The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for February 28, 2020

Invocavit. The Sundays in Lent have traditional names that come from the day’s Introit. This Sunday is named Invocavit from the old Latin translation of Psalm 91:15, which the English Standard Version translates this way, “When he calls to me, I will answer him.” Who’s calling? Who’s answering?

Concordia Seminary teaches students to prepare and deliver sermons that are centered on Jesus Christ. As much as anyone on Concordia Seminary’s faculty, Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs focuses his sermons on Jesus. Yesterday he preached on Matthew 4:1-11, the temptation of Jesus by Satan in the wilderness. You’ll hear this read when you worship this Invocavit Sunday. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God….” That was the first of three times Satan tried but failed to get Jesus off His mission to save us. 

Now my point, thank you Dr. Gibbs. The main point of Sunday’s Gospel is not how you and I can ward off temptation. Indeed, we do learn how, use Scripture when you’re tried, but the main point is Jesus Himself. Ancient Israel was in the wilderness forty years and often gave into temptation. You and I do too, all the time in many ways. Jesus is the Son of Man, Israel, you and I as we should be. Only through Baptism and faith in Jesus will you and I come alive out of the wilderness of this world’s temptation and arrive in our Promised Land where sin and Satan will be no more. But without Jesus, Satan has you now and will take you down for eternity.

Invocavit. “When he calls to me, I will answer him.” Jesus called upon His heavenly Father and God answered. Meditate upon Psalm 91 as a psalm about Jesus. Hear Sunday’s Gospel with your focus on Jesus. He wards off Satan for you; see your identity and life in Jesus.

“O Lord God, You led Your ancient people through the wilderness and brought them to the promised land. Guide the people of Your Church that following our Savior we may walk through the wilderness of this world toward the glory of the world to come; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord.” Amen. (Collect for the First Sunday in Lent)

The Meyer Minute for March 27, 2020

Do I watch Jesus suffer the same way I watch sports or an engaging show, a spectator? Paul saw no separation between himself and Jesus. “I have been crucified with Christ” (Galatians 2:20). This Lent I ask myself, how can I more identify my very being with Christ?

Part of the answer is to realize that forgiveness has not removed my sinfulness. The first penitential psalm in the Psalter is Psalm 6. It is prayed by a man who is godly, like you and me. “Depart from me all you workers of evil” (verse 8) is something a true Christian prays, and yet this spiritual man feels his guilt, feels it deep in his being. “I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O Lord—how long?” (verses 2-3). Here we have no spectator in the pew but a true believer still troubled by his sin. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “Fall short,” present tense, still failing. Shouldn’t that be troubling?

“They contemplate Christ’s passion properly who look at it with a terrified heart and a despairing conscience” said Martin Luther in his 1519 “Sermon on the Meditation of Christ’s Passion.” That is more than looking on as a spectator. It’s desperation focused on Christ, an obsession to know His love. “Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love” (verse 4). Do you as a believer still pray this way?

“Depart from me all you workers of evil, for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping” (verse 8). Therein the psalmist moves through the conscience troubled by sin to total dependence upon God. Luther again: “If we look at sin in our heart, it will be much too strong for us and will live on forever. But if we see that it rests on Christ and is overcome by his resurrection, and then boldly believe this, then sin is dead and nullified.”

The Meyer Minute for February 26, 2020

“But God had seen my wretched state / Before the world’s foundation, 

And mindful of His mercies great, / He planned for my salvation. 

He turned to me a father’s heart; He did not choose the easy part / But gave His dearest treasure.” 

 “Before the world’s foundation” God planned our salvation. This is a mind-stretcher! Saint Peter begins his first epistle in the following way, literally  translated: “Peter, to those who are elect exiles… according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: grace and peace be multiplied to you.” Just as Moses had sprinkled the blood of the covenant upon the people of Israel whom God had delivered from slavery (Exodus 24:8), so God the Father foreknew, that is, loved us so dearly in eternity that He determined to consecrate us to be His holy, covenant people. Before creation, God’s had planned that His Son, obedient to His Father’s will, would become the covenant sacrifice and the Spirit sanctify us to be His holy covenant people. “He (Jesus) was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you” (1 Peter 1:1-2, 20). 

