LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2019, Page 108

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Well, it seems as if I had now gotten myself into trouble
with this introduction. When I received the invitation
to address you on this convention here in Tampa, it was
pretty obvious that I should not only talk about giving
thanks in general, saying some nice pious, edifying
words on this subject. I am certain that there are plenty
Lutheran pastors here in the United States who could
have done this much better than me. But, of course, you
expect me to talk about giving thanks in view of the fact
that I am working with quite a few former Muslim
converts at Trinity Lutheran Church in Berlin-Steglitz.
It would be easy for me to play the Pharisee now,
talking about our great successes that we have
experienced in our mission work, talking about the
development of a congregation with a church
attendance of 10 people to become the second largest
confessional Lutheran congregation in Germany
within 10 years. Yes, I could present you a lot of
impressive figures. But I will not do this. I want to talk
about giving thanks in all circumstances. And that’s
why I will tell you some totally different stories.
If it is evident what you are giving thanks for, it is easy
to praise God. When you are feeling fine, when you are
healthy, when you have a good job, when you have
success, when your congregation is growing, when you
have no financial problems, it is easy to praise God.
But because it is so easy to praise God, it does not mean
that we are actually giving thanks to God the way we
should. It is important that we school ourselves and
that we again and again practice giving thanks to God
for blessings that seem so evident, so ordinary. The
Greek word “eucharisteo (εὐχαριστέω),” which is
used by St. Paul here in 1 Thessalonians 5, refers first of
all to the Jewish custom of table prayer which was
adopted by the Christians. Giving thanks in all
circumstances, therefore, means first of all that we
practice the table prayer before and after each meal not
only at home but at McDonald’s and Taco Bell as well.
It means that we teach our children to give thanks
before and after each meal so that they cannot imagine
starting to eat without a thanksgiving. Giving thanks in
all circumstances means that we begin and end our
days with Luther’s Morning and Evening Prayer which
starts with a thanksgiving: “I thank you, my dear
heavenly Father ….” Giving thanks in all circumstances
also means developing a spiritual routine for each day.
Giving thanks is not only a spontaneous reaction, but a
good spiritual exercise for every Christian.
But this exercise, at the same time, needs certain
incitements again and again. It is meet, right and
salutary to realize that so many things that seem to be
108 | PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2019 (67TH) LCMS CONVENTION

self-evident are not self-evident at all. I will tell you a
few examples from members of our church:
Did you sleep in a warm bed last night? I will tell you of
Benjamin, a member of our church. The journey had
been hard for him, but finally he had made it from Iran
to Germany. He received his Baptism in our church and
became a very faithful Christian. But then he heard that
his wife’s family in Iran had found out that he had
become a Christian. They wanted to divorce his wife
from him together with their small child and give her to
a Muslim man. Thus, Benjamin left Germany, went to
Iran, secretly took his wife and his small child, and
wanted to immediately return to Germany. I had
warned him that the walls around Europe had become
so high that he would not get a second chance, but he
did not want to leave his wife alone. He tried many
times to come to Europe from Turkey but was always
sent back. He spent the winter together with his wife
and his child on the street, was arrested in Turkey and
taken into a closed camp at the Syrian border. They
wanted to deliver him to the Iranian authorities who
would have immediately arrested him, but he fled from
the closed camp and lives somewhere in Turkey now on
the street. Are you sleeping in a warm bed tonight?
Then give thanks to God!
Were you afraid of going to church last Sunday? There
are many thousands of Christians in Iran who risk their
lives every week by secretly coming together in house
churches. They must always be aware of spies who
might have found out where they meet. And indeed,
many Christians in Iran have been arrested, tortured,
thrown into prison for many years, just because they
wanted to attend a worship service. Some of them
could flee to Germany after their imprisonment and
their torture and are members of our church now. You
were not afraid of going to church last Sunday? Then
give thanks to God!
Have you been able to see your family, your children,
your parents, your wife, your husband lately? We have
so many members of our church who have not seen
their children, their parents, their wife, their husband
for many years. Some of them have heard that their
parents have died meanwhile, others have heard that
their wife has gotten divorced in Iran or Afghanistan
after she had found out that her husband is a Christian.
Many of them do not have any contact to their whole
family after they had been baptized, because they are
“kouffar,” infidels, now for their family. You have a
Christian family and live together with your family?
Then give thanks to God!

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