting him. In this way the meeting in the evening, which began as a court of justice, ended up in a display of hatred, in which there was no attempt to maintain even the superficialities of impartial justice.

Why did the Jewish authorities want to get rid of Jesus so desperately? Jesus challenged and antagonized the religious authorities over many issues such as keeping the Sabbath, use of the Temple, and the strict observance of the law. Jesus taught differently, and was a threat to the established power of the Temple and the Jewish authorities. Further Jesus was seen as a political threat to the stability of the balance of power held by the Jewish authorities under the Roman Empire. In the gospel of John, High Priest Caiaphas is recorded as saying: ‘Don’t you realize that it is better … to let one man die for the people, instead of having the nation destroyed’. This shows that the political reality was as important as the religious imperative to get rid of Jesus, from their point of view.

There different points of view as to why the Jewish authorities involved the Roman authorities in getting rid of Jesus. There is evidence that the Sanhedrin had the authority to have criminals stoned to death, even under Roman law. On the other hand one gospel records that they went to Pilate, because they, that is the Jewish authority, had no right under the law to put a man to death. Nevertheless, they convinced Pilate that Jesus was inciting the Jews to revolt against the Roman authorities, and therefore Jesus received a Roman death penalty, with the charge of ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of Jews’ written at the top of the cross.

However legal or illegal the trial was, and for whatever reasons Jesus was crucified, there’s one important point in this story. Jesus made a conscious decision to set the wheels in motion for his death. He chose to respond to the question put to him by Caiaphas, Are you the Messiah? in the positive. He could have kept as quiet as he had through the rest of the trail, or could have refuted the charge. But Jesus was on a path he had set for himself a while ago. He had chosen to go to Jerusalem where there was a distinct possibility of a confrontation with the Jewish establishment. Jesus chose to teach in the Temple, and even made a scene there by over turning the money changer’s tables. Jesus affirmative to the question, Are you the Messiah? was just one more step on the road he had chosen.

According to the gospels, Jesus had the ability to look ahead, to see what the consequences of his decision would bring, and he did not turn back from what he believed he was meant to do. He had the courage to face the consequences of his actions, in the belief that what he was doing was right. He had faith in himself, faith in God that his actions would have the right outcome in the end, even though it brought his death very early in his life. Jesus never shied away from his convictions.

I will pick up this theme again later, after discussing Peter’s actions. Before this let us sing the last three verses of the song we began earlier: number 120 – Von Guten Machten, By gracious powers. The words are on the separate sheet provided. Verses 4, 5 and 6.

Please fold the sheets in half and place then in the hymnbook at number 120.

The second part of today’s text deals with the disciple Peter. To make sense of the story we have to go back to the Last Supper, where Jesus predicts Peter’s denial. Mark 14:29-31.

At the arrest of Jesus, all the disciples ran away, but Peter did follow at a distance and ended up in the courtyard of the High Priests house this was recounted in the first part of the text.

The story is taken up as follows, in Mark 15:66-72.

Mark’s gospel is considered by some scholars to be the preaching material of Peter written down, the earliest gospel. So while this story does not reflect well on Peter, he chose to tell it to his followers, showing his fragility, weakness and dishonesty.

On the other hand this story shows a man of amazing courage and love for Jesus. Peter was the only disciple who followed Jesus to see where his captors were taking him. He had the bravery to enter the High Priest’s courtyard, in the centre of the house of the man who had ordered Jesus’ capture. This was akin to going into the lion’s den; nevertheless Peter did this, and sat by the fire there to await events. Even after he was initially recognized as a follower of Jesus, Peter did not run away, he only withdrew to the forecourt, or porch of the house.
But in the end Peter’s avowal at the Passover supper, that he would die for Jesus, did not stand the test of reality. He quickly denied being a follower of Jesus after he was recognized the first time, and then again denied knowing Jesus a second time. His accent gave him away as a man from Galilee, and his third accuser used this as evidence that he was a follower of Jesus. At this stage Peter was very scared and even swore an oath the he didn’t know Jesus. These actions are instinctive for a person who is scared of the consequences of telling the truth. His love for Jesus took him as far as the courtyard, but he could not face the penalty associated with being a companion of Jesus, the man currently being tried by the Sanhedrin.

It was the cock crow that reminded Peter of Jesus’ words to him at the last supper, and caused him to finally run away in tears from the situation with which he could no longer cope. Peter loved Jesus, but was unable to face the consequences to being pointed out as a follower of Jesus.

Peter was quite arrogant in his declaration at the last supper that he would stand fast with Jesus, even if he had to die with him. But Jesus, just as he had a good understanding of the consequences of his own actions, understood human weakness as well, and being aware of Peter’s imperfections, led him to predict Peter’s three-fold denial of him.

Both Jesus and Peter were put into difficult and fraught situations during that night. They were both confronted with situations that were not of their own making, and had to make hard decisions on how to react to events they were caught up in. Jesus chose the hardest path, the path that he felt was the correct one to take. Peter also followed a path of his own making, but in the end disappointed himself, that he did not live up to his own previously expressed beliefs. Nevertheless, both acted out of love. Peter out of love for Jesus, a love that made him weep, when he realized he had betrayed that love. Jesus out of love for his world, love for God and for what he believed was the right path for himself. Even though he was put into a situation where the laws could be bent to suit the authorities, Jesus never lost his love for others. Even on the cross, Jesus asked God’s forgiveness for those who crucified him.

It is the choices they made that shaped their lives. It is the same for each of us here today. Often we believe that life controls us, that we are buffeted by the winds of fate, and have no power over events. But, just as with Jesus and Peter, it is our choices that determine how our lives play out. We choose how we react and respond to events around us. Jesus chose the hard and difficult road, while Peter opted off the path he was on, choosing to retreat from a situation he could no longer control.

I think a lot of us can identify with Peter. We have high ideals, best intentions, but when it comes to the crunch we don’t live up to these standards. We may make some headway towards achieving our goals and ideals, but never quite meet the challenge. The Jesus of the gospels, on the other hand, is much harder to identify with. He is the ideal. He lived his life in full consciousness with God, fully conscious of what he did, fully aware of the consequences of his actions. Jesus is the model, the model of love, for which we can strive.

Good Friday is a time of reflection on our lives, on the choices we have made in the past and the choices still to be made. I hope that when my life is drawing to an end, I will be able to respond in the affirmative to the words of the final verse of a song we used to sing at school:
In the evening of my life,
I will look to the sunset.
In the evening of my life,
When the day id through.
And the question I shall ask,
Shall be never changing,
Have I been brace and strong and true?
Have I filled my world with love,
My whole life through?

Jesus is the model of bravery, truth, strength and love. Peter also showed these qualities, but in a more human way.

Let us pray:

Let us live in such a way
That when we die
Our love will survive
And continue to grow.

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed your name,
Your Kingdom come,
You will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
As we for give those who sin against us.
Lead us when in temptation and deliver us from evil.
For the Kingdom, the power and the glory
Are yours forever.
Amen.

The final song that we’ll sing is a brighter, more upbeat song. It is called Lord of the dance. This is a favourite song of mine. I love the image of Jesus dancing through his life, even during his blackest hours. I’d like to think that I, we, can also aspire to follow his example and dance through our lives.

Lord of the dance, song number 66, all verses.

Thank you for your participation in today’s service. Thank you to Jessica for playing so beautifully. Thank yo to the flower ladies, the chapel looks terrific. Today’s collection will go to the Boromaer Sisters in Jerusalem, where the events of Good Friday took place. This is one donation where we can be sure that every cent goes directly to helping orphans of all cultures. The collection boxes are in the foyer.

Have a lovely and blessed Easter.

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Bayswater Chapel Sunday 18th March 2007
Elder: - Renate Weber
Pianist: - Monika Strasser
Hymns: - 109. The butterfly song
31.Geh aus mein Herz
108. The blessing
Text: - Mark 14 32-42

The choir “Kommt Ihr G’spielene” and “An die Freunde”
BELL?

