[AI translation] Dear brothers and sisters, if someone were to ask me which command in the Bible is the most difficult to keep, to fulfill, I would answer that it is the one I have just read from the letter to the Thessalonians, "Give thanks in everything". Not that the other commands of the Bible are something very simple and very easy, because they are all difficult. But even among the difficult commands, one of the most difficult commands is precisely this one, to give thanks in everything. Because this word "in everything" is a very heavy word. Something very radical word. And we, people today, no longer like such absolute expressions, such radical words, because we live in an age that has already thoroughly discredited the value and meaning of big words, and therefore we like to be a little more careful in what we say. And we would perhaps prefer to say that in many ways. For there is much to be thankful for. But to give thanks for everything is a bit much! It's a bit difficult, even impossible. We like the more vague words like about, probably, maybe, perhaps, but the Bible is not afraid of big words. Very often in the Bible we read words like all or nothing, or always or never. For example: everything is possible for believers. All things are possible in Christ. Nothing separates me from the love of Christ. Well then, it is an equally radical phrase to give thanks in all things.Perhaps the most we can even get to in the area of giving thanks is to say, well, in every situation one finds something to give thanks for. For example, when we say to a patient that his condition is very serious, but thank God he is still alive. Or when we say to a bereaved person that your father is gone, but thank God your mother is still there. So when we see, we notice the good that is left, and it is also a very big thing if someone can give thanks for that. But let me say right away that this is the lowest level of Christian thanksgiving. And look, it is not even in this verse that you give thanks for everything. Of course, the verse is still valid and it is still very difficult, because it means for everything, including trouble, including suffering, including loneliness - including joy, of course, and good things. It takes a lot of life experience and a lot of life wisdom for a person to get to the point where they can give thanks for everything. But it's not just that here. This verse is about giving thanks in everything. And I feel, brothers and sisters, that this is the peak that we can never reach. Because sometimes, and perhaps many times, our hearts are filled with gratitude, but always when there is a reason for it. It is always when something triggers it, when circumstances, the course of our lives, are such that we are moved to gratitude for what has happened, for what we have received. For example, we say that the operation was successful, the fever is down, thank God! Or the other day, a young girl with a radiant face came to me with radiant happiness and said, "Uncle Alexander, I am so happy, I can't thank God enough! So in our house, gratitude always comes at the end of something. But gratitude should not be at the end, but always at the beginning. Gratitude should not come from the beginning, but should start from gratitude. Gratitude should be given first, then begging, then struggling, then suffering, then rejoicing, then being happy. So suffering, struggle, happiness, joy - everything should be carried in thanksgiving, carried with gratitude. So, gratitude is not something like a peak that one finally reaches with great difficulty, with great hardship, but gratitude is the foundation on which we stand.
That said, perhaps we can get a little closer to the meaning of the passage I read, that Jesus took the bread in his hands and, giving thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples. So notice, Jesus gave thanks before the Lord's Supper. Not the way we do. We give thanks after communion. And that we do this is natural, it is logical, because we are already giving thanks for something, we are already giving thanks for the good things we have taken. But why Jesus gave thanks before communion, brothers and sisters, is incomprehensible! It is even astonishing that his heart should be filled with thanksgiving at this very moment. It is at this very moment that he remembers to give thanks, to say a prayer of thanksgiving. Does he have any reason to be thankful now? For all that is to follow, all that is to come for Him after the communion is over - the arrest, the torturous interrogations, then the abuse, the mockery, the crucifixion, the terrible suffering, all the horrors and curses of the crucifixion - all these things are not at all grounds for a man to give thanks. Such a flood of events breaks the heart. A man despairs, not gives thanks. It is then that gratitude sinks. And Jesus knew very well what was coming now, immediately after the end of the Lord's Supper, and "he broke bread giving thanks"...
