The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for June 30, 2017

As we enjoy a long weekend celebrating our independence, an anniversary heightens the importance of churches in our land. “As the iPhone this week marks the 10^th anniversary of its first sale, it remains one of the most successful consumer products in history. But by the time it celebrates its 20^th anniversary, the ‘phone’ concept will be entirely uprooted” (Christopher Mims, WSJ, June 26; B1).

Thomas Friedman wrote about 2004. “Facebook didn’t even exist yet, Twitter was still a sound, the cloud was still in the sky, 4G was a parking space, “applications” were what you sent to college. LinkedIn was barely known and most people thought it was a prison, Big Data was a good name for a rap star, and Skype, for most people, was a typographical error. All of those technologies blossomed…around 2007” (“Thank You for Being Late,” 25).

Mind-boggling, and it helps explain why everything’s going crazy. “The rate of technological change is now accelerating so fast that it has risen above the average rate at which most people can absorb all these changes. Many of us can’t keep pace anymore. ‘And that is causing us cultural angst,’ said (Eric) Teller.” (Friedman, 31).

What will this mean for the future of our country, our neighborhoods, our families and our personal lives? Said Mims, “Trying to predict where technology will be in a decade may be a fool’s errand….” (B1). Two things are predictable. We need our pastors and congregations to gather as many people as possible into the peace of Christ’s Church. “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). And this also is for sure, “the Day” is coming.

The Meyer Minute for June 28, 2017

The road sign outside my hotel said, “Road Narrows,” and made me think immediately of a quotation that has had a profound impact on my life.

“Life narrows down, and crisis comes. Suddenly, only one thing matters, and there, in the narrow place stands Jesus.”

So Rev. Arnold Kuntz wrote in “Devotions for the Chronologically Gifted” (CPH, 1999; 46). I quote it often and always give Dr. Kuntz credit. Earlier this year his life narrowed and he was called to his eternal home.

Life is ever-expanding when we’re young. Our dreams and hopes for the future, knowing for sure that we’re going to change the world… I see it all the time in our seminarians and thank God for it. But day-by-day we grow older and the narrowing begins. It may be health; you’re more and more confined. It may be employment, the work machine is grinding you down. It may be financial, more bills than money and you don’t know where to turn. It may be in relationships, for whatever reason you’re not feeling the love. Watching faces as I preach, I see all eyes on me when I quote the narrowing. People get it.

“And suddenly only one thing matters.” “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).

Hymn-writer Martin Schalling put it this way. “And should my heart for sorrow break, my trust in Thee can nothing shake. Thou art the portion I have sought; Thy precious blood my soul has bought. Lord Jesus Christ, my God and Lord, my God and Lord, Forsake me not! I trust Thy Word” (Lutheran Service Book, 708, 1).

The Meyer Minute for June 26, 2017

Have you been to a wedding in this traditional month for weddings? Had you lived in Wittenberg, Germany in 1525, tomorrow you might have attended Martin Luther’s wedding.

Celibacy didn’t spark the Reformation; the rediscovery of God’s undeserved kindness in Christ did. Luther felt the Gospel frees us from groveling to human church rules, a freedom that could be expressed by clerical marriage. Still, the prospect of marriage didn’t appeal to Luther personally. So when a former nun, Katharina von Bora, suggested Luther could marry her, he thought “no.”

We men may be slow but sometimes we eventually get it. On June 10^th Martin and Katie were betrothed, which in those days constituted a legal marriage. And at 10:00 A.M. on the 27^th, “Luther led Katharina to the sound of bells through the streets of Wittenberg to the parish church, where at the portal in the sight of all the people the religious ceremony was observed. Then came a banquet in the Augustinian cloister, and after dinner a dance at the town hall. In the evening there was another banquet.” (Roland Bainton, “Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther, 290).

When Luther had sent out the invitations, he wrote to a friend, “You must come to my wedding. I have made the angels laugh and the devils weep.” May all our marriages do the same!

The Meyer Minute for June 23, 2017

People gesture with their hands, pastors too. One of my dearest pastoral and preaching gestures is to put out both hands, palms out to slow things down, and then deliberately say, “It’s OK. Be calm.”

That fits Sunday’s Gospel. You’ll hear Jesus send out His disciples to announce, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He promised they’d be opposed, even persecuted. They might have thought, Whoa, I’m out of here! Then calming words: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-30).

Jesus speaks specifically about getting in trouble because you follow Him. Christians today are persecuted in many countries. In America it’s not persecution but discrimination against the public voicing of our biblical, Christian beliefs. That’s intimidating, for today’s disciples just as for the first followers. Peer pressure is strong for adults, not only children.