Welcome to “Sommerfest” 2007. My name is Renate Weber. I know we have a few overseas visitor here today? Eberhard Bizer, any one else? Friends from Interstate? Friends from the country? Some one who has come to their first Templer Service? Welcome one and all
I am going to share a butterfly story with you today. So to set the scene we will sing the Butterfly song Hymn 109. Monika will play it for us first
Now to the story.
1.One day a man observed a cocoon hanging on tree. He noticed it had tiny opening and for a long time he watched the caterpillar try to force his way out.
2. Suddenly the struggling stopped. It appeared that the butterfly could get no further. He had gone so far and had no more strength to continue.
3. The man decided to help. He took a pair of scissors and carefully opened the cocoon. The butterfly was able to emerge very easily but he had a crippled, tiny body and shrunken wings.
4. The man continued to observe what happened next because he expected the wings to open any minute, he expected they would expand to their full size to support the butterfly and give it flying power. (elasticity)
5. But nothing like this occurred. The butterfly spent the rest of his life with a crippled body and shrivelled up wings. He was never able to fly!
6. What the man in is his attempt to aid the butterfly did not realise was the tight cocoon and the narrow opening are nature’s way of getting fluids flowing from the butterfly’s body to the wings and in this way the butterfly is prepared for immediate flight as soon as it frees itself from its cocoon.
7. Sometimes the constriction, impediment, challenge is what is needed in our life. If we go through life without any challenges we would be bored and “lame” we would never be capable of “flight”.
8. I asked for strength and I was presented with challenges to make me strong.
I asked for wisdom and I was given problems to solve to increase my wisdom and knowledge. I asked for prosperity and was given a brain and muscles in order to work.
I asked for courage and was given obstacles to overcome.
I asked for love and was given troubled restless people with problems so I could stand by them and give them support.
I asked for decisions and was presented with opportunities.
I received nothing I asked for but I received everything I needed!
Live your life without fear, meet all life’s challenges with the knowledge you can and you will overcome them!
This lovely story comes from my Stepsister in Backnang in Germany and it seems to fit with the reading for today. The Bible reading comes from Mark Chapter 14 32-42. The gospel of Mark presents Jesus as a man of action and authority. We see him preaching in Galilee, choosing his apostles, and we read of parables like the sower, of the mustard seed and of hiding your light under a bowl. Jesus speaks of himself as the Son of man and he tells the Disciples that the Son of man will be handed over to men who will kill him, Three days later, however, he will rise to life. He also proclaims the greatest commandments. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength”. The second most important commandment is this, “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” There are no other commandments more important than these two.
Jesus shares a last supper with his disciples and then they go to the Mount of Olives.
The next morning Jesus prays at Gethsemane and this is the reading from Mark 14 32-42
32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," he said to them. "Stay here and keep watch." 35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 "Abba, Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." 37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Simon," he said to Peter, "are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." 39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. 41 Returning the third time, he said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"

Last year I was in Israel and was able to physically visit and see where Jesus had been. It was an interesting experience. The Mount of Olives was still as I imagined it in Jesus’ time. Gnarled old olive trees standing in uneven rows, gaps where some have died. Most of the significant sites near the Sea of Galilee were not in their original place but had been moved many years ago to give pilgrims easier access.
But I could imagine Jesus with his disciples as he faced the fact that his end was nigh. I think we are all a little apprehensive about death. It is the great unknown of the world. Science has progressed so far in so many areas but what happens after we take our last breath we all still have to experience!
So Jesus in this reading appears to me in his most vulnerable human like form. He has fears, he faces death with uncertainty, and he asks his Father "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me” But already in his next breath he states “Yet not what I will, but what you will." He finds his disciples sleeping. They had been eating and drinking red wine the night before and the day had made them drowsy. But he is also trying to ensure that they do not fall into temptation because the task in front of them is enormous. How often have we jokingly or seriously said the “The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Finally Jesus accepts his fate and he turns to face his betrayers.
I saw similarities with the butterfly story. Jesus asked God to open the cocoon so he could escape the difficult emergence he was facing. If God had listened we wouldn’t be calling ourselves Christians today.

Just as in the Butterfly story “I asked for strength and I was presented with challenges to make me strong.” Jesus was presented with his betrayers. Even his disciples let him down.

“I asked for wisdom and I was given problems to solve to increase my wisdom and knowledge”. In the days leading up to Jesus’ death The Pharisees kept challenging Jesus on points of law. For example when the Pharisees question him about paying taxes he asks to be given a coin of the land -this bears the Emperor’s Head. Jesus then states “pay to the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor him and pay to God what belongs to God”.
“I asked for prosperity and was given a brain and muscles in order to work”. Jesus tells the rich man to sell all he has goods and give the money to the poor and concludes, “How hard it is for rich people to enter the kingdom of heaven”

“I asked for courage and was given obstacles to overcome.
I asked for love and was given troubled restless people with problems so I could stand by them and give them support”.
I feel the message we can take away from today’s service is
I asked for decisions and was presented with opportunities.
I received nothing I asked for but I received everything I needed!
Can you think of times when you asked for something and at the time were disappointed that the events didn’t turn out as you had desired them, only to find later that what actually ensued was the right answer to the question you asked. How wonderful if we can apply these two sentences in our daily life.

It is traditional that we sing the joyous song “Geh aus mein Herz” “Sing oh my heart” number 31 on this day. It fits in with thanksgiving in Germany and also reminds them that summer has arrived. We will sing all 5 verses.

What a different picture here in Australia! We have experienced a severe drought, our lawns are brown and we face level 4 water restrictions if it doesn’t rain more soon. But today we shouldn’t let that stop us from enjoying one another’s company sitting in the shade under the trees, watching our children and grand children play and romp around together, catch up with old friends we only see on this day and enjoy a simple meal of “Kartoffelsalat and Wuerstchen” Potato salad and franks.

The choir will conclude today’s Service with two happy songs. “Kommt Ihr g’spielenen and An die Freunde”.
Thankyou !
I will ask you all to stand briefly if you are able for a final prayer
Dear God,
Today as we celebrate Sommerfest with family and friends let us give thanks for all the opportunities and challenges offered to us to assist us to grow and travel successfully along life’s journey, rather than complain about all the obstacles and impediments.
We think of those who are no longer with us and give thanks for their lives and their influences on us. We will make a special effort say thankyou to all our friends today who accompany us along the way. Let us say the Lord’s Prayer together.
Our father in Heaven
Hallowed be your name
Your Kingdom come
Your will be done on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us
Lead us when in temptation and deliver us from evil
For the Kingdom the power and the glory
Are yours forever. Amen

Let us join together to sing The Blessing on page 108

Thank you to all the people who have worked hard to make today possible Helga and Immi for the flowers Monica for the music, the choir for their contribution and all of you for coming to listen and share as a community.
There are a couple of notices. Easter Sunday Service in Bentleigh has been moved to 10.15 and a there won’t be a bus to Phillip Island but one will go to Bentleigh. It will leave at 9.30 in front of the TTHA.
The Wall hanging group have put up a display of pieces embroidered over the last 12 months, and you can go and see it and a DVD between 1.30 –2.30.
The collection from today’s service will go to the Baromea Sisters in Jerusalem, which I think is most appropriate. We visited them during our time in Israel and they do much good with very limited means.
Ich wuensche euch Einen schoennen Sommerfest Sonntag! Have a happy Sommerfest Sunday and I invite you all to move to the new senior playground to the official opening by Mandy .May all those who play on it do it with enthusiasm and in safety.

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Thanksgiving & Presentation Service
Sydney 4th March 2007 10:30am

Elder: Herta Uhlherr

Music: Erni Weller

Hymns: No 20 & 127 Creation in Australia v.1, We plough 1 & 3 (same tune)
No. 122 We share the joy
No. 21 Thank you
No. 108 The Blessing

Text: John 1

For the last few moments before we begin, I invite you to settle down and quietly collect your thoughts...