 Let this Gospel of God’s eternal love dominate your Lenten devotions. “Jesus, I will ponder now,” is often sung on Ash Wednesday, but ponder His holy passion in the greatness of the Father’s eternal love for us His Church. Yes, we enter a time of introspection and confession, a time when the Law of God convicts us. “God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13), but more awesome is the Bible’s truth that God, before He created the world, determined to consecrate us to be His covenant people. “Before the world’s foundation…He planned for my salvation.” 

 “The Son obeyed the Father’s will, / Was born of virgin mother; 

And God’s good pleasure to fulfill, / He came to be my brother. 

His royal pow’r disguised He bore; / A servant’s form, like mine, He wore 

To lead the devil captive.” (Lutheran Service Book, 556, 4, 6) 

 Peter does not simply say, “Grace and peace to you,” but this Ash Wednesday, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you.” 

The Meyer Minute for February 25, 2020

When I meet students on the sidewalk, I always make small talk, and yesterday I groused about the weather. It was lousy, cold and rainy. “This is nothing,” bragged one student. “I’m from Minnesota.” “Well, I remember delivering newspapers in Chicago Heights when it was below zero, but I can’t take it anymore.” I did smile when I bumped into our African students. They were so bundled up, you would have thought that it was 30 below! And oh, the nuisances of staying dry. Open, close your umbrellas and find a place to put it when you go into a building. Avoid puddles so you don’t ruin your shoes. Ugh, and my mother is vacationing in Florida!

“I’ll show you,” said God. I was going to teach my afternoon class, it’s about Law and Gospel, and walked through one of our quads. We call it the “three-quarter quad” because it’s open on one side. It’s landscaped with a water feature – frozen now – and a table and chairs for students to sit and study or talk – nobody out there yesterday! – and in summer this quad is lush with perennials, but now we’re in crummy weather time. Walking through this quad, looking down to avoid puddles, God got me. The Lenten roses are blooming! Its official name is helleborus orientalis but commonly called…because it blooms in Lent…the Lenten rose. And looking down, I saw daffodils pushing up, hyacinths popping up, and taking the cue to look up, I did and saw buds on trees.

Earlier I had been walking with a student and wondered out loud if Jesus ever complained about the weather. The student said that if Jesus didn’t like the weather, He could change it. Jesus made observations about the weather, but I doubt that He complained. He was so intimate with His heavenly Father that He saw God’s goodness and help at all times and in all places. “I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,” Psalm 31:7, a psalm Jesus used in His most trying time. The church’s liturgy tries to muffle “Alleluias” in Lent, but the Lenten rose tells me the dreariness won’t last long. Easter is promised, spring is coming, and everyday you’re alive is a great day. Alleluia always!  

The Meyer Minute for February 24, 2020

Yesterday was the 335^th anniversary of the birth of George Frideric Handel. A colossus of classical music, his “Hallelujah Chorus” is known by more than musical experts. Many of us hear that music and his words: “For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”

He reigns, really? If the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, why can’t we see it? Our Lord Jesus speaks to doubts we may have about the reality of His reign. Yesterday the Church observed Jesus’ Transfiguration. He invited Peter, James and John to join Him on the mountain, and His word invites us to treasure the glory He showed in hope of what is to come. “He was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light… Behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’ Imagine the glory! But it passes, back to normal, down from the mountain where Jesus goes to suffer, and leads us to carry the crosses that come from following Him. “And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.” “Listen to him.”

During the closing hymn yesterday, a banner saying “Alleluia” was carried out of the sanctuary.

“Alleluia cannot always / Be our song while here below;

Alleluia, our transgressions / Make us for a while forgo;

For the solemn time is coming / When our tears for sin must flow”

(Lutheran Service Book 417, 3).

By His Transfiguration, God teaches us to live trusting Jesus’ Word and to look forward to the coming glory. Glory now but not yet. So Lent will take us down on the plain where we follow Jesus’ carrying His cross, confident in our faith that Alleluias will come back. “The Kingdom of the world is become / The Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and of His Christ / And He shall reign forever and ever.” “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). ‘Rise, and have no fear” (Matthew 17:2, 5-9).

