Günter Berger

Lazarus ist überall - Mensch, wo bist du?

From the foreword:
In the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), Jesus demonstrates in an almost demonstratively exaggerated way that discipleship means very concrete action:
Whoever has a lot in this life has a special obligation. Those who do not see the misery of their fellow human beings on their doorstep will end up like the nameless rich man in the flames of hell and oblivion. The poor man is called by his name (Lazarus = "God has helped") and rests in Abraham's bosom.
With "Lazarus", Berger takes up his church music practice of the 1960s in a modified, matured and more extensive form and tells the "Lazarus" story in a loose, contrapuntally fanned-out "blues style" - ultimately a "spiritual lesson" in the sense of the epic theater of Brecht and Eisler. Gregorian quotations and the early church melody "Es sungen drei Engel" (Three angels sang), however, make the timeless dimension clear. For Berger, church music is not just "decoration of church worship", but can and should have a concrete effect in our time.
Lazarus lies on our own doorstep and calls us to act: Natural disasters, xenophobia and inhumanity cannot leave anyone cold, especially not the oft-quoted "Christian man". The attitude of the Catholic Günter Berger is perhaps best described by Martin Luther's famous quote "On the Freedom of a Christian" (1520):

"A Christian is a free lord over all things and subject to no one - through faith.
A Christian is a servant of all and subject to everyone - through love."
Ring binding.