The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for February 20, 2019

An old Minute from 2015, one of my favorites…

“Hi! My name is Jacob. I’m a member of Opa’s writing team, number four in Cinco de Meyer. Easter weekend I was at Oma and Opa’s house. I am 2-years-old. I am learning how to use the bathroom. I went in and turned all the knobs on the door. I locked myself in!”

“What did you do, Jacob?”

“I panicked. I cried out. Oma and my Mommy came. They stood outside the bathroom door and talked to me. They tried to tell me how to get out of my problem. They talked to me and talked to me. I tried and tried and tried. I knew they were there to help. Finally, I turned a knob the right way and the door opened.”

“I’m glad you got out.”

“Opa, do you big people ever get locked in?”
“Great question, Jake. We big people get locked into all sorts of things. Guilt. Unforgiveness. Bitterness. Fear. Anger. We don’t get locked into rooms, but we get locked into unhealthy emotions.”

“How do you get out?”

“Well, Jake, in my experience, we tend to forget that we’re not God. We’re sinners; we think we know the best way we should live. That gets us locked into bad things. Like you, words help get us out. We call to God and He promises to deliver us. “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Psalm 50:15). The best example of getting out is Jesus. Jesus was locked into the tomb but He got out. He’s close by to hear our prayers and lead us out in His own way. “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

“Let’s go outside and throw balls.”

The Meyer Minute for February 19, 2019

“I wonder what the king is doing tonight?” began a song in the Broadway musical “Camelot.” In the wake of Presidents’ Day, do you ever wonder what the president is thinking?

Abraham Lincoln pondered the guilt of Americans and the judgments of God. In his second Inaugural Address, he wrote: “Both (sides) read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. ‘Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.’

What fills your own times of solitude? Assuming that you put away your devices, take the buds out of your ear, and leave the company of other people – that you are truly alone with yourself – what do you think about? Whatever occupies your mind is what you will take into your interactions with others. “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:20).

President Lincoln spent time alone thinking about God’s ways, thinking about reality theologically. He stunned the presumption of both North and south, that God was on their side, but his biblically inspired words hit the triumphalism of the North especially hard. From his inner life, he understood that the Law of God hammers our presumptions. After the speech, he wrote to Thurlow Weed, “Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them.” The greatest difference today is not between political partisans but between God’s will and ours. “The Almighty has His own purposes.”

The Meyer Minute for February 18, 2019

One reason first-century people were suspicious of Christians was their fear these followers of Jesus would subvert public peace and well-being. Their fear was unfounded. St. Paul: “I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

This Presidents’ Day we remember leaders like George Washington who worked for public peace and well-being in our country. When Washington died in 1799, Henry Lee, a hero in the Revolutionary War, delivered a eulogy. In his speech he imagined President Washington saying these words.

“Cease, sons of America, lamenting our separation; go on, and confirm by your wisdom the fruits of our joint councils, joint efforts, and common dangers; reverence religion, diffuse knowledge throughout your land, patronize the arts and sciences; let liberty and order be inseparable companions. Control party spirit, the bane of free governments; observe good faith to, and cultivate peace with, all nations, shut up every avenue to foreign influence, contract rather than extend national connections, rely on ourselves only: be American in thought, word, and deed—thus you will give immortality to that union which was the constant object of my terrestrial labors; thus will you preserve undisturbed to the latest posterity the felicity of a people to me most dear, and thus will you supply (if my happiness is now aught to you) the only vacancy in the round of pure bliss high heaven bestows.” (William Safire, “Lend Me Your Ears,” 170)

Henry Lee knew George Washington well, so these words are not out of thin air. Read it again. See the instructions for our time. Some institutions are vital to peace and well-being, and certainly the presidency is. In the first century and the twenty-first, Christians have a burden for the common welfare of all, and we do pray. “To direct and defend our president an all in authority; to bless and protect our magistrates and all our people: We implore You to hear us, good Lord” (The Litany, Lutheran Service Book, 289).

It was in this speech, at the very beginning, that Lee described Washington: “First in war—first in peace—and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”

The Meyer Minute for February 15, 2019

You take your place in the pew Sunday and the worship service starts. Early in the service, Bible lessons from the Old and New Testaments are read. You’re told, “This is the Word of the Lord.” “Thanks be to God,” is the routine response, but have you ever wondered, “Who decided that that reading should be read?” So today’s Minute starts with suspicion, suspicion about the Bible readings you hear in church on Sunday morning.

When Jesus entered a synagogue, a scroll of Isaiah was given to Him and He read (Luke 4:16-17). Paul told Pastor Timothy to “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture” (1 Timothy 4:13). But did they read lessons like we hear in church? Dr. Timothy Saleska: “The history of the development of lectionary systems in the early church and especially the place of the OT lesson in that history are shrouded in obscurity” (“What Is the Old Testament Doing in Our Lectionary?”). Our present system goes back to Vatican II, with denominations making modifications according to their distinctive beliefs. God gives the Word but what gets read on Sunday is a human decision.

