Proclaiming Christ for 75 Years

“The Lutheran Hour …Bringing Christ to the Nation.”

ANNOUNCER: That was how the Lutheran Hour broadcast began on Easter Sunday in 1942. Dr. Walter A. Maier spoke to a nation that had learned to trust the Word he had shared through a decade of depression, and now, in a time of war. Hello, I’m Mark Eischer. Welcome to a special broadcast commemorating the 75th anniversary of The Lutheran Hour. The first Lutheran Hour broadcast took place on a Thursday evening, October 2, 1930, originating from station WHK in Cleveland, Ohio. On today’s program, you’ll hear messages and voices from the 75-year history of what has become, by God’s grace, the longest-running Gospel radio broadcast in the world.

ANNOUNCER: (April 5,1942)
Is the story of Christ’s resurrection from the dead truth or fiction? Was He merely a good man crucified for His convictions or the Son of God come to save mankind at the price of His own blood? Dr. Walter A. Maier answers these questions in his address today on the topic “Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!”

MAIER: On Easter, if we ask Christ concerning eternity, He points us to the open grave and the open heaven to say: “Because I live, ye shall live also!” “I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live!” “In my Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you.”

As you read these and scores of other passages proclaiming a blessed eternity with Jesus, thank God that no hesitation or uncertainly lingers behind His pledges. They are the highest truths that even heaven knows. With the Easter hope in your heart, you need not grovel in despair to ask, “What will become of me when life stops?” You, the mortally sick, the invalid whose existence hangs on a thin shortened thread; you in the prime and strength of life who may be cut down by the sudden accidents that lurk closely and loom frequently on the pathways of our modern life – believe that Christ’s resurrection guarantees your resurrection! Easter is the divine warrant that God has forgiven the sins which bring eternal death as their wages. This holy day offers the surety that God has accepted the suffering and dying of His own Son as the payment for your sins and the ransom for their punishment. Knowing that your transgressions are nailed to the cross and that Christ is the living, divine Savior and not a dead deceiver, you can confidently believe that the open grave does not end all; that you can escape the terrors of hell and be blessed in heaven before the presence of Jesus. For here is that plain but powerful promise of eternal life, “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

ANNOUNCER: At the time of Dr. Maier’s death in January of 1950, The Lutheran Hour was heard on more than twelve hundred and fifty stations in 49 languages in more than 60 countries. The death of a dynamic leader often means the end of a ministry, but that was not the case for The Lutheran Hour. Dr. Maier’s death brought grief and sadness–but God’s message of salvation was not silenced.

So that the changeless Christ might continue to be preached to a changing world, the Lord raised up other special men to carry His message forward. The Reverend Lawrence Acker stepped in to finish the 1950 broadcast season, after which Dr. Armin Oldsen became the next Lutheran Hour Speaker. The program also featured many guest speakers, especially during the summers. For 31 years, Dr. Andrew Melendez preached the Gospel in Spanish. His Lutheran Hour messages were also carried around the world. Then, in 1955, Dr. Oswald Hoffmann began his 33-year tenure as Lutheran Hour Speaker. In regular weekly messages and in special programs with such notable guests as Mother Teresa, Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, and soprano Marian Anderson, Dr. Hoffmann showed that the power of Christ’s love transcends race and culture. For Christmas specials, Dr. Hoffmann took the Lutheran Hour microphone around the world, truly bringing Christ to the nations and the nations to the Church. In this message from 1959, he spoke to a world that faced a future made increasingly uncertain by deadly new weapons of war:

HOFFMANN: In our own time an entirely new dimension has been introduced into history, and particularly into warfare. The study of history can no longer tell us what would happen should another global war start in this age. The traditional concepts of victors, vanquished, and neutrals have been replaced by one concept: victims. One nation alone possesses in its arsenals four times the nuclear power necessary to destroy all its potential enemies. The gamble which tempted men to go to war in previous ages no longer exists. Today the world faces but one question: “To be or not to be.”

What can be done for a world living under a darkening sky? All signs point to the fact that for the world the hour is late indeed. The Bible tells us that God plans to ring down the curtain on human history on that day He has marked on His divine calendar.

Still God lives and still God in love offers His kindness and forgiveness to a heedless world. The goal of His action is clear. It is not temporary freedom from pain or even temporary human existence. His plan and good will have higher goals. While the human race is anxious and fearful – and always it seems anxious and fearful about the wrong things – God calls to repentance and to faith.

The great God who looks through history and controls history by the word of His power has broken into history to disclose His redeeming love. He alone can give meaning to existence, even after these hydrocarbons which we call our bodies have been dissolved. In God alone lies the world’s hope for finding meaning in life that goes beyond fatalistic waiting for the inevitable, meaning which cannot be mocked or marked by nuclear destruction.

