The President of the Texas District of the LCMS is being interviewed by Pastor David Bahn, former Sr. Pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, and now retired. When you think about Easter, what is its essence but “Christ is Risen; He is risen indeed!” To explain the true message in other words is to say, “there is no name under Heaven given among men, whereby men must be saved.” Instead of just endeavoring to be convincing to your friend or neighbor, invite him to join this celebration. For this message of Easter is that God is with us “in the difficulties that surround us. Christ is risen; He is risen indeed!”
Transcript
The following program is sponsored by evangelical life ministries.
Welcome to engaging truth, the manifestation of God's word and the lives of people around us. Join us each week. As we explore the impact of his message of spiritual renewal from the lesson of forgiveness forged in the crucible of divorce, to the message of salvation learned to by an executioner from a condemned killer to the gift of freedom found in the rescue of victims of human trafficking. This is God's truth in action.
Welcome to engaging truth. This is David Bon. I am your host tonight. And, uh, I have with me, Reverend Michael Newman, the president of Texas district of the Lutheran church, Missouri Senate. God bless you. Welcome. It's good to see you. Good to visit with you tonight,
David Bond, what a pleasure to be with
You. Yeah, and actually we are recording this not in the evening. So I'm looking at the, uh, BR beautiful sunshine outside your window. And that's a, that's a good thing as we think about the, as erection and Easter and all the blessings that come to us, uh, from them. I want, I wanna start out by, uh, sharing a, a true story with you. Um, I was in a, uh, a conversation with one, one of my sons several years ago. Uh, and he had been influenced pretty significantly by one of his teachers high school, uh, and was really having some deep questions about the Christian faith. And he said to me, as we were talking and he was kind of bringing these things up and I was trying to give an answer to him. He said something to the effect of, uh, well, dad, how, how do you know that some boy in India, isn't having this exact same conversation with his dad, uh, on a different path.
And, you know, right at the moment, it kind of stunned me since then. I've had the chance to think about that. And when we talk about Easter, that really begins to set apart the Christian faith. He wouldn't be having this conversation with his son, uh, about Buddha, uh, uh, you know, of the other Eastern real religions. Those kinds of issues are not there. Um, and the exclusive, uh, message of Christianity that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world that he died for the sins of the world that he rose from the dead is unlike any other. And so we're, we're gonna talk about that tonight and, uh, really just kind of lean in to what it really means to think about and rejoice in the, the blessings of the resurrection.
Yeah. You know, you forgot one thing, David, we gotta say Christ is risen.
Yeah. He has risen indeed. Halle,
Hallelujah, hallelu, make sure we get that in I Easter
Sunday. Amen. Christ is risen. He has risen indeed. Hallelujah. That's a great mess for us to hold in front of our listeners and, uh, and really for us as well, to keep that in mind, I had a friend who used to always say, you know, when, when you're in, uh, difficult situations, just remember the tomb is empty and, uh, that really changes everything. Doesn't it? Yeah,
That's right. That's right. And you know, you reminded me of acts chapter four, verse 12, when Peter declares, there is no other name given under heaven by which men must be saved. He's letting us know that this Christian faith, this, uh, this trust in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not one religion among many competing somehow for ideological, uh, stance. You know, this, there is only one name given under heaven by which we are saved. And we would never invent that kind of thinking, you know, that's right. We think how well, how can we do it ourselves? And so God brought us something very original.
So that is sometimes a sticking point for people, right? I mean, they just kind of think about, gosh, how can you say that? You know, whatever. And a couple of things come to my mind in that regard. One is that, you know, Jesus, when he prayed in the garden of GSEM prayed fervently, sweat dropping from his like, like drops of blood father, if there's any other way, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. And I'm thinking about how, if there was another way, then either God is a, a cruel, cruel, horrible, uh, ogre, uh, and, uh, a, a terrible, uh, person to cause such pain to his own son or, um, or this is just all a big myth. And, uh, neither is true.
