The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for October 30, 2020

Looking to get the election behind us? Who isn’t? Let’s look much farther ahead. This election is very important, but the time will come when it won’t mean all that much to you. Sunday takes us to a perspective indifferent to today’s happenings. Sunday is All Saints Day and many congregations will read the names and toll the bell for members who died in the past year. It touches our hearts, memories and love, and focuses us on a heavenly reunion. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am there may be also” (John 14:3). 

The observance can soothe our present griefs, but then will we let our minds be pulled back down to the news and vanities of these times? To endless election talk, to Covid concerns or carelessness, to deliverance by whatever earthly thing? Besides All Saints Day and funerals, how seldom we focus on the eternity before us. Does our daily life show us to be creatures of a day, heavenly thoughts occasional, only when we need them?  

“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13, King James Version). Ancients wore tunics, long, loose fitting garments. They were comfortable but for hard work, battle, or serious travel, you pulled up the tunic and fastened it around your waste; you “girded up your loins.” Today we might say, “Roll up your sleeves.”  

“After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number…standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes…” “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9, 14).  

You want the white robe? Gird up your loins now. In one sense, every Christian is a martyr, dying to self and loosening our attachments to the things of this life, its worries and cares. Saving faith is a reorientation to the eternity before us, and it comes from “reading, meditating, praying and being tested” (Martin Chemnitz, 654). “Being tested.” “We take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). This is soul work. Gird up your loins. 

The Meyer Minute for October 29, 2020

My mind is dwelling on the corner of a corn field. Yesterday I took my walk on one of our county trails, old railroad beds converted into enjoyable paths for walking and biking, and yesterday’s walk took me alongside a small field. Relatively small, not the big, almost endless fields you see in many rural areas, but still big enough to plant. Several corners of the field were not square, oddly shaped, so the combine couldn’t get in. Some stalks were left. 

In Bible times landowners were required to leave some grain or grapes in the field. “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and the sojourner: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:9-10). This wasn’t a handout for the poor and sojourners, immigrants; they had to work to gather what was left. For the landowner, it was a duty, like a tax, to provide for others.  

Who’s gleaning in that corner, I wondered. Who’s marginalized among us? At the beginning of the barley harvest, “Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, ‘Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find favor.’ And she said to her, ‘Go, my daughter.’ So she set out and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers” (Ruth 2:2-3). Moving the story ahead, Ruth married the landowner Boaz, and “Boaz fathered Obed. Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David” and generations later was born Jesus, descended from David according to the flesh (Ruth 4:21-22; Matthew 1:5, 6, 16; Romans 1:3). 

Jesus is in the neglected corners with the marginalized, the dependent, the immigrant, the evicted renter. He had nowhere to lay his head, ate food grown by others, had to borrow a room for His last Passover meal, and was buried in another man’s tomb. All He gave was His all, His presence, His blood, His life. Where do we find Jesus’ Church today? Hmmm. “You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:21). “I am the Lord your God.”  

 

The Meyer Minute for October 28, 2020

“Lord, take my hand and lead me / Upon life’s way.” Where is He leading us, life-long and especially in these terrible pandemic times? Where He Himself has gone. “Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).  

Following Him to glory. “Jesus Christ…has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” (1 Peter 3:22). Here’s my pandemic point: Jesus route went through hell. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). He endured agony we cannot imagine, for us, the Righteous One for the unrighteous. Only then did He rise and ascend. “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26). 

So with us. “Think it not strange that he brings a soul low, very low, which he means to comfort and exalt very high in grace and glory: that he leads it by hell-gates to heaven.” On earth you might go through some bad neighborhoods to get to a wonderful destination. Archbishop Leighton’s commentary on 1 Peter is a devotional treasure. He says we pass by “hell-gates” to eternal glory (383). That in two ways. First, through faith we are united with Him in His death and await our own glorification around His throne. We receive His gifts without enduring the hell of suffering for sin. But second, when we pass by “hell-gates” in this life, pandemics and other trials, we do so filled with our victorious destination in mind, walking in His footsteps, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). After Jesus was made alive in the grave, He “descended into hell” to proclaim His victory over the disobedient spirits (Apostles Creed, 1 Peter 3:19). Then He ascended. Thus, move on with confidence, the “gates of hell shall not prevail” (Matthew 16:18).  

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials. So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6-7). “So take my hand and lead me, / Unto the end” (Lutheran Service Book, 722: 1, 3). 