Jesus wept over the city and saw the terrible destruction that would overtake it within 40 years. He weeps over the city today and offers His help. His offer to help is founded upon His cross where He died to redeem the world. In the threatening mushroom cloud of extinction God points to the crucified love of His Son who alone can give life while life lasts. Commit your life and destiny to Jesus Christ. See in Him the ground of being, the ultimate meaning, the final hope. Take His peace which cannot be matched by any homemade or human-made peace. And this assurance will be yours; whatever may come, whether it be the rain of atomic ruin or even the total dissolution of all that is now seen, nothing will ever be able to separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Amen.

ANNOUNCER: In 1977, Dr. Wallace Schulz came to the program as Associate Speaker. Although Dr. Schulz was from a younger generation than Dr. Hoffmann, and they had different styles, the message was the same: God has redeemed the world through His Son. For twenty-five years, Dr. Schulz faithfully called sinners to repentance and the forgiveness found only through the cleansing blood of Jesus. Here’s Dr. Schulz, in a Lutheran Hour broadcast from May, 2001:

SCHULZ: In a report from its Oxnard, Calif., headquarters, the Barna Research Group recently released information that has confused some people and shocked others. According to the president of this research institute, “America appears to be drowning in a sea of relativistic non-Biblical theology.” This research spokesman then said, “We are now living in the midst of the dilution of traditional, Bible-based Christian faith. Millions of Americans are comfortable calling themselves Christian even though their beliefs suggest otherwise.”

Now, you and I may have convinced ourselves that we have not denied any of Christ’s teachings. However, if we are honest, you and I would have to admit there are perhaps many times in our day-to-day activities when we follow Christ, not closely but at a distance, or even we deny Him outright. We do this by what we do or by what we do not do! And this denial, my friend, happens when we sit down in a public restaurant, and we are ashamed to bow our head and pray. We sometimes even feel embarrassed to pray with members of our own family or with our own children. A headline stated that the beliefs of many of today’s teenagers are not consistent with basic Bible truth. This report said, “America’s teenagers are indeed involved with religious faith. However, based on a new nationwide survey, the real question is: What faith is it that these young people embrace?”

And so then, my friend, Jesus does not want you to follow Him at a distance. He wants you near Him, so He can love you. Follow Christ closely. He is inviting you. “My sheep hear My voice,” Jesus says, “and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).

Oh, yes, my friend, say no to the temptations of this world. Let the love of Christ draw you to Himself. Follow the Lord closely. Feed on His Word. Embrace His mercy and forgiveness. And then say with the hymn writer who wrote, “Jesus! And shall it ever be, a mortal man ashamed of Thee? Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise, whose glories shine through endless days? Ashamed of Jesus? Yes, I may, when I’ve no guilt to wash away, no tear to wipe, no good to crave, no fear to quell, no soul to save. Till then–nor is my boasting vain–till then I boast a Savior slain; and oh, may this my glory be, that Christ is not ashamed of me!” (The Lutheran Hymnal #346, vv. 1,5,6)

O Lord we pray, grant unto all who hear Your Word today the courage not to be ashamed of Thee. Enable us, O Lord, to hear You more clearly, to feed from You more freely, and to follow You not at a distance but more closely. In Jesus’ powerful name we pray. Amen.

ANNOUNCER: Dr. Oswald Hoffmann stepped down as Lutheran Hour Speaker in 1989 and was succeeded by Dr. Dale A. Meyer. Drawing upon his experiences as a parish pastor and seminary professor, Dr. Meyer spoke of the joy and assurance that comes through faith in Jesus. From a broadcast in April, 2001, here is Dr. Dale Meyer.

MEYER: Last month a photograph set me thinking. An Associated Press photo showed a father hugging his daughter and stepdaughter after the terrible shootings at Santana High School in Santee, California. All three were in shock. The picture stirred up in me my own anxiety for the well being of my children. Fears are part of life.

When you’re lost in your fears or I in mine, the GPS, “God’s Positioning System,” sends down a message to move us beyond fear and to more confident living. “Fear,” Saint John wrote, “has to do with punishment.” There’s a lot for which we rightfully can be punished. The child who has misbehaved is fearful when hauled to the principal’s office. Something fearful happens in your life and you wonder, “Is God punishing me?” Even if everything is going along nicely, you still may be apprehensive, just waiting for something bad to happen, for “the other shoe to drop,” as they say. “Fear has to do with punishment.”

But, the message that comes down from heaven is that God has already done the punishing. That’s what Gethsemane, that’s what Calvary were all about. To serve you, not to serve Himself, Jesus gave His life as a ransom and paid the price for all your sins. Yes, bad things do come our way but God is not punishing you. “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.” In ways often known only to His divine wisdom, the bad things, the fearful things, are used by God to increase our dependence upon Him, our outward, not inward, focus. God’s Positioning System did that for reluctant Moses. Despite his understandable fears, Moses went and did great things in confidence upon the Lord. God’s love is ready to position you to move beyond fear and confidently face anything in your future.

I’m talking about a real confidence for the future that is based upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The book of Hebrews says, “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2-3). Yes, Jesus gave His life as a ransom for your sins. What’s more, He rose and ascended into heaven to open the way for you to endure the hardships of this present life with your faith focused on a glorious future in heaven. Easter is the proof that God wants to position you beyond fear and give you confidence for the future. The poet says, “Jesus, my Redeemer lives; I, too, unto life shall waken. Endless joy my Savior gives; Shall my courage then be shaken? Shall I fear, or could the head rise and leave His members dead?” The answer is “No way,” not with God’s Positioning System of love.