Prelude – Erni Weller

Welcome – A warm welcome to you all, especially to the families whose children are being presented today. I will be indicating what happens in this Thanksgiving and Presentation service as we go, and we hope that visitors will feel welcome and comfortable.

I bring you greetings from the Templers in Melbourne, from the Regional Council and the Elders, and past Sydneysiders like my Mama Meta, whose 96th birthday we celebrated recently, and my husband Hermann, and Elfriede Bechert at TTHA.

We will begin Thanksgiving by singing hymn No. 20, probably new to you, so we’ll ask Erni to play just the melody, which is the same as No. 127: we’ll sind that in a moment. One of the things we give thanks for is that we are able to learn new things.
Sing No. 20 Creation in Australia ( 1 verse) then No. 127 We plough... v. 1 and 3. Sing in English preferably. (Melody first)

Presentation services are about babies, so if odd little noises occur, let’s stay relaxed about it – after all, we’re delighted to have the children here!

Now a short prayer, followed by a few moments’ silence to help us get centred. (Please remain seated).

Prayer – We give thanks for life and for the many good and beautiful people and things in our lives. Each day we awake to the opportunity to choose to live caringly and responsively. Each day we can build the pathways that lead from where we are to what we can be. For these gifts of life, choice and the opportunity to build, we give heartfelt thanks.

We open our hearts and minds to the warmth of communal celebration – may we be conscious, in and around us, of the Presence of the loving, creative Power many of us call God... (silence) – Amen.

Plan – Today I want to share a few thoughts about giving thanks, about the meaning of presentation and about some of the things we ought not to overlook in raising our children.

Summer will shortly turn into autumn – the equinox is not far off. This is a time when many communities, especially the agrarian ones, celebrate a harvest festival, often combined with a thanksgiving service. This appropriately reminds us not to take the Earth’s bounty for granted – especially now with climate change. While most of us no longer raise animals or cultivate fields, apart from perhaps a vegie patch, we still depend for our food on those who do. At this time, Templers traditionally give thanks not only for the fruits of the Earth (see display – thanks!) but for God’s greatest gift, our children. Last week in Bentleigh, however, there were no children to be presented.

Human beings everywhere, whether ‘primitive’ or ‘civilised’, whether in ancient times or today, have always had a sense that the arrival of a new being in their midst calls for some kind of special acknowledgment. By bringing their babies before the community, the parents invite us to share in their joy, introduce their children and allow them to be greeted and surrounded by great goodwill. By their presence here, members of the community signal the open-hearted welcome they extend to the babies and their parents.

Our Presentation gets its name from the account of the infant Jesus’ presentation in the Temple at Jerusalem, described in Luke 2:22.

Templer presentation is an acknowledgment of several things:

Firstly, our heart-felt gratitude for, and celebration of, the safe arrival of these children.

Secondly, that making the effort to participate in something more formal, like this ceremony, helps to deepen family bonds and to strengthen community ties.

Thirdly, that being totally responsible for the physical, mental and spiritual welfare of a mysterious, vulnerable little being is pretty awesome. When this realization sinks in, many parents are moved to ask for the blessing of the higher powers on their baby, and on their own endeavours to guide and nurture this precious individual, as he grows and seeks to find his own way in the world – and to unfold his full potential. At presentation, we all ask together for blessing, because asking together, of one accord, is more powerful than asking alone.

And lastly, that, although most of us feel reasonable strong, clever and competent, it is nonetheless reassuring to have a community network to support us, should we become unable, for a time, to do as well as we would like by our families. As a community we pledge to stand by these families, should the need for our involvement arise. And we will try to do what we can to make this world a safer place for these children, and for all children.

Before we proceed to the actual presentation, let us sing hymn No. 122. We share the joy, all 3 verses. Erni will play the melody through first, then we’ll join in.

Sing No. 122.

The families with children to be presented today are:

Russell Cooke and Marita née Beck with their second son, Sebastian Michael Cooke, born 2nd May 2006, a brother for Sam, and
Mark Turner and Ingrid née Slip, with their second son, Oliver Harry Turner, born 13th January 2006, a brother for Oscar.

Congratulations, and a sincere and heartfelt welcome to Sebastian and Oliver!

Mark and Ingrid, Russell and Marita, we encourage you to give your children access to the wisdom and richness of great teachings and philosophies, so that your children may come to understand the importance of the message of faith, hope and love that wise teachers like Jesus proclaim. He said that he came so that we might have life in all its fullness – a ‘full-filled’ life; we believe that his ideas are worth devoting time and thought to.

We trust you to be good examples for Sebastian and Oliver and their brothers, and to surround them with truth, goodness and beauty, with the values that bring harmony to their hearts and minds, to your family and to the world. It is your duty in the coming years to offer your children a broad and balanced view of life, and encourage them in the virtues we all agree are good – like honesty, integrity, concern for others, fairness and love for others as yourself.

It is not always possible for grandparents to involve themselves in the development of their grandchildren, but when they do, it is a great bonus and blessing. Their important role is to pass on cultural values. They help children to find their identity and their self-worth and to integrate themselves into society. Often a special relationship of trust and mutual enjoyment and fun develops between child and grandparents. They help him learn his lineage and his history, as well as many skills and values, and these add depth and meaning to his life.

Since numbers allow, I have asked the boys’ grandparents if they would like to offer a short wish or blessing for their grandson.

I now call on Hartmut and Ursula Beck to come forward.
Now Harry and Gerlinde Slip and David and Judy Turner.

For Oliver Turner
We hope that Oliver will use his talents creatively, that he is allowed to achieve his full potential and bring joy into the lives of many people, and above all, that Oliver will both give and receive loving kindness.
From his grandparents on his mother’s side, i.e. his Omi and Opi, Gerlinde and Harry Slip.

Thank you.

Would Russell and Marita with Sebastian, and Mark and Ingrid with Oliver, now come forward.

Blessing of each child plus certificate.

Blessing
May the Lord bless you and take care of you;
May life’s richest joys be yours, amid whatever may happen.
May you unfold your potential as you grow in mind, body and spirit.
May love, wisdom and peace guide you always,
and may it be your good fortune
to play some worthy part in making life richer and better
for those whose lives you touch.
Amen

Parents stay – please rise for prayer.

Prayer
Dear God,
We give thanks for the safe arrival of these children and for the love and goodwill that surround them. May they take their place in the world with confidence and strength, in touch with Your Spirit of love, creativity and joy that is within them, and may their lives bring a sense of fulfilment, and uplift those they come in contact with.

Bless these parents and all parents, grandparents, carers, teachers and mentors, so that they and the children they bring up may be filled with Your wisdom, serenity and patience, and shine as living expressions of Your love – as Your temples. Amen

(Parents resume their places)

To celebrate babies and the wonder they inspire, Ingrid (Turner) will sing ‘I believe’ for us.

Text – Our text for today comes from the first chapter of the Gospel of John, which starts with the grand, cosmic statement ‘In the beginning was…’ and then speaks about life and light, about existence. Verse 3-4 says: All that came to be was alive with His life.’ V.9: ‘That is the true light that lights up everyone who comes into the world,’ or, another translation: ‘The true light was in being (in existence – in the great I AM – ) which gives light to everyone who enters the world’ (Note in REB). It is by virtue of this that each one of us can say with truth – I AM – I exist, I have the Light of Life in me – I AM a temple of God, with the divine, creative Life-force in me.

This concept is a simple – yet wonderfully profound – gift. Not long after babies come into the world, you can see the light of life shining in them and radiating from them – from their sparkling eyes to the tips of their kicking toes (strampeln). You can see Life and Intelligence expressing and asserting itself in a new form, in another totally unique human being. He may exhibit some characteristics a little like others: for instance he may have Uncle Bob’s red hair, or grandma’s smile, or Dad’s blue eyes…, but otherwise he is different from the quadrillions of human beings before him. He can say (when he learns to talk) I am an individual. When we think about that – the infinite variety that Divine Intelligence continues to create – we can only marvel in awe and give thanks!