The Meyer Minute for October 26, 2020

Diane and I follow the news as closely as time and patience permit. These days the news is maddening. Tomorrow I begin teaching a class called “Law Gospel Polarity.” It’s a half-semester course for concluding students and one of my favorites to teach. Our students learn that the Gospel should predominate in their sermons, but I’ll be pushing most of their thought into the Law. How can you love the Gospel if the Law hasn’t worked in your heart? “The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good” (Romans 7:12). The Law isn’t bad; sin is.

Much in the news upsets you, even makes you angry? That’s the Law of God at work. We all have within us a basic feeling for right and wrong, although it’s darkly clouded by sin. The Law of God born into all of us often gives us a sense something’s wrong, sometimes maddening (Romans 2:14; 4:15).

“It’s not fair!” charges one political party against the other. For that matter, we hear that at work, at home, and all the time in daily life. That also shows the inborn Law. “If you carefully keep all these commandments…” (Deuteronomy 11:22), but we don’t and so we complain, “It’s not fair.” That’s God at work, preparing us to hear something good.

The Law multiplies sin (Romans 7:7-9). What do people propose for or against hotly debated topics? They propose more laws. When the church has some problem, what does it often do? Pass some new policy. Is there ever an end to proposing, debating, and passing laws and policies? Ultimate help won’t come from multiplying rules, even church rules.

Why do we want the election to be over? Because the Law, seen in the news, imprisons us (Galatians 3:22). More than the news, whenever you feel trapped, in a relationship, at work, in an addiction, that’s the inborn Law stirring up sin. I need help!

Every person has the Law of God born into their heart that stirs up the original sin also in our heart. The task of a Gospel preacher is to expose what’s going on deep within us all, and then, as a good teacher, lead us to the Good News of Jesus. “The Scripture has confined all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe…. The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 23:22, 24).

The Meyer Minute for October 23, 2020

Sunday many Protestant churches will observe Reformation. We’ll hear again that Martin Luther and other 16^th century reformers restored the Bible to the life of the church. More than just the Bible, many churchgoers will hear the heart of Reformation, that we are made right with God only by His grace received through faith. True enough, “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).  

But over my years of participating in Lutheran observances of the Reformation, there is some smugness. We have the Bible. We have the correct doctrine. Old theologians, back to Luther’s time, had a term that might apply, “Pharisaic pride.” They had another term that describes many Americans today, “Epicurean indifference.” “Celebrate Reformation this Sunday? Uh, why bother with church? We know the hypocrisies and failings of churches and their people.” If you, dear reader, are indeed serious about your relationship with God and want to share that with others, is there any antidote to us being guilty of Pharisaic pride or Epicurean indifference? 

As you’re reading, the United States has a spacecraft orbiting an asteroid named Bennu. Tuesday the spacecraft dropped out of orbit to scoop up some rocks and then it returned to orbit. Yesterday the spacecraft, named OSIRIS-REX, took a selfie to see if any rock fragments were clinging to it and tomorrow it will measure how much it picked up. Can you believe that? And Bennu is “close” to us, only 200 million miles away from Earth. “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?” (Isaiah 40:26). How could churchgoers be smug?  

You know you’re saved by grace? What does that mean? “Grace is everywhere in the theology of Second Temple Judaism (that includes when Jesus was visibly present), but not everywhere the same.” People believed, and we still may believe that grace was in some way merited. You do your best to fit into God’s ways, He gives you grace. No, said Paul. Grace is totally a gift, the gift of Jesus. “This Gift is experienced and interpreted as an incongruous gift.” (John Barclay, “Paul & the Gift,” 566-567) “No merit of my own I claim but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”  

Pharisaic pride or Epicurean indifference? It’s a big and scary eternity out there! Pastors, tell me less about Luther and more about Jesus.      

The Meyer Minute for October 21, 2020

One caramel pastry. That’s the object lesson for today’s Minute.  

A challenge in my transition to retirement, it’s now four months, is learning to enjoy small things without feeling the need to rush on. There were countless small things in my job, but they were always in the bigger context of the Seminary doing its very best in our Lord’s mission. Trying to be faithful in small things was always with an eye toward bigger things (Luke 16:10). 

