The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for January 30, 2020

Late afternoon is “Triscuit time,” when Diane and I sit together to recap the day’s events. It’s memory time, too. Ferdie used to sit with us and beg for triscuits covered with cream cheese, but now it’s just Diane and me, sharing our day and watching the news. If this is to be “Happy Hour,” it’s going to come from someone other than the people on the screen. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:15-20)

Whoa, my faith in Jesus is too small! Bad news bugs me when Jesus is too small in my life. He was before creation. He created all things. The food that grows for us to eat, Earth in its dependable orbit around the Sun, the Milky Way in the universe… He holds it all together. And the Church, my congregation and denomination, sinners and saints… He’s the only Head, who took our sins to the cross, rose and ascended to preeminence above all things. Does your attitude keep narrowing down to the small things of daily life, instead of seeing the cosmic Christ behind all the small stuff?

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades’” (Revelation 1:17-18).

Attitude readjustment hour. “In Him all things hold together.” Don’t sweat the small stuff.

The Meyer Minute for January 29, 2020

Daily chapel is a most important time in the life of Concordia Seminary. This Friday’s chapel will be one of the most poignant of the year. It’s titled, “Observing the Loss of Children through Miscarriage, Stillbirth or Other Tragedy.” You’ll see tears on the faces of parents who have lost children, as the service speaks God’s peace and encourages trust in His divine ways. For those of us who have not lost a child, it’s a time to become more sensitive. I wish such a service had been offered when I came to the Seminary 50 years ago; it would have helped my ministry. Here are some parts from this service in past years.

“Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!” (Psalm 30:4-5, 10).

“When darkness veils His lovely face, / I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and story gale / My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand; All other ground is sinking sand.”

For parents and families whose children have died, and whose grief may seem more than they are able to bear, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For all those who minister in love to the grieving, that they may have wisdom to listen well and to speak carefully in loving understanding, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

For hearts that need God’s truth, that the promise of Christ’s return and the hope of the resurrection of all flesh may bring a strong foundation and a place to stand, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy.

“Who so happy as I am, / Even now the Shepherd’s lamb?

And when my short life is ended, / By His angel host attended,

He shall fold me to His breast, / There within His arms to rest.”

If you’re in the area, you’re welcome to join us for chapel at 9:30.

The Meyer Minute for January 28, 2020

I’ve done personal, devotional Bible reading off and on over the years, but have found it harder to do at the Seminary. Strange, for our work here is so wrapped up with Scripture and faith, but slow, reflective time with the Word? That’s hard for Seminary workers, and it’s a challenge for pastors and busy laypeople because, strangely, we’re so busy doing the Lord’s work in our various callings. This January I resolved to be more disciplined.

What gets into your head every day? Barna reports that “62% of parents check their phone within the first hour of the morning.” I do. And at the other end of the day, 70% of parents sleep with the phone next to them. And in between morning and evening, screens are filling our heads, subtly slipping today’s culture into our heads, and today’s culture is “Post-Truth,” according to Barna. Five characteristics of today’s society: Distrust of authority, an erosion of the sacred, a battle between feelings and facts, unbelievable news, and the rise of tribalism (Barna Trends 2018, 32-33, 116-121). With all these views seeping into us, attitudes that undermine Christianity, we’re sending out students to lead an hour of worship, teach some classes for their people? Our graduates have a stiff challenge: to counter today’s culture with the Law and Gospel of God. They have precious little time to get the word of life into heads.

If they’re going to do that, and they can with hard work and the enabling grace of God’s Spirit, then you and I need to model lives in the world but not of the world. Intentional Bible reading does that. Slowly, very slowly, I’m reading Isaiah, and the benefits are immediate. Unlike church or chapel or some devotional books – and they’re necessary because the world is very much with us – slow personal reading of extended passages helps you make better sense of this life we’re trying to live. Unlike worship services which keep moving on, the Bible on your lap gives you a time to stop and ponder what you’re reading. A morning prayer from a hymnal I use says, “Send me, Lord, Your Holy Spirit. Give me calm in the unrest of the day, so that I gladly do Your will and remain in Your communion. Above all, give me your peace.” God answers that prayer through His Word to you.  

