The Building Without the Book

00:01
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
When we focus on our mission and our purpose, then those other pieces begin to fall into place. 

00:21
Rich Rudowske
Welcome to the Essentially Translatable Podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible Translators. My name is Rich Rudowske. I’m the Chief Operating Officer here at LBT. Before we get into today’s episode, I’d like to share about an upcoming opportunity for you to highlight the ministry and work of Bible translation in your congregation or small group ministry. World Bible Translation Day is celebrated every year by Christians throughout the world on September 30, which has historically been the festival day of St. Jerome, the translator of the Bible into the Latin Vulgate translation, a translation which continued the church’s emphasis on Christianity and the Gospel being inherently translatable, that there should be no barriers to understanding the Gospel. 

01:01
Rich Rudowske
Luther himself valued the Scriptures in the mother tongue and helped the Reformation to firmly take root with his translation of the German New Testament in 1521 to 1522 and the full Bible in 1534. While in the process of translating, Luther wrote to a friend that he wished that this book, alone in all languages, would live in the hands, eyes, ears and hearts of all people. To help Lutherans celebrate this important part of our heritage, Lutheran Bible Translators has prepared a collection of resources and tools to help you celebrate Bible Translation Sunday on the last Sunday of September this year, September 27, simply go to the LBT website, lbt.org and click on the Bible Translation Sunday link to access sermon materials, print and non-print media assets for the bulletin or for screens, engaging video content, children’s materials, and so much more. 

01:56
Rich Rudowske
This year’s theme is, “The Building Without the Book’, presented by Dr. Carl Fakencher, homiletics professor at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne. Based on the story of the discovery of the Book of the Law during the reign of King Josiah of Israel, recorded in 2 Kings 22 theme invites us to consider how our churches would be if we had the building but not the book. If the Scriptures were not the foundation for our gatherings and worship together, what would arise to fill the void if we had the building but not the book? This was the situation that Luther experienced during the time of the Reformation and is the same situation experienced by many Christian congregations today where the scriptures are not easily understood in the language of the Christian community. 

02:39
Rich Rudowske
Many things can arise to fill the void when you have the building without the book, you have the opportunity to explore how your congregation or small group ministry can get involved in the Bible translation movement. To put God’s Word in their hands, simply go to lbt.org and click on Bible Translation Sunday to celebrate on the last Sunday in September or any date that works for your congregation or small group ministry. Today’s guest on the podcast is Pastor Michael Potschmidt of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Concordia, Missouri, one of many Lutheran churches that will be celebrating Bible Translation Sunday this year. 

03:14
Rich Rudowske
We sat down to talk about his recent travels to Ethiopia with LBT as well as life in the parish in the United States during the COVID-era pandemic, the importance of engaging preaching, what he’s learned in 15 years of pastoral ministry, and so much more. Also note that towards the end of. The interview, you can hear some loud  weather-related noises in the background, which are the thunder and heavy rain which we would learn later were part of a massive derecho storm that barreled across a large part of the Midwest on August 10, causing quite a bit of damage in many places. We continue to hold in prayer all the people and organizations who suffered damage during that storm, and we dedicate this episode to you. May the firmness and hope that we have in the word of God. As you’ll hear Michael talk about in this interview, may that firmness and hope be your reminder that the God who spoke that word is also watching over you. 

04:05
Rich Rudowske
We’re here with Pastor Michael Pottschmidt. Welcome to the podcast. 

04:10
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
Thank you. 

04:11
Rich Rudowske
We’re going to talk about Bible Translation Sunday and some other things. Before we jump into that, why don’t you just tell us a little bit about yourself, when or how you decided to become a pastor, and how long you’ve been around here in Concordia, Missouri when you first heard about Bible translation. Whatever comes to mind. 

