The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for June 25, 2019

Greek began yesterday. New seminarians who didn’t have Greek in college have come to campus to learn how to read the New Testament in its original language. We take reading for granted but in the early days of the church most people couldn’t read or write. William Harris has estimated that about 10% were literate. “The written culture of antiquity was in the main restricted to a privileged minority—though in some places it was a large minority—and it co-existed with elements of an oral culture” (in “Books and Readers in the Early Church,” Harry Y. Gamble, 4). Are we better off today because we can read? Yes, but…

The Greek philosopher Plato, who lived in the fourth century before Christ, wrote this about the invention of writing: “This invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them. You have invented an elixir not of memory, but of reminding. (“Phaedrus,” 275B)

Ponder it this way. Because we now print the Word of God, bind it in a book, and put it on the shelf, we are tempted to think of God’s Word as a source of information. Looking for some religious information? Got a problem and want a spiritual fix? Find something in the book. But God never intended His Word to be only a source of religious information. “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2). Since most of the first Christians couldn’t read, they would memorize the Word far more than people do today. That Word in them transformed their lives in ways words on the shelf do not. “These words that I command you this day shall be on your heart” (Deuteronomy 6:6). For the first Christians, the life of faith was oral. Key passages were on their lips because the Word was in their hearts and minds.

“Always (be) prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). Or do we say, “I’ll get back to you as soon as I do some religious research?”

The Meyer Minute for June 24, 2019

“Oh, Connor. I’m so sorry.” “Thanks, Opa.” “Does it still hurt?” “Yes.” “Tell our friends what happened.”

“I fell out of bed.” “That’s an understatement. What kind of bed?” “I was on the top of a bunkbed.” “You cut your chin and sprained your hand, or did it break?” “The swelling is going down. I have to go back to the doctor today.”

“Strange, it happened at church camp, right?” “Huh, Opa?” “Well, church camp is about learning more about God, but His angels didn’t catch you. It’s a real adult situation. You’re going into sixth grade, but life is full of bad things happening.” “Opa, you’re not comforting me!”

“Adults wonder, ‘Where’s God when you need Him?’ We think He should do this, or should have done that, but that’s not what you find in the Bible. In the Bible God is with people who are hurting, people with physical and emotional problems, people who have suffered losses, people who have been rejected by others. Look at all the times Jesus spends with people who are down and out.”

“Down and out, Opa? You making fun?”

“Sorry, I’m trying to think this through. The only answer I know is that at every age we trust God is our loving heavenly Father, even when everything seems to be going wrong. ‘He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?’ (Romans 8:32). Jesus suffered, but rose, ascended and suffering is behind Him. We’re following Jesus; one day we’ll have no more suffering, no more pain, no more falls.”

“I’m tired, Opa.” “I see that, Connor. Lie down and rest.”

“Children of the heavenly Father / Safely in His bosom gather;

Nestl’ing bird nor star in heaven / Such a refuge e’er was given.

 

“Neither life nor death shall ever / From the Lord His children sever;

Unto them His grace He showeth, / And their sorrows all He knoweth.”

(Lutheran Service Book, 725, 1, 3)

The Meyer Minute for June 21, 2019

“I want that when you’re gone.” Daughter Katie was pointing to my Greek New Testament, the one book I use more than any other.

Sandra Wolcott Willingham had an heirloom Bible but gave it away. It had been passed down through the family from her great-great-grandfather, Rev. Noyes W. Miner, a Baptist minister who lived in Springfield, Illinois, across the street from Abraham and Mary Lincoln. Mrs. Lincoln said Miner was “very much beloved by my husband.” The Bible was given to President Lincoln in 1864 when he attended an event to raise money to care for wounded soldiers. Inscribed on the cover, “Presented to Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by the Ladies of the Citizens Volunteer Hospital of Philadelphia.” The next year, 1865, President Lincoln was assassinated. Seven years thereafter, Mary Lincoln gave the Bible to Rev. Miner. Now it’s been given by his descendants to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, and yesterday went on display.