The Meyer Minute for January 27, 2020

It’s June 14, 1944. 14-year-old Sheindi Ehrenwald Miller “stood with other inmates, naked, her head shaved and dripping with disinfectant. An SS officer was present.” Today marks the 75^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz where 1.1 million people were murdered, among them Sheindi’s family.

Technology has changed our lives, more than we know. Now we are tempted to live in the moment and forget history. Respond to this tweet. Answer my text now. We are losing the voice of the past. Holocaust survivor Zofia Posmysy said, “I fear that over time, it will become easier to distort history. I cannot say it will never happen again, because when you look at some leaders of today, those dangerous ambitions, pride and sense of being better than others are still at play. Who knows where they can lead.” (New York Times, January 26; A10)

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it’” (Jeremiah 6:16).

From Barna Trends 2018: “Group solidarity can be a good thing—it can lead to mobilization, to action, to survival. However, in an increasingly pluralistic society, it can also create deep divisions and an ‘us vs. them’ mentality…. Every group that isn’t your own becomes a threat. In a diverse society, such thinking is increasingly dangerous and divisive. Human history is littered with horrific examples of mob mentality that resulted in great evils justified by so-called ‘truths’ propagated in the name of group unity or survival.” (120-121). That was Nazi Germany. Sheindi Ehrenwald Miller kept a diary. “The next morning, she awoke to the suffocating smell of burned human bodies. ‘We’re burning your parents now,’ a soldier told the prisoners.” (Wall Street Journal, January 25-26; C4)

Are we turning away from people who are different? “Barna has found…that positive exposure to those outside one’s group leads to increased empathy…. Unfortunately, most Americans do not interact much with those outside their group. In a 2015 study, most people admitted their friends are mostly similar to them in religion, ethnicity, political ideology, socioeconomic group, stage of life, and so on” (Barna Trends 2018, 120-121). Do you and your fellow believers in Jesus have habits that take you to people outside your tribe?

The Meyer Minute for January 24, 2020

Does the news out of Washington D.C. reassure you that our government works?

As unsettling as the D.C. drama is, it is also reassuring. “Rulers,” the Bible teaches, “are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad” (Romans 13:3). James Madison, one of the most influential of our founding fathers, asked, “What is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature?” Madison with the other Founders crafted the Constitution on the belief that people are naturally inclined toward what is wrong. Call it, as Lutherans do, the inevitable showing of original sin in our conduct. So we’re seeing human nature as it really is, combative, self-serving, ineffective, and whatever other adjectives you’d like to add. And it’s not just D.C. You can see the ugly side of human nature in the circles in which you live and work.

I’d encourage pastors to consider this as we prepare sermons and Bible classes for Sunday. To merely say, “We’re sinners and Jesus died for our sins” is true, it’s the truth on which our eternal salvation stands, but it doesn’t bring Law and Gospel home. To point to what we’re seeing in government, “the greatest of all reflections on human nature,” is a real life illustration of our fundamentally flawed sinful nature. We shouldn’t preach politics but we should shine a light on the corrupted human nature of us all. “Nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh” (Romans 7:18). Then from darkness to the light of the Gospel which reassures us that our sin is forgiven and we’re graced to be new people in Christ. In our dysfunctional times we see human nature as it sadly is but in the Gospel of forgiveness we know “It is well with my soul.”

Madison: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government” (Federalist Paper 51).

The Meyer Minute for January 23, 2020

Do you ever have a moment when you suddenly recognize the obvious, when you discover something that’s been hidden in plain sight? Thanks to Dr. Timothy Saleska for giving me such a moment, and it was very encouraging. When I was interviewing Tim for our video program “Word and Work,” he spoke a word to pastors and said Concordia is not the same seminary you graduated from, even if you graduated just ten years ago. Zing! I recognized the obvious.

