Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. What keeps a couple together 76 years, surviving war, emigration, deprivation, and material want? Today, the story of the parents of Dr. Erwin Lutzer and why their marriage lasted so long.
Get set for a heartwarming broadcast. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, your parents had something few have anymore, a faithful marriage for three quarters of a century. How did their example lead you to preach the series that begins today? Well, you know, Dave, my parents are in heaven today. Both of them have passed on, but they have left a wonderful legacy. And the reason that I preach this series of messages is not only to honor them, but to give an example, a biblical example of a marriage that was really conceived as a covenant, a commitment of two people during some very, very difficult and hard times.
But together, they had five children and I had the privilege of being one of those children. We had morning devotions all the time, commitment to God, and they've left this legacy. So that's why I'm so glad that many people have joined us today.
And by the way, you might want to pick up the telephone and call someone and invite them to listen because I think that this message will be of great encouragement and it will give some direction, especially for those who have to be reminded of what marriage is all about. I am, above all things, most fortunate to have the parents that God gave me. So let's listen in now as I tell that story based on here. My father and mother were Germans, but they were born in the Ukraine. There was a time when Russia welcomed Germans into the heart of the Ukraine and said that you can stay here and live here. But when World War I broke out in 1914, Russia feared that the Germans within its borders might mutiny.
And if they mutinied and sided with Germany, that would be bad. So in order to weaken them and in effect destroy them, they made them all refugees. My father's family went to Afghanistan.
It was in Kabul that they were the city that is often on the news today. It is there that my father, who would have been 12 or 13 years old, he lost three of his sisters and one of his brothers in just a period of months. And then, as if that wasn't enough, his own mother, my grandmother, died at the age of 46 of typhoid fever, no opportunity to say goodbye to the children. She was simply whisked away to the hospital, and then the children were told later, your mother is dead, and she was buried in a mass grave, as many refugees were.
My father said that he threw himself across the bed and cried so hard that he never thought he would stop crying. Here he is in a strange land and having all of this tragedy, but thankfully his father lived and two of his brothers, so they moved back to the old homestead in 1918 when the war was over, and from there my father came alone to Canada. My mother was born about 200 miles from my father, though they did not know each other there, and in 1913, one year before the war, her father, my grandfather, came to Chicago and lived here for a whole year, and he wrote back and said that the buildings in Chicago are so great that God must have built them. His intention was to bring the rest of the family, but then World War I broke out in 1914.
By the way, I've often thought that my grandfather, I should say, who walked these streets, I often wondered if the thought ever crossed his mind, and I'm sure it didn't, that someday he would have a grandson who would be a pastor in the city of Chicago. But he was able to catch the last available boat back to Europe before the war began. After that, there were no passenger boats, only boats that were filled with soldiers and war materiel. He got back and he was with the family and they went to the Ukraine. Now you have to understand all the things I'm skipping.
I'm skipping the boxcars without any toilet facilities. I'm skipping the deaths along the way, but in the Ukraine, my mother lost several of her siblings and the most heartbreaking was a six-year-old, my mother was seven at the time, a six-year-old sister with whom she had become so close, and this little one died but was not able to be buried for over a week, because remember, 1918, not only do you have all of these tragedies, but that was also the time of the Russian Revolution, 17 and 18, and therefore there was so much shooting outside that the family could not go outdoors to bury their own child. She came back after the war was over and she and her sister, age 21 and 22, came to Canada and they started a new life. My mother came to Canada with a desire to know how to be born again. She had been baptized a Lutheran, but she knew that she was not born again and she wondered how she could be and she began to attend a little church where there was preaching in German, the same church that my father happened to be attending, and they saw each other. She heard him pray and knew that he must be a godly man. He had accepted Christ already in the Ukraine and that's when he asked if he could walk her home. She lived about a half mile. She worked for a farmer a half mile from the church and on the way, this is their first date, students, this is not the way it's to happen, he asked whether or not she would marry him.
She said she'd have to think about it, but within three weeks they were married. And last summer, my father was 104 at the time. He's had his birthday since, so he's 105. My mother will be 99 in a couple of months. Last summer, they celebrated their 76th wedding anniversary. Now if you ask them what it's like to be that old, they'll tell you this, okay, they have no peer pressure, all right?
No peer pressure. In honor of their 76th anniversary, they made the national news in Canada and what we're going to see at this time is the news as it was across Canada on my parents. Well studies show more than half of all marriages end in divorce. Nobody told these two that. Why their love story is a lesson for all couples. Next.
From a sprint to a marathon now. The enduring love story of a Regina couple celebrating a marriage that's lasted longer than most people are alive. Our Ross Neitz, married just a few years himself, getting their secrets on decades of wedded bliss.
So I'm going to help you up. At 98 and 104 years old, Wanda and Gustav Lützer know a thing or two about relationships. After all, they've been in one for quite a while. We didn't know each other nor could we not know each other here. Since 1931, the happy couple have been making beautiful music together. After immigrating to Canada separately from Europe, they found one another and settled down. This week, they celebrated their 76th anniversary.