The Meyer Minute for February 17, 2020

Yesterday afternoon I spent an hour with 16 high school students who are thinking about studying for the ministry. It was a pleasant hour, and affirmed my confidence that the Lord of the Church is raising up leaders for the future of His mission.

One of the challenges they will face – we’re facing it already – is biblical illiteracy. People today don’t know the Bible as well as previous generations did. That makes it more challenging for pastors to communicate. Think about it. Some young men have a religious bent; they take God’s Word seriously. Then they come to the Seminary and are immersed in the Bible and theology for four years. When they get out into the “real” world, they assume that parishioners understand biblical words and concepts. In the past, yes; today? No. “Barna Trends 2018” reports 20 percent of Americans “read, use, or listen to the Bible four times a week or more.” 38% use it less than four times per week. 23% use the Bible one time a month, or less. 22% are skeptical or hostile toward the Bible (136).

A timely article for Presidents’ Day was written by Rabbi Meir Soloveichik. The rabbi shows how Abraham Lincoln thought and spoke in biblical terms as he struggled with the horrors of the Civil War. He quotes Adam Gopnik. Lincoln “had mastered the sound of the King James Bible so completely that he could recast abstract issues of constitutional law in biblical terms.”  Rabbi Soloveichik describes Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address as “More a sermon than a political speech, it is the most remarkable piece of oratory in American history. Lincoln called his country to repentance and described the Civil War as God’s punishment for American slavery, concluding with the Psalmist’s declaration that ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether” (Wall Street Journal, February 15-16; C3). Americans could understand that. Not today.

Today 72 percent of Americans believe America is headed in the wrong direction (Barna Trends 2018, 116). For the good of our country (which is the Second Great Commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself”), pastors and people will teach and learn God’s Word more than ever. May we start today and may our prospective pastors further the blessing for our country. “Each age its solemn task may claim but once; make each one nobler, stronger than the last” (Lutheran Service Book, 682, 1)

The Meyer Minute for February 14, 2020

“God is love” (1 John 4:8) but the world around us is unloving and we all know unlovable people. So where’s the love when we need it?

Christians know where to find it and how to share it. We do it by regularly withdrawing from this impersonal, unloving society to gather together with other people who are devoted to Jesus. “Love is from God” (1 John 4:7) and Jesus is bringing it to us, present tense. His love for you today started in eternity. Before anyone was born, God knew you and me with intimate love and, what’s more, way back then His Son willed to sacrifice Himself, to shed His blood to bring us into covenant with God. Selfless love, agape. “He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last time for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:20-21). So today “though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible” (1 Peter 1:8).

Since life out there can be cold and impersonal, Christians regularly retreat to be together in the warmth of His love. “Love one another earnestly from a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22). Not always easy! Who’s unloving in your life? Sometimes it’s me, sometimes you’re the unloving one. Vertical faith has horizontal dimensions. Martin Luther points out that human love seeks what’s attractive to it, but God’s love goes to the unlovable and creates loveliness (Heidelberg Disputation 28). That’s what makes, or should make our Sunday church gatherings different from other associations during the week. “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20). That’s present tense, this Valentine’s Day.

“Now richly to my waiting heart, / O Thou, my God, deign to impart / the grace of love undying.

In Thy blest body let me be, / E’en as the branch is in the tree, / Thy life my life supplying.

Sighing, crying, / For the savor / Of Thy favor; / Resting never

Till I rest in Thee forever.”

(The Lutheran Hymnal, 343, 3)

The Meyer Minute for February 12, 2020

God is, period. “In the beginning, God” (Genesis 1:1). I’m still meditating on Psalm 57. Young David is on the run because jealous Saul is trying to kill him. Holed up in a cave, David imagines the darkness as the shadow of being under God’s protecting wings. What strikes me is David’s trust. “God will send out his steadfast love and faithfulness” (verse 3). 