That's right. You know, human history has shown that we've generally all diagnosed the problem. We all know that we can't do this on our own, that there are problems in this chaotic broken world. We call it a world that's broken by sin. But you know, from early civilizations where sacrificing humans or throwing someone into a volcano to appease the gods or trying to figure out a system to reach perfect piece, everyone is diagnosed the problem. But the unfortunate thing, or the sticking point is that as human beings, our go-to is saying, well, how can we solve the problem where instead God reached in, he came down, he sent his son. He said, you don't need to save yourself. You know, if we were, if we're drowning in the sea, uh, all the other idea ideologies and religions of the world would say, Hey, you know, swim harder or think good thoughts, or, you know, figure it out yourself where God, the father's the only one who said I'm coming in after you. Right. And Jesus jumped in, pulled us out. He died in the process. He saved us. That whole thing of being saved salvation is so and so beautiful.
Yeah. And then to show that that's actually true to show that God was totally pleased with what Jesus did. He raised him from the dead. He is, uh, our savior who lives and reigns and what a, what a joy that is to be able to proclaim. So over the years of your ministry, uh, have you had any particular Easter joys or, um, kind of experiences that have just been a highlight for you? Or is it, is it like just every year we celebrate Easter and it's, it's just a blessing.
Well, uh, Easter is a wonderful blessing. In fact, I love it because of course I served for decades in parish ministry and celebrated many, many Easters with God's people and folks who came just on Easter, you know, what a great time to reach out and share the message. So I think what stands out most of my mind is just this wonderful opportunity where the world does pause a little bit and where the people of God have an opportunity to invite others who don't know Jesus to experience this joy and this celebration. And at the churches I served, you know, my daughters, my, my younger daughter says Easters are FA for it day of the whole year mm-hmm
We would have musicians using their gifts vocalists. We had, uh, just a buzz of activity in our church celebrations and people inviting others. So the ripple effects of the truth of Jesus resurrection just spilled over into all kinds of joy. And that really, you know, this, this whole blessing of a dead man, a man who was put to death, Jesus rising from death. Now a that is absolutely unparalleled in the history of the world. Amen. And the fact that he rose up from death for our sake, so that we can walk in the newness of life and they imparts those gifts through baptism. This is just radical and it's historical, it's historical proof demonstration of the true God with us. So that blows me away.
Yeah. It's not just a philosophy. It's not just a way to think it is something that really happened that did actually change, change everything. So, you know, that really, I think is important for us during these anxious times too. Uh, isn't it it's just that we have so many things that people are worried about. We've got the war going on. We've got issues that are still remaining with the pandemic and, and we have internal conflict in our country and all kinds of things worries in, in, in our families. Um, I just saw an article today about the concern over the rise in crime, uh, in the United States during these last few years, um, boy, how, you know, how does this message of the resurrection help us in facing those kinds of issues?
Well, I wanna turn it back around and get your viewpoint too, because if this world is looking for hope in the middle of deep anxiety coming through COVID and there is a lingering emptiness and with Ukraine and all these things happening, nothing is new under the sun. I mean, this is what we face right in our broken world. But if we're looking for hope, if we're looking for the, that the world can't give, we find it in this eternal gift, Jesus gives and gives us the certainty of through his resurrection, from the dead. What better truth? What better message can you proclaim to someone to say, guess what, even if you die, you're gonna win. Even death cannot stop this hope. So. And that spills over then into our daily lives, where, you know, Jesus Christ who is alive promised to be with us always and give us his good gifts and his means of grace. And I mean, this is really the antidote to a hopeless and broken world. I I'd like to ask you, you've been in the parish for many, many years, just recently retired. I'll put it in air quotes because you're still actively a gospel man doing great work with people, but how have you seen the message of the resurrection make a difference in the lives of frantic and an anxiety filled people?
Well, I think that sometimes, uh, it just is needed. Uh, people just need the reminder. As I said, one of my friends used to say the tomb is empty and he would remind us of that. Uh, occasionally he, he was on staff for, uh, for years at, uh, St. John. And he would say the tomb is empty and it would just kind of help us to put things in perspective, not necessarily in the area of anxiety, but sometimes in the area of busyness, just stress and so forth. Uh, but also just to continue to proclaim this. And I think part of that too, is, um, the reality that this message is so dramatic. It's so absolutely unique, uh, beyond anything we had, uh, could ever imagine beyond anything we've experienced to think about how people can really perhaps have doubts about that. And to just to, to encourage them.
