The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for November 27, 2019

Come, ye thankful people, come; / Raise the song of harvest home,

All be safely gathered in / Ere the winter storms begin;

God, our maker, doth provide / For our wants to be supplied.

Come to God’s own temple come; / Raise the song of harvest home.

 

We enter the season of gathering. Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas… There will be many gatherings, plural, of families, friends, organizations, clubs, and co-workers. We’ll have those gatherings at the Seminary just as you will in your place, but now I’m commenting on the singular, gathering as a principle of life together.

Gathering, simply gathering, is a new insight to this work-oriented Boomer. As I age, I’m starting to get it, appreciating more the value of just hanging out with people. As the old wisdom puts it, when you are about to die, will you regret not spending more time at work? Among my teachers are our seminarians, late Gen Xers and Millennials. In countless ways, they nurture one another and look forward to their future ministries through spending time together, through gathering.

Our western culture deceives us into hearing “you” in the Bible as singular, me and Jesus, when in fact most of the time “you” in the Bible is plural, members together in the Body of Christ.  The Church is gathering, “the assembly of believers among whom the gospel is purely preached and the holy sacraments are administered according to the gospel” (Augsburg Confession VII). “Holy believers and ‘the little sheep who hear the voice of their shepherd’” (Smalcald Articles, 12, alluding to John 10:3). Along with holiday get-togethers and parties, Sunday worship and special services remind us who gather that holidays are in fact holy days.

Thanksgiving tomorrow, Advent beginning Sunday, and finally Christmas…our gatherings now these coming weeks remind us of the final gathering. What will heaven be but our final gathering with our Creator and Redeemer?  

Gather Thou Thy people in, / Free from sorrow, free from sin,

There, forever purified, / In Thy garner to abide:

Come with all Thine angels, come, / Raise the glorious harvest home.

(Lutheran Service Book, 892, 1,4)   

 

 

The Meyer Minute for November 27, 2019

Come, ye thankful people, come; / Raise the song of harvest home,

All be safely gathered in / Ere the winter storms begin;

God, our maker, doth provide / For our wants to be supplied.

Come to God’s own temple come; / Raise the song of harvest home.

 

We enter the season of gathering. Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas… There will be many gatherings, plural, of families, friends, organizations, clubs, and co-workers. We’ll have those gatherings at the Seminary just as you will in your place, but now I’m commenting on the singular, gathering as a principle of life together.

Gathering, simply gathering, is a new insight to this work-oriented Boomer. As I age, I’m starting to get it, appreciating more the value of just hanging out with people. As the old wisdom puts it, when you are about to die, will you regret not spending more time at work? Among my teachers are our seminarians, late Gen Xers and Millennials. In countless ways, they nurture one another and look forward to their future ministries through spending time together, through gathering.

Our western culture deceives us into hearing “you” in the Bible as singular, me and Jesus, when in fact most of the time “you” in the Bible is plural, members together in the Body of Christ.  The Church is gathering, “the assembly of believers among whom the gospel is purely preached and the holy sacraments are administered according to the gospel” (Augsburg Confession VII). “Holy believers and ‘the little sheep who hear the voice of their shepherd’” (Smalcald Articles, 12, alluding to John 10:3). Along with holiday get-togethers and parties, Sunday worship and special services remind us who gather that holidays are in fact holy days.

Thanksgiving tomorrow, Advent beginning Sunday, and finally Christmas…our gatherings now these coming weeks remind us of the final gathering. What will heaven be but our final gathering with our Creator and Redeemer?  

Gather Thou Thy people in, / Free from sorrow, free from sin,

There, forever purified, / In Thy garner to abide:

Come with all Thine angels, come, / Raise the glorious harvest home.

(Lutheran Service Book, 892, 1,4)   

 

 

The Meyer Minute for November 26, 2019

Would you like to be richer than John D. Rockefeller? The founder of Standard Oil Company would be worth $23 billion in today’s dollars. In “The Conservative Sensibility,” George Will puts before us a bargain from economist Don Boudreaux: “You can be as rich as Rockefeller was in 1916 if you will consent to live in 1916” (288).

Definitely, don’t be envious. “As a 1916 billionaire, you would be materially worse off than a 2017 middle-class American. An unhealthy 1916 billionaire would be much worse off than an unhealthy 2017 American…. In 1916, life expectancy at birth was 54.5 years (today, 78.8), and fewer than 5 percent of American were sixty-five or older…. There were four renters for every homeowner… Less than one-third of homes had electric lights. Small electric motors—the first Hoover vacuum cleaner appeared in 1915—were not yet lightening housework. Iceboxes, which were the norm until after World War II, were all that 1916 had” (289-290). So who’s richer?