Why should I think only good things? While Gustav and Wanda's relationship seems to have lasted forever, it all began in a flash. You see, Gustav proposed on one of their very first dates. Wanda said she needed some time. I didn't expect it so quick, you know.
Only three days later, she had an answer. And three weeks after that, they were married, starting a love story that would stretch more than 70 years. When they began, they didn't have much. Over the years, they came to have what they wanted most. Five children, 16 grandchildren, 36 great grandchildren, and ultimately, each other. We really had a good life together.
That's why we live so. Today, age has taken its toll on the couple. Their daughter now cares for them in their home. And six months ago, Gustav began to retreat back into himself. He doesn't say much anymore, but today, he said this about his wife.
While their bodies have weakened and their hair grown gray, Wanda says their love has only grown stronger. Confirming her answer to an unexpected proposal was the best decision she ever made. Ross Neitz, Global News, Regina. And that is Global National for Saturday. We're streaming this broadcast now on globalnational.com. I'm Tara Nelson. Thank you for sharing your time with us.
Local News is next on most global stations. If you ask the question, how could my parents live together for 76 years and not only tolerate one another, but love one another, and go through all that they have done, let me share with you some of their principles. But before I do, I need to tell you that in marriage, couples have certain stages that they go through. The first is they marry a dream. They actually think that marriage is going to bring happiness. And then after, you know, after that, then is the period of disillusionment. You know, getting married is something like getting a phone call in the middle of the night.
First of all, you get a ring and then you wake up, you know, so let's keep that in mind. And then after that, the process of discovery. And I think that's where my parents began is the process of discovering one another, knowing one another, learning from one another, and living together for 76 years. What I'd like to do is to give you five principles. And by the way, if there were a text, one text I'd use today, it would be the words of Joshua, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
That would be their text. First of all, they had a mutual commitment, and still do, a mutual commitment to the covenant. When they got married, divorce was not an option.
Difficulties notwithstanding. Because they understood that that covenant, that promise that they made, superseded their own happiness, superseded their own circumstances, and they were indeed in it until death do them part. You know, there are many people today who live together without a covenant. They say, well, we're going to be married anyway. Well, first of all, let me say that 22 percent of all those who live together, only 22 percent end up getting married.
Only 22 percent. And if you live that way, when you do get married, you will bring more baggage into your relationship than most Pullman freight cars are able to handle. That's not the way to go. Oh, you say, but you know, marriage is just a piece of paper.
Yeah, it is a piece of paper. A couple of years ago, my wife and I bought a house. We had an attorney. They had an attorney. Now, you know, we're honorable people. We keep our word.
We bought the house from honorable people. Why did we sign anything? Let's just shake on the deal, right? No, we must have signed 15 different papers.
Why? You know what we're saying? If you leave this and you go down the street tomorrow and find a house that you like better, tough luck. You're committed to this house. That's what marriage says. You're committed until death do you part, even if someone else along the way may be more attractive. You know that years ago, a man by the name of Robertson McQuilkin, when his wife, and he was president of Columbia Bible College, when his wife got Alzheimer's disease, he resigned the presidency to take care of her.
People said, well, aren't there other ways you could, yeah, yeah, yeah. He said, this is not a difficult decision. It is clear to me. There's not a struggle of obligation because he said, I committed myself to this woman and an oncologist, an oncologist said to him, the reason that it's so surprising is because most women stand by their man, but most men don't stand by their wives in circumstances like this. But a vow is a vow and it should be a delight to fulfill it. The Bible says in the book of Ecclesiastes, if you vow a vow to the Lord, fulfill it because God does not have pleasure in fools. Secondly, the Bible says, or I should say, my parents live by this principle, a mutual commitment to character, a mutual commitment to character. Because you see, the covenant itself means nothing, means nothing if you are a person who is untrustworthy.
Many of you who are listening to me today are divorced. And the reason that you are divorced is the person entered into a covenant, but he or she or maybe you didn't keep the covenant. A covenant itself means nothing.
Listen to me carefully. A covenant does not bring about character. Character supports the covenant. Sometimes young women get married and thinking that the covenant is going to change somebody. They say, oh, you know, he's struggling with alcoholism, but after we get married, he promised to give it up.
Oh, really? Or he'll say, you know, I've been promiscuous before, but surely now I'm going to live righteously. The average young woman who gets married thinks of three things on her wedding day. The aisle, walking down the aisle, she thinks of the altar, and then of course she thinks of him, but actually it's I'll alter him. Am I going too fast for some of you? Hear me very carefully.
If he drinks before you get married, expect him to drink twice as much after you marry him. All right? The covenant will not change anyone.
It has to be based on character. And my parents were totally committed to character, to faithfulness, and to integrity. People often ask us, well, did you ever hear them argue? And the answer is yes, they had their arguments. But never once did I ever hear any one of them raise his or her voice. Secondly, never did they call one another names.
And thirdly, they never made statements like, well, you know, you always do this or you always do that. They had their disagreements. They even had their arguments, but they had their time of forgiveness.