Before calming His disciples, Jesus steeled their resolve to be public despite opposition. “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). Who can destroy your soul and body in hell? God. Fear Him, not the people who discriminate or even persecute you for your faith. To fear God means more than terror about where you’ll spend eternity. There’s that, but more is awe that He cares for you. “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” It’s OK; be calm. Fear and love God. “You will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

The Meyer Minute for June 21, 2017

Millennials, people born between 1984 and 2002, are a hot topic among active church people. When a donor asked me, “What’s the Seminary doing about millennials?”, I first blanked, but recovered and said, “Our students are millennials. They’ll figure out how to minister to their peers.” On further reflection, our revised residential curriculum, starting in August, does address theological education to younger people in ways different than my own generation. That said, when our millennial seminarians graduate, they will be the ones to reach their peers.

Many of this year’s graduates from Concordia Seminary were only 11-years-old on 9-11. Older people, the Greatest Generation (born before 1946) and Boomers (1946-1964) have seen much change in our lives. Churched America is moving to post-church America. “More than four in 10 (44%) of the nation’s adult population qualifies as post-Christian” (Barna Trends 2017, 184). Older people grieve the losses the church has experienced in our lifetimes. Gen-Xers (1965-1983) and especially Millennials (1984-2002) have had different life experiences and generally see religious life differently. “Fifty-nine percent of Millennials who grew up in the church have dropped out, 52 percent have not been to church in the last six months, and one-third don’t see church as important” (Barna, 225).

In or out of church, in Seminary or in lay professions, our role, yours and mine, is to meet them where they’re at…but not leave them there. Mentoring them in the unchanging truths of God’s Word focused on Jesus and experienced in the life of His Church… the Spirit will work so that faithful Millennials reach their generation, long after we’ve gone to heaven. They know the Lord is still leading His Church.

Strange though, our seminarians think it’s strange older people are talking and lecturing about Millennials but no one asks them!

The Meyer Minute for June 19, 2017

I’m putting myself into a detox program. I’ve known for a long time I had this problem, but never got up the courage to deal with it. Several times I came close to hitting bottom, but a week ago I hit it. I finally realized this is no way to live. So I stopped cold turkey: no business e-mails outside of business hours. For that matter, I’m not checking e-mail every minute during business hours. And when the business day, the business week is over? I’m disconnected. Need something from me? When I come back to work – that’s my detox regimen.

The Labor Department studies how we Americans spend our time. “Reading, socializing in person, and taking a second to think, have edged down since 2003.” Do you need to detox? From e-mails? From messaging? Facebook? Twitter? In denial about driving with that device in your hand? Take a second to think.

Think of the God implications. When you come before God at the end of your life, you won’t be able to Google the right answers. Preparation requires solitude with God, not your screen.

Think of family and friend implications, “socializing in person.” More hearts closer together, quality and quantity time. And don’t get me started on earbuds!

Think of the personal peace you’re giving away by being constantly connected. Can you sit in a room with the TV on, or do you mindlessly always have it on, cluttering your thoughts?

We’re lured into living 24/7/365. However, God didn’t create us to be nonstop productive. That’s why the Creator designed our bodies and minds to sleep. When God rested on the seventh day and later instituted the Sabbath, He was commanding us to have restful, nonproductive times.

A recovered addict to alcohol told me that he hit bottom when he said, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” My version: “I’m sick and tired of being wired and tired.” And in case you’re wondering, people know how to reach me should a real emergency happen.

The Meyer Minute for June 16, 2017

The U.S. Open this weekend will be missing one major player. “Phil Mickelson, probably the best golfer in the past 20 years other than Tiger Woods, has announced that he will not tee up the ball at this’s championship. …Mickelson will be attending his daughter’s high school graduation in California.” (Washington Post, June 15; C8)

Contrast that positive example of fathering with the following from pediatrician and minister, Gloria White-Hammond. “Studies show that the average father spends thirty-seven seconds a day in significant interaction with his children. That is unacceptable.”

“Train up a child in the way he should go” says Proverbs 22:6. That will take more than 37 seconds a day.

Dr. White-Hammond shares a touching story. “The psychologist David Elkins from Tufts University has written about the ‘hurried child’ and about his own anxiety that our culture is in too much of a hurry. Writing about a day when he visited his son in the classroom, he tells of his observation of a group of boys, including his own, who sat in a circle nearby. The conversation went like this: One little boy said, ‘My Daddy is a doctor and he makes a lot of money and we have a swimming pool.’ And another child said, ‘My Daddy is a lawyer and he flies to Washington and he talks to the President.’ And then the third child said, ‘My Daddy owns a company and we have our own airplane.’ At which point Elkind’s own son, with a proud look in his father’s direction, declared, ‘My Daddy isn’t any of these things but my Daddy is here.’”(“Home Alone – Seeking Sabbath” in “Sunday, Sabbath, and the Weekend,” pages 8-9)

Happy Father’s Day to all who spend time or resolve to spend more time with their children.