The differences between the church and today’s commercial culture get clearer every day. The person who does not agree with “the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness” is “puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people…” (1 Timothy 6:3:5). Zero in on envy. “Of the seven deadly sins, of all the states of the human mind indeed, envy is the basest and ugliest. It is also the most corrosive of spiritual and moral fiber in the bearer and the most destructive of the social fabric….” (Robert Nesbit in George Will, 279).

We’re barraged by holiday advertisements to buy, but are you hearing anything about contentment? Our commercial culture stokes envy and makes us forget how rich our lives truly are. The difference between the life of faith and the consumerist culture influencing us 24/7 is greater than ever. What a great opportunity for the church to witness our true riches to others!

“Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (1 Timothy 6:6-10).

The Meyer Minute for November 25, 2019

I’m convinced the life of faith is hard, in some ways harder today than ever. When the disciples asked Jesus, “Who can be saved” (Mark 10:26), they were in a time and place where most people believed in God. In today’s America people easily imagine we can take care of everything ourselves, no need of God or His kingdom in our lives. I worry about our impressionable children and grandchildren. Will they stay true to the life of faith that leads to salvation?

Yesterday’s Old Testament lesson: “You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’” Sounds contemporary, doesn’t it?

“Then those who feared the Lord (there’s the key, fear of the Lord) spoke with one another (mutual encouragement that we give to one another in church). The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name (name means all that God has revealed to us about Himself). They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day (still to come) when I make up my treasured possession” (Malachi 3:16-17). We live in God’s promises.

Promises we must teach our children and grandchildren. The other day our youngest grandson, first grader Nicholas, asked his mother, “Was there electricity when you grew up? TV? Video games?” and on and on. Then he asked, “Did you have the same one true God we worship today?”

Nicholas is learning to discern the difference between our ways and the ways of the world around us. Faith, hard as it is now, looks forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises. When that final day comes “once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him” (Malachi 3:18). “‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).

 

The Meyer Minute for November 21, 2019

It scared me as a kid; still scares me. What happened to Ananias and Sapphira is literally a “drop dead” story. The first Christians sold all their possessions and put the proceeds into a common treasury. “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need” (Acts4:34-35). Sounds utopian, but “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Ananias “sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet.” Somehow Peter learned about the deceit and Ananias dropped dead. He did. Three hours later the same thing happened to Sapphira.

Sooner or later the truth comes out. I’m in Houston for several church meetings. At yesterday’s meeting of business managers, Mr. Steve Dawson gave a presentation about fraud, deceiving others for your own personal or financial gain.  Who commits fraud? 95 percent of the time it’s done by normal, non-criminal people. Why? We need money and see a way to get it, a way we think we can cover up. Notice I’ve shifted to “we” because church people are not immune to the temptation to break the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.”

“‘Ananias (you church member!), why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? …You have not lied to man but to God.’ When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heart of it” (Acts 5:3-5). Yes, it is scary, the fear of God who searches the depths of our hearts and thoughts, mine and yours. That’s the first part of the fear of God. The Good News is the death of Jesus for all sins and His resurrection calls us to newness of life, to consciences repulsed by deceit and disobedience to His commands. That’s the full fear of God, awe that His ways include forgiveness and salvation. By the way, the church gave up its collective experiment and went back to private ownership. 

The Meyer Minute for November 19, 2019

“Drew and Jake, you boys were good in church Sunday. Oma and I are proud that you were so well-behaved.”

“Drew, tell our friends how old you are.” “Eight, but I’ll be nine in March.” “Jake, how old are you?” “Opa, you know. Seven! You came here for my birthday.”

“Something I’ll treasure are the drawings you both made during church. Drew, tell our friends about your drawing.” “It’s the cross in front of the church. On the back I wrote, “From Andrew to Opa.”

“Jake, you drew people. You showed them sitting in the pews listening to Opa. Well, I didn’t preach, Pastor Hricko did, but you know what Opa does. And this is best, you drew a balloon for the message that says, ‘Jesus.’”

“We were so pleased when you both snapped to attention, stood up and said the Lord’s Prayer with the congregation. You said it loud and clear from memory. Thanks to your Mommy and Daddy for teaching you. What else are you learning? “To sing hymns and follow the words.” “And to bow when we go to the communion rail for a blessing.” “That was heart-warming when Pastor Nick blessed you both.”

“Thank you, Lord!” “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).

The Meyer Minute for November 18, 2019

Jesus wants us to see things differently than other people do. He says about those who aren’t devoted to Him, “so that ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven’” (Mark 4:12, quoting Isaiah 6:9-10).

The St. Louis area was lit up by a meteor the evening of November 11^th. NASA dubbed it “Event: 2019112-025148.” The 220-pound rock, traveling 33,500 miles per hour, first appeared when it was 59 miles above earth. At 12 miles high it broke up. Said Will Snyder of the St. Louis Science Center, “It gets people looking up and curious about what they’re seeing” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, November 13; A2).

