The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for September 24, 2012

There’ll be no Minute this week.  I’m not on vacation but am taking a bit of down time.  Thanks as always for reading what Diane and I put out.

Dale

The Meyer Minute for September 21, 2012

The church calendar marks today as the Day of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist.

“As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth.”  Americans are not fond of the IRS but tax collectors in first century Israel were out-and-out extortionists, and therefore despised by religious people.  Jesus said to Matthew, “‘Follow Me.”  And he rose and followed him.  And as Jesus reclined at table in the house (in those days they ate reclining on couches), behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and His disciples.”  If Americans know anything about religion, they know that we’re all sinners, although what that means to most Americans is another story.  In the first century the word “sinner” applied to the despised of society, prostitutes, addicts, criminals and the like.  Jesus isn’t hanging out with church people here!  With Matthew and the sinners, Jesus is giving His time and energy to the kind of people that many Christians don’t work hard to meet and bring to the Savior.  “When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’”  Bingo!  Self-satisfied, self-righteous religious people speak their smothering sanctimony.  “I thank You, God, that I am not like other people—robbers, evil doers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.” (Luke 18:11)  “But when He heard it, He said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy (acts of loving-kindness), and not sacrifice (ritual worship).’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.’”  (Matthew 9:9-13)

Earlier this week Concordia Seminary hosted our annual Theological Symposium.  This year’s topic: “Doing Justice: The Church’s Faith in Action.”   Justice in the Bible has two dimensions.  One is personal.  Because we are lost and condemned sinners before God (people who are spiritually sick and need a physician, to hark back to Jesus’ words), God declares us righteous through faith in His Son Jesus.  The other dimension is communal.  Having been declared just through faith, a free gift from God, Christians actively do good works in their neighborhoods and community, put faith into action, work for justice.  Both dimensions are part of the Christian life.  Unfortunately, we easily do one and forget the other.  Either we are complacent about justice in society because we think church-going is enough or plunge ourselves into community action because we think church-going is irrelevant.  This day of St. Matthew reminds us both to be with Jesus and follow Him to the people of our neighborhood and community.

The Meyer Minute for September 20, 2012

Did Jesus have a wife?  Ah, at last a temporary reprieve from the media obsession with the presidential race!  Harvard divinity professor Karen L. King has discovered a third or fourth century Coptic (Egyptian Christian) fragment the size of a post-it note.  The text says, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife…”  That’s it.  The sentence is not finished.  Hence the manuscript is called a “fragment.”  Whether this document is real or fraudulent is yet to be determined but the idea of Jesus having a wife has scholars obsessed with sexuality and feminism excited.  Not me.

“Jesus said to them, ‘My wife…”  If he actually said that, Jesus could have been speaking metaphorically.  He did in Matthew 12:48, “He replied, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Pointing to His disciples, He said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

If Jesus did have a wife, it certainly would show up in the books of the New Testament.  Scholars disagree about the dating of New Testament books but all agree that many came from the first century and from people who were eyewitnesses of Jesus.  These books tell us that the apostles had wives.  Paul said, “Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?” (1 Corinthians 9:5)  If Jesus had a wife, these books certainly would have mentioned it.

Might the word “wife” mean something different than it does today?  Ben Witherington III of Asbury Theological Seminary said there was an ancient practice “called the sister-wife texts, where they carried around a female believer with them who cooks for them and cleans for them and does the usual domestic chores, but they have no sexual relationship whatsoever.”  Witherington advised people to be cautious.  (AP)

In the last century Biblical scholarship has greatly increased our knowledge of early Christianity, especially through the discovery of thousands of manuscripts that were unknown in previous centuries.  Amidst that helpful scholarship there’s also an industry promoting some of these newly discovered “lost books” of the Bible, suggesting that the church has been holding back the truth.  No, the early church was slow and deliberate in assessing all the writings that claimed to reveal the truth.  The “Gospel of Thomas” is one book that didn’t make their cut.  The last verses of the “Gospel of Thomas” are one reason why:  “Simon Peter said to them, ‘Let Mary go away from us, for women are not worthy of life.’  Jesus said, ‘Look, I will draw her in so as to make her male, so that she too may become a living male spirit, being similar to you. But I say to you, Every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Back to politics.

