The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for January 27, 2023

The spring semester begins Monday at the Seminary and I’ll be teaching the second-year preaching class. Sometime or other, the students will hear me say that a preacher should be like a combine. “A what?” Young people increasingly know little about farming. “A combine is a harvesting machine that gathers everything in its way. The grain it keeps; the rest is discharged out the back. A preacher should be like that, observe everything. Read all you can. Something you take in will preach and help your people.”

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 78 years ago today, January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated the Auschwitz concentration camp. When Nazi troops knew the end was near, they began shooting prisoners and destroying ovens to destroy evidence. The Soviet army found 648 corpses and 7,000 starving prisoners. (Data from History Channel).

“Tell me how you can use the holocaust to get into hearer’s hearts.” Predictable silence until someone brings up sin. Trying to be Socratic, I ask, “What comfort would you bring to people shocked by the murder of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers? What would you preach for the victims of domestic abuse or overseas, the horrors in Ukraine.” These are teachable moments! “You’ve got to get into the hearer’s heart. If you don’t, you’re not helping them grow in faith.”

My own take on the Holocaust and other atrocities is this. Jesus Christ, the victim of injustice, is now exalted at the right hand of God and will come with divine judgment upon all people. Jesus isn’t in the manger, not on the cross. Humanity’s cries and laments about injustice… read the Psalms, read the Prophets. Give us justice, O God! Righteous judgment IS COMING. That’s Law and that’s also Gospel. “In a world of systematic injustice, bullying, violence, arrogance, and oppression, the thought that there might come a day when the wicked are firmly put in their place and the poor and weak are given their due is the best news there can be. Faced with a world in rebellion, a world full of exploitation and wickedness, a good God must be a God of judgment.” (N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope, 117).

Can you tell I get frustrated with sermons that don’t bridge from Scripture to today? Into the harvest field! So much to preach, so little time!

The Meyer Minute for January 26, 2023

Car jackings, mass shootings, fraud, politicians saying anything for power… Disgusting, isn’t it? But should we escape by not following the news? No, a good citizen wants to be informed. Or should we practice a religion that is compartmentalized away from the world, that doesn’t teach us how to follow Christ “out there”? No, because we have an obligation of good works to this dysfunctional society. We are in the world but not of the world.

It’s like a Venn diagram. “A Venn diagram uses overlapping circles or other shapes to illustrate the logical relationships between two or more sets of items. Often, they serve to graphically organize things, highlight how the items are similar and different” (Lucidchart, online). So, picture one circle as the ways of the world, a second circle as the ways of God, and where they overlap is where you and I are, trying to follow Jesus in a world that crucified Him and discriminates against us.

The super-duper biggest difference between the two circles is this, “homo incurvatus in se.” That Latin phrase is attributed to St. Augustine, the fifth century church father. It translates, “man turned in on himself.” That’s a great way to understand sin, a great way to interpret so much that we see in the news, and not only the news. What about everyone taking and posting selfies? People in our society are turned in on themselves as never before. And that explains so much that is wrong.

A great book to read is “Man Turned in on Himself” by Heather Choate Davis. “A world filled with creatures each trying to be his own God quickly leads to chaos: if everyone is in charge, no one is in charge. This ever-mutating, self-created chaos ‘bounces back’ to the modern man in the form of increasing anxiety and depression. Our self-centeredness turns our fellow man into our competition…. This zero-sum mentality leads to greater distrust, which, in turn, ‘justifies’ our curving ever more inward... Online we can all be our own Gods.” (44)

More and more people are leaving the church, the “overlap” between the ways of God and the ways of the world. Maybe we’re not making God’s Word relevant to daily life.

The Meyer Minute for January 25, 2023

It’s snowing… so pretty, so peaceful outdoors. If your school is closed, if you can work from home, snow days are an escape from reality. 

About reality, yesterday scientists moved the Doomsday Clock to 90 seconds before midnight. Not a real clock, but figurative, the “clock” is scientists’ predicting how close we are to midnight, to worldwide catastrophe. The war in Ukraine, the end of the post-World War II era of relative peace, climate change, and biotechnology are major factors why the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has shortened the time earth has left. Which will last longer, peaceful snow or our problems? 90 seconds to midnight. 

The Bible calls it the “Day of the Lord.” Unlike the Doomsday Clock, the Day of the Lord is not about science and governments saving us from man-made catastrophe but it’s about mankind’s sin. “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it… I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless” (Isaiah 13:9, 11). “Who can endure the day of his coming?” (Malachi 3:2). 

“For you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 4:2-3). That Day started with Christ’s birth. “Hail, the heav’n born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, Ris’n with healing in His wings.” And we’re promised to see the end, to “see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory” (Mark 13:26). That day we’ll be like kids off from school, outside playing in the snow, and no one will say, “It’s time to come in”!  

90 seconds to midnight? “Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). 