Concordia Seminary has a Bible you can see when you visit campus, the personal Bible of Johann Sebastian Bach. It’s large, three volumes, because it’s actually a Bible with commentary by scholar Abraham Calov. Bach died in 1750, and somehow this Bible came to a family in Michigan. The family had no idea of this Bible’s history, only that it was old, but when they showed it to a minister, he recognized on the title page the handwritten initials of Bach. It was the early 1930’s, Hitler gaining control of Germany, so the idea of sending the Bible back to Germany was nixed. Instead, the family gave it to Concordia Seminary where it’s been treasured for decades, safely kept in our rare book room.

When Katie said she wanted my Greek New Testament, I thought, “Fine, I’ll be dead and won’t know.” True enough, but reflecting on the Lincoln and Bach Bibles, I’ve a fuller view of heirloom Bibles. A Bible handed down in your family, or your own Bible that will be treasured by your children or grandchildren, is your witness about your faith to future generations. Bach jotted some notes in his Bible that testified to his faith. Lincoln was a Bible reader, and Rev. Miner related that Mrs. Lincoln said her husband at Ford’s Theater told her he desired to visit Jerusalem to “see the places hallowed by the footsteps of the Savior.” (New York Times, June 20; A23) Is there a Bible your family knows you use, an heirloom they’ll want as a witness to your faith?

The Meyer Minute for June 20, 2019

A word of appreciation for First Responders…

I woke up earlier than usual this morning, and went out to sit on the porch with my first cup of coffee. Our house sits across the street from the American Legion post, usually a quiet street except for the Legion’s Friday Fish Fry and an occasional wedding reception. Quiet this morning, until 3:47 am when the Legion’s alarm went off. The alarm was loud enough to scare away any would-be burglar, not to mention waking up the neighborhood. Within five minutes two police cars arrived, in ten minutes a Legion member arrived, and after 15 minutes it appeared that nothing was wrong.

Police, fire department, paramedics… First Responders are essential to a community and nation’s well-being. When a First Responder arrives, chances are you won’t know him or her personally but you welcome them as friends because you know they’ve come to help. When holidays bring family and friends together, First Responders often aren’t present because they’re on duty for us. And if they are able to join the party, they’re on call and can’t totally relax. Over the years I’ve spoken with several of these dedicated people and they’ve shared stories, always leaving me to ponder the different kind of life and work they have. Most of us haven’t gone into the situations they regularly encounter, but we know it’s our duty to be grateful and appreciate the service they give us all. They are another evidence that the Creator loves and cares for all He has made.

Merciful Father, we commend to Your keeping all who work to bring rescue and relief. Give them courage in danger, skill in difficulty, and compassion in service. Sustain them with bodily strength and calmness of mind that they may perform their work to the well-being of those in need so that lives may be saved and communities restored; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (“Pastoral Care Companion,” 516)

The Meyer Minute for June 19, 2019

A group of men here in Collinsville get together every Tuesday afternoon. When I get into my car to go there, my phone pings and tells me how long it will take to get there. On Sunday mornings when we get into the car to go to church, the phone by itself tells us how long to get there. A friend just had a device implanted in her heart. It’s wonderful what modern technology can do, but here’s something revealing. That device regular transmits data about her heart to… to whom? The doctor? Probably to some computer someplace. In catechism class we learned that God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Those are increasingly the qualities of technology in our lives.

With that in mind, take a look at Psalm 139. “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up” and so on (verse 1). Change the words, “O Lord,” to “O Technology,” and you see the huge challenge to faith. If you read verses 1 through 12 as if they were addressed to technology, you sense the deceit of Satan. Technology can be great, but we’re tempted to put it in God’s place in our lives. Does the psalm give us a reason for old-time faith in God?

Indeed it does. God is personal to you, to me. “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (verses 13, 16). Behind your conception was the Creator of all things. In Baptism your name was written in His book of life. That’s more personal than calling up your medical records or business account in the computer. “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). Body, soul and spirit, your name is in His book of life. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!” (verse 17).