Many people picture the Seminary as gothic buildings filled with young people studying for church work. In the 21^st century that’s an important part of what Concordia Seminary does, but only a part. Compared to just ten years ago, our professors are offering many more resources to laypeople and church workers, what we call “Continuing Education.” Today and tomorrow the Sem hosts its first “Faith and Film Festival.” Our Pre-Lenten Workshop, “Lent for All Nations” will be January 31. The Winter Lay Bible Institute on February 8 will focus on David and the Psalms. If you can’t join us on campus for these events, they’ll be on our website, csl.edu. There you also find featured chapel sermons, stories about students and professors, and much more.

This Minute is more promotional than most Minutes I write. The world and country have changed dramatically during our lifetimes, so that life today is more stressful than ever. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). In my travels, conversations and correspondence I’m convinced most people don’t know what the Seminary is doing in our changed times. Our obsession with Scripture and faith has not changed, and with zeal for Christ’s mission and aided by amazing technology, we can share with more people than ever before the words of eternal and daily life.

“O God, source of all abiding knowledge, through Word and Spirit You both enlighten the minds and sanctify the lives of those whom You draw to Your service. Look with favor on the seminaries and colleges of the church, blessing those who teach and those who learn, that all the baptized may apply themselves with ready diligence to their tasks and faithfully fulfill their service according to Your will; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. (Lutheran Service Book, Collect 116)

The Meyer Minute for January 22, 2020

“Bid Thou our sad divisions cease.”

That prayer from the Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” haunts me these days after Martin Luther King Day and as the Impeachment Trial begins. The popular hymn is based upon the ancient “O Antiphons,” used by the Church on the days leading up to Christmas, to the birth of the Prince of Peace. Juxtaposing that prayer for unity with the countless controversies swirling around us, you have to wonder.

“Bid Thou our sad divisions cease.” Jesus has done that, has asked that our divisions cease. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceable with all” (Romans 12:18). “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). The problem is on our side.

Some quotations from James Davison Hunter of the University of Virginia. There is “a tendency toward the politicization of nearly everything.” “The amount of law that exists in any society is always inversely related to the coherence and stability of its common culture: law increases as cultural consensus decreases” (“To Change the World,” 102). Simply, America has lost its center. Trying to fill the void are partisans who use law and political maneuvering to achieve their own vision of how things should be. How is it turning out?

“O King of the nations, and their desire, the cornerstone making both one: Come and save the human race, which you fashioned from clay.” In many ways the Christian church and its congregations reflect our culture’s divisions, but the church has the central focus, unless we lose our first love (Revelation 2:4). “O King of the nations, the cornerstone.” God makes peace with us through Emmanuel, through His Son Jesus. That peace broke down the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile in the New Testament is the potential contribution of today’s church to helplessly divided America. The church playing in American politics is not the answer, read Hunter, but your congregation can contribute, in your community and in your own personal relationships. “Bid Thou our sad divisions cease.” It starts at home, starts for Christians with Jesus.

The Meyer Minute for January 21, 2020

A headline from the Wall Street Journal: “The Week Resolutions Die: Look for Gyms to Get Less Busy; What It Takes to Make a New Routine Stick.”

That’ll preach! Long ago, a line from a prayer got into my head. “Our deeds do not perform what our words promise.” Are your Sunday professions matched by your sanctified life during the week? “Although we know that we are weak and our deeds do not perform what our words promise,” the prayer adds, “give us faith’s courage and hope to try anew.”

Can you identify the gap between your Sunday professions and how you live during the week? To help, Martin Luther says, “Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments: Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker? Have you been disobedient, unfaithful, or lazy? Have you been hot-tempered, rude, or quarrelsome? Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds? Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?” (Small Catechism, Confession).

