[AI translation] Once upon a time there was a man. He was really lucky in life. He was talented, extremely skilful, and he made excellent progress in his official career. He rose higher and higher, until at last he reached one of the highest dignities: he became Minister of Finance. Others may have looked at him with envy, but he himself felt inside that something was not right. He felt an inexplicable longing, he didn't know exactly what it was, but he couldn't rest. Something had to be done. He decided to go on a long trip abroad. He took his own carriage to Jerusalem. There, in the holy city, he hoped to rid himself of this terrible restlessness. But he was disappointed. There, too, he found no peace of mind. His heart longed for something else, even more than before. On the way home, he read a little scripture. He almost devoured the pages, but in vain, he could not find what he was looking for. He didn't really understand what the little book was about. Then, suddenly, a man joined him. The finance minister started talking to him. He poured his heart out to her. And this man told him about Jesus Christ. And then something wonderful happened. All at once the minister's eyes seemed to open: for this is the Jesus I have always longed for! In him I have everything I am missing. He is the one who can put my whole past life in order. He is the one who can give my aching heart peace. He is the one who can resolve all the disharmony within me and bring me a peace that the whole world cannot give. And then this mighty gentleman entrusted himself to Jesus and was baptized in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, because he wanted to be in relationship with him for the rest of his life. He was filled with an inexpressible joy, and returned home from his journey a man who was happy at heart.It is almost two thousand years ago that I am telling you this. A doctor, a man named Luke, described it at the time. And do you know why it's worth looking into? Because it's such a very modern story. I know a man who went through the same thing 30 years ago. I know a woman who had a very similar experience a good many years ago. The same thing is repeated very often: someone has a great emptiness inside, despite all the external good fortune, they are longing for some real satisfaction, they are looking for something. He is disappointed a lot, and then he meets a believer, a man of God, through him he comes to know Jesus, and then in his heart with Jesus he goes on happily on his way of life.
Look at this Abyssinian finance minister: what has he done? What he has done is that he has taken time for himself for eternal things, he has occupied himself with the Word of God, he has talked to a man of God, he has laid down the burdens of his life with Jesus, and he has entered into fellowship with Jesus. Five steps and he found happiness. Just five steps and you will have happiness in your heart and in your home.
1) So the first step is this: make time for the eternal things! Such is often the smallness of a human life that the happiness of a human life depends on not being able to make time for eternal things. One of the greatest miseries of the modern way of life, which leads to utter spiritual misery, is that there is no time for eternal things. I have to hurry in the morning, the train leaves, the tram starts, school begins, work is urgent, I'm lucky if I get there in time, let alone deal with eternal things! Who has time in the morning? Come on! Duty calls. In the evening? You're so tired, you can't think of divine things. Maybe it would be nice, but I can't! His head won't work, his body and soul are exhausted. Sleep, sleep, as soon as possible. During the day? Oh, there's not a minute's rest in the day! You can hardly get through all the things you're supposed to. Life is a chase from morning till night. Sunday! On Sunday, there are visitors or some kind of event, a class trip, a graduation reunion, and oh, so much work to do at home that you didn't have time for during the week. Then it starts all over again.
Dear brothers and sisters, young and old, new confirmands and old confirmands: I beg you very much to make time for the eternal things! It doesn't take two months off to travel to Jerusalem or some other out-of-the-way place. You simply need to make it a rule that on the first day of the week and the first hour of the day, you should be quiet and occupied with eternal things. He talks with the Eternal. Is there no time? Look, this man in the story was a finance minister, and yet he was able to make time for eternal things. I knew a Home Secretary, he always found time for that too. I know a Kossuth Prize-winning university teacher, he also finds time for it. Because whether someone has time for eternal things never depends on how busy they are, but on how much will and interest they have. Make time for yourself for eternal things!
2) The second step is this: occupy yourself with the Word of God! This is another very simple step, but it is essential. The minister in the castle was reading the Bible in the car. The book of Isaiah. People generally have no idea of the value of the Bible. It is like that particular field Jesus once spoke of, in which some very precious treasure was hidden. 99 out of 100 people pass it by without any interest, as if it were nothing special. But he who has found the treasure in it will give up everything to get the field for himself, so that the treasure may be his. He who is really serious about the Bible will find more than he bargained for: Jesus himself.