The Meyer Minute for January 24, 2023

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

My family and I thank all of you who shared expressions of sympathy upon our Mother’s home-going. Her visitation and funeral service were a real-life demonstration that when death comes into a family that has lived and breathed Christian faith, we “do not grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). How do some people dismiss Christianity as not relevant to life?

“This is the day…” was my mom’s favorite verse. Pastor Stephen Starke spoke insightfully about the verse in his sermon. Many know Pastor Starke as a prolific writer of hymn texts. Mom knew him as Vicar Starke from his internship at St. Paul’s, Chicago Heights, over 40 years ago, and they kept in touch through the years. As you read the quotation, notice all the reasons TODAY is a gift from God to you. Because of the “grace God continues to daily pour out upon us, because of the rock-hard strength of God’s Word with its many precious promises to us, and because of the sure comfort of the Comforter who continues to call us by the Gospel, gather us together as God’s people, who enlightens us with His gifts, who sanctifies us in Christ and keeps each of us in the faith each day, because of ALL this, we say with great gusto and firm faith and give our ‘amen’ of agreement to the words of Norma’s favorite verse… “This is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Bible verses call us to act. One of the places she displayed that verse was over the kitchen sink, not a glamorous spot but a place of routine, and when you’re doing something routine, you’re free to fret and worry. As a kid, I remember her singing as she was working at the sink, “O du froehliche,” “O how joyfully…Christmas comes with its grace divine.” Whatever this day may bring, it is first and foremost a day of grace that God has given us. “Let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

The Meyer Minute for January 18, 2023

I’m co-teaching the Sunday morning Bible class at our church. We’re talking about how the church interacts with today’s culture and, no surprise, Bible class members are very concerned about what’s happening in American public life today. But what can we do? Complain, lament, but we feel stymied.

“American’s Theological Beliefs Changed to Suit Post-Pandemic Practice.” That title caught my eye and suggests to me what congregations need to be doing. Lifeway Research surveyed changes in Christian beliefs since the pandemic. Here are two quotations that lead Lifeway’s report. “After months of quarantines and social distancing, however, Americans increasingly believe worshiping apart from a church is as good as attending church services.” “Additionally, most Americans (56%) don’t believe every Christian has an obligation to join a local church. Fewer than 2 in 5 (36%) say this is something all Christians should do.”

To be sure, there are biblical reasons for regular in-person attendance, but here’s a practical, make-a-difference-in-society-reason from another article. “Faith community is the foundation of societal good. It builds strong families, cultivates better mental and physical health, and provides for the welfare of communities and of the vulnerable in ways that no other entity does. Some argue that secular institutions can help provide this—antidotes to loneliness, or answers to the human search for purpose. Thus far, however, no secular institution has replicated what the church community does at scale.” (Erick Andersen, National Review)

How can we make whatever little difference we can make in today’s American society? One Bible class member asked that question, and I answered, “In my opinion, we first need to evangelize the members of our church.” Do we churchgoers think American culture has a speck in its eye but we’re not seeing the log in our own eye, Matthew 7:3-5? Why do WE join and worship regularly at our congregation? Habit? Salvation? For the good of our neighborhood and community?

The Meyer Minute for January 16, 2023

The hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God” has a line that always brings up images and memories in my mind. “Who from our mothers’ arms / Has blest us on our way / With countless gifts of love / And still is ours today.”

My mother passed away yesterday. The days of our lives, “if by reason of strength they be fourscore years”? Mom blew by that long ago. Norma Meyer Nelson was 96 years old, only a few months from 97. Her main complaint these last years was not having energy to do all she wanted to do. Up until the last weeks, she was fully engaged in life. When the diagnosis came, she responded with resolute faith and focus on the future. “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

This isn’t really about Mom. It’s about the abundant goodness of her confessed Creator and Savior, ours too. She had a pillow on her favorite chair that said, “Beyond Blessed.”

“When we on that final journey go / That Christ is for us preparing,

We’ll gather in song, our hearts aglow, / All joy of the heavens sharing,

And walk in the light of God’s own place, / With angels His name adoring.”

The Meyer Minute for January 13, 2023

You might hear some Christians use the word “apologetics.” What does that mean? “I’m sorry for what I believe and won’t bring it up again”?

That seems to be the case for more and more Christians. “25 years ago, nearly every one of us who had had a spiritual conversation about our faith believed we had a responsibility to share our faith…. But today? Only 64 percent of us would say the same thing…. What we believe about sharing our faith has changed.” (“The Reluctant Witness,” 50, 52)

The old, churchy word “apologetics” doesn’t mean, “I’m sorry.” 1 Peter 3:15, “Always be ready to give an apology (that’s the Greek word) to anyone who asks an account for the hope that is in you.” Apology means a defense, a reply. “Let me tell you why I believe what I believe.”