The gap between what we say in church and do in our workaday life is forgiven by God for Jesus’ sake. That’s forgiveness but not full repentance. Repentance becomes full when you change your behavior. Jesus said to a woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:11). But how do we do this, especially when we’re caught up in the pressure and emotions of weekday living? For this amendment of life, since “we are weak and our deeds do not perform what our words promise,” we put biblical words of life direction into our heads and hearts, and ask the Spirit of God to enable us to live by them. After Jesus forgave the woman and told her to sin no more, He taught about freedom from sin. “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).

“The Week Resolutions Die” also reported “People who falter on their resolutions in January don’t necessarily wait a year to start over. Last year, gym check-ins on Facebook in March surpassed even those for January.” That’s an encouraging sign. “Give us faith’s courage and hope to try anew.”

Lord Jesus, think on me / And purge away my sin;

From worldly passions set me free / And make me pure within.

(Lutheran Service Book, 610, 1)

The Meyer Minute for January 20, 2020

Many thoughts, many posts this Martin Luther King Day. I’m musing from my own perspective, a seminary president for only a few more months. Each year Concordia Seminary sends graduates to congregations who will preach and teach Sunday after Sunday, year after year to millions of hearers. American society was sorely divided in the 1960’s and is again today. What’s my hope and prayer for our students and graduates this Martin Luther King Day?

…that they give more time to teaching the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments teach us how to live as God’s people, both the negatives (“Thou shalt not”) and the positives (“Thou shalt”). Picture the Ten Commandments as file folders, each one a place where all scripture passages relevant to the commandment’s topic can be brought together under one heading. For example, “Thou shalt not steal” is also about valuing private property, yours and your neighbor’s. We Lutherans have not done an adequate job of teaching our people the good works God has prepared for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). This neglect is understandable – Lutherans focus on the truth that the commandments show us our sin and our need for a Savior (Galatians 3:24). That’s Gospel (Ephesians 2:8-9), and the Ten Commandments, these file folders for all Law and Gospel teachings, teach us specifically how to live in gratitude for our rescue by Jesus.

…that our graduates fill their souls with the theology of the cross. This is way more than “Jesus died for your sins.” Theology of the cross means that God’s people go to, not from, injustice and suffering, just as Dr. King did. From his namesake, Martin Luther: “The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it. The love of man comes into being through that which is pleasing to it.” “This is the love of the cross, born of the cross, which turns in the direction where it does not find good, which it may enjoy, but where it may confer good upon the evil and needy person.” The Gospel motivates us to good works. “Because while Christ lives in us through faith, he now moves us to do good works through that living faith in his works. For the works that he does are for us the fulfillment, given through faith, of God’s commands. When we look at them, we are moved to imitate them” (Proof 27).

My hopes and prayers for our graduates this Martin Luther King Day.

The Meyer Minute for January 17, 2020

Several years Diane was convinced I needed a hearing aid, so I had my hearing tested. It’s that time of life, you know. When I really want to hear what someone has to say, I turn my head and put my ear closer to the speaker.

Maybe that’s the source of the expression, “Incline your ear.” A concordance check shows that it’s a fairly common expression in the Bible. It’s used when something important is about to be said, and in the Bible that especially means when God is about to speak to you. “Incline your ear and come to me; hear, that your soul may live” (Isaiah 55:3). It’s not only a  figurative way of saying we should listen to God. It’s physical too. Literally put your ear in a place where you can best hear what your Creator says to you. And God’s Word to us comes through those who speak His Word, intermediaries. “Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge” (Proverbs 22:17). So take your ear to church this Sunday!

The expression is also used for our talking to God. “Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy” (Psalm 86:1). Does God have ears? No, and yes. The Son of God in His exalted state does, and so you and I are invited to see Jesus bending down to hear our cry of need. Since Jesus has promised to hear us, we should pray with confidence. “Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (Matthew 21:22). “O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed” (Psalm 10:17).

Back to the top, Diane insisted that I call her as soon as I left the audiologist. I did; told her the doctor said there was some hearing loss but not enough for a hearing aid. That good news was met with total silence. Finally Diane said, “So, you just haven’t been listening to me for all these years.”

“My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding…. Rejoice in the wife of your youth” (Proverbs 5:1, 18).