The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for October 31, 2014

Hmmm…  I’m waking up.  What day is today?  It takes a while but finally it comes to me.  Friday.  TGIF!

Brain slowly activating.  What do I have to do today?  Teach my class; that’s about all.  Synapses starting to fire.  No, you’ve got a lot more to do than that!  You’ve got…  Better get up.

Cup of caffeine.  Don’t tell the cardiologist.  One won’t hurt.  Gotta grease the brain.

Today’s Halloween, isn’t it?  So tonight I have to be at the front door to hand out candy.  Cute kids.  Don’t come late because I’ll want to go to bed.

Halloween.  That means it’s also Reformation Day.  Did Martin Luther trick or treat Pope Leo?  Sip.  What percentage of the population knows today is Reformation Day?  Probably small.  Only religious people like you.  How many people have done time in a Seminary?

Remember when it was common to say, “Day after tomorrow?”  “Half past?”  You could say, “I can do that next week” without checking your calendar.  Now everything is now.  Now everything instantaneous.  Now everything ASAP. 

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)  “I awake, and I am still with You.” (Psalm 139:18b)  OK, now I’m ready for the day.

The Meyer Minute for October 30, 2014

What is the source or what are the sources for what you believe?

I once talked with a woman who had come to believe in reincarnation.  When I asked why, she said it made her feel good.  Any ancient document or book, maybe the Bible, that leads you to believe this?  No; it just makes me feel good.

Why do you believe whatever it is you believe?

Tomorrow is Reformation Day, and of course, Halloween.  Martin Luther wasn’t the first or only reformer but he was most dominant.  After he died in 1546, his followers fell to squabbling.  In 1580 most of the “Lutherans” came together in an agreement called the “Formula of Concord.”  Paragraph two says this: “Other writings of ancient or contemporary teachers, whatever their names may be, shall not be regarded as equal to Holy Scripture, but all of them together shall be subjected to it, and not be accepted in any other way, or with any further authority, than as witnesses of how and where the teaching of the prophets and apostles was preserved after the time of the apostles.”  They’re talking about Luther and other reformers and other leading personalities in the history of the church.

Scripture alone.  “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105)  “ I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or I follow Christ.’  Is Christ divided?  Was Paul crucified for you?  Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:12-13)  Paul, Cephas, Apollos, Luther, the pastor who confirmed you, your professor, your parents…  only “witnesses” to the truth of the Scriptures.

If what you believe makes you feel good, why?  What are the sources for your beliefs?

The Meyer Minute for October 29, 2014

How is it with you and Jesus?

His ministry just launched in Capernaum, Jesus now travels throughout Galilee, preaching and casting out demons.  A leper comes up and asks to be healed.  That was wrong on many counts, at least by the rules of that time.  Lepers were outcasts, not supposed to approach “normal” people.  No bother to this leper.  This untouchable crosses the line, kneels right before Jesus and says, “If you will, You can make me clean.” (Mark 1:40-45) 

Do you cross the lines to go to Jesus?  “Conventional wisdom” tells us what lines not to cross.  Don’t talk about your church with people at work.  Don’t bring Christian morality into office intrigues.  Oh, you can believe in Jesus; just be private and personal about it.  If that’s what you do, then how is it with you and Jesus, really?

“Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, ‘I will; be clean.’  And immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.”  Jesus Himself crosses the line.  The clean touches the unclean; the Son of God touches a hurting brother, hurting sister. 

“Come in poverty and meanness, come defiled, without, within;

From infection and uncleanness, from the leprosy of sin,

Wash your robes and make them white; ye shall walk with God in light.

Do you know His touch?  When you kneel at the communion table, do you know you have been restored to community, unclean made clean because Jesus willed your deliverance?  How is it with you and Jesus?

 

 

The Meyer Minute for October 28, 2014

Right now high profile executives, government officials and celebrities are being advised what they should or should not do.  You’ve got to believe that they bristle; “What am I, a puppet?”  And there’s more than that.  They have people deliberately keeping them "out of the loop," people who think, "I'll handle this myself.”  And now that I think about it, it's not only high profile people who have handlers.  We all have people who think they know what's best for us.

Are you a handler of God?  Our fretting and worrying about what we should do is classic God handling.  "No need to bother God with this.  I'll take care of it myself.”  Theologians and religious people can be classic God-handlers.  Doctrinal pronouncements, even when true, can leave us imagining we know our God to a T.  We’re simply following the disciples who repeatedly tried to handle the Son of God.  "They were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.  But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant.” (Mark 10:13-14).  I’d like to meet the person who doesn’t try to handle God.

When our youngest grandson Nick was a year-and-a-half, he’d toddle up to Opa and put out his arms to be picked up.  A little child is pleased to be carried by an adult, but when we adults handle things ourselves, keeping God out of every loop, then we’re breaking the First Commandment, too big for our britches.   “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.  And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.” (Mark 10:15-16). 

