Berlin's New Wall

For 28 years the 45,000 concrete sections of the Berlin wall stood as a constant reminder of the divided Germany and the Cold War. As a boy growing up in America I heard about the crossing points, Alpha, Bravo, and Checkpoint Charlie, infamous for the barbed wire, machine gun nests, and snarling dogs insuring the border was not violated.

The hair stood up on the back of my neck the first time I heard President Reagan at the Brandenburg gate challenge Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall.” Two years later I cried as I watched the wall come down and people come together. The Cold War was over. The unification of Germany would become official in October of 1990.

A new wall is being built in Berlin. This wall will not divide the city. In fact, the new structure will only be about 200 yards long. Minefields will not be planted. Guards will not patrol to enforce old boundaries.

What’s the purpose of the new Berlin Wall? Remembrance. German children are growing up with no memory of the brutality of the Communist regime. They never saw people running across the border at Checkpoint Charlie, making it halfway before being gunned down. They never experienced their family being divided. So the new wall is being built so the people will remember. We all know what happens when you forget the lessons of history, don’t we?

Each week we meet together as Christians to remember. We break the bread and we drink the cup and we remember. We remember God raising up a people for himself. We remember the people turning away from God. We remember the prophecies of a deliverer. We remember the virgin birth. We remember the life of Jesus — His disciples, His miracles, His teaching, His sinless pursuit of God’s will.

We remember His breaking the bread and pouring the cup. We remember Him washing feet like a common servant. We remember the prayerful night in the garden, the mob with their torches and the betrayer with his kiss. We remember the trials with their witnesses. We remember the hard hearts of the religious professionals. We remember the cross, the nails, the sign above His head. We remember the body and blood of Jesus. And we remember the empty tomb.

And we remember the possibility of our putting the past behind and starting over. We remember our hope. We remember what God can rebuild in our lives, how He can bring us meaning, purpose, and direction. We remember Jesus.

We all know what happens when we remember, don’t we?

— Bob Clark

10/19/2004