Consider also how quickly a baby’s inner light touches and enchants its parents and grandparents – these little souls have enormous power! Okay, it’s a question of survival for them; if they can’t work their magic and bond their carers to them, they may not make it. So they instinctively shine their light to engage, to speak to, the light in us. We are all temples of the Light of Life, of the Divine Intelligence – we can all create – and spread love and goodwill.

V.5 The light shines in the dark, but the darkness has not understood, or overcome it – die Finsternis hat’s nicht ergriffen. How often we forget and are like sleepwalkers in darkness which has not understood – or has not dared to grasp – the glory and magnificence of the Light of Life in us and every human being. So we rush around being busy, without noticing the dozens of little things that could flood us with delight – like a row of dewdrops glinting rainbows along a blade of grass, or a shy person’s special effort to make a friendly gesture, or the bursting open of a long-nurtured bud in the garden – each a small miracle in its own way. But we don’t see it, or take it for granted… and so miss out on living with delight and gratitude, which is what Dankfest reminds us of.

Worse, we thoughtlessly destroy life, not appreciating the wonder of its existence and – either through ignorance or arrogance – do harm to ourselves and our fellow inhabitants of this planet by not taking wise care of ourselves and creation. And then we rage at death, forgetting that life on earth is precarious and never guaranteed.

Why am I dwelling on this today? For several reasons:
· To emphasize the preciousness of life, and of new life.
· To remind us to have reverence for life and that all forms of life are an expression of the Life-force manifesting itself.
· To provide perspective for when we get bogged down and so stressed about little things that come and pass and that are not important in the greater scheme of things. (As a book title says: ‘Don’t sweat the small stuff.’) But the trials of the moment do loom large at times.
I remember times when my children were small, and sick, and I was so exhausted and unsure and sometimes desperate – so bogged down. then suddenly being reminded that the creative Life-force – God – was on my side, ready to help. So I asked for help, and strength did come, to hang in there and to what had to be done. So I remind you that Jesus said: ‘Ask, and it shall be given’, and ‘ask, believing, and it shall be done’. Do practise having faith that the universe wants to support you. But you need to ask, believing. Life is a gift, to receive with gratitude for the possibilities it offers us. Including the possibility to grow in love and wisdom, in courage and endurance, in competence and maturity, in friendship and joy and thankfulness. I have observed that having children really accelerates your own growing up – if you want to stay ahead of them.

Reading – Emmy Simmer – A child learns what he lives. If a child lives with criticism He learns to condemn. If a child lives with hostility He learns to fight. If a child lives with ridicule He learns to be shy. If a child lives with shame He learns to feel guilt. But If a child lives with tolerance He learns to be patient. If a child lives with encouragement He learns confidence. If a child lives with fairness He learns justice. If a child lives with security He learns to have faith. If a child lives with approval He learns to like himself. If a child lives with acceptance and friendship He learns to find love in the world.
At a Presentation service it is appropriate to remind ourselves that bringing up children is sacred work – one of the most important things we’ll ever do. It is sad, and rather foolish, that Western society generally does not acknowledge this in its chase for the dollar and for instant gratification. We are given our children in trust, to care for and nurture for a while. We will most likely be required to sacrifice some personal comfort and convenience in attending to their needs. – It occurred to me that the words sacred and sacrifice may well be related. When you are tempted to resent having to make sacrifices for your children, it may help to remember that your child-rearing is sacred work and serves not only them, but the divine Life-force, Life with a capital L. We can ask for wisdom, for patience, for the ability to be good examples for our children. And we can look after our own inner light by nourishing our souls with quiet and peaceful moments, with music and beauty, with whatever restores us – so that we are able to nurture the light in our children, our partners, our parents… and so that we may be strong and shining building stones in a community that radiates the Light of live and life.
Let us turn to hymn No. 21 – Danke, Thank you – it goes to a very simple happy tune. (Erni, please play it through). Sing. As we come towards the end of our service, let us recap:· We have asked together for life’s rich blessings on Oliver and Sebastian.
· We have asked for blessing on our efforts to be wise and loving guides for them and to create a positive environment for them and all our children.
· We want to increase our awareness of the Light of Life – of the Godforce – within us, and to help one another remember to let it shine in our being – for our own and everyone’s benefit, especially our children’s.
· We have been reminded that our children are given us in trust; we don’t own them, but serve Life by taking good care of them.
· By keeping these things in mind, we build string, close families and a vibrant community in which each individual, as well as the whole community, functions as a ‘temple’, shining the light and the joy of life.
May God give us the wisdom to guide our children to be open to the spirit within them, to become not just clever but wise; to have vision and not be blinded by the superficial glamour of the world; to be cooperative and compassionate, not selfish and greedy. May we develop the patience to allow our children to grow and develop in the way that is right for them.

Let us pray – please rise if that’s not hard for you.
We give thanks once more for life and opportunity, for the people we love and for our community, for the warm and joyful fellowship we can experience when we celebrate together, and for the guidance available to those who ask for, and are open to it.
We’ll say the Lord’s Prayer together, in whichever form you know it – the main thing is to say it consciously.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed by Your name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us when in temptation,
and deliver us from evil.
For the Kingdom, the power and the glory, are Yours forever,
Amen.

Thank you to all who have helped with setting up, with music, flowers, the Erntedank display, the coffee and cakes that will be available in a moment. There is a collection plate here. Now let us sing. The Blessing No. 108.Postlude – Erni.

I wish you all a happy Sunday! -----Hartmut Beck, Community Head, thanked Herta, and the Community sent regards to Melbourne.

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SAAL SERVICE – Bayswater 11/02/2007 10:15am

Elder: Peter Lange

Piano: Krista Imberger

Hymns: No. 46 Ich bete an die Macht der Liebe
No. 119 Ubi caritas
No. 96 Seek ye first the kingdom of God

Text: From Mark’s Gospel, chapter 1
_________________________________________________________________

Musical introduction – Krista Imberger

A good afternoon to everyone here in the Community Chapel. I wish to thank the TSA Elders Group for inviting me to conduct this Saal Service for you today. I am very pleased to be able to address you in this building while I am on visit here this year. My return flight to Stuttgart will be on the last day of February.

I was asked by the members of the Temple community in Stuttgart to pass on their regards and best wishes to you all. It was only three weeks ago that I attended a Templer morning service at our Altersheim in Hoffeld. Last Sunday I joined the Sydney Templers at their Saal in Meadowbank. And now I am here with you in Bayswater. As you can see, this is the job of a Templer President: to be a link between the different communities and members.

I think that every member can actually be such a link when he or she is visiting one of the other communities. In fact, there has been a regular organized exchange of visitors between the Elders groups of both regions in the past. And every visit of a TGD member to Australia and of a TSA member to Germany will in its way contribute to the unity of all Templers. It is the personal bonds of friendship and love between us that constitute the real strength of our religious community. It is my firm belief that, as long as we have these bonds, the Temple will continue to exist.

I intend to divide this service into two parts, speaking first in English and later – for the older ones among you – in German.

Loving one’s neighbour is the fundamental behaviour that all Christians are expected to aim at. It is Jesus of Nazareth who serves us as an example which we should follow. The power of love is superbly expressed in the hymn we are now going to sing; it is the old German hymn of the 18th century religious poet Gerhard Tersteegen “Ich bete an die Macht der Liebe, die sich in Jesus offenbart” – it is Hymn No. 46 in our Templer Hymn Book, Verses 1, 2, 5).

(Sing Hymn No. 46)

Dear friends,
perhaps now and then you may have wondered what caused this man Jesus to put such emphasis on the love of one’s neighbour, as it was expressed in our introductory hymn. What made him think that God’s first and most important commandment would be to practise loving human relations and to consider all other laws and regulations to be governed by this guiding principle of love? What made him think that he himself would one day face suffering and even death for the sake of this principle?