Brothers and sisters, none of us knows what death he will depart from this life on earth with. People used to talk about how they would like to die. Some people say that they would prefer to die suddenly. Perhaps as a result of an accident that kills him immediately, or as a result of cardiac arrest, because then there is no goodbye, no fear of death, no struggle, then everything is over at once. We also say, people, when someone dies like that, that it was a nice death. Then there are people - and this is less common - who say that I would rather buy time. I want to have time to prepare myself well for this great journey and to be able to say goodbye to those I loved and to be able to tell them what I still have to tell them. I want to go from this world to that other world with a full and clear consciousness. Well, brothers and sisters, none of us knows what kind of death we will die. Jesus knew exactly. Not only what kind of death he would die, but also the path that would lead up to the moment he would die. And he certainly didn't want to die overnight. In fact, even when he was hanging on the cross, he deliberately refused to take the stupefying drink offered to him, because he wanted to go through with it in full consciousness. Jesus also had a deathbed, on which he said his farewells and left his last goodbyes. Do you know what Jesus' deathbed was? Well, it was the very bench on which he sat with his disciples at the Last Supper. That was his deathbed. And when he broke that piece of bread and gave it to his disciples, from that moment on he virtually gave up his life. He gave himself out of his hands. From that moment on he no longer had any claim on his own body. So, when he broke that bread, it was really as if he himself had lain down in full consciousness and in full health on his own deathbed. And as if He had already died on His own initiative before people killed Him. When He breaks the bread that is in His hand, He sees Himself hanging there on the cross. And where that bread is broken, He sees the nails pierced into His own palms and His own feet - and His hands do not tremble when He gives thanks and breaks that bread. Yet behind that bread, all the hell that awaits him opens up before him. Giving thanks, he goes towards the open throat of hell.
And this prayer of thanksgiving before taking the bread of the Lord's Supper is not a prayer of thanksgiving like the prayer we pray before a meal - saying, "Let's not eat like pigs, but let's be quiet and say grace first" - but something quite different. I once saw a woman running with her arms outstretched to someone who had just rescued her drowning child from the water, and all I can say is: thank you, thank you, thank you! Her whole being was one big expression of gratitude. Well, it was something like that, but even more powerful than that, when Jesus broke that bread in thanksgiving. Brothers and sisters, we talk so much about the words of Jesus on the cross and their profound meaning; but just think: that prayer of thanksgiving there before the taking of the bread of the Lord's Supper has as much poignant depth as any of the words he spoke on the cross. And the same prayer of thanksgiving continues to resound there, all the way through the Passion, and the gentle light of that thanksgiving shines throughout the Via Dolorosa and all of Golgotha.
When the Last Supper is finished, we read that he and his disciples went up to the Mount of Olives singing praises. So the first words that Jesus uttered as he entered the place of torment, as he stepped on the threshold of death, were: Hallelujah! And that praise, that Old Testament praise that was sung at that time, that was the incense burner in which he took the sweet smell of his prayer of thanksgiving before taking the bread of the Lord's Supper with him to the Mount of Olives. When he stood before Caiaphas with his hands tied, did he have any of that gratitude left in his heart at all? Or had the gratitude run out by then, and bitterness and despair filled his heart? Surely there was still some! Remember, He said, "From now on you will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory". So it was as if there in the courtroom the triumph of his great, happy thanksgiving, ascension and glorious return had already begun. And did this gratitude also accompany him to Calvary, to this terrible place of damnation? Remember when he said, "Today you will be with me in Paradise". Something like that, as if he were still reaching for Paradise with his hand on the cross. When Judas leaves the scene of the Last Supper and steps out into the darkness to betray Jesus, Jesus says, "Now shall the Son of Man be glorified". He doesn't say that now the Son of Man is betrayed, he doesn't say that now the Son of Man is given away, he doesn't say that now the Son of Man is lost, alas - 'Now the Son of Man is glorified'. The door is closing behind Judas, and Jesus knows very well that the door of heaven is closing in front of Him at this moment, and all the other doors are closing in front of Him, and He says, "Now the Son of Man is glorified." The most terrible darkness is illuminated by the gentle light of this thanksgiving. Brothers and sisters, this is what the apostle says: "In everything give thanks". In giving thanks he has broken himself.
And when Jesus gives thanks in this way, it is thanks that fills all heaven. If there was ever a moment in Jesus' life when he could have prostrated himself on the table, his head on his arms, despairing, sobbing, it would have been now. But no, He is not despairing now, He is giving thanks. Imagine if you knew that at 10 o'clock tonight you were going to be attacked by robbers, tied up, taken away, desecrated, looted, wounded, and tomorrow morning you would be tortured to death, could you say to your children at dinner tonight, "Come on, children, let's thank God first! Because something like that happened here. But what was the thanksgiving for? Because Jesus' whole life was worship, and his death had to be worship. And worship includes thanksgiving. "Give thanks to the Lord." - says the Old Testament command. Thanksgiving is a duty. Thanksgiving is a calling. He who truly gives thanks to God gives his heart. Gratitude is the best way to praise God, and Jesus did not want God to be shortchanged in the honor due Him, even when He was about to suffer, agonize, and die. For this He now gives thanks. Now, when he can still in his right mind say it out loud, because they will soon drown the word out anyway. "Giving thanks, He broke bread and gave it to His disciples".