 

The Meyer Minute for September 19, 2012

I like to take walks, a safe way to exercise until you have to cross a street.  How many drivers don’t see me because they are on their hand-held phone, talking or texting?  You’ve probably had close calls driving for that very same reason.  I’ve seen a TV ad that shows the mother of a teen killed while she was texting and driving.

So this morning I read the following in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  “The St. Louis County Council on Tuesday passed a resolution, aimed at young drivers, that designates today as No Text on Board Pledge Day. The resolution, read at the council's regular meeting in Clayton, cited a study revealing a peer pressure factor in texting. The study showed that teens who send text messages expect replies within five minutes. The study also found that teens who comply with that expectation while driving are 23 times more likely to cause a crash than drivers who do not text while behind the wheel.”

What struck me, and I would guess you too, was the power of peer pressure.  A little “tsk, tsk” can’t stand up against peer pressure, whether it be texting while driving or other habits of teens and adults.  We’ve all got our bad habits.  The antidote to peer pressure has to be peer pressure.  The County Council resolution is moving in that direction.  Do the churches of America see themselves as places where significant numbers of Americans can be persuaded to push for whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable (Philippians 4:8)?  It’s about more than texting.  A majority of Americans feel the country is headed in the wrong direction.  Are our churches sending us forth with a love of God that shows itself in positive peer pressure? 

 

The Meyer Minute for September 18, 2012

About the Chicago teachers’ strike: “‘This is the first issue that’s gone out of control for Rahm,’ said Don Rose, a longtime political strategist in Chicago.  ‘And it’s the first issue where he’s really coming up on the wrong side of the polls.’”  (New York Times; A1)  Schools have a curriculum that is taught in the classroom.  There is also a wider curriculum, everything that a school and teachers do to shape impressionable youth.  The Chicago strike makes me worry about what adults are teaching youth through the wider curriculum, things outside of the classroom, things like a politically charged strike.

Scholars have translated Mark 9:42 in various ways.  King James: “Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in Me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea.”  The English Standard Version: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin….”  The Greek word behind “offend” and “sin” is far more serious.  It describes the conduct of one person causing another to fall from faith in Jesus Christ. (“Theological Dictionary of the New Testament,” VII, 345)  “Whosoever” includes everyone.  Better to be drowned, Jesus says, than cause someone to lose faith.  That’s wider curriculum, outside classroom, outside church, wherever you and I find ourselves today. 

Thinking about the teachers’ strike and other things, generation after generation of adults sure do botch things up.  One of the best things we can do is use our energies to teach and nurture the Christian faith.  Sooner or later the children taught the faith will realize it’s their ultimate hope, unless our adult conduct causes them to fall. 

The Meyer Minute for September 17, 2012

Chances are you’ve seen bulletin bloopers.  Years ago when I preached for my friend, Pastor Jim Rogers in suburban St. Louis, there was a telling typo in one of the songs printed in the worship folder.  “My Savior, my closet friend.”  Is Jesus your closet friend or your closest friend?

Another friend is Paul Clayton who used to work at Christian radio station, KFUO.AM.  As the morning on-air personality, Paul had the job of beginning the broadcast day.  That included a lot of little details that we commoners know nothing about.  Paul told me that he once signed on early in the morning to begin the broadcast day, playing Christian songs and doing Christian talk.  Ten minutes or so later, a regular listener called the studio.  “Paul, have you turned on the transmitter?”  

Assuming you have a meaningful message of faith, why Jesus is your closest friend, is the transmitter turned on for this new week?

“In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).   

The Meyer Minute for September 14, 2012

You know when you Google something?  At the bottom of the first page, there is a series of numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.) that indicate more pages that list whatever it is that you Googled.  I Googled “call down fire from heaven” and found 87 pages that list places where that phrase is used.

My reason for that search: Attacks by some Muslims against our embassies.  Since they don’t seem able to call down fire from heaven, they’re launching it from their own hands.

What did Jesus do?  Jesus “sent messengers ahead of Him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for Him.  But the people did not receive Him, because His face set toward Jerusalem.  And when His disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’  But He turned and rebuked them.  And they went on to another village.”  (Luke 9:51-57)

Sometime later Jesus said, “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!  I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished!  Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.” (Luke 12:49-51)  The baptism Jesus spoke about was His impending death.  The division He spoke about was between those for Jesus and those against Jesus.  The fire of impending judgment either purifies our faith (see 1 Peter 1:7) or will destroy us.  The Samaritans who wouldn’t receive Jesus?  Don’t call down fire on them; give them time to learn of Me.