Sometimes it short-changes you. Consider this Sunday’s Old Testament, Jeremiah 17:5-8. In verses 5-6 the Lord curses people who rely upon man. They’re like a shrub in the desert. In verses 7-8 the Lord says, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water….” That read, the minister will say, “This is the Word of the Lord,” and on we go. Whoa! To really understand that curse and blessing, you need the next verses. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds” (9-10). Churches in the ELCA will hear that, but not in the Missouri or Wisconsin Lutheran synods.

This is another reason not to drop off your worship folder as you leave church. Take it home, open your Bible, and read the context of the snippet you heard in church. The lessons read in church are precious, but they don’t help you grow in God’s Word as much as reading more at home. And when you’ve read beyond the Sunday snippet, you can then recycle the bulletin. Then a real, heartfelt, “Thanks be to God.”

The Meyer Minute for February 14, 2019

Happy Valentine’s Day…and Happy Birthday, Connor!

I gave a children’s sermon the Sunday after Valentine’s Day. Thirteen little ones came to the front, sat down on the floor, and eagerly started talking when I asked how their Valentine’s Day had been. They jabbered about what they had done at preschool for Valentine’s Day, what they gave and got, what candy they ate. When I asked if their parents loved them, the consensus was that sometimes parents do, other times they don’t. That was a revealing answer; sometimes parents have to show “tough love.” As they grow, they’ll learn, we pray, that they were blessed with total love, even when they didn’t feel the love.

Wanting to move to Jesus’ love, I asked, “Who loves you the mostest and the bestest?” A little blonde girl put up her hand and said, “Grandma!” The older people in church laughed, no doubt because they knew that grandparents can indulge the little ones, don’t have to do “tough love” (been there; done that), and also laughed because they knew the minister wanted the answer to be Jesus. But that little girl gave a profound answer. Our views of God are strongly influenced by our experiences with parents and grandparents. I once interviewed an adult, a Christian adult, who had been sexually abused by his father. Because of that terrible childhood, he struggles whenever he hears us fellow Christian talk about our “loving heavenly Father.” “Children learn what they live.” Thank the Spirit of God that through His Word He teaches children and adults to know Him as He truly is, pure and holy, transcendent and incarnate in Jesus, selfless and serving love. “God is love” (1 John 4:8).

“Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
We are weak but He is strong.”

Do children begin to learn that as they look up to you and me?

 

 

 

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The Meyer Minute for February 13, 2019

Among the wearisome things of winter are the gray, sunless days. In our real lives there are many days when the sun isn’t shining in our souls. In my own circle of acquaintances, a new widow, parents with a newborn in the hospital, a man diagnosed with cancer, underemployment, unhappy employment, unpaid bills… What might it be for you, for your family and friends? Gray skies, heavy, leaden skies.

Whatever it may be, the earthly situation weighing so heavily upon you is also time to know God is holding you. Consider Thomas Dorsey of Chicago. In 1932 this Gospel singer was performing in St. Louis. He received a telegram: “Your wife just died.” “When I got back (to Chicago), I learned that Nettie had given birth to a boy. I swung between grief and joy. Yet that night, the baby died. I buried Nettie and our little boy together, in the same casket. Then I fell apart. For days I closeted myself. I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn’t want to serve Him anymore or write gospel songs… I was lost in grief. On the following Saturday (Professor Theodore Frye) took me up to a neighborhood music school. It was quiet; the late evening sun crept through the curtained windows. I sat down at the piano, and began to improvise on the keyboard.” What he improvised was his turn to God:

“Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand;
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light.
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.

“Now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it be tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7). In sunless days of the soul, turn to the Son. “For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you’” (Isaiah 41:13).

 

 

 

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The Meyer Minute for February 12, 2019

On a Saturday morning several years ago, I walked over to Sieck Hall. A young seminarian was standing outside. “What are you doing here on a Saturday?” I asked. “We’re having a computer software workshop.” “It’s a fad,” I said. “Carbon paper is coming back.” He looked at me and said, “Sir, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

That reminds me of a movie, The Intern. Robert DeNiro plays a 70-year-old widower who knows he needs to keep busy, and wants to. So he signs up for a “Senior Intern” position at an internet company. He starts out as a curiosity to the young people who dominate the company but by the end of the movie is recognized for the wisdom he has learned over the years, wisdom he gently shares with young people willing to listen.

In the Bible King Rehoboam wasn’t willing to listen. His father Solomon had died and the people pleaded for relief from the heavy hand of government. His older advisers said to be gentle, “to please them and speak good words to them” (2 Chronicles 10:7), but his younger advisers told him to double down. Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older men and what happened? Civil war broke out. Israel was forever divided.

In the New Testament, religious hard-liners had arrested the apostles for preaching about Jesus. An older and learned rabbi named Gamaliel recounted history and said, “‘If this plan or undertaking is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!’ So they took his advice” (Acts 5:39).

“Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight” (Provers 4:1).

We can’t live the lives of younger adults, but if we interest them in the honest life stories we have to tell, they’ll listen. If you know what carbon paper is, or was, you’ll enjoy The Intern.