ANNOUNCER: In 2002, Dr. Dale Meyer returned to teaching at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. He became seminary president in 2005. Taking Dr. Meyer’s place at the Lutheran Hour microphone was the Reverend Ken Klaus. On Easter Sunday, 2005, his message, like those of all the speakers before him, pointed listeners to the crucified and risen Savior. Here’s part of what Pastor Klaus said, in a message recorded on location in Jerusalem at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

KLAUS: Because Christ has risen, this sick, sad, sinful, sorry world will no longer have the last laugh. Because Christ has risen, you have a God who cares. Because Christ has risen, you are given a new purpose, a higher purpose, a better purpose. Because Christ has risen, our tomorrows have hope; our eternity has heaven. Because Christ has risen, our world is changed. That is what the hill, the cross, the empty grave mean to those who believe.

Today’s modern thinkers, sacrilegious comics, sophisticated pseudo-intellectuals try to bury the hill, its cross, the empty tomb. With pleasure they point to dissensions and divisions in Christ’s church; with gladness they scorn the scandals perpetrated by Jesus’ followers; with glee they laugh at anyone who feels the need of a Savior. Let them laugh. There were others who 2,000 years ago laughed at the Savior. There were others who thought they had won the victory and conquered the Christ. They stopped laughing. To all those who feel so superior, so sure, so satisfied with themselves, I can only say, “Your arguments are hollow and empty until you come to this hill, its cross, its empty sepulcher and show us the Savior’s dead body.” A living Lord Jesus, a Jesus who showed Himself to doubting disciples and a persecuting Paul is real. We may fail Him; we may not always be His best representatives, but because Jesus lives, our faith lives and neither you nor the gates of hell can prevail against the unassailable truth that Jesus Christ is our living Lord.

Hadrian’s hatred, his desire to bury the hill, the cross, the empty tomb, was unsuccessful. Rather than making Christ’s people forget, Hadrian helped them remember. When Christianity became the official religion of the empire, it was not hard to find the spot where Jesus had defeated death and grave. Hadrian had marked the spot, and another emperor, Constantine, ordered the dirt be removed and the spot where the Savior rose, to be restored. When the emperor Julian relentlessly tried to destroy Christianity, he, too, failed. Realizing he had received a mortal wound on the battlefield, he dipped his hand into his flowing blood, tossed it toward heaven, and in despair shouted, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!”

Yes, Jesus has conquered. He has conquered sin, death, and grave for you. He wishes to conquer in your heart as well. He wishes to bring you the peace which passes all human understanding, the peace which the world cannot give.

ANNOUNCER: 75 years … thousands of sermons … many speakers … one message: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Today, by God’s grace, The Lutheran Hour still preaches a changeless Christ to a changing world. The Lutheran Hour, and Lutheran Hour Ministries continue to share a Divine Friend with those who are lonely; a Healer for those who are hurting and heartbroken. We invite you to help us introduce others to the Savior. Here’s how Pastor Klaus put it, in a message titled “Pushing the Parson.”

KLAUS: There is only one reason for you to tune into this broadcast and that is to hear about the living God who comes to us in a cradle, on a cross, and out of an open tomb. There is only one reason for me to be on the radio today and that is to become transparent as I tell you of the tremendous gift God has given to you in His Son Jesus.

Do not turn off the Lord of life. Do not turn off the Savior who took our place by being perfectly obedient–which we could not be. Do not turn off the Lord Jesus who willingly died upon Calvary’s cross, to be punished on our behalf, so we might live forever. Listen of Him. Learn of Him. Live in Him. Love Him. Yes, love the Lord, who first loved you.

I ask that you will today, and in the future, give this broadcast a push. Push us along with your words. Tell your neighbors about us. They need God’s truth. Push my co-workers, and our sponsors, and myself along with your prayers. Ask the Lord to use us for His purposes. Ask the Lord to allow us to preach and proclaim the message of salvation clearly and cleanly, not adding or subtracting from the Book of Life. Push us. Push the one parson, the one person here. Push us as we join with Paul in saying, “I have determined to know nothing other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed! Amen.

ANNOUNCER: In addition to the voices we heard today, many others have contributed to this program through the years: the announcers, the choirs and music directors, the talented producers, editors, audio engineers, musicians, and support staff, the Lutheran Laymen’s League, and the many listeners, individuals, and congregations that have supported this program so faithfully for so many years.
And all the great radio stations, like this one, that have brought you this program every week. God has worked through us to bring you the message of hope in Jesus Christ.

This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.

Music selections from this program:

“Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” by Helmut Walcha. From Cramer & Resch at Kramer Chapel by Craig Cramer and Richard Resch (© 2001 Concordia Theological Seminary, Ft. Wayne, Indiana) Henry Littolf’s Verlag – C.F. Peters Corporation