Weaving Promises: God Comes With Power and Tenderness by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Patti Lusher)

 “On August 13, 1961, the Communist government of [East Germany] began to build a barbed wire and concrete [wall] between East and West Berlin. The official purpose of this Berlin Wall was to keep Western “fascists” from entering East Germany and undermining the socialist state, but it primarily served the objective of stemming mass defections from East to West.  It divided families and kept people crossing over to their jobs.  The Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when the head of the East German Communist Party announced that citizens of East Germany could cross the border whenever they pleased. That night, ecstatic crowds swarmed the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers and picks and began to chip away at the wall itself.” To this day, the wall symbolizes both the nature of human beings to put up barriers, and the power of God to pull down the walls so that we can all live together as one.

Source: http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall

The internet is filled with personal stories of people who lived in Germany during the time that the wall was up and during the week that the wall came tumbling down. I found one such story written by a student named Joe Vandervest who lived in Berlin for three years, from 1968-1972. He was in the 5^th to 7^th grades during that time. He writes years later:

I was at work - working late when someone at the civilian firm I worked at came to me and said - hey - didn't you hear the Berlin wall came down.

Having lived in Berlin [from 1968 to 1972 (68-72)] - I too -- like the others here -- was impacted by the Wall and the cold-war itself.

When I heard the news and then confirmed it - I was stunned. Shocked. It was like another world - as though I was living in a dream. Living there, at the forward battle-edge of the Cold War - the Wall seemed permanent. Fixed. Unmovable as it was. Supported by thousands of tanks and Warsaw pact troops.

When I heard that news it made me think back to one particular incident where I learned that even the Communists were people…

It was 1972. Armed with my dad's binoculars I humped through the woods behind the army apts. in Dueppel. The woods gave way to a small clearing and then the wall. One of those observation platforms was there - not too far away from the guard tower. We kids used to play army (US vs. Soviets) in those woods and we knew our way around pretty well. We'd frequently go to the wall and peer over.

Anyway - so there I was on the tower. Already under observation from the guard tower. You know - you did it too - your binocs looking up at them, they looking back at you across the no man's land of death.

So I'm peering up. The vopo [German] and the russian were peering back at me through their binocs. We looked at each other for a bit and I flashed a peace sign up at them. (Hey - it was the 70's!). What amazed me was first how they just looked back - expressionless. then the fun part..

The vopo got bored and looked away, putting his binocs down around his neck. The russian (amazing how military kids learn to tell uniforms)...kept watching. Then he looked away to check on the vopo - and on the side of his body away from the vopo - he very quickly flashed a peace sign back at me.

As a young person, that was one of those human moments when I started to realize - hey - people are just like us.....it was a bold and risky thing for the soldier to do...but he totally made my day and gave me a memory to last a life time....

that wall coming down was just an amazing thing...

- Joe Vandervest - Overseas Student

http://www.aoshs.org/WallStories.htm  from a web site called “Fall of the Wall: Wall Stories.”

You see, during the Cold War, human beings built up a wall to divide people. But God tore down the wall. God does not want God’s people to be oppressed. The wall was evil. The wall was sin. The wall divided families. The wall represented oppression of people. And in November of 1989, with the whole world watching, the wall came down. Because God will not allow injustice to last forever. Humanity’s inhumane treatment of one another will not be tolerated. Eventually, good will win over evil.

The story from Joe Vandervest, who was an elementary school student living in the shadow of the wall, tells us that humanity is never totally given over to evil. So as a boy in the 7^th grade, he flashed a peace sign to a Russian soldier and the soldier took a chance. The soldier surreptitiously flashed a peace sign right back at him, from the East to the West – a sign of reconciliation across a wall that most of us thought would never come down. But, you see, the power of God’s peace, and love and reconciliation are stronger than any human made wall.

There is always hope. Because God lives in us. God created us. God made us to be people of peace and love and reconciliation.

This is what we see happening in the book of Isaiah. The people had been suffering. There was not a literal wall as in Berlin, but there was oppression. God’s chosen people had been scattered, taken from their home in the Promised Land. Many were living in exile in Babylon. Their temple had been destroyed. They were suffering mightily and they had turned away from God. But Isaiah comes as a prophet and speaks for God. Isaiah says: “Comfort, comfort for the people, you have suffered long enough. You are forgiven.”

The walls of evil and sin were declared null and void by Isaiah. He said:

Make the road straight and smooth,
    a highway fit for our God.
Fill in the valleys,
    level off the hills,
Smooth out the ruts,
    clear out the rocks.
Then God’s bright glory will shine.

And Isaiah made a promise to the people: Your God will come in power to reward those who have loved God.  And God will come with gentleness,

Like a shepherd, God will care for the flock,
    gathering the lambs in God’s arms,
Hugging them and carrying them.
    leading them to good pasture.

Isaiah gives an image that God is like a strong soldier who flashes a peace sign. God is both powerful and gentle.

Because, you see, we need a God who can weave together the promises of both strength and gentleness. The people then, and the people now, cannot get by with a God either of power or gentleness. We need both.

There are moments when we need God to be powerful and mighty. We need God to live in us and give us courage to speak the truth to the evil forces of this world. When we see injustice, evil and oppression in this world, then as God’s people we need to speak the truth. We need to make things right. The promise is woven from the Old Testament into the New Testament prophecy about John the Baptist who will prepare a way for Jesus. We find the promise here in Isaiah and then later in the Gospels: “Prepare a way for the Lord; Make the road straight and smooth,
    a highway fit for our God.
Fill in the valleys,
    level off the hills,
Smooth out the ruts,
    clear out the rocks.”

This is a strong promise, woven from the old message into the new: a savior will come and we prepare for him by smoothing out the roads and making our paths line up with his way for the world. God wants to come live with us and be our God, but we have to make a way for God to come. We have to make space.

The second promise seems to be the exact opposite but it is, rather, complementary. Jesus also comes, “[with] reward [for]those who have loved him. Like a shepherd, he will care for his flock,
    gathering the lambs in his arms,
Hugging them as he carries them,
    leading them to good pasture.”

The message woven here is the promise that God cares for us in the same way a shepherd cares for every sheep or goat in his flock. Each one matters. Every life matters to the shepherd. We matter to God.

When you weave a piece a fabric there are many ways to get variety of color. One way is to wind two colors of thread together as you put them on the spool. Then you weave these two pieces of yarn into the fabric together. As you do, you don’t just get one color or the other woven into the fabric, you get both. A red and a blue yarn, woven together, give the look of a purple fabric.  God is like the thread - powerful and gentle.

When we weave together both power and gentleness, we get the fullness of God. God is powerful in speaking the truth to the principalities of this world. And God is gentle in caring for God’s own children. We need both from God. We need God’s power to tear down walls and we need God’s gentleness to care for us as a shepherd cares for sheep.

What might it look like for you to receive God’s power AND God’s gentleness in your life? Which one do you need more right now? In different seasons of life we might be in more need of power or gentleness. You might really need power today, or you might really be in need of gentleness, of healing.

I invite you today to open yourself to the fullness of God’s promises. Be open to receive the fullness of God’s power in your life, to give you strength to do hard and courageous things. You don’t do it on your own, but with the full power of God behind you.  Be open to receive the fullness of God’s gentleness; let God heal you and comfort you and remind you that you are God’s beloved child. Together with God, you will have the power to change the world. God will change you, and through you, God will change the world.

Amen.