Brothers and sisters, when I thought about these things, I felt terribly ashamed and thought that we have no idea what thanksgiving really is. We can never be truly grateful. And when we see some sign of thanksgiving in someone's life, we are amazed that there is such a thing. For example, I myself was moved once when I heard about an old lady who for many years had only ever been able to sit in the same armchair in front of the same window, unable to do anything else, and once, when she had been unable to sit there for a week because of illness, and after her illness she was put back in the chair again, she said: 'I am so grateful to God that I can sit in this chair again! Or we are moved when we hear a child pray: "God, thank you for mummy and daddy and for the fire in the stove. I was also touched once when I heard about a very dear friend of mine who had to have both his legs cut off because of a stenosis, and he kept saying: 'I am infinitely grateful for my two hands! Or, for example, I once heard of a man who was very seriously ill, dying on his bed, and his wife brought him a nice hot cup of tea with lemon, sugar, and lots of love, and then this man had tears welling up in his eyes, and he was so moved that he said: How good it is for me! Jesus was offered vinegar in his last hour. We are moved by such examples of gratitude, but what is this compared to the gratitude we see in Jesus? We have never really known what gratitude really is. And one of the weakest points in our whole life of faith is precisely thanksgiving. Yet thanksgiving should not be just a small part of our lives, it should be the foundation. In fact, our whole life should be one big, happy thanksgiving. And dear brother, when you don't get to the end of a day of real thanksgiving, you haven't really lived that day.
When a person gives thanks to God, what actually happens is that his heart is opened to God. It's like when a room with closed windows and stale, stale air - life - is flooded with the fresh air of spring, the invigorating sunshine of God's presence, God's goodness, God's serenity and peace. We have been talking a lot lately about vitamins and their necessity, and the harm of vitamin deficiency in the body. Well, brothers and sisters, vitamin H - thanksgiving - is one of the most wonderful vitamins in human life. I've experienced that many times all that is needed to be truly happy is thanksgiving. If he could give thanks, he would be happier in the same situation. That is why the apostle says "in everything give thanks".
In talking to people, I have heard people say, "Please, I often cannot pray. I can't pray. You know, now I would say to that, well, that's okay. Try to give thanks now! Why? For everything! For everything. And for everything! Look at Jesus and realize that begging without thanksgiving is paganism, it is not real begging. But how far can I go in supplication? How far can I ask for something and what can I ask for, what can I ask God for? To this I would now answer: everything, everything you can ask of God, everything, if it is within the bounds of thanksgiving - otherwise it is not asking, but grumbling and fretting.
Let us understand, brothers and sisters, that the real trouble in our lives is not primarily suffering, not sadness, not loneliness, not disappointment, but the real trouble in our lives is ingratitude. Because a grateful heart is peaceful, serene, calm, happy even in suffering and loneliness and disappointment. But we cannot be grateful. We certainly cannot be as grateful as we see in the Word here. Our thanksgiving is never complete. Whatever we do is never complete. Now look, everything Jesus did in the way of suffering, He did for us. He not only suffered for us, not only died for us, but He gave thanks for us! The law to "sacrifice to God with thanksgiving" was fulfilled for us by Jesus. So Jesus not only represents redemption for us, but He also represents thanksgiving for us. And when God sends you a letter, and in that letter it says I have redeemed you, there is also a response, a thanksgiving, in which you can thank God for that. So, when we humans come before God with our unheard of poor and fragmentary and insufficient thanksgiving, let us sometimes remember that this thanksgiving of ours is only made complete in the sacrifice of Jesus. Without it, all our thanksgiving is empty and meaningless. But when one tries to give thanks to God from the fullness of one's heart, let him do so in the knowledge that it is the Spirit of Jesus who now gives thanks to God in me.
Behold, the Scripture says: "After he had taken the bread, he gave thanks, and brake it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you'. So, brothers and sisters, in the run-up to Good Friday, let us think a great deal about Jesus giving thanks before his death, before he went to his death. And let us hold our hearts out to Him as an empty vessel to fill with His joy. In this way, teach us also to give thanks again, truly. To give thanks for his thanksgiving.
Amen.
Date: 14 March 1965.