One reason we study contemporary culture and the Bible is to reveal today’s subtle temptations to our Christian faith. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (verses 23-24). Who’s most omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent in your life?

The Meyer Minute for June 18, 2019

The tradition of reading the Athanasian Creed on Trinity Sunday produces numbness but also questions. One sure question is about these closing words, “Those who have done good things will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil things into eternal fire.”

“Pastor, how can we confess that? We know we’re not saved by our works!” A teaching moment. Consider other passages, passages we “saved by grace” believers can gloss over. “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10). “‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile” (1 Peter 1:6-17). Look at a concordance or a Bible with cross-references in the margins. You’ll find judgment by works through God’s Word.

I have two questions I sometimes use to explain works and grace. First question: Are sinners judged according to works? Church people nod their heads “no,” but I quote the passages cited above. Now I have their attention! Second question: Will you be saved by works? Heads strenuously nod “no.” Ah, wrong again. You will be saved by works, not yours but Christ’s.

“Thy works, not mine, O Christ, / Speak gladness to this heart;

They tell me all is done, / They bid my fear depart.

To whom save Thee, / Who canst alone / For sin atone,

Lord, shall I flee? (Lutheran Service Book 565, 1)

 

Put the troublesome quotation in its Christ-centered, faith context. “He suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose from the dead, ascended into the heavens, is seated at the right hand of the Father, from where he will come to judge the living and the dead. At his coming all human beings will rise with their bodies and will give an account of their own deeds. Those who have done good will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil things into eternal fire. This is the catholic faith; a person cannot be saved without believing this firmly and faithfully.” That’s saved by totally by grace, by God’s gift of Jesus, through faith. Take judgment by works seriously and you’ll cling to Jesus for dear life!

The Meyer Minute for June 17, 2019

Some years ago Diane said, “Dale, we’re old enough now that we don’t have to do what everyone else wants us to do.” I put that into practice some weeks ago when I stopped writing the Minute. The spring semester totally had exhausted me. Nothing bad, just grueling. So I heeded Diane’s advice. “The Sabbath was made for man; not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

Hello, again! Any day you’re alive is blessed, but happily yesterday was both our 46th wedding anniversary and Father’s Day. After church in Collinsville, we drove to Venedy, Illinois, the little country town where Diane and I spent our first seven years. On our way, we drove through New Memphis, Illinois, where St. Peter Lutheran Church, part of a dual parish with St. Salvator Lutheran Church in Venedy. “There’s Skip’s house.” “Oh, that’s new.” “The church looks good,” and similar comments the whole day. St. Salvator was putting on its Father’s Day Chicken Dinner. Special memory there: When we lived in Venedy, Diane suggested the church put on a chicken dinner. They liked the idea – Lutherans liked a new idea? They did; thank you, Lord! – and yesterday marked their 44th annual Chicken Dinner. Names tested our memories but conversations were precious, absolutely precious.

We saw the Scriptures fulfilled, “One generation shall commend your works to another” (Psalm 145:4). The third century church father Origen wrote, “However much obedience we offer (to our parents), we have not yet repaid the recompense of thanks for being born, for being carried, for drawing light, for being nurtured and perhaps educated and trained in honest skills. And perhaps by the same originators (parents), we came to know God and came to the Church of God and heard the word of the divine law.” (“The Fathers of the Church,” 216). We saw that in spades. People active in church because their fathers and mothers had passed to them “the one thing needful” (Luke 10:42).

“We don’t have to do what everyone else wants us to do,” is advice I’m trying to practice, but there are death and taxes. Some of us have our quarterly tax estimates due today; I’ve sent mine in. We wrapped up our visit to St. Salvator by walking through the cemetery. Memories. No need to describe it; you understand. It all made for a special wedding anniversary, a special time of looking back and seeing how good the Lord has been to us. “The Sabbath was made for man.”