To find an answer to these questions we have to go back to the beginning of his appearance in public. The oldest written records tell us that as a young man Jesus was no different from others of his age and surroundings. Like most of his contemporaries in Palestine, he was brought up in the Jewish religion and was taught the commandments which Moses had received from God. Apparently, he was eager to learn and to recognise the mood of the times. This made him join the circle of disciples of John the Baptist, a solitary prophet in the desert area near the bank of the river Jordan. John was preaching there that God would destroy all people if they did not repent of their sins, were baptized in the river and emerge from the water as newborn humans. And he said that this repentance was urgently needed, that the wrath of God was imminent.

Jesus was prepared to also undergo this baptism, the practise of being submerged in the Jordan. And during or after his baptism, something of an extraordinary nature must have occurred. The earliest written record of this event is in the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel which is most likely the earliest gospel. This passage appears in our Templer Table of Lessons. Let us listen to Mark’s account of this important experience in the life of Jesus:

“John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptised by him in the river Jordan.
At this time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.
At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him” (Mark 1).

What is expressed here in only a few words represents a most important stage in the life of Jesus and, what is more, a new step in the development of religion. We do not know what really happened when Jesus was among the followers of the Baptist. Did he later talk to others about his religious thoughts or his feelings during baptism? How could people know what he felt many decades afterwards and write it down? We do not know and we will probably never know. But from the effect of his stay with John the Baptist we can conclude that he must have been confronted with matters of vital importance and that he must have had some kind of inner experience which radically influenced his life from then on. A new comprehension of God must have taken shape in his mind, something quite different from what he had heard up until then. For me, the phenomenon of Jesus can only be understood by reflecting upon what could have happened during or after his baptism.

When in our Bible passage a voice from heaven said to Jesus: “You are my Son whom I love”, this must have been a new revelation for him. While John the Baptist spoke of God in threatening and terrifying words, Jesus now experienced God as a heavenly father who loved and accepted him as his child. The term “Son”, of course, was not meant physically but in the sense of adoption, of being adopted. He must have realized that what should determine his relationship with God was not fear of God but the opposite, confidence in his love and his care. He became convinced that God is turned towards human beings, he wants them to live without threat and fear. That was what he must have felt.

This surely was a new understanding and view of God – it differed significantly from what John was preaching. This necessarily led in time to the separation of Jesus from John’s group. In Mark’s Gospel it is said that Jesus “was sent out into the wilderness”. That may describe the process which Jesus was undergoing and which needed complete seclusion; he became aware that he could no longer follow the way the Baptist was preaching. And he must have become aware that his new understanding of God’s nature also meant that this good news must be conveyed to others. He may have realized that he himself had to dedicate his life to this important mission. Therefore, the account of the baptism of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel is followed by the statement: “Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.”

What does that mean for us? What makes this episode on the bank of the river Jordan so outstanding? What is its importance? What does it give testimony of? For me, there are two possible answers to these questions.

Firstly, Mark’s account portrays Jesus as an ordinary human being. When he came to John to be baptized, he must have considered himself in need of being cleansed of guilt and sin. Later gospel writers like John do not mention with a single word that Jesus wanted to be baptized. They describe Jesus as being without guilt and sin. We may assume that the earlier account gives us a better portrayal of the historical Jesus. He was a human like we are.

As you know, Templers differ considerably from other churches on this point. For us, Jesus as a human is much more convincing than if he were a heavenly being or an incarnated God. He experienced life as we experience it. He felt pain as we feel it. He experienced hunger, fear and loneliness as we do. What he demands from us is not unfeasible. As a human he can be our teacher, our master, an example of how humanity should be.

For mankind, he could be the “leading figure for the third millennium”, as the liberal Protestant theologian Ulrich von Hasselbach pointed out twenty years ago in his well-known book. Jesus the man has to be uncovered from the dogma, from the doctrine and the idolization which have developed over the centuries. This is something we want to do.

Secondly, the change in the comprehension of God which occurred between John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth also marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of religion. By then, religion was largely governed by law and regulation, what you should do and not do in any particular situation. More and more definitions of the Mosaic Law had been formulated. For Jesus, this law remained in force, but he said that an inner attitude of love would make all law and regulations superfluous.

An example of this change is mentioned in Matthew’s Gospel where the Pharisees wanted to test Jesus by asking him: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matt. 22:36-40).

With this statement Jesus surpassed the narrowness which prevailed in Jewish religion at the time. His inner experience, initiated by his baptism, eventually led to a new view of life which he tried to demonstrate to his fellow men while travelling through ancient Palestine. Ever since their formation 146 years ago, Templers have devoted themselves to this new view of life. Christoph Hoffmann expressed this in his Losungslied, in which one line says: “Wir fragen nach dem nur, was Jesus gewollt” (We seek only that of which Jesus has told). We want to pay attention to his teaching and to his so-called new commandment of love.

This is our aim and our obligation in a world which is losing its religious foundation more and more. In the foreseeable future, religious communities like ours will look like small islands in an ocean of materialism, superficiality and godlessness. But humans need divine guidance and security. They cannot feel really happy and content without it. That is why – in our words – we should keep working on the Temple of God and providing a spiritual home for the homeless.

Let love of neighbour be in our mind wherever we are and as long as we live and let us not despair when we do not succeed. If what Jesus said about God’s caring and loving nature is true, then love is a fundamental principle in God’s creation, a driving force in this creation. We trust that the positive power of love in the world will, in the end, prove stronger than the negative and destructive forces.

Let us now sing the short verses of the song of all-pervading and everlasting love: “Ubi caritas”, a song that comes from the spiritual community of Taizé in France. It is Hymn No. 119. Krista, would you play the tune through for us, then we will sing the words first in Latin, a second time in German and finally in English.

Liebe Templerfreunde,
wenn wir nach dem historischen Jesus fragen und versuchen, sein ursprüngliches Bild von allen späteren Übermalungen zu befreien, dann fragen wir damit nach dem wesentlichen Menschen, nach dem Menschen, wie er von Gott her sein soll. Und Jesus verkörpert für uns diesen Menschen.

Die Frage nach dem eigentlichen, dem wesentlichen Menschen ist in der Geschichte der Menschheit nie ganz verstummt. Von Sokrates erzählt man sich, er sei am helllichten Tag mit einer brennenden Laterne über den Marktplatz von Athen gegangen; und als man ihn fragte, was er denn suche, antwortete er: „Ich suche einen Menschen.“ Und Friedrich Hölderlin, der Dichter aus dem Schwabenland, sagte einmal: „Handwerker siehst du, aber keine Menschen, Denker siehst du, aber keine Menschen, Priester siehst du, aber keine Menschen, Herren und Knechte, junge und gesetzte Leute siehst du, aber keine Menschen!“

Alle haben sie den Menschen gesucht, wie er von Gott gemeint ist, den wesentlichen Menschen. Die biblische Überlieferung sagt uns, dass mit Jesus von Nazareth dieser wesentliche Mensch auf die Welt gekommen ist, dass mit ihm und durch ihn etwas von der unsichtbaren höheren Welt in die sichtbare, vorstellbare Welt gekommen ist.

Der Apostel Paulus hat Jesus den „zweiten Adam“ genannt, also den Menschen schlechthin, wie ihn die Schöpfungsgeschichte schildert, denn das Urwort „Adam“ bedeutet „Mensch“. Und dieser zweite Adam hat sein Leben dafür eingesetzt, dass auch andere, dass auch wir zu diesem wahren Menschen werden können.

Wir wissen, dass wir immer wieder scheitern, zu diesem wahren Menschen zu werden. Es herrscht ein ewiger Zwiespalt zwischen dem, was wir sind, und dem, was wir sein sollen. Als Beispiel für diesen Zwiespalt wird uns Adam in der Sündenfallgeschichte vor Augen geführt. Und diesen Adam trifft die Frage nach seiner Menschlichkeit wie ein Keulenschlag, wenn Gott durch den Paradiesesgarten ruft: „Adam, wo bist du?“

Dieser Ruf hallt mit einem vielfachen Echo durch die Zeiten hindurch: Mensch, wo bist du? Gestaltest du dein Leben nach dem Willen Gottes? Gehst du mit deinen Mitmenschen so um, wie es Gott gefällt? Pflegst und hegst du die Erde so, dass sie ein Garten bleibt, in dem jedes Lebewesen sein Daseinsrecht hat? Oder meinst du, es ließe sich angenehmer leben, wenn man seine eigenen Gesetze macht?