The Meyer Minute for February 11, 2019

Saturday reminded me of a date a few years ago. Diane and I went to…tada! The new IKEA store in St. Louis. I’ve heard that IKEA is a favorite for students and young marrieds. Maybe so, but the majority of romantics in the store were, uh, mature. Part of the romance for me was watching what interested Diane. The first thing she went looking for was a can opener. She even gave a testimonial to another shopper about how great the IKEA can opener is. Even with arthritis, this is the best! Sheets were next on her list. “What do you think of this color?” “What difference does it make? We’re supposed to be sleeping.” I tried to be helpful, but she knows when I’m bored. What we both were looking for was a small chest of drawers. Found one we liked, but then, “OK, how do we get out of here?” IKEA is like a massive labyrinth, once you’re in deep, it’s not easy to get out. No doubt that’s part of the retail strategy to get us to spend more date money. I see that some retailers are getting into “slow shopping,” making shopping an experience, not just a quick in and out. That day the shared experience was the point of our date.

Aging frees up time. Like Diane says, “We’re old enough that we don’t have to do what everyone wants us to do.” Spiritual maturation also frees up time. Whatever your age, the Creator blesses rest with family and friends (Exodus 20:8-11). You don’t have to try and do everything. That has Jesus’ approval. “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). Well, IKEA wasn’t desolate but it was our day away by ourselves. I’m planning on asking Diane for another date. “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

I’d be embarrassed to tell you how long it took me to assemble that chest of drawers!

Quiet in God! How beautiful to be / Settled and calm and rested, Lord, in Thee;
Amid earth’s fret and jar and empty noise, / It’s fleeting pleasures and tumultuous joys.
Quiet in God.

(Starck’s Prayer Book, 397).

The Meyer Minute for February 8, 2019

“Pride and sin lurk within, all your hopes to shatter; heed not when they flatter” (LSB 663, 4).

Perhaps out of curiosity, perhaps out of respect, but apparently not out of ill will, a Pharisee named Simon invited Jesus and others to his home for dinner (Luke 7:36-50). Invite the pastor and some other church people over for dinner. An uninvited woman barges in, a woman known for immoral ways, and she anoints Jesus’ feet and weeps. Simon is aghast. We religious people don’t condone sin; we also don’t associate with crass sinners. We’re better than that. Can’t you see my Sunday face, the righteous façade hiding my heart?

Jesus said, “Simon, I have something to say to you,” and made up a story about two people with debt, one debt large, the other small. “‘When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered, ‘The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the large debt.’ And he said to him, ‘You have judged rightly.”

“Dale, I have something to say to you.” “Say it, Teacher.” “Dale, you’ve been a religious person all your life. You were raised in a Christian home. You went to church, Sunday school and parochial grade school. You took it all seriously then and still do today. Forgiveness doesn’t seem as big and life-changing to you as it does to people today who know only sin and the prison of guilt, who don’t know Me and how I cancel the debt of sin and set them free.”

Do you see what I’m saying, church-goer and devotion reader? Those of us who grew up in the church in the days of “Christian America” may imagine our debt is small, that our sins are not as bad as others. How can we like Simon come to see the live-or-die importance of forgiveness? “Say it, Teacher.” Righteous one, ponder the words of the Law. The Bible’s dos and don’ts? They can pierce your façade and reveal your dark heart. As awareness of your debt grows, all the more will you marvel at My forgiveness for you. “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

We don’t know how Simon reacted to Jesus’ gentle chastisement. Maybe he became one of the Pharisees who followed Jesus. At the end of the day, who is the chief of sinners?

The Meyer Minute for February 7, 2019

Are you following Jesus…or trying to lead Him where you want to go?

Dr. James Tino explains it this way: “Part of our human condition is that we crave security, because security gives us the illusion of control. When we feel secure, then we are confident in our ability to ‘handle things,’ whatever that might mean. Predictability gives us a sense of security. Money often gives a sense of security. Routine gives us a sense of security…” (“Meeting Ananias,” Tri-Pillar, 50).

A rich man asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said, “Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and come, follow me.” “When he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich” (Luke 18:18, 22). He should give up what he thought made him secure?

Stop. Look around. See the people and things that make you feel secure. They’re gifts of God, just like the wealth of the young man, but Jesus won’t leave you comfortable in your earthly securities. These props will pass. Ouch! “He is going before you” and you’re called to focus on Him as He leads you wherever (Matthew 28:7). This is the adventurous aspect of following Jesus: He doesn’t give details about what’s ahead. Abraham “went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). Is something going on in your life that threatens your sense of security? Whatever it is, think of it as a gift. Lord, I don’t know what the future holds, but I know that You hold the future. “When ev’ry earthly prop gives way, He then is all my hope and stay” (Lutheran Service Book, 576, 3)

“A life of faith…feels insecure. It begins with an openness to the Lord’s leading in your life, whenever and however that may come, and it ends in places that we would never expect” (James Tino, 50).

“I leave all things to God’s direction; / He loves me both in joy and woe.
His will is good, sure His affection; / His tender love is true, I know.
My fortress and my rock is He: / What pleases God, that pleases me.
(Lutheran Service Book, 719, 1)