You're not the first to doubt this. That's okay. God's got you. You, you can know that he's got you, he has risen and that he has you well in hand. And, uh, recently, and I think I mentioned this to you. I've really kind of latched a hold of, uh, in Matthew 28 when Jesus meets the disciples on the mountain before his Ascension. And, uh, it says there that in Matthew 28, that he met them there and the disciples worshiped him, but some doubted, and there's a verse that's not in the Bible. Uh, the verse that is not Bible and is not what Jesus said is Jesus said to those who doubt, sorry, you're outta here. You have no place in my kingdom. He didn't say that. He said, in fact, he, he, he really dealt with the doubt, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
I've got this. Now go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you and then promised surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age so that when you have doubts, that's okay. Join with the apostles. I mean, they'd been with Jesus, they'd seen him teach, they'd seen him do miracles. They had experienced him alive, you know, risen from the dead. So that to me is where we go back and say, you know, uh, doubts. They're not good. They, they can be very disconcerting, uh, but Jesus has you. And he has all authority and, and he's, he has won the victory. So that's where I go with that.
It's great. You're right. Because the resurrection suddenly gives us purpose that really lasts. Yes. Jesus says, there's a reason for you being in the swirl of all this chaos and difficulty. And it is to walk in his footsteps as he leads us and promises us the great gift of life. You're so right. You know, and really this, this historical resurrection of Jesus. And we see in first Corinthians 15, how he appeared, you know, to all these people 500 at one time, and who are still alive when apostle Paul wrote that the, the, the historical fact of Jesus resurrection is an answer to the doubts that do come up. We say, wait a minute, we're not just grasping an ideology or pipe dream or some teacher's feelings. We are rallying around the historical fact of Jesus Christ word made flesh. Whoel among us, who gave his life for our sins and who was re physically bodily raised up from the dead.
And who now gives us the great hope and gift of life in him. And the other thing, you know, so that's kind of a, a, a side of where we can defend the faith, right? Mm-hmm
Yeah. I just came across the phrase again. Um, deistic therapeutic, um, uh, deism or what, what is it? Um, therapeutic deism or something like that, but the whole idea that, you know, basically the Christian faith is just something that makes you feel good. Wow, this, this, this message. Take it to a whole different plane. And I like what you said too, when you said, this gives us a purpose, which may help people in dealing with the anxiety that they're feeling, because what happens there in those anxious moments is we tend to turn in on ourselves. We tend to think about how am I gonna deal with this. What's gonna happen to me? How am I gonna be able to, to make it through this day or deal with whatever is going on? And this says, okay, God's got you and you have a purpose, and it's not just, you it's really, it's really the others.
And I'm thinking about that passage in Corinthians, where it says he died, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who and rose again for them. And that's a, that's a great message. A great reminder. Do you deal with, do you, yeah. Do you deal with that? Uh, you know, cuz you interface with a lot of pastors, uh, do you, do you deal with pastors who sometimes have that anxious and, and worried, um, reality and stress that they're facing and dealing with and that, is that something you encounter often or our, or our, our pastors, uh, really, uh, pretty solid and, and well grounded and, and hopeful.
So when I served in the parish, you know, members would say, oh pastor, you don't have problems like I have do your life is just perfect. Right. So yeah, I think, I think goes without saying that every church worker, because one they're human being yeah, sinners, they experience the fall fallenness of life and creation. And over and above that, they're walking with people going through the deepest valleys of life. It's very easy to lose heart. It's very easy to see all the bad news all the time and, and bad news can tend to dominate our spirits. And so when you're in a caring type of ministry or profession, you can get, uh, really anxious and very, very sad. And, uh, I think statistics are showing recently too with COVID that they say up near 40% center of clergy have thought about or want to resign.