About looking up, “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name” (Isaiah 40:26). Jesus’ followers look up at the heavens and marvel at the discoveries of science as testimony to “God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth” (Apostles’ Creed). “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). We see things differently than others.

Yesterday’s Gospel also has us looking up with a different outlook than others. “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars…. The powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Jesus’ followers look up at the heavens with this end-of-time thought in our minds. “From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead” (Apostles’ Creed). Read that Gospel lesson, Luke 21:5-28. Jesus says some scary things, but His bottom line encourages us to look up with hope. “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (21:28).

“From sorrow, toil, and pain, / And sin we shall be free

And perfect love and friendship reign / Through all eternity.

 

About “lest they should turn and be forgiven,” read Luke 19:41-44. Those who don’t follow Jesus are still in their time of grace.

The Meyer Minute for November 6, 2019

For some months now I have been transgressing God’s command. What I’ve done can be justified before others. What I’ve done was necessary, or so I thought. What I’ve done has given some satisfaction to others. In fact, others have encouraged me in breaking of this command.

The word “transgression” is relevant here. We often think of the Law, God’s commandments, as condemnation for our sins. “Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29). True enough. Then comes the counter-word, the Gospel. “Who shall deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25). Precious, I believe that, but what do I do now? That’s what I like about the word “transgression.” It comes from Latin and means to step over a line. The Law not only speaks God’s judgment against us for our sins, it shows us the lines of proper living.  Yes, be sorry but step back and correct your sinful way. As the Explanation to Luther’s Small Catechism says, “The Law teaches what we are to do and not to do” (49).

What scandalous thing has Dale done? “Thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’ But you were unwilling” (Isaiah 30:15). I’ve been working way too hard. I’ve let texts and emails intrude 24/7, fret over work most waking moments, and do home projects whenever I can squeeze out time. These last months I’ve been breaking the commandment about resting with God and family, “Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.” Time to step back to the sane side of God’s line. “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile” (Mark 6:31).

So Diane and I are taking off to be with our daughter in D.C. I don’t know how restful it will be with rambunctious grandsons Drew and Jake, but we’ll try stepping back from the transgression of working too much.

The Meyer Minute for November 4, 2019

The Bible is more than food for thought. “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart,” Deuteronomy 6:6, describes the emotional impact of the Bible should have on us. The next verse is indeed mental, “You shall teach them diligently to your children,” but the teaching is intended to go from head to heart.

For example, Psalm 94:19. “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” When you turn your heavy heart to God’s Word, an emotional experience follows, burdens lightened by the effect of the Word.

So it is when death comes into your circle of family and friends. Church people turn to God’s promises in Jesus to hug their hurting hearts. Hear the epistle for All Saints’ Sunday. Feel the Father’s embrace. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:1-3).

Remember those words were read out loud to the early church, not read silently. A listener wouldn’t stop to think about every jot and tittle, the way we often do today. The words were felt, experienced, the Word of God “piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). On All Saints’ Sunday and whenever death comes close, the Father’s love to us in Jesus embraces all who mourn and promises a heavenly future.

“Though He giveth or He taketh, God His children ne’er forsaketh;

His the loving purpose solely to preserve them pure and holy.”

(Lutheran Service Book, 725, 4)

The Meyer Minute for November 1, 2019

An old joke tells that St. Peter was showing a newcomer around heaven. When they came to a closed door, the newcomer asked, “Who’s in there?” St. Peter answered, “Those are the – fill in a denomination – they think they’re the only ones here.” The humor appeals to today’s shallow spirituality. Many Americans imagine that if there is a heaven, they deserve to go there. What hater of humanity would suggest some will be turned away?

Still, the prayer for today, All Saints Day, suggests heaven is indeed an exclusive place. It prays “we may come to the unspeakable joys You have prepared for those who love You.” It was no joke when Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15). Jesus was reminding Peter of his brash claim that he’d never forsake Jesus, though that was exactly what he did (Mark 14:26-31, 66-72). Don’t compare yourself to other disciples; just love Jesus. “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Two different words are used for “love.” Jesus used “agape,” selfless love. Peter responded with a different word for love, phileo, which means affection. Again Jesus asked, again using agape. A third time Jesus asked, this time using the word for affection, phileo. “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Might the Bible be teaching us that affection for Jesus is fine but our relationship to Him should increase to total self-denial? As selfless love grows, “Feed my sheep.” Don’t compare yourself to other believers; nurture them. Shouldn’t that be the culture of your congregation, love Jesus and each other? Won’t that be heaven?

Almighty and everlasting God, You knit together Your faithful people of all times and places into one holy communion, the mystical body of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Grant us so to follow Your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that, together with them, we may come to the unspeakable joys You have prepared for those who love You; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spriit, one God, now and forever.