Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Brahms and Requiems/Michael Spencer

I-Monk, Michael Spencer died on Easter Monday.  He was only 53 and well-loved and will be sorely missed, having been taken rather suddenly.  I enjoyed reading and commenting on his blog.  I have no idea how he did all the things he did.  We did not agree  with all of  his theology, but he made many think about the right things and he questioned very bravely  many wrong things.  In a sense he was a bit of a giant, speaking truth and allowing people to meet and talk that usually would not.

He had a way of making it happen, though he sometimes shut down conversations and comments we thought we should have been able to make. I almost was moderated a couple of times.  (Only almost.)   But he was an honest, humble, transparent person who knew that his only hope was in Jesus Christ.  Would that somebody could say that about me in the end.  Thanks be to God who can bring us to this grace.

For all mourners, which are many, here is a bit of Brahm's requiem which was performed in Edmonton this Good Friday.  Someone brought me the program, since I had to miss it.  It would have been amazing to go.  On Wikipedia, you can have all the words in German and English, all Bible passages from Luther's translation, as well as the music. Scroll down just a little.  It does not seem the right music for the Kentuckian.  But the words are good for us all.   I will always remember the way he said "I".  I sounded like "AAHH".  When Jesus says:  "Michael Spencer".  He'll say:  "AAHH'm here."

9 comments:

Steve Martin said...

I liked Michael Spencer quite a bit.

I used to comment on his blog a lot.

He really didn't care too much for my Lutheran take on things, but he did listen to and make nice comments on a sermon that my pastor preached a few years back (which I currently have featured on my blog).

I'm looking forward to meeting him in person in Heaven.

Thanks for the Brahm' Deutsche's Requiem!

Brigitte said...

I will listen to the sermon. Last night my server was too busy, could not get more than a couple of words at a time.

There should be a i-tunes podcast subscription for different pastor's sermons, hey, but who would monitor it?

It is the strangest thing to be looking forward to meeting people in heaven whom you feel you know quite well but have never met. A great anticipation.

I remember you have the white carnation in the lapel.

Bror Erickson said...

Do you know a Lutheran that wasn't moderated on his blog?

Brigitte said...

We know, you did not get to talk about the Lord's Supper.

Bror Erickson said...

Brigitte,
Actually the one time he put me on moderation it was because of Confession and absolution, after he wrote a piece where he blew the Lutheran position off as ludicrous. Yet he allowed my posts through. He emailed me over that one, we talked a bit. He wanted to moderate, but he couldn't. I pushed the line, but he realized that I had to, and that I didn't cross it.
The Lord's Supper and closed communion he let me say my piece as I recall. But got testy about it.

Brigitte said...

These kinds of interactions are memorable, but I don't remember reading the part about confession and absolution. I don't even know how one can argue against it. It's so where the rubber hits the road.

Is it a knee-jerk reaction against RC practices and the domination by the priests and hierarchy?

You had some of this with Larry the other day. After that I was scouring my German hymnbooks to see if they had yielded this confession and absolution and found that the old hymn book had two services with two sets of words for it, but that the new hymn book gives no words, just a title "Gnadenzusprache", "announcement of grace", which is good, but no words. So what is supposed to be said? For everything else there are words and melodies. ???

What does bother me about how we often do it, is how it gets rattled through, a lot, and there is no pause, when it says pause...
That's probably what the baptist would object to: it sure looks like you are just going through the motions and words; you haven't actually confessed anything.


On another notes, this Brahm's Requiem here, if one goes to Wikipedia (somehow the link did not work), now that I've thought about it, also is not really great on Gospel. It collates many comforting passages, talks about the resurrection and entering Zion with joy, but does not talk about what Christ has done. Lots of pomp but not clear theology. Yea, yea the words from Luther's translation, but no Luther's theology. Am I getting overly critical?

Brigitte said...

No, I was wrong, I found the words. But you have to go flip back to another page. You have to read the little note on the side to tell you to go to page 675.

Where it has: "The merciful God has had mercy on us. Jesus Christ has died for us. Through him God forgives us and makes us his children. Whosoever believes and is baptized will be saved. May God grant this to us all."

This seems to be optional, though; you can also just have a quiet time of meditation.

Bror Erickson said...

In my experience it often has to do with anti Roman setiment when people criticise Lutherans for confession absolution.
You are right, it should not be rushed through. A good long silence and time for reflection. ought to be in there. I don't think though that baptists have a problem with it being rushed so much though as they have a problem with a man forgiving another man's sin.
Funny, they always quote the pharisees attacking Christ for forgiving sins when they attack us for forgiving sins. "How can a man forgive another's sin?" and they actually think the pharisees are right when they quote them.

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