If your church has the good habit of following the liturgy, early in the service you have the general confession and absolution, the Introit or entrance psalm, and next the Kyrie, “Lord, have mercy upon us.” I suspect many people think we’re asking God to feel sorry for us sinners. That’s not quite right. Think about what has already happened in the service. God’s forgiveness has been spoken upon us. In the Kyrie we ask God to act for us, to show “mercy,” which in Psalm 57 is translated “steadfast love.” In other words, God, You have brought us into a covenant with Yourself. We trust You will keep Your promises for our well-being. “He will send from heaven and save me; he will put to shame him who tramples on me. God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness.”  

 

We live in time; God doesn’t. More than we can see, “God is…a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). In whatever swirls around us in our time-bound lives, we praise God because His steadfast love “fulfills his purpose for me” (verse 2). “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! Awake my whole being! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will give thanks to you, O Lord among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations” (verses 7-9).  

 

“The world against me rages, / Its fury I disdain; 

Though bitter war it wages, / Its work is all in vain. 

My heart from care is free, / No trouble troubles me. 

Misfortune now is play, / And night is bright as day.” 

(Lutheran Service Book, 467, 5) 

 

We believe in the resurrection, don’t we? Jesus came into our time and was dead for a time, but God kept His promise and raised Him on the third day. “Your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds” (verse 10). “And night is bright as day!” 

The Meyer Minute for February 11, 2020

One of Concordia Seminary’s most important partnerships is our prayer partnership with Lutheran Hour Ministries. LHM receives calls from thousands of people who desire prayers. Many of those prayer requests are sent to the Seminary where we pray to God for those in need. 

David was in deep trouble. King Saul was in a murderous rage because of young David’s military success and popularity. “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 21:11). Time and again David fled and hid to save his life. Did he ask for intercessory prayers? 1 Samuel 22:1-2 suggests he may have, since supporters had come to him hiding in a cave, but David certainly prayed for himself. Tradition says David composed Psalm 57 in that cave. 

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by” (1-2). “In the shadow of your wings” is appropriate in a cave. Do you have this experience? I wake up in the middle of the night and fear floods my mind, fear of this or fear of that. “In the shadow of your wings” is appropriate in that darkness. “When in the night I sleepless lie, / My soul with heav’nly thoughts supply; Let no ill dreams disturb my rest, / No pow’rs of darkness me molest” (Lutheran Service Book, 883, 5). 

David teaches us to look to the future when we pray. “In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.” As the old saying goes, “This too will pass.” “For this momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Whether for ourselves or interceding for others, pray with confidence. “God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!” (Psalm 57:3).  

“When life’s troubles rise to meet me, / Though their weight / May be great, / They will not defeat me.  

God, my loving Savior, sends them; / He who knows / All my woes/ Knows how best to end them.” 

(LSB 756) 

The Meyer Minute for February 10, 2020

Epiphany – we’re still in it! – is the manifestation of the Savior to all people. “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9). But how does the light of Christ shine, now that He’s temporarily unseen? Pastor Bruce Keseman put it this way. You and I are like the moon. Just as the moon reflects the light of the Sun, you and I reflect the light of Christ in our lives. 

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). 

Light or darkness deep down in your heart? Vicar Joseph Pierson invited honest reflection in his sermon yesterday. We come to church, he said, to be forgiven, not to be excused. When you ask to be excused, you may be asking someone to overlook what you’ve done wrong. When you come to church and ask for forgiveness, you’re saying, “I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son” (Luke 15:18-19). Which is it, “God, excuse me” or “forgive me”? Declining church attendance suggests it’s “excuse me” for many Americans, and they keep on with their sins. “The world did not know him” (John 1:10), but for you and me? Since “you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile” (1 Peter 1:17).    

“From the cross forever beameth / All Thy bright redeeming light” wrote Martin Franzmann (Lutheran Service Book, 578, 4). The Spirit brings Jesus’ light into the darkness of our hearts, a daily epiphany that shines brightly to people around you. The late Dr. Robert Preus told about a woman who said, “It’s nice that Jesus died, but He didn’t have to do that for me.” That’s excuse, darkness, but consciousness of your forgiveness this Monday morning has you reflecting Jesus’ light wherever you meet darkness. “O let Your Word, that saving light, / Shine forth undimmed into the night” (LSB, 585, 1).