Anstatt dass wir bei vielen schrecklichen Geschehnissen unseres Lebens fragen: Wo bist denn du, Gott? müssen wir uns zuerst umgekehrt die Frage von Gott her gefallen lassen: Wo bist denn du, Mensch?

Ein Denker sagte einmal: „Viele wollen die Welt verändern, aber so, dass sie sich nicht zu ändern brauchen. Sie wollen die Menschen verbessern und meinen, sie seien selbst besser. Gütiger Gott, hilf mir, mich zu ändern und zu bessern.“ Ich denke, dass wir diese Bitte immer wieder aussprechen müssen. Wir müssen bei uns selbst anfangen, wenn wir die Welt ein wenig besser, ein wenig lebenswerter machen wollen.

Bei jedem unserer Gottesdienste und Versammlungen können wir hier an der Wand in der Gemeinde-Kapelle unseren templerischen Leitspruch lesen: Trachtet zuerst nach dem Reich Gottes und nach seiner Gerechtigkeit! – Set your mind on God’s Kingdom and his justice before everything else!. Für mich ist das wichtigste Wort in diesem Leitspruch das Wort „Trachtet! – Set your mind!“ Gemeint ist damit das unaufhörliche und niemals endende Streben, dem göttlichen Auftrag nach dem wahren Menschen näher zu kommen – wohlgemerkt: näher zu kommen, auch wenn es nur kleine Schritte sind. Immer wieder machen wir Fehler, geraten in Auseinandersetzungen mit anderen Menschen, verhalten uns eigennützig oder uneinsichtig. Wir können, wenn wir uns dessen bewusst werden, nichts anderes tun, als immer wieder einen neuen Anlauf zu einem besseren Miteinander zu nehmen und den wahren Menschen nicht aus den Augen zu verlieren. Wir Templer haben dies als unsere Lebensaufgabe erkannt. Die Gemeinschaft mit anderen hilft uns, sie zu bewältigen. Die Gemeinde der Gleichgesinnten ist das Übungsfeld für ein neues Menschsein.

Ich möchte ein paar kurze Dichterverse an den Schluss setzen:

„Ich will nichts andres sein, als nur ein Sohn der Erde,
tragend des Tags Beschwerde, trinkend der Sterne Schein.
So stell ich mich hinein in Last und Lust der Erde
Und will nichts an Gebärde als – Mensch, ein Mensch zu sein.“

Let us now sing our final hymn No. 96 “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” (2 verses).

May I ask those, who have no difficulties with it, to rise for prayer:

“Eternal and mighty God,
We are aware of your presence whenever we assemble in devotion and prayer.
Let us not forget that you want us to do your will – to be true humans and to exercise humanity.
Jesus has set an example – let us listen to his words and let us follow his teaching.
Let us not despair when we fail, but give us strength and endurance to overcome our weakness.
We know that your love is with every one of us.

Please join me in the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, the prayer that unites all followers of Christ:

Our father in heaven,
Hallowed be your name,
Your Kingdom come,
Your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
As we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us when in temptation and deliver us from evil.
For the Kingdom, the power and the glory are yours forever.
Amen.

(Concluding music)

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Saal - Tanunda -11.2.07
Elder Rolf Beilharz

Liebe Süd Australier,

Es freut mich sehr, mal wieder euer Gast zu sein.

Unser Text für heute ist vom Mattheus Evangelium, Kapitel 25, das Gleichnis der 10 Jungfrauen die mit ihren Lampen den Bräutigam erwarteten. Fünf waren klug und brachten Öl für die Lampen, die anderen 5 waren töricht und brachten kein Öl. Als der Bräutigam verspätet in der Mitte der Nacht ankam, konnten die törichten Frauen ihre Lampen nicht anzünden, weil ihnen das Öl dazu fehlte. Sie mussten Öl kaufen und kamen erst wieder zurück als der Bräutigam mit den fünf klugen Jungfrauen schon im Hause war und die Türen geschloßen waren. Das Gleichnis will uns zeigen dass man jederzeit vorbereitet sein soll auf die Rückkehr des Herrn Jesu, wenn er das Reich Gottes auf die Erde bringen wird. Die unvorbereiteten Menschen werden nicht in das Reich Gottes kommen.

Mir hat dieses Gleichnis nie richtig gefallen. Meines Erachtens, drückt es nicht das echte Denken von Jesus aus. Deshalb habe ich andere Texte ausgesucht, auch von Mattheus, aber aus der Bergpredigt, den Kapiteln 5, 6 und 7. Ich will diese Texte besprechen, aus dem Hintergrund der Tempel Gesellschaft, ihrer Vergangenheit und ihrer Zukunft in Australien. Wenn ich das Wort Templer benütze sind auch die Nachkommen der Templer die mit Georg David Hardegg wieder in die Evangelische Kirche eintraten eingeschloßen, Soviel ich weiss haben in den letzten 100 Jahren die Kirchler und die Templer in Palestina und dann in Australien stets miteinander in Frieden und mit gleichen Werten gelebt. Also, ich denke an uns alle, ob Templer oder Evangelische Christen.

Als wir uns in Australien etablierten lebten wir in größeren Gemeinden mit Satzungen oder in kleineren lokalen Gruppen auch ohne Satzungen gemeinschaftlich nach den Werten die uns in Palestina Erfolg gebracht hatten. Die globalen Tragödien der Weltkriege vertrieben uns aus Palestina. Nach Verschleppung und Internierung durften wir einen neuen Anfang machen in Australien. Wenn ich zurückschaue, finde ich dass dieser neue Anfang in Australien eine wunderbare Wohltat für uns Templer war. Hier lebten wir nach den Werten die wir mitgebracht hatten. Auch unsere Gottesdienste und Administration folgten dem Muster aus Palestina. Aber, um als Religion zu überleben mussten wir die Englische Sprache annehmen, sonst hätten wir unsere Jugend schon in der zweiten Generation verloren. Für eine Religion ist der Inhalt der Gedanken wichtiger als die Sprache. Ich darf mit Genugtuung fest stellen dass die TSA mit ihren Werten heute immer noch gesund ist im 57sten Jahr nach ihrer Australischen Gründung. Durch eine Satzungsänderung vor bald zwei Jahren haben wir viele neue, jüngere Mitglieder in Stellen gebracht, wo sie an der Administration der TSA mitarbeiten können. Das sehe ich als ein gutes Zeichen für das weitere Bestehen unserer Religion. Unsere Religion in Australien wird von Englisch sprechenden, jüngeren Templern in die Zukunft getragen.

Heute will ich meine Gedanken aus diesem Hintergrund der Templer Religion besprechen. Mir ist wichtig dass Menschen in ihrer Religion mit sich selbst ehrlich sind. Es ist schwierig in der Bibel Texte zu finden in welcher innere Integrität, oder Ehrlichkeit, besprochen werden. Aber man findet viele Texte welche das Gegenüber von Ehrlichkeit, das Heucheln, verdammen. Ich lese also einige Texte aus der Bergpredigt um zu hören was Jesus gesagt hat. Zuerst von Kapitel 6, Vers 1.
Lese Mat. 6, V.1-8
Darauf folgt das Vaterunser Gebet, welches Jesus uns als unser Gebet mit Gott empfiehlt. Bitte denkt mal kurz dieses Gebet durch. … Wir dürfen also Vergeben erwarten, in gleichem Maß als wir anderen vergeben. Diese Worte haben direct mit persönlicher Ehrlichkeit zu tun. Wir sollen nicht erwarten etwas zu erhalten das wir anderen nicht gönnen.

Kapitel 7 fängt ähnlich an.
Lese Mat. 7, V. 1-5

Wieder das Gleiche. Um ehrlich zu sein mit uns selbst müssen wir uns selbst erst besser machen vor wir uns zumuten dürfen einen anderen zu belehren.