Some “in-the-know” Christians think apologetics means giving reasons why Christian faith is superior to every other belief. “I’m going to reason you into my way of thinking.” That may have worked in the past but not now. “The idea that the only God is Yahweh (the Hebrew name for God, Exodus 3:14) or Allah… all these are manmade notions. They are inventions—they are social constructs. Few people really believe anymore in an objective reality” (“Postmodernism for Beginners,” 151). “You shall know the truth” says Jesus (John 8:32) but fewer and fewer Americans believe there is objective, eternal truth.

Although it’s hard, perhaps impossible, in our postmodern times to reason someone into faith, backing away from spiritual conversations is not the answer. “We must be careful, however, not to continue to propagate that witness in modernist ways: by attempting our own rationalist demonstrations of the truth of Christian faith…. The new apologetics will be an unapolgetics, it will at the same time be characterized by faithful storytelling, not demonstration” (“Who’s Afraid of Postmodernist?”, 73-74). “May I share with you how my faith in Jesus helps me?”

“One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus” (John 1:41-42).  

The Meyer Minute for January 12, 2023

My quiet place…

My quiet place is where I retreat when I need to be reminded that God continues to be for me. “When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’ your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up” (Psalm 94:18).

My quiet place is where I listen for Your still, small voice amidst life’s unending noise. “Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke? He who teaches man knowledge—the Lord—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath” (Psalm 94:8-11).

My quiet place is where I do not ignore the news of the nation or troubles in my little life. Quite the opposite! Without the bad, how would I mature in my love for Your salvation? “Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord, and whom you teach out of your law, to give him rest from the days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked” (Psalm 94:12-13).

My quiet place is where You touch my troubled heart and soul. “For the Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?” (Psalm 94:14-16). In my quiet place You revive hope by turning me from myself to You. You give me confidence You continue with us and Your righteousness will prevail.

My quiet place is stillness before You. It’s not a favorite chair, or church. It’s not the calm of a peaceful scene or soothing music. It’s me before You and Your Spirit within me, wherever I may be. “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul” (Psalm 94:19).

The Meyer Minute for January 11, 2023

Do you ever get frustrated with technology? Last week Diane and I bought new iPhones. The salespeople were very helpful but when we got home some apps wanted passwords. Finding the up-to-date passwords was frustrating, to say the least. This very morning, the FAA has grounded ALL airplane flights in the United States because of a systemwide computer issue. Perhaps fixed by the time you read this, but nonetheless frustrating for millions of people planning to fly. And what caused Southwest’s meltdown at Christmas? Management failure to update computer systems going back to the 1990s. We are at the mercy of manmade technology.

Not a new problem. Luke 13 tells that a manmade tower at Siloam collapsed, killing 13 people. The Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 turned out to be a colossal manmade failure. “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:4). Their audacity prompted God to confound their speech and scatter them all over the earth. When tech fails and frustrates you, ask, “In what do I ultimately trust?” In an attack on idols (idols were ancient tech. Make something of stone or gold or wood and trust that it will save you) Isaiah said, “Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. All of them are put to shame and confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together. But Israel is saved by the Lord, who created the heavens” (Isaiah 45:15-17).

Unless you become a survivalist, we must use manmade tech. When it fails, when it frustrates, think it through spiritually. Of course, it’s going to fail. Tech is from fallible humans! Paraphrasing Isaiah 43:2, “When you pass through the waters, when you pass through tech problems, I will be with you.” There is only One who says, “I will not leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5). Only One who says, “I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15). Tech failures and frustrations are another reminder that “our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior” (Philippians 3:20). That will prove the accepted password!

The Meyer Minute for January 10, 2023

A friend sent a card. “The Good News about aging…not giving a crap starts to be mistaken for quiet wisdom.” What is wisdom as you get older? I think it’s a better understanding of space and time.

As the years advance, things that occupy space are taken away from you. You don’t have a place of employment anymore. Your sense of purpose from a paying job is gone. That space called the “floor” is harder to reach and stairs are harder to climb. Your space increasingly becomes your favorite chair at home. “It is the evening of the day. I sit and watch the children play,” sang the Rolling Stones, and their take is pretty depressing. Life narrows down.

There’s a wiser perspective. If your prime thought is the presence of God, then real life is opening up as you get older. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10 NIV). No expiration on that promise. So, don’t think of time as a thing that you’re running out of. People sometimes say, “At this point in time.” Every moment, wherever you are, however young or old you might be, this point in time is where you are experiencing the eternal God. The best is yet to come!

“What joy to know, when life is past, / The Lord we love is first and last, / The end and the beginning!

He will one day, oh, glorious grace, / Transport us to that happy place / Beyond all tears and sinning!

Amen! Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! Crown of gladness! 

We are yearning / For the day of Your returning!

(Lutheran Service Book 395:1)

My mother sent me a card: “When you were a kid, it was pretty easy to make you feel pretty special on your birthday… These days the celebrating is different….” Life may narrow down, but every day, more and more, Jesus is opening His door to joyful paradise.