We all need trusted people to advise us, to help us take care of our business.  Just don't become a handler of God; let God handle you.

 

The Meyer Minute for October 27, 2014

“Life isn’t fair.”  That’s what St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Randall Grichuk said when he learned last night of the death of teammate Oscar Taveras.  Taveras, 22-years-old, and his 18-year-old girlfriend were killed yesterday when Taveras apparently lost control of his car on a rain-slick street in his native Dominican Republic.  Taveras had a bright future in major league baseball as a power-hitting outfielder, but today the St. Louis Post-Dispatch headlines, “Forever Left Untold.”

“Life isn’t fair” is often said and it’s true.  Life isn’t fair because the Law can’t deliver what it promises.  Background: The Law, whether it’s rules of the road or God’s great “Thou shalt’s” and “Thou shalt not’s” promises that proper conduct will be rewarded and improper conduct punished.  That’s fair.  Oscar Taveras was using his baseball talent and, as a result, should have become a major league superstar.  Not to be.  Why do we say, “No good deed goes unpunished?”  You can’t depend upon the principle of Law to deliver what it promises.  Good works don’t always result in a person getting their due.  The reason is sin.  Try as we might, we can’t keep God’s commandments or meet human expectations.  Insidious sin mucks everything up. 

Jesus kept the Law, obeyed every “Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt not.”  You might think that His death was unfair, He had done no wrong, but in the eternal scheme of things Jesus’ death was fair.  Sin deserves punishment and God exacted it.  “The wages of sin is death.”  The Good News is that Jesus substituted for us by suffering the consequence of our failure to live up to the Law.  His death was sacrifice for you and me; that’s selfless love.  “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23)   Our sympathies to all who grieve because life is really is unfair.  Jesus Christ promises the restoration of life as it should be.  “Within the kingdom of His might all things are just and good and right: To God all praise and glory!” (Lutheran Service Book, 819, 2)    

The Meyer Minute for October 24, 2014

Perhaps the most memorable sermon I've heard was preached by Professor Waldemar Degner.  That was back in the mid-sixties when I was a student at Concordia College in Milwaukee. Fifty years ago?  It must have been a good sermon to stick with me so long, and indeed it was.  Dr. Degner preached the word “nevertheless” deep down into my heart. 

He spoke on Luke chapter five. Fisherman Peter had spent the night on the Sea of Galilee but caught nothing. Jesus told him to go out and try once more. “Why?” Peter must have thought; after all, he did this for a living, but because he had heard talk about this Jesus and His miracles, Peter agreed.  “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”  (Luke 5:5; King James Version)

The Bible is filled with promises that God is good to you.  Sometimes, sadly for you, the evidence suggests that is not true.  Try as we might to both succeed and be godly in our work, we all have times when we think God has forgotten us.  There even come times when we think God is against us.  “We have toiled all the night,” tried as hard as we could, and have nothing to show.  No improvement in our lives and we’re running out of hope.  “Nevertheless, at thy word” I will persevere.  Because it’s Your word, Jesus, I will hang onto Your promises of good to me.  “Nevertheless.”

One reason why Dr. Degner’s sermon was so memorable is because he repeated the word “nevertheless” many times.  Sometimes we imagine preaching is a mysterious, spiritual event, and yes, it is an occasion for the unseen Spirit of God to work on our spirits.  But preaching is also a simple physical transaction.  The preacher speaks, the air carries the words, they physically enter our ears, and the Spirit puts them in our hearts.  “Repetition is the mother of learning.”  Repeat “nevertheless” over and over today.  Sink it down into your heart so that it is at the ready to give you hope.  Your hope is in the promise, “In the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58b)

 

The Meyer Minute for October 23, 2014

You set out in life with high hopes and then reality runs over your ideals.  If you were blessed to grow up in a Christian home, you learned about the love of God, but then you see so much suffering and wonder if “God is love” is Sunday School pabulum.  You learned the Ten Commandments, but see Christians hypocritically break it.  Result: Your feelings about Christian faith grow weaker.

Most Americans would probably define “faith” as a sincerely held opinion.  There is indeed a subjective side to Christianity, but the Bible teaches another side to faith, an aspect of faith that precedes and should be the foundation for any feelings we have.  That other side of faith is the objective truth revealed in the Bible, the Gospel, the promises of God.  That’s not born into us, not hard-wired into our feelings at birth, but comes from outside; it’s a revelation.