04:26
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
Thanks, Rich. It’s really great to be a part of the podcast. I wanted to be a pastor from a young age, played pretend pastor as a kid, and made that decision early on to go into ministry. And I’ve been a pastor now for 15 years. First twelve was in a church in Richmond, Virginia, and for the last two and a half years have been here in Concordia, Missouri at St. Paul’s, and so have enjoyed serving the Lord and his church in a couple of different places, very different settings, but a lot of similarities between the two. 

05:02
Rich Rudowske
So how did you find out about Bible translation ministry? What’s the first connections or how’d that get on your radar? 

05:09
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
So I knew about Bible translation and Lutheran Bible Translators specifically, probably going back to growing up in the Lutheran church Sunday school years, hearing stories of missionaries overseas, Bible translation work, you know, videos shown in church, and that really opened my eyes to just the work that is being done around the world. 

05:33
Rich Rudowske
So you visited Ethiopia with us a couple years ago, give us your impressions of what you saw there and what really sticks out from that time. 

05:41
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
So I know it’s a cliche and kind of overused phrase, but it was absolutely true for me. And that is that trip was a life-changing experience. It was my first overseas international trip, so everything was new, everything was eye-opening. My traveling companions were gracious to put up with a newbie traveler and just to, kind of, be a fly on the wall in some sense for me to see that work that is being done overseas again. 

06:17
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
I’ve known about Lutheran Bible Translators from a young age, but to actually see the translation work that’s being done, to visit translation sites, to talk to LBT missionaries and translation partners, to hear from some of the congregations and communities that are waiting for the New Testament or for the full Bible in their own language, that was just a really amazing experience and exciting to see how God’s kingdom is moving, is growing. It’s just absolutely fantastic to see. In a strange way for me, that trip to Ethiopia, it made the world smaller, but it made the kingdom of God so much bigger in my own mind, if that makes sense. 

07:07
Rich Rudowske
Sure. And I think a lot of our listeners would be surprised to know that the Lutheran church in Ethiopia is the largest Lutheran church in the world. Historically, Lutheranism comes from Europe and has been here in the United States for a couple of hundred years. What did you see that sort of, I don’t know, confirmed that? What about the Lutheran church in Ethiopia did you find unique? 

07:37
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
So the church in Ethiopia and Jesus there? What I saw as I visited was a church that is absolutely dedicated to reaching more and more people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Evangelism outreach is not something that is just sort of a tacked-on piece, kind of an afterthought to the work that they’re doing, but is built into how they view themselves, how they are looking at reaching out into new communities, new people groups, it is certainly tied in with the multitude of translation projects that are taking place there and more still that could be done there. And I think for me, as I went in, I sort of was kind of looking for what is the secret sauce that’s there? What is kind of the thing that they’re doing that has just sort of created this exponential growth. 

08:34
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
And while I didn’t see it, there’s not a specific program or they wouldn’t sort of point to, oh, this evangelistic program or this specific mechanism is what’s causing the growth what I saw consistently throughout was an intentionality when it comes to outreach and evangelism. It is built into the fabric of the work that they are doing. 

08:55
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. Talking about Bible Translation Sunday, then ‘The Building Without the Book’ is theme for Bible Translation Sunday this year. And the homily invites the hearer to imagine what would happen in our churches if there was the ritual but no scripture. What kind of things does that bring to mind for you? 

09:23
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
So that theme, the building without the book and the resources for Bible Translation Sunday, reminded me of a line from a play, I’m a theater guy and reminded me of a Shakespeare play, Macbeth, who talks about sound and fury, but signifying nothing. Right. And so all this activity that can certainly take place within a church, if it is not grounded in God’s Word, if it is not pointing people to God’s Word, what is all of that effort and energy at the end of the day? What is that energy geared towards? What is that effort producing? So religious activity, in my mind, doesn’t necessarily equate with spiritual growth or discipleship. Being busy is not our goal as a church, as having a lot of things going on, a lot of activities taking place. 

10:26
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
It’s not just to provide this kind of plethora of goings-on for people of all ages. It really must be geared towards the scripture and having people rooted and grounded in God’s Word. And without the Bible, the church is just an empty shell. It’s hollow without that grounding in the Gospel. 