The Meyer Minute for June 13, 2017

A theme I often use in sermons is that it’s a great time to be the church. That puzzles some people because they see many congregations struggling, but sight is different from faith. Our living Lord is leading His church, so how can we not have confidence for the future?

Today’s church has unprecedented opportunities. Take a look at some newspaper headlines. From the New York Times: “President Stews and Aids Cringe as Inquiry Builds; Fuming over Mueller; Trump is Said to View Special Counsel as Partisan Foe.” From the Wall Street Journal: “Sessions Calls Allegations of Russia Collusion a Lie.” Those are only a few. You want to be an informed citizen but what does this do to your blood pressure?

There are two dynamics in Scripture and in life, the law and Gospel. The law, thou shalt this or thou shalt not that, promises good things and so we try to make things better through more Senate hearings, more legislation, and even more rules in church. Law is good but inevitably shows how corrupted we are by sin. That’s demonstrated by today’s headlines.

Your congregation should be different because the Gospel dominates. “Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt not” are vital to the life of the Church, but not as the way to make things better. The futility of being dominated by law points us to the forgiving grace of God that is practiced in forgiving and loving congregational life. “The truth of the good news is entirely lost if it is not enacted in creative social relations that are apt to challenge central features of their cultural environment” (John Barclay, “Paul and the Gift,” 439). It’s a great time to be the church because our life together is a welcome contrast to so much else. Or should be.

The Meyer Minute for June 12, 2017

My mother lives in Paris, so going to visit her fills my head with all sorts of thoughts. Whoops, Paris, Illinois, not Paris, France. I like to get off the interstate and drive through rural towns.

“In terms of poverty, college attainment, teenage births, divorce, death rates from heart disease and cancer, reliance on federal disability insurance and male labor force participation, rural counties now rank the worst among the four major U.S. population groupings (the others are big cities, suburbs, and medium or small metro areas” (Janet Adams and Paul Overberg, Wall Street Journal, May 27-28; A1, 10).

Not the way we remember rural America, is it? The shift began in the 1990’s. Today in rural America the median age is higher (41), wages are lower, real estate values don’t rise, the opioid epidemic is up, crimes are increasing, and hospitals are closing. Get cancer in the country and it’s a long drive for treatment. Rhonda Vannoster of Independence, Kansas, “is 25, has four children with a fifth on the way. She is divorced and jobless and doesn’t own a car, which limits her work options. She said she wants to get trained as a nursing aide but struggles to make time for it.”

Contrast St. Louis, “which has more than 30 nearby four-year schools, the percentage of residents with college degrees tripled between 1980 and 2015—creating a talent pool that has lured health care, finance and bioscience employers.”

Do our urban and suburban churches have rural America in our mercy and mission awareness? How many of our congregations that are making it have adopted churches that aren’t? I can hear it already, “Pastor, we have enough problems of our own.” But isn’t love selfless? (1 Corinthians 13:5). May our hearts be burdened.

The Meyer Minute for June 9, 2017

The dental hygienist was cleaning my teeth. Across the hall the receptionist, talking on the phone with a patient, asked, “Are they putting you to sleep?” We both thought, euthanasia?! Hearing only half the conversation gave us a laugh. It reminds me of the learning experience we had as kids. Sitting in a circle, a message is whispered from one person to the next. By the time the message comes full circle, it’s no longer the original message.

From the Pentecost Gospel: “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound (of the mighty rushing wind) the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed…” (Acts 2:5-7).

Me too. Amazing, that the disciples started speaking foreign languages! The only explanation I know is that the Spirit of God wanted to get the news of Jesus the Messiah out to the world. It happened. Those “devout men from every nation” returned to their homes with the Gospel, shared it, and the Church began its miraculous growth.

The word of God must be understood if it is to convict the heart. Imagine being on your death bed. You know nothing of Jesus but, fearing death, you ask for a minister. The minister comes, speaks the word of God in a language you don’t know, and you die. Die without Jesus, the only way to the Father (John 14:6). It’s not only foreign languages. The obstacle can also be theological jargon. I wonder how many times we pastors, I included, have failed to communicate because we used theological jargon.

“What really matters is making your meaning clear beyond a doubt.” (Harold Evans, “Do I Make Myself Clear?”, 29)