The Meyer Minute for June 17, 2019

Some years ago Diane said, “Dale, we’re old enough now that we don’t have to do what everyone else wants us to do.” I put that into practice some weeks ago when I stopped writing the Minute. The spring semester totally had exhausted me. Nothing bad, just grueling. So I heeded Diane’s advice. “The Sabbath was made for man; not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

Hello, again! Any day you’re alive is blessed, but happily yesterday was both our 46^th wedding anniversary and Father’s Day. After church in Collinsville, we drove to Venedy, Illinois, the little country town where Diane and I spent our first seven years. On our way, we drove through New Memphis, Illinois, where St. Peter Lutheran Church, part of a dual parish with St. Salvator Lutheran Church in Venedy. “There’s Skip’s house.” “Oh, that’s new.” “The church looks good,” and similar comments the whole day. St. Salvator was putting on its Father’s Day Chicken Dinner. Special memory there: When we lived in Venedy, Diane suggested the church put on a chicken dinner. They liked the idea – Lutherans liked a new idea? They did; thank you, Lord! – and yesterday marked their 44^th annual Chicken Dinner. Names tested our memories but conversations were precious, absolutely precious.

We saw the Scriptures fulfilled, “One generation shall commend your works to another” (Psalm 145:4). The third century church father Origen wrote, “However much obedience we offer (to our parents), we have not yet repaid the recompense of thanks for being born, for being carried, for drawing light, for being nurtured and perhaps educated and trained in honest skills. And perhaps by the same originators (parents), we came to know God and came to the Church of God and heard the word of the divine law.” (“The Fathers of the Church,” 216). We saw that in spades. People active in church because their fathers and mothers had passed to them “the one thing needful” (Luke 10:42).

“We don’t have to do what everyone else wants us to do,” is advice I’m trying to practice, but there are death and taxes. Some of us have our quarterly tax estimates due today; I’ve sent mine in. We wrapped up our visit to St. Salvator by walking through the cemetery. Memories. No need to describe it; you understand. It all made for a special wedding anniversary, a special time of looking back and seeing how good the Lord has been to us. “The Sabbath was made for man.”

The Meyer Minute for May 21, 2019

I’ve been AWOL, absent without leave. Last week was cram-packed with Commencement activities and a three-day meeting of our Board of Regents. It was a great week but tiring.

So I gave myself off, and decided to extend it this week. A brain needs time to rest, read and think.

Lord willing, the Minute will be back after Memorial Day. Keep reflecting on things eternal for your own daily rest and re-creation!

The Meyer Minute for May 15, 2019

Waking up yesterday with my first cup of coffee, I idly watched the Mississippi River from my seventh floor hotel room in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The river was flowing rapidly, and I started to wonder, why does a river flow? I don’t know how you are, but my body wakes up first and it takes a while to get the brain going. Why does a river flow? Of course, it has an outlet, and then there’s the shape of the earth and gravity, and whatever other scientific facts. My point: I found an explanation in science, not in God, the “maker of heaven and earth.”

I was in La Crosse for a conference of pastors from south Wisconsin. Three of our Concordia Seminary professors spoke about “Finding a Lutheran Pastoral Voice in Theology and Science.” Some older people hear “theology and science” and immediately think of the debate between creation and evolution, but the 21^st century presents many more scientific issues where pastors and laypeople need the insights that come from God’s Word. The most basic issue: where do we turn to understand and deal with life? Waking up, I mused about scientific reasons a river flows. When you have a problem with your computer or device, you go to tech support, not to God. When you have a medical need, you go to your doctor or hospital, and yes, you do offer a prayer, but the real place you look for help is medicine. And so it goes, economy, finances, agriculture; we look to human resources.

“The modern world quite literally ‘manages’ without God. We can do so much so well by ourselves that there is no need for God, even in his church. Thus we modern people can be profoundly secular in the midst of explicitly religious activities. Which explains why so many modern Christian believers are atheists unawares. Professing to be believers in supernatural reality, they are virtual atheists; whatever they say they believe, they show in practice that they function without practical recourse to the supernatural…. The call to follow Jesus Christ runs directly counter to this deadly modern pressure toward secularization.” (Os Guiness, “The Call,” 149).

By the time of my second cup of coffee, my brain was engaged. “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8).