Der Mitgründer der Tempelgesellschaft hat ganz klar über die religiöse Ehrlichkeit eines Menschen mit sich selbst geschrieben. In ‘Occident und Orient’, Seite 45, über ‘Die Stellung der Wissenschaft im Tempel’ schrieb Christoph Hoffmann wie folgt:
‘Der Tempel wird von diesem Krieg zwischen Kirche und Wissenschaft gar nicht berührt, kann aber nicht umhin, in dieser jetzt in Deutschland und England viel besprochenen Frage den Vertretern der Wissenschaft Recht zu geben, weil erstlich die Kirchen den Beweis ihrer Existenzberechtigung nicht liefern können, und weil man zweitens überhaupt keinem Menschen zumuten kann, eine Ansicht, von deren Richtigkeit er durch Forschung überzeugt ist, der angeblichen Autorität eines Anderen zu Lieb aufzugeben.’
Das ist der Kern der Integrität, der Ehrlichkeit mit sich selbst. Das Gegenteil ist der Heuchel, wenn man, z. B. das sagt was der Andere hören will, obwohl man weiss dass es nicht wahr ist.

Schon lange habe ich versucht, wenn ich in der Bibel lese, zu erkennen wie das was darin steht in die Bibel gekommen ist. Ich meine ich erkenne eine wachsende Änderung des Inhaltes über Jesus in den Evangelien des Neuen Testaments. Ihr könnt das selbst nachprüfen. In dem ältesten Evangelium, Markus, steht nichts von einer übernatürlichen Geburt, oder von irgend anderen Details der Geburt Jesu.

Mattheus und Lukas bringen Stammbäume die zeigen (zwar mit verschiedenen Namen) dass Joseph von König David abstammt. Auch gibt es viele , wieder unterschiedliche, Einzelheiten über die Geburt und Jugendzeit von Jesus. Johannes bringt etwas ganz neues. Jesus ist die fleischgewordene Weisheit die schon vor der Schöpfung des Weltalls bei Gott war. Einzelheiten über Geburt und Jugend sind hier überflüssig.

Mir scheint dass in der Zeit nach Jesu Tod, das was man über ihn dachte sich immer weiter verändert hat. Einzelheiten die dem erwarteten Messiah der Juden von ihren Propheten vorausgesagt waren wurden in die Jesus Geschichte eingefügt. Ein normaler Mensch der durch seine treffende Weisheit großes Aufsehen erregte hatte, wurde in einen übernatürlichen Sohn Gottes verwandelt. Leider ist dieser Trend so weit gegangen dass die meisten Christen jetzt meinen dass Jesus sie schon gerettet hat, durch seinen Opfertod, welcher allen menschlichen Sündern die an Jesus glauben ihre Sünden schon weggewaschen hat. In diesem Konzept hat es keinen Platz mehr für das was wir aus der Bergpredigt gehört haben. Jesus hat in der Bergpredigt gelehrt dass wir Menschen das Gottesreich erreichen können, durch unser Streben nach eigener Besserung und dem Wohl aller in der Gemeinde. Als erstes müssen wir uns selbst gründlich ändern, weg von der Selbstsucht zum Streben nach dem Wohl der ganzen Gemeinde. Wenn mehrere Gemeinden so streben kann es zu Frieden im ganzen Land kommen, und vielleicht sogar in der ganzen Welt. Historiker und Bibelforscher sind sich einig dass Jesus seine von Gott gegebene Aufgabe darin gesehen hat Menschen in das Reich Gottes einzuladen. Es ist also schon da, oder kann da sein. Man muss nicht warten. Durch Sinnesänderung kann man jetzt gleich in das Gottesreich eintreten. Es ist interessant wie weit in dieser Richtung Christoph Hoffmann schon geschaut hatte. Durch die praktische Arbeit von Hardegg ist es der Tempelgesellschaft gelungen wirklich in diesem Sinne zu leben in den Siedlungen in Palestina. Ich meine zu spüren dass solches Trachten nach dem Gemeinwohl vor der Selbstsucht immer noch unter uns Templern in Australien besteht. Es bleibt unsere Aufgabe nach diesen Werten in Australien weiter zu leben, und wenn es möglich ist, sie auch unter unseren Australischen Nachbarn zu verbreiten.

Seit langer Zeit war mir das Bild von Jesus als Lehrer die beste Erklärung. Er sprach über die Vision einer in Frieden lebenden Menschheit. Diese Vision ist ein von Menschen erreichbares Ziel.

Ich weiss auch dass durch Wissenschaft wir heute das Weltall anders verstehen als in der Zeit in der die Schriften der großen Religionen geschrieben wurden. Ich habe versucht meiner Religion ehrlich gegenüber zu stehen. Ich meine der Lehrer Jesus hat seinen Hörern ein Ziel Gesetzt das wir Menschen erreichen können, wenn wir nur unsere Selbstsucht bezwingen können und für das Wohl der Gesammtheit der Menschen leben können. Ich sehe das als möglich, obwohl es nicht leicht sein wird es zu erreichen. Leider trachtet die Mehrzahl der Menschen in unserer freien westlichen Welt heute nach dem eigenen Wohl. In unserer kapitalistischen Welt werden wir täglich aufgefordert eine so hoch wie mögliche soziale Stellung zu erreichen und dann im Wohlstand zu leben. Fast alle Werbung zeigt uns wie gut wir es, als die einzige wichtige Person im Leben, haben können. Dieses trachten nach eigenem Wohl, durch Selbstsucht, ist genau das wovon Jesus uns befreien wollte, so dass wir das Wohl der Gesammtheit fördern können. Ich weiss auch das es sehr schwierig sein wird, entgegen alles Denkens unserer Umwelt, unserer Religion treu zu bleiben.

Historiker und Bibelforscher haben jetzt schon bald 200 Jahre lang geforscht nach der Wahrheit über Jesus und den Anfang der Christenheit aus dem Judentum. Mit den Schriftrollen die bei dem Toten Meer gefunden wurden, und anderen Funden weiss man heutzutage viel mehr als in der Zeit Christoph Hoffmanns. Aber wo kann ein Mensch wie ich, unstudiert in der Theologie, mehr über die Geschichte des Anfangs der Christenheit lernen.

Zum Glück fand ich das Buch ‘Honest to Jesus’ von Robert Funk, erschienen in 1996. Funk ist ein Amerikaner, der den Anfang der Christenheit nachgeforscht hat, zuerst in religiösen ‘Colleges’ dann in sekulären Universitäten. Seither arbeitet er mit vielen Kollegen in ihrem privaten Forschungsinstitut, dem ‘Jesus Seminar’, mit dem Ziel die wahre Lehre Jesus fest zu stellen. Mir scheint dass Funk und seine Kollegen auch mit sich selbst ehrlich sein wollen über ihre Christenheit, oder Jesusnachfolge.

Dieses Buch war genau das, nach welchem ich gesucht hatte. Es stärkte meine Ansicht dass eine Geschichte über Jesus sich gebildet hat und dass es heute wirklich schwierig ist den originalen Jesus aus dieser Geschichte wieder heraus zu wickeln.

Über eine Tatsache musste ich staunen. Wann ist der Inhalt der Bibel festgelegt worden?

Der Inhalt des Neuen Testaments, welche Bücher darin aufgenommen wurden, ist von der Katholischen Kirche erst im Konzil von Trent, 1545, festgelegt worden. Manche Protestantischen Kirchen haben den Inhalt immer noch nicht offiziell geschloßen. Die östlichen Orthodoxen Christen haben nicht die gleichen Bücher aufgenommen wie die westliche Kirche. Aus der Sicht dieser Tatsache verliert die Idee dass Gott die Bibel diktiert hat alle Kraft wenn man fragt: ‘welche Bücher sind es die von Gott stammen?’