Yesterday I spoke at a retreat for older adults.  I was almost the youngest there, but I’m guessing that all of us were within about 15 years of one another.  I shared my conviction that those unwelcome things that weaken our feelings about the Christian faith are in fact occasions for God to draw us more and more to focus on His promises, on the Good News of Jesus Christ.  “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” (Hebrews 12:6; see also Deuteronomy 8:5; Psalm 94:12; Revelation 3:19).  Aging gets painfully personal.  God slowly but surely takes away from us the good gifts He has given, family, health, and finally this life itself, all so that you will trust more and more what He has revealed to us about the Savior Jesus.  I could see by their eyes, they knew exactly what I meant.

“Whom have I in heaven but you?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”  (Psalm 73:25-26)

The Meyer Minute for October 21, 2014

“Euonymus alatus compactus” the botanists call it.   For us commoners it’s the “burning bush” and here on the Seminary campus it’s providing a spectacular display of fall color.  True to its name, its leaves have turned a brilliant red.  The popular name comes from Exodus 3: “The angel of the Lord appeared to him (Moses) in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.  He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.”  God said, ‘Take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’”  (Exodus 3:2, 5)

How many people, I fear, are missing the awe of creation?  How many are obsessed with the screen on their smart phone?  “When through the woods and forest glades I wander,” I have my attention focused on a screen?  Duh!  In this most beautiful time of the year, we’re obsessed with our own problems?  Could it be that is God’s billboard advertising that He is able to help you with your problems?  “Earth’s crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God.  And only he who sees takes off his shoes.  The rest sit around and pluck blackberries.”  (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)

“And Moses said, ‘I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.’” (3:3)   Be a child again, a child of God, and take a long look.  Marvel.  And when you turn aside and look at a burning bush, you’ll see that old “euonymus alatus compactus” has square branches, not round.  I wonder why?  Perhaps for no practical reason, save the Creator looking down with delight as you and I with childlike wonder marvel at nature.  “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31).  So many opportunities to marvel at God’s creation, but what do we do?  Rush on to the next meeting, click the next link, pluck our Blackberries (or iPhones or Droids, or what have you.)

 

The Meyer Minute for October 20, 2014

“I don’t know.”

Dr. John Johnson was my first professor of theology at Concordia College in Milwaukee.  There are several John Johnson’s in my denomination; this one went on to be a seminary professor and a pastor in Florida.  He’s now in glory.  Professor Johnson taught us that when we talk about God, theology, we should not be hesitant to say, “I don’t know.”

I suspect many church people haven’t heard that lesson.  One survey by the Barna Group shows that young people with no connection to the church think that we’re “hypocritical” and “judgmental.”  (“unChristian,” 29-30)  Another Barna survey reports that young people who have left the church think “Christians demonize everything outside of the church.”  (“You Lost Me,” 97)  Like the Pharisees and Sadducees in the New Testament, we seem to come across as knowing everything.  I can’t recall Jesus ever losing a theological debate with them.  The Son of God knows an eternity more about theology than we do!

Of course, when you go to work, you do have to know the details of your job.  When you apply for a loan, you do have to know your assets and liabilities.  When you drive, you do have to know the rules of the road.  And so it goes.  There’s Law and Gospel and so much that we do is under the Law: “Thou shalt,” “Thou shalt not,” and the consequences.

That’s why it’s so nice to sink into your easy chair at the end of the day or come to the weekend with nothing to do.  You don’t have to know.  You can just be.  You take it in; you receive grace, God’s gifts to you apart from your work.  In the Bible, Job’s friends presumed to know the reasons why misfortune had fallen on him.  Job bought in to “the need to know,” until God said, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?”  (Job 38:4)

Another professor, Francis Rossow, said, “We know precious little, but the little we know is precious.”  That’s Jesus and His grace.  

The Meyer Minute for October 17, 2014

In ways we can only imagine but God knows, the Ebola crisis will bring benefits to future generations.

Here in St. Louis, 1849 was a terrible year.  This river city was bustling with steamboats carrying goods up and down the Mississippi and immigrants, especially German immigrants, were swelling the population.  One of the largest cities in the United States, St. Louis was devastated by a cholera epidemic and then by a fire that destroyed the heart of the city.   

The epidemic was devastating to Johann Friedrich Buenger, an immigrant and Lutheran pastor.  He had married Rosina Mueller in 1844 and they had three sons, all of whom died in infancy.  Rosina herself died a week before her youngest son died of cholera.  In 1850 Buenger remarried.  He and Johanna Reissner had four daughters, but two died in infancy.  No doubt his tragedy prompted him to establish Lutheran Hospital in 1853.  When the hospital was sold in 1984, the proceeds were used to begin The Lutheran Foundation of Saint Louis and Lutheran Senior Services.  Buenger’s concern for orphans led him to establish and orphanage that today is Lutheran Family and Children’s Services.  These organizations have provided more human care than Rev. Buenger could have ever imagined.  Like the Good Samaritan, the love of Christ motivates God’s people to meet human need and God multiplies the blessings.

We pray for all who suffer because of Ebola, for all who are fearful, and for everyone struggling to find the cure.