Once, a Jewish rabbi in Israel was given a Hebrew New Testament by someone on a fast train. When he got home, he read it twice before morning, and when the sun came up in his room, he found a kneeling man surrendering himself to the One he had met in the pages of the Bible: Jesus. That is why the Bible is the most read book to this day. That is why no true believer can do without it: because that is where God speaks, where I hear the voice of Jesus, where I meet him. Do you know what the Bible teaches us every day? It teaches me to see this world through God's eyes, and myself and others. And how different this world is when I see it through God's eyes! How things are reassessed! Suddenly everything around us changes when we begin to see through God's eyes. Please, I beg you, whether you are of the older generation or the younger, whether you are just starting out on the journey of faith or have been trying to walk it for a long time: engage regularly with the Word of God on a daily basis. You can't do it without it!
3) The third step: talk to a man of God, a believing brother or sister. It was no accident that Philip the evangelist walked the same road that the Abyssinian finance minister traveled. God had brought him to the minister's path to help the man who was searching. He asked him: Do you understand what you are reading? Tell me what you do not understand. And the man told him. It was perhaps the first time in his life that he had opened up his soul to someone honestly and could tell them everything: all his worries, his doubts, his problems. Oh, how important it is to be able to really express yourself with someone, to really turn outward all that is inside.
I knew a man, a man of good character, who committed a secret sin when he was a young student. He was very remorseful, but he dared not tell anyone. He carried it for years, decades. His soul was crushed. It almost made him mentally ill. And it was then that he was healed, freed from the terrible pressure, when he finally found someone to whom he could tell everything truly, honestly. Now let me ask you in Jesus' name: how are you inside? Have you no doubts, problems, secret sins, painful burdens, hidden secrets? Tell somebody, talk to somebody you really trust. Ask God to show you someone, a brother or sister. Otherwise, if no one else shows you, turn to your pastor with confidence. But talk to someone honestly for once. Many, many a person who has carried a burden, a problem, a sin from some pseudo-spirit for decades, has been set free, found help, perhaps born again, in a single hour of such a discussion. Talk it out with someone!
4) Step four: lay down all the burdens of your life with Jesus! This is perhaps the most important step on the road to a joyful life. Whoever does not do this will never find true joy in life! After all, how can a man be happy in his heart if he is carrying a heavy burden of conscience and suffering from unforgiven sins? How can a heart truly rejoice until it is cleansed of all filthiness? How can a man come to the peace of God if his past is a constant reproach? Let me therefore lead you now in spirit to a little hilltop where a cross stands. Jesus is hanging on it. He is your substitute. The man the Bible calls the Lamb of God.
Once upon a time, the faithful Israelites would lay their sins on a little lamb as a symbol. They would lay their hands on the lamb's head and confess their sins. When this was done, the believing Israelite knew that my sin was no longer on me, but on the lamb. So the lamb had to die for the sin of the guilty man, and the man was set free. That is the way God wanted it. And that's how He wants it today. That is why He calls His only begotten Son the Lamb of God, so that we might lay our sins on Him. You too can come to Him with your sins. Tell Him everything you have done wrong or failed to do in your life. Lay all your sins on Him. Once you have done this, know that your sins and debts are no longer a burden on you, but on Him, Jesus. All your sins are wiped away, washed away by His blood. This majestic mystery was also seen by the great Lord of the Moor in his conversation with Philip. That is why he asked to be baptised in the name of Jesus. Let his life be immersed, almost symbolically, in the blood of Jesus. Take this fourth step yourself: lay down all the burdens of your life with Jesus.
5) Finally, the fifth step: enter into communion with Jesus! Now you can walk the paths of life with Him. He not only died for you, but He also rose again and is here, alive, to be with us always. Every day. In all the situations of life. You can be with Him all the time, in His company, talking to Him about everything, like a good friend. You can always tell Him all your problems, your issues, your worries, whatever is on your heart. He wants to make you happy with His presence, He wants to take away all your fears, He wants to give you peace in your heart, He wants to comfort you in all your troubles: He wants to help you live in general. To live happily.
So take that last step: dedicate your life to Jesus! Decide that from now on you will always do everything with Him. When the minister of the cloister did this, we read, "He would go on his way with joy." (verse 39c) Joyfully, gladly. A new man.
I don't know how you got here, but I do know that now you too can go on your way with joy, with gladness. It takes five steps, remember. These five steps, - as we have seen:
1. Make time for yourself for the eternal things.
2.
3. Have a conversation with someone.
4. Lay down all the burdens of your life with Jesus, and
5. Commune with Jesus!
Because the life we live with Jesus - despite all the struggles - is the happy life!
Amen
Date: 6 May 1962 (confirmation).