Diejenigen Nachfolger Jesus denen er sich nach seinem Tode gezeigt hat, wurden die Führer der neuen Religion. Ich habe schon lange gedacht dass dieses Sehen von Jesus Visionen waren, also Bilder die im Hirn der trauernden Jünger erschienen. In unserer Bibel steht dass die Jünger ihren Führer Jesu oft nicht erkannten bis er etwas ihnen erzählte, und auch dass er in geschlossenen Zimmern den Jüngern erschien ohne dass eine Türe sich öffnete. Paulus, der seine Vision von Jesu den Erscheinungen der anderen Jünger gleich stellte, hatte seine Vision auf einer längeren, wahrscheinlich heißen Reise in der Sonne, nach Damaskus. Er sah ein Licht und fiel auf die Erde. Dann hörte er Jesus. Seine Mitreisenden hörten eine Stimme, sahen aber niemand. Es brauchte einige Tage bis er wieder richtig sehen konnte. Dass Paulus zu der Überzeugung kam dass er auf dem falschen Weg war, Christen zu töten, wenn alles was er von den Christen sah auf friedliche liebe Menschen hinwies, das leuchtet mir ein. Auch heute sagen wir noch ’ich sah das Licht’, ohne dass wir meinen dass ein beleuchteter Mensch oder Engel tatsächlich vor uns steht.

Auf jeden Fall sind damals die leitenden Jünger Jesu, und auch Paulus, zu dem Entschluss gekommen dass das Werk Jesus der richtige Weg ist, und dass sie ihr Leben dafür einsetzen werden. Leider hat sich die Geschichte über diese historischen Tatsachen immer weiter ins Übernatürliche geführt, so das was in der Bibel steht heute von unseren Mitmenschen oft nicht mehr angenommen wird. Leider verwerfen dann die modernen Menschen oft nicht nur das Übernatürliche sondern die ganze Bibel und auch Jesus. Wir müssen wieder auf die wahre Lehre des Jesus zurück finden und sie als heute noch ebenso wichtig wie in seiner Lebenszeit, vielleicht sogar noch viel wichtiger, für den Frieden unter der modernen Menschheit erklären.

Jetzt noch schnell einige wichtigen Tatsachen aus Funks Buch. Funk hat 21 Thesen aufgestellt. Ich habe sie dem Sinn nach auf Deutsch übersetzt. Der erste Satz ist die These. Das weitere sind Funks Kommentare, oder meine.

4. Die neue Suche nach Jesus zeigt uns einen Menschen, einen Weisheitlehrer, welcher der normalen Menschheit mehr sagen kann als den etablierten Religionen. Normale Menschen treten heute in Schwärmen aus der Kirche. Aber, was Jesus lehrt ist für normale Menschen wichtig, auch ohne die Kirchen.

5. Wir können nicht mehr unseren glauben auf den Glauben des Petrus oder den Glauben des Paulus setzen. Unser Glaube muss unsere eigene Überzeugung sein. (Das hat wieder mit der Ehrlichkeit unserer Religion zu tun.)

6. Jesus ist nicht das rechte Ziel unseres Glaubens. Jesus hat seinen Hörern gesagt sie sollen Gott trauen und nach seinem Reich oder seiner Regierung trachten. Das haben wir Templer in unserem Motto als unser wichtigstes Ziel festgehalten.

9. Wir müssen Jesus ein neues Drama geben, eine Rolle in einer anderen Dichtung. Die meisten Christen heute sehen Jesus als ein Retter der von aussen in unser Leben kommt. Wir kommen in dieser schwierigen Welt nicht mehr aus und brauchen einen Retter der die Welt wieder in ein Paradies für uns macht. Ein Retter von aussen ist ein Wunschtraum. Eine kommende These zeigt dass unsere Rettung aus uns selbst kommen muss.

12. Jesus hat die Vergebung reziprok gemacht. Jesus vergibt weil sein Vater vergibt, und auf gleicher Basis: ohne Strafe oder Versprechen. Die einzige Erfordernis ist Wechselseitigkeit: es wird einem vergeben so wie man selbst vergibt. Diese These zeigt dass wir unsere Erlösung in uns selbst haben. Wir müssen vergeben wenn wir vergeben werden wollen.

14. Jesus verspricht uns ein Verhältnis mit Gott ohne Bedingungen. Jeder hat ein direktes Verhältnis mit Gott. Man braucht keinen Mittelmann. Das ist unsere Tempelidee dass Gott in jedem von uns lebt.

16. Jesus macht uns klar dass alle Belohnungen und Strafen in uns selbst liegen. Unser Lohn dafür dass wir unseren Nachbar lieben ist ein uneingeschränktes gutes Verhältnis mit diesem Nachbarn.

Das genügt. Jetzt haben wir einiges gehört das Gelehrte über Jesus und seine Lehre wissen. Die Geschichte über Jesus hat aus einem Lehrer der Weisheit eine übernatürliche Person gemacht die dann am Anfang des 4. Jahrhunderts in einem Konzil als eine der drei Gottheiten in den dreieinigen Gott gestellt wurde. Als Retter der Gläubigen hat Jesus der Römischen Kirche eine starke Macht gegeben. Funk hat erkannt dass wir wieder zum historischen Jesus zurück gehen müssen, weil die organisierten Kirchen ihren Mitgliedern nicht das Wohl geben können nach welchem sie sich sehnen. Ich glaube dass Christoph Hoffmann, Georg David Hardegg und ihre Mitgründer des Deutschen Tempels damals schon weiter waren als Funk und seine Kollegen, und auch die vielen anderen Bibelforscher.

Die Gründer des Deutschen Tempels sind der wahren Jesuslehre sehr nah gekommen. Noch wichtiger ist ihr nächster Schritt. Durch die praktische Arbeit Georg Hardeggs sind sie aufgebrochen nach Palestina und haben Siedlungen gegründet in denen sie nach Jesus Lehre lebten. Im Ganzen haben sie ein der Menschheit würdiges Leben in ihren Siedlungen geschaffen. Es war nicht perfect, der Streit zwischen Hoffmann und Hardegg war ein trauriges Beispiel. Trotzdem lebten bis zu drei Generationen von Templern in Frieden untereinander und auch in Frieden mit der Regierung, den Arabern und den Juden. Jetzt gilt es der Tempelgesellschaft in Australien und in Deutschland ähnliches Leben zu schaffen, in dem das Trachten nach dem Wohl der Gesammtheit wichtiger ist als das Wohl der einzelnen. Wir sollen zeigen dass dies unter uns möglich ist und dann versuchen es auch unseren Australischen Nachbarn möglich zu machen. Diese Vision ist unserer modernen Welt äusserst wichtig. Es laufen mehrere Kriege, und Waffen werden gemacht die viele Menschen auf einmal töten können.

Es genügt nicht uns auszuruhen und zu sagen, ‘Ja, unsere Vorfahren haben Jesu gut verstanden und haben ein schönes Beispiel gebracht’. Nein, wir sollen unseren Eltern gegenüber dankbar sein dass wir unter so guten Bedingungen aufwachsen durften, trotz Kriegen, Verschleppungen und Internierung. Aber unsere Arbeit bleibt es: erstens, unser Erkennen der wahren Lehre Jesus zu verbreiten; und zweitens, an dem Ziel zu arbeiten: der Frieden in der Menschheit soll entstehen. Die Theorie ist ganz einfach: Jeder mache sich ein besserer Mensch, und liebe seinen nächsten wie sich selbst. Die Praxis in der Welt wird wahrscheinlich schwieriger sein. Trotzdem muss es uns wichtig bleiben einen konkreten Anfang zu machen.

Wir beten das Vater unser

Vater unser im Himmel,
geheiligt werde dein Nahme,
Dein Reich komme,
Dein Wille geschehe, wie im Himmel so auf Erden.
Unser tägliches Brot gib uns heute,
und vergib uns unsere Schuld,
wie auch wir vergeben unsern Schuldigern.
Führe uns, wenn wir in Versuchung sind,
und erlöse uns von dem Bösen.
Denn dein ist das Reich und die Kraft
und die Herrlichkeit in Ewigkeit.

Amen

 

(Bitte habt herzlichen Dank dass ihr mir so eifrig zugehört habt.)

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