[AI translation] When on the last Sunday of every month the holy custom of sharing communion is renewed in our congregation, I always fear that through frequent repetition it will soon become more and more a habitual practice. Yet breathtakingly great statements cover and authenticate this simply laid table: this statement of Jesus Christ: 'This is my body, all of you, eat of it, - this is my blood, all of you, drink of it.' I would now like to refresh in our souls the meaning of this much-heard statement in very simple words. I am speaking this time of the blood of Christ, on the basis of the Word that has been read, although all that I have to say could equally well be said of His body. Let it be said among us today, then, of the miracle of that holy blood, whose sign and seal is here before us in the chalice on this table.I don't know about you, but for my part, I am always shocked and shudder when I see blood. Even mine, even more so when it's someone else's. There's something mysterious about blood. The Old Testament says it straight out: "the life of the body is in the blood". That is why there was a ritual prohibition which literally read, "You shall not eat the blood, for the blood is the spirit" (Deuteronomy 12:23) When one's blood is spilled, almost literally, life itself is spilled. When a person bleeds to death, it means that the life is slowly drained out of him along with the blood. Yes, it's shocking, especially when the blood that is spilled is human blood... The man stands over it in dismay.
And the blood of which our Word speaks! Thus it says: the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God! Do you know, do you, what blood is spoken of here? The blood that was poured out of the body of Jesus there on Calvary, from the crown of thorns, from the lashes, from the nails, from the spear thrust into the side. And what he sweated out in the garden of Gethsemane. The blood of the Son of God! The shed blood of the incarnation of God's idea of loving and saving the world: divine blood! Holy blood!
There have been many bloodsheds on earth, with enormous consequences for individuals, communities, countries, for the course of history, but the holy blood of Calvary is unlike any other: it opened a new era in the life of the world! Who can describe the significance of the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God! Let me try to give just one small example: When I cut my finger, I see the blood gushing out and flooding the wound. The blood that spurts out almost sacrifices itself immediately, because as soon as it spurts out, it immediately dies, so to speak: it coagulates. And so the dead blood seals the wound like a protective layer. The few drops of blood that spurt out of the wound almost sacrifice themselves for the sake of the whole body. Jesus Christ knew very well that the whole world was mortally wounded by sin. The whole life of humanity was mortally wounded. Well, He poured His divine blood into this wound, into this opening, so that the world would not bleed to death, so that the world would not perish. Since the cross of Calvary, this wound has been covered! So that every man who believes in this revealed divine mystery will be saved and will have eternal life!
It is of this wonderful divine blood that our foundation sacrament says "cleanseth from all sin". We have also heard this many times, let us try to elaborate a little. How is it cleansed, what does it mean? First of all, it means that it gives man forgiveness of sins from God. This blood is the price of the universal amnesty that God has proclaimed on earth. Jesus Himself said of it, "This is my blood, the blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins" (Mt 26,28).
Forgiveness of sins! How this word has also become tame and empty for us! It has become a typical church term! Who cares about forgiveness today? Or do people not even have the time to think about it, because they are happy to make a living somehow, or have other problems that are bigger than that! After all, all our time and energy is consumed by material worries, worries about material things, worries about food, clothing, entertainment, validation, earning a living. You may be as beautiful as a beauty queen, as strong as an Olympic champion, as powerful as a dictator, as rich as a multimillionaire in the old world, but all this does not save you from the scythe of death that will soon be upon you, swooping down and cutting you down. My brethren, and especially you, the younger ones, students, children, you may have great ideals before you in sports, studies, arts, or in the field of validation, but understand God's message: you are more than a body, you are more than a man, you are more than the ten, forty or fifty years that lie ahead of you, and it is for this more that you will have to answer one day! We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ! And what will become of us there without forgiveness? You think you don't need it? Do you think you can stand before God in your own humanity? "If we say that we have no sin in us, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8); "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his Word is not in us." (1Jn 1:10)
In a well-known adoma there is a story of a man falling from the highest floor of a skyscraper, and coming to the 19th floor, he says to himself, "So far, so good!" I often think of this adage because it expresses reality so well. There are thousands and thousands of people, even among the church-goers, who are moving at high speed towards eternal perdition, lulling themselves into the belief that everything is going well, that everything is fine as it is. The man, whoever he may be, who has no part in being saved by Christ, is not well! He is doomed! The one for whom the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ has never become a saving reality is eternally lost! He is lost, even if he is doing well now. In Revelation there is a description of the rejoicing, saved hosts in heaven, standing around the throne of God dressed in white robes, and this is how the Scripture describes them.