And then they moved on. You see, one of the purposes of marriage is to develop character, to develop humility, to know how selfish we are, because we are all more selfish than we realize, and nothing brings it out more than marriage. May I speak candidly? The pope would have never claimed infallibility if he'd been married.
All right? Well, my friend, that certainly is true, isn't it? Someone has said that marriage is two people solving problems together that they'd have never had if only they'd stayed single.
Well, indeed, God does use marriage in our lives to help us to understand that we might be less selfish, that we might be more giving, that we might learn to forgive. And for all those reasons, we thank God for our mates. You know, my parents lived through a very difficult time after World War I. They were in Canada when World War II happened.
But because of my background, I've always been interested in Germany. So I wrote a book entitled When a Nation Forgets God, Seven Lessons We Must Learn from Nazi Germany. In this book, I talk about such things as propaganda. Now, the purpose of propaganda is to so mold people's minds that even when they are faced with a heap of evidence, they won't change their minds.
How did Hitler do that? Well, for a gift of any amount, this book can be yours. I think it will be a great blessing.
And during a time of political wrangling and difficulty, it reminds us of that which is most basic. Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com. Or if you prefer, you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. The name of the book is When a Nation Forgets God, Seven Lessons We Must Learn from Nazi Germany.
We have to learn from history so that we might not repeat it. Go to rtwoffer.com. Or as I have already mentioned, if you prefer, 1-888-218-9337. It's time again for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question you may have about the Bible or the Christian life. The Bible's teachings on divorce and remarriage are interpreted in many different ways, and Keith in West Virginia has a deep personal reason to find closure on this very difficult issue.
He writes, About three years ago, I met a beautiful young lady in need of Jesus. I witnessed to her, and she has accepted him into her life and is growing in her faith. We began to date after her salvation. She confided in me she had been married previously to a man who physically abused her and was unfaithful to their marriage. She got a divorce and moved on with her life. While I struggled with the relationship after hearing about her divorce, many other believers told me that since she divorced for adulterous reasons, it was okay for me to marry her.
We have now been married for two years. I am honest when I tell you I truly love her, but I am bombarded with feelings of guilt and sin over the whole matter. It seems everything I read and hear on this subject is split down the middle. Either that I am living in adultery by being married to a divorced woman, even if it was for adulterous reasons, or, they say, we have every right to marry in this situation. I have read, read, and reread Matthew 19-9 and Matthew 5-32 so many times that the words are beginning to lose meaning. I somehow can't get past, Let no man put asunder what God has joined, and A woman is bound to a man as long as he lives.
It seems so contradictory to the idea of remarriage. I am utterly lost in a sea of guilty feelings. My conscience never feels clean anymore, and every time I read the Bible, I'm hoping to hit a magic verse dealing with this matter.
Sometimes I feel like I am doing the right thing, and sometimes I feel like I'm deliberately sinning against a holy God. I am so overcome with despair and guilt, I don't even know if I should be married anymore. Keith, I'm so glad that you wrote to me, and thank you for giving me all of these details.
Just a couple of comments. First of all, I want to be very careful in thanking you for your sensitivity to God. You know, there are many people who remarry who never give it a second thought. You are trying to think through this. You are trying to please the Lord, and I want to commend you for that. Secondly, also, I can see that this problem in your mind is so serious that unless you clear it up, it's going to greatly impact your marriage, and so I hope I can help you and give you some advice in that direction.
First of all, let's assume the worst. Let's assume that when you married this young woman, you committed adultery because God still recognized the previous bond. The fact is, now you are indeed married, and I believe that God recognizes this marriage as valid.
You know, you think, for example, of Jesus speaking to the woman at the well. You know, he makes that offhanded comment, you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband. I've often pondered that, because surely Jesus wasn't saying, you know, you had five husbands because they all died and you remarried. The idea is that there was divorce involved, and yet each of these was considered to be a husband.
God recognized the marriage as valid. One day I was having lunch with a very famous Bible teacher who teaches that once you marry someone who has been divorced, and you realize that every time you are intimate together you commit adultery, you should sleep in separate bedrooms. And I said to him, is that what you would want me to preach here at the Moody Church, where we have many divorced people who have been remarried? He never did answer that question.
And I think the obvious reason is, first of all, because he's wrong if he were to teach that, and secondly, it would be very unwise. So at this point, Keith, you are married to this woman, accept that marriage, accept the fact that you have been bonded together physically and metaphysically by God, and move on. It is so important, it is so important for you to accept God's forgiveness for her—obviously God has forgiven her—any error that you might have made in the past, and having accepted that, get on with your Christian life and your walk, and love your wife as Christ loved the Church. Thank you, Dr. Lutzer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer.com and click there on Ask Pastor Lutzer. Or you can call us with that question at 1-888-218-9337.
That's 1-888-218-9337. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Gustav and Wanda Lutzer celebrated 76 years of marriage in Canada. Dr. Erwin Lutzer was their fifth child, and he's telling their story on Running to Win. Next time on our broadcast, more on the amazing saga of Dr. Lutzer's parents and their long, faithful marriage. In concluding Building a Lasting Marriage, he'll continue discussing the five principles that kept his parents together through thick and thin. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
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