The first page is where most people get their Google information.  First on the screen for a Christian is the patience of Jesus with those who reject Him.  Someday, God only knows when, this time of grace will end for all of us.  Then the fire will come down from heaven (Revelation 20:9-10).   

The Meyer Minute for September 11, 2012

On this anniversary, it happens that I’m sitting in meetings in New York City.  The office is in Manhattan, quite a few stories high, and the expansive glass windows look south toward the site of the World Trade Center.  From this vantage point I can clearly see the construction on the new Freedom Tower.

Psalm 88 describes the feelings of someone oppressed by an enemy.  “O Lord, God of my salvation; I cry out day and night before You.  Let my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry!  For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.  I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength, like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave,, like those whom You remember no more, for they are cut off from Your hand.  Every day I call upon You, O Lord; I spread out my hands to You.  Do you work wonders for the dead?  Do the departed rise up to praise You?  Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or Your faithfulness in Abaddon (a biblical word for great destruction).  Are Your wonders known in the darkness, or Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?  But I, O Lord, cry to You; in the morning my prayer comes before You.”

When Jerusalem was destroyed, the prophet Jeremiah could still speak a word of hope amidst the rubbble.  “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassion never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23) 

Followers of Christ experience the great horror and grief from the attack just like everyone else.  St. Paul speaks to each of us.  “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor power, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:37-39)

So I’m sitting today in meetings with my eyes and my thoughts on the rising Freedom Tower.  It is a symbol for us of the hope in suffering that the resurrected Son of God gives. 

The Meyer Minute for September 10, 2012

If you visit the FDR Memorial in Washington D.C. at night, that’s the key, at night, your imagination and the darkness make many of the statues seem alive.  That’s how I experienced the line of statues showing men in a bread line during the Depression.  They seemed almost alive, so much that I really felt for them in their plight.

Last Friday the jobless numbers were released.  Although there was a slight tick down to 8.1% from 8.3%, the drop was due to people giving up their search for work.  Mortimer Zuckerman, chairman and editor in chief of “U.S. News & World Report,” wrote, “We are experiencing, in effect, a modern-day depression.  Consider two indicators: First, food stamps: More than 45 million Americans are in the program!  An almost incredible record.  It’s 15% of the population compared with the 7.9% participation from 1970-2000.  Food-stamp enrollment has been rising at a rate of 400,000 per month over the past four years.  Second, Social Security disability—another record.  More than 11 million Americans are collecting federal disability checks.  Half of these beneficiaries have signed on since President Obama took office more than three years ago.  These dependent millions are the invisible counterparts of the soup kitchens and bread lines of the 1930’s….” (WSJ, September 8-9; A15)

The widow at Zarephath got through tough times by trusting the promise, “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land.” (1 Kings 17:14)  Unlike a monument recalling the past, we today do not need imagination to see the darkness in which millions of our fellow citizens are living but we do need prayer.  “Heavenly Father, we commend to Your care those who suffer want and anxiety from lack of work.  Grant that the wealth and resources of this rich land be profitably used so that all persons may find suitable and fulfilling employment and receive just payment for their labor; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” (Lutheran Service Book, Collect 289)

 

The Meyer Minute for September 7, 2012

About two blocks west or five blocks south.  When I grew up, both sets of grandparents were close to home and we visited them all the time.  I don’t remember when it happened, but sometime this little kid figured out that Grandpa and Grandma actually were the parents of my parents.  Those authority figures who told me how to live my life?  They were kids too.  They reprimand me?  Hey, they were reprimanded by their parents.  “Don’t slam the door when you go out!”  I bet they got yelled at for that too.  Wow, was that great when it dawned on me that my parents were just grown up kids.

Sunday is “Grandparents Day.”  We didn’t need an artificial day back then.  We were at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s all the time and we truly did show them the greatest of respect.  After all, they deserved it.  They had to raise our parents!  Moral of the story: Young moms and dads, with all your parenting books and parenting helps, don’t be obsessive about perfect parenting.  If they haven’t already, your kids will soon figure out that you were a kid too.  And when they do, may you teach them that we are all God’s beloved children.