And now, even here on earth, God's promise is sounded and re-sounded, hear it, "The blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanses us from all sin"! And now Jesus is still stretching out and stretching out the cup to you again, saying, "This is my blood, which is shed for many for the remission of sins". Accept and grasp in faith what God says and gives! Those of you who now understand, or who have known for a long time, that you need forgiveness of sins, for without it there is no life for you, come, take and eat and drink, for it is for you that the body was broken and the holy blood was shed.
Behold, that there may be no doubt, behold, God repeats once more in the same Word the great promise, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Confess! To confess with repentance before God and man! But not as the peasant did who went to his pastor and said, "Something is weighing on my soul, and will not leave me alone until I confess it. I stole! "What?" asked the pastor. A rope! 'Well, go to the person you stole it from, take it back and apologise,' said the pastor, 'then you'll be at peace. A few days later the man came back, still as troubled as before, and said he had not been able to calm down. Did he confess everything?" asked the pastor. No, because the whole truth is that there was something else on the rope I stole. What?" asked the pastor. A cow! Don't you think that our confession of sin is therefore also ineffective, that is why it is not followed by a feeling of liberation and exultation, because it is incomplete? We confess the rope, but we silence the cow. Such confession of sin is not followed by the peace of God. Well, if we confess the truth, the actual sin, the very thing we don't want to confess: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (John 1:9)
If you are still not filled with the joyful warmth that the power of that holy blood will cleanse you from all sin, let me give you a word of advice, but really do it! Stand before a mirror at home, but this time in a different way from your usual one. So this time, don't look at yourself in the mirror to see if your hair is neat, if your tie is right. But look into your own eyes, through your eyes into your soul, and slowly and emphatically say out loud, "I am the one for whom Jesus Christ died, for whom His blood cleanses from all sin! And when you have done this, kneel down and thank him immediately for what you have just said. For if Christ died for you, it means nothing more or less than that He has obtained eternal life for you through Him! Do this, and from then on you may praise the miracle of the redeeming holy blood for all eternity!
And the wonderful work of that holy blood does not end there. The Word remains true, that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, that is, it slowly restores and cleanses in us the image of God that has been corrupted and defiled by sin. Let me also try to bring this closer with an example: there are mothers and fathers and their children sitting here. Sometimes we are struck very strongly by the family traits that make them similar. This also proves that the secret of kinship is somehow in the blood. When visitors lean over a new-born baby, they say with amazement: his face is his father's, his nose his mother's. Even the features of character are often as similar as the features of the face. They used to say, "He has his father's blood in him. Now, as the blood of the natural father is seen in his natural child, how much more does the blood of Christ form, mould, purify, in men who have received the living God Himself as their Father! When the blood of Christ begins to work in a person, then it is possible that God and men will suddenly begin to say: this man's face, his look is all Christ's, his speech, his gesture, his walk is all Christ's! See, this is why we all need the spiritual transfusion of blood that we receive from time to time here at this table from the heavenly Physician, so that this most noble of all blood types, this holy, redeeming blood, may cleanse our lives of toxic substances, bitterness, discontent, sadness, fornication - bring new, heavenly strength into our ever-again-again life. In other words, in the words of the Word, to cleanse us from all sin.
My brethren, who are weary, who are empty, who have run out of love, who have been shaken in faith, who have lost joy, whose souls have been filled with the poison of worry and fear in the chase of daily life: come! Take, eat and drink, for it is for you that the body was broken and the blood of the Son of God was shed. That is why this call of God is repeated in the Word: 'Son, give me your heart! God wants to fill the heart, the blood engine, with new, healthy, heavenly fuel, so that its renewing, refreshing, purifying power and effect may flow into every part of us, penetrate even our thoughts, ennoble even our instincts.
Yes, give your heart, let God put Himself into it through the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. This is what you need. That is why He has now set His table again. He wants to strengthen you by the miracle of the holy blood, so that you can continue your journey with serenity, with hope, with blessing to men, with serving God as a child, serving his glory in all things, on the narrow road, straight to the goal, to eternity!
Amen.
Date: 26 August 1956.