10:51
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. So as a preacher with that grounding in the Word, why do you think that it is important for preachers to hone the craft of preaching? So we hear the word of God is what works. The Holy Spirit works through the Word. Why is it so important that a preacher really do a great job preaching? Doesn’t the word do all the work itself? 

11:18
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
So the Spirit is going to move where the Spirit moves. Obviously, Pentecost proves that, but there are so many elements in that communication process, whether it’s setting, volume, tone, content, of course, and a breakdown in any one of those can create hindrance, an obstacle for the Spirit to do the work that the Spirit is going to do. It hinders a person’s ability to hear and receive the word. It reminded me of a story that was told during that Ethiopia trip about in some settings where the Bible is not yet in the language of that people group, where on a Sunday morning, during that service, that sermon is being translated several times over. So you’ve got an English missionary preaching and another person is translating that from English into Aramaic and then Aramaic into Oromo into another language. 

12:29
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
And it makes me wonder sometimes, are there translation difficulties that I as a preacher can sometimes create not language in the same way, of course, as it was in Ethiopia. But if I haven’t studied the text well enough or the content is put together in a way that may be theologically accurate but is kind of confusing to the hearers, or have I not worked on the presentation side of that message? Does that in a way create translation difficulties for folks to hear and receive the Word even in our pews right here at St. Paul’s in Concordia? 

13:13
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, that’s so true. As a pastor and even as a husband and a father, how have you found the Bible to be meaningful and important in your life? 

13:27
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
So the Bible, for me, obviously, you can’t overstate the Bible and the role that it plays. But before I use the Bible as a pastor in my work, that word first must also speak to me personally. And I can tell those times when I have not been in the Word as much as I should. And as a pastor, I struggle with that just as much as anybody else. Schedules, get busy. You’re kind of pulled in a lot of different directions. And so dedicating time to being in God’s Word, that is sometimes harder for me, just as it is for others as well. So even as I preach, even as I teach, even as I obviously use the Bible in my day-to-day work, I also need that instruction and the correction and the guidance and the encouragement that the word gives. 

14:24
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
I can’t share what I don’t first have myself right. It’s a tool and a resource, not just for me to use in my work with the congregation, but for me personally and together as a family as well. So I’ve got two little girls and my wife, and I just really enjoy those spiritual conversations that take place with our girls. So they’re fourth grade and first grade and seeing their eyes open to the word and stories and building connections to the word and day-to-day life. What a joy that is. 

15:08
Rich Rudowske
As a dad, as you’ve been also leading a congregation and a ministry here stateside during the Covid-19 crisis, what kind of struggles and adjustments have you had to make? How has that impacted the ministry of preaching and reaching and grounding folks in the word? 

15:28
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
So we are in the same boat as everybody else, trying to wade through the information as it comes and as leaders and scientists and medical personnel learn more about the disease and try to adapt to the changing situation and provide information. We’re right there with everybody else trying to figure out what is the most up-to-date and accurate information. How can we apply that to our own situation? And what I probably naively thought at first, going back to March when things were all kind of shut down, what I at first thought was probably going to be, oh, it may just be sort of a short interruption to our activities. Maybe just a few months and we’ll be back up and running again like usual has turned into more of a disruption that does not necessarily have an end date. That’s very clear. 

16:29
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
And so rather than just kind of waiting out that brief interruption, we’re kind of in an intermediate phase right now, trying to understand and figure out how do we do ministry in this time, where we’re sort of half open and still a portion of the congregation and community are still very much concerned, not yet ready to come out for in-person events and activities. And so how now do we minister to, kind of, two different groups of people? We had moved a lot of our ministry to online. We had online worship even before the shutdown, which was great to have as a resource while everything was shut down and people were sheltered at home, and we’re still doing that and still utilizing that. But beyond that worship experience for other elements that are just as important in the life of a congregation. 