They wanna leave. This can be a very trying type of endeavor being in ministry. And so it's so important that, you know, we are rooted in God's life, giving word that his living word dwells in us richly, that we are receiving the good news of Christ's resurrection regularly, that we understand that we don't minister by or might or power, but by the spirit of God, the living Christ sent and that he never leaves us, he doesn't forsake us. And that we're not the one trying to generate hope from ourselves. We're sharing the hope that's given to us. So yeah, trying times, and I would encourage every listener if, if some of our listeners are in ministry to, uh, not just proclaim the resurrection, but to receive that great gift. I love it in Roman six, you know, and we're baptized into Christ's death. We're also raised with him so that we may walk in the newness of life. I mean, there's a transforming impact of this resurrection and living in our baptism. So we need to be refreshed
By that. Yeah. And you know, we're reminded of that at every funeral. Uh, you know, those who are baptized into Christ have cloth thems cells with Christ and just as he was buried through baptism, we have been buried with him and then raised as you, just as you just so beautifully, uh, quoted and reminded us, uh, which is just, you know, just a good reminder too, because there are people who these days are having to deal with the loss of loved ones and, uh, that whole sadness and grief that is very, very real and very appropriate at the death of a loved one, but we are not without hope. And, uh, that hope is found in Jesus in his death and his resurrection, his love, his promises to us. Um, you have had the opportunity also to write several books and, uh, talking about various issues, one of them being grief. Uh, and I'm sure that, you know, in that, uh, uh, in that process of studying and, and, and working and, and preparing those that there's some things that have been meaningful to you. Is there anything that stands out to you personally about the resurrection, uh, about, you know, this Christian faith that, that just keeps going? Um, obviously you may have already said it, but is there something from your own heart that keeps you going?
Yeah, definitely. You know, uh, one book I wrote is, is called hope in your heartbreaks. Uh, I wrote a couple little getting through grief books as well, just recently mm-hmm
And the media is really great at highlighting all that. But God gives us a different narrative. It's a gospel narrative, and that's one thing I would encourage our listeners to get, get a healthy diet of the gospel narrative. There's a great Psalm Psalm 84, that talks about verse seven says when it talks about people whose strength is in God, right in the risen Christ, it says they go from strength to strength. So E each appears before God Z, it's referring to that new life, that resurrection life mm-hmm
You know, God said that would happen, but Jesus has risen from the dead. And I see his blessing in my life. I see how I can depend on him. I see how he's a refuge and strength in times of trouble. He hears my prayers. I see how his love not only fills my heart, but also blessed his others as I share it with other, as you talked about in the great commission and at the, a couple verses before that in verse five, it talks about people who are on this pilgrimage. And as they go through this valley, that they, they make it a place of Springs. And I think for our listeners on this Easter Sunday, it's so important for them to know that their mission in life, God sends them not to blend in with, at the loss and chaos and grumbling of the world, but to be this light of Christ and make, bring that living water, make the valley a place of Springs of God's life, go from strength to strength and wherever you are, lift that place up by the gospel presence, the gospel word, and the gospel influence you have for a world that will not get it anywhere else, cuz there's no other amateur heaven.
Right? Given that. Yeah. So we're the ones who bear the gift that no one else can give. And it's so important that we bring that,
You know, and that passage begins at verse five. Blessed are those who strength is in you. And so you've got that clear message that it's not our own strength that we're relying on. Is it it's uh, it's, it's his strength, you know, we have, uh, just, uh, not quite two minutes left, uh, what would you want the people who are listening here today to just really take with them? And I know we've talked about a lot and you could just even come back to any of those things, but what, what is it that we, and I think we're together, this, what would we want them to know? And, and, and hear on this Easter Sunday.
Yeah. I'll chime one in and then you give one too. Okay. David we'll do that together. So the one I'll chime in here is understand, believe in trust this great historical factual message that Jesus Christ is, is risen from the dead he's alive. You are not alone in this. And he is faithfully walking you through us, using you as a wonderful instrument to share that good news. He is truly alive. He's with you. You're not alone. How about you?
Yeah. So for me, it's, it's, uh, it's, the tomb is empty. Uh, whatever else is going on, whatever challenges you face. Jesus is conquered death. He lives and reigns with the father and the holy spirit and invites us to live under him in his kingdom, in his rule and reign of grace and love and mercy. That is such a blessing and such a joy to be a part of. This has been a delight to be with you. Thank you so much for sharing your heart and your message with us. Uh, we are, we are delighted to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and to say once again, very boldly Christ is risen. He is
Risen. Indeed.
How hallelujah we've been talking what's
Easter to
You. Yes. Thank you. We've been talking with pastor Michael Newman.
Thank you for listening to this broadcast of engaging truth. Be sure to join us each week at this time to help support our ministry, contact evangelical life ministries, post office box 5 6 8, Cypress Texas 7 7 4 1 0. Or visit our website@elmhouston.org, or find us on Facebook at evangelical life ministries. Thank you.