17:22
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
So teaching opportunities, pastoral care, what does that look like now when you have kind of two groups of people, one that is ready for in-person activities and another that is kind of still at home, still uncertain about how much or if at all they’re ready to kind of step into public at this particular time? 

17:44
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, that’s true. How has technology played a role in that, in terms of certainly what you’ve done at St. Paul’s, but just how have you observed that technology has played into this whole situation? 

17:57
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
I think the church’s use of technology certainly has been advanced in this time. So conversations about how to utilize different technological resources that are at our disposal, we’re kind of batting those things around at St. Paul’s, how to use more video teaching, and how to continue to enhance our social media presence and online presence. So while were kind of having some theoretical conversations before Covid-19 hit now with the arrival of this pandemic that accelerated our conversation about, boy, this really is something that we need to invest and involve ourselves in, and how do we do that quickly? And we are students of technology all of a sudden here in ways that we did not expect a kind of crash course in video editing and sound and all of those things brings a whole other skill set to the fore. Yeah, that’s true. What do you think is critical for the church to keep in mind or to be focused on at this time? 

19:08
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
So at this time, and in some sense, it hasn’t really changed from even before coronavirus. That situation really hasn’t changed this. The church can and should continue to keep that focus on reaching out to its members and to its neighbors. It’s easy to kind of set that onto the back burner, especially at a time like this when folks are concerned and membership is kind of in flux. It’s easy to kind of put that outreach piece on the back burner and sort of say, well, we’ve got other things we’ve got to worry about now, but to really keep that focus on outreach reaching our neighbors, equipping our people for their own spiritual care and well being. But how does the church provide light and help and hope at such an uncertain time? 

20:02
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
And so keeping that focus on the importance of evangelism and outreach even here, even now? 

20:11
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, that’s true. I think that we had some conversations here about do we move forward with the Bible Translation Sunday as planned. And as we looked out around the world to our global partners, we really saw folks that are struggling in a lot the same ways that we are, but also with a marked resiliency in being able to pivot and shift and continue the work of ministry in unique ways, to continue to gather together in a safe way, to continue the work of translation and production. And it just really inspires us to say, let’s join in, and as God is at work there, let’s continue to maybe even provide for the churches here in the US a bigger picture and the opportunity to take a look at what God is doing out there as well? 

21:03
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
Well, in some know, this pandemic has highlighted the important need of that Gospel message at a time where folks are looking for help, they’re looking for hope. They want something that looks beyond the difficulties of this particular moment. Where else can and should the church point people to but to God’s Word? And if folks don’t have access to that, or if folks don’t know that good news of the Gospel, where else can they turn for help? Where else can they find hope in a situation that otherwise can be very grim and hopeless? 

21:40
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, that’s true. And so as you think about some of your exposure to what you see happening in the global church, what do you think that we can learn here in our churches? In the West, when we look to how the church is working around the world. 

21:53
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
So the church around the world and the growth of the church in many places is a great encouragement for myself, for us here in the States. The encouragement of how God’s kingdom moves and how God’s kingdom grows, even, sometimes, even in spite of the things that we try to do, as long as our focus is where it should be, it’s easy to be distracted by the what of our life as the church. We get sort of distracted by the details about programming or activities or the organizational structure of the church, and we start to lose the why of our identity. But it’s in those places and in those moments where we are focused on that why, that sharing of the gospel, that delivering of the good news of Jesus Christ. 

22:56
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
It’s in those moments then, that we have our focus reoriented and God blesses those efforts. And in an ironic sort of way, when we lose sight of the why and focus on the what, we easily can lose the gospel. But when we focus on the why, when we focus on our mission and our purpose, then those other pieces begin to fall into place. We begin to see what it is that we need to do, how we need to do it, in order to be faithful to that mission and purpose that God has given to us, that identity of being God’s people in our community and in our world today. 

23:41
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, and you mentioned it when you were introducing yourself, but in the 2020, as it’s rolled by, your 15 year anniversary in ministry has also rolled by now. And what is the most important thing you think you’ve learned in those years of ministry service? 

24:00
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
Oh, there’s so many lessons that I could point to, and the one that comes consistently to mind is patient trust in God. It’s hard for my sort of control personality to let that go, but patiently watching and waiting for God to do what he’s going to do, taking more of a process versus a results-oriented kind of an approach to ministry, being faithful in the process and leaving those results to God, where I want to sort of jump in and kind of get in the way, or I think that things aren’t moving fast enough, or they’re not moving the way that they should, or things are moving at the speed of church sometimes, which can be sort of slow and sometimes a little bit plotting. 

24:46
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
It’s sitting back and letting God do what God does best, which is shape people into the image of Christ and use people to share that good news with others. 

25:03
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. So as you reflect on your life and your service. What gives you joy in your work? 

25:09
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
I enjoy watching groups of people working together in ministry together. I long ago learned that I am not the smartest person in the room. Even with that MDiv, that seminary training, when it comes to ministry planning, I’m not the smartest person in the room. There are so many gifts and so many talents that God assembles together in his church at a particular time, at a particular place for a particular purpose. And it is so much fun to be a part of that process of God’s people working together to build up the body of Christ and to be a blessing to their community. So that’s just such a fun part of this work. 

25:55
Rich Rudowske
Yeah, that is so true. I think as we are in a time where our culture here in the US continues to shift, what advice do you have for folks who would consider working in full-time ministry or missionary service? 

26:11
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
So I would encourage those who might be considering work full-time work in God’s church to pay attention to that little voice in their head that is encouraging them to explore that. Don’t push that aside. That little voice is sometimes what God uses to move people to new avenues of ministry. And so explore what it might look like to take that step into ministry, to become that missionary or pastor, teacher, deaconess, whatever that might be. Talk to someone who is doing that work. Ask them questions, learn more about what it takes to be in that role and to do that work of ministry. 

26:53
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
And through it all, trust that God is going to use you wherever you are and whatever it is that you do, God is going to use the gifts that you have to expand his mission and ministry and look for those opportunities wherever you may be. 

27:11
Rich Rudowske
Yeah. All right. Well, we look forward to celebrating Bible Translation Sunday here at St. Paul’s and in many other congregations, even our Lutheran churches. And it’s been a pleasure to talk to you today. 

We’ve been talking with Pastor Michael Potschmidt, senior pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Thanks for being with us today. 

27:29
Pastor Michael Pottschmidt
Thanks for having me on. 

27:34
Rich Rudowske
Thank you to Pastor Michael Potschmidt of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Concordia, Missouri, for being our guest on the podcast today and for sharing your experience of parish ministry in the U.S. and how the larger view of God at work throughout the world in His church inspires you and St. Paul’s congregation. If you are a pastor or church leader and would like to explore visiting LBT project work like Pastor Michael did, please send me an email at info@lbt.org if you are interested in exploring missionary service with LBT, please write to recruiter@lbt.org to access materials for your congregation or small group. To participate in Bible Translation Sunday, the last Sunday of September, or whenever works for your congregation, please visit lbt.org and click on the Bible Translation Sunday link. 

Thank you for listening to the Essentially Translatable podcast brought to you by Lutheran Bible Translators. 

28:27
Rich Rudowske
Look for past episodes of the podcast and leave feedback lbt.org/podcast or subscribe on Apple, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you go to those other platforms to subscribe, please leave us a good rating so that others can find the podcast. Follow Lutheran Bible Translators’ social media channels on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Or go to lbt.org to find out how you can get involved in the Bible translation movement and put God’s Word in their hands. 

The Essentially Translatable Podcast is edited and produced by Andrew Olson and distributed by Sarah Lyons. Executive Producer is Amy Gertz. Podcast artwork designed by Caleb Rodewald. Music written and performed by Rob Veith. I’m Rich Rudowske. So long for now.