Yesterday Diane came back from Kruta’s Bakery. Over 100-years-old, Kruta’s is iconic in Collinsville, and Diane has been a regular customer there for almost 40 years. So she comes home and says, “There was one caramel pastry left but the old couple before me got it. It was like they had never been in a bakery before, looking here, looking there, I’ll take this, and oh, how about that… and I’ll take that one last caramel pastry.” 

As Diane turned this little incident into a drama, I realized here’s a much-needed learning moment for me. “Slow down, you move too fast. You’ve got to make the morning last” as Simon and Garfunkel sang in “The 59^th Street Bridge Song.” Not only being faithful in small things but enjoying them should be part of life as a creature of God. “As he reclined at table in his (Levi’s) house…” (Mark 2:15). Even Jesus, with big things on His mind, relaxed with the little things of life. 

“One thought of eternity drowns the whole time of the world’s duration, which is but one instant, or twinkling of an eye, betwixt eternity before, and eternity after; how much less is any short life… When I look forward to the crown, all vanishes.” (Archbishop Robert Leighton, 1611-1684, p. 338) 

“In conspectu aeternitatis” is Latin shorthand. “In view of eternity.” I’ve plenty to do in retirement but at the top of the list is learning to savor the little things of this short, creaturely life. Little things that so often are about love, anticipations now of what the God of love has prepared for us eternally (1 John 4:8; 1 Corinthians 2:9).  Diane wanted that caramel pastry for me.     

The Meyer Minute for October 20, 2020

“Hi, Opa!” “Hi, Jacob. Oma and I are always glad to see you, even if it’s on Facetime. We want to get this Covid thing over so we can come and see you in person. Anyway, you had a great baseball game Sunday.” Silence. 

“Nothing to say? Tell our friends what you did in your game.” “I got three hits and scored a run.” “Lots of base running! Your Mom said you also hit a bomb, but it was caught. She sent us the video. You’re doing great for a seven-year-old.” 

“The Bible says…” “Opa, don’t preach!” “The Bible says, ‘While bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). Sports are great, but greatest is knowing Jesus. He’s our ‘home’ run.” 

“Huh? Opa, I’m going.” “Wait. What’s your uniform number?” “Seven.” “Great number! Mickey Mantle wore number 7. He was a slugger too. He hit 536 home runs and was on the All-Star team 20 times. And what’s the name of your team?” “The White Sox.” “Super, my favorite team.”  

And he’s off. They grow up so fast. Don’t you see it with your own grandchildren? The Roman poet Juvenal said, “Mens sana in corpore sano,” “a sound mind in a sound body” (Satire 10.356).  “Train up a child in the way he should go…” (Proverbs 22:6). Sports can teach a young person that life’s way is longer and harder than running the basepath. Taking kids to church teaches The Way. “I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father” (2 John 4). 

The Meyer Minute for October 19, 2020

Balance is important in life, balance between work and family time, between crowds and solitude, and for us Christians, balance between life experiences and trust in the good promises of God (2 Corinthians 5:7). Covid-19 has terribly upended our balance. 

Yesterday the calendar of the church offered help toward balance. October 18 is the day of “St. Luke, Evangelist.” Called an “evangelist,” Luke was also a physician. The pandemic is worsening throughout the nation. Dr. David Tannehill of Franklin County, Missouri, said, “All of us in the ICU recognize how much stress everybody is feeling. It’s been stressful for six months, and it’s not going away. And there’s a chance it might get a whole lot worse” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 18; A10). It will. Dr. Michael Osterholm of the University of Minnesota says, “the next six to 12 weeks are going to be the darkest of the entire pandemic” (“Meet the Press,” October 18). “Luke, the beloved physician,” as St. Paul called him (Colossians 4:14), gives us occasion to thank doctors and all medical people who are giving themselves for our health and sanity. They are in God’s service for our good. Says nurse Annie Denison, “I was going towards what everybody else was running away from” (Post-Dispatch; A10).  

We commemorate St. Luke for his work as an evangelist. He wrote the third Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, over 25 percent of the New Testament. Remembering this doctor of body and soul, we can attain better balance. The Gospel for his day is the sending the 72, Luke 10:1-9. Jesus’ instructions include “Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you’” (verse 9). That is, heal to point people to Me, Jesus. Be it health or illness, our bodily conditions remind us we are creatures who should pray our Creator to be our deliverer in time and for eternity. As we thank medical people, we also thank our pastors and church workers for their care and creativity in bringing us the promises of God during this time of national crisis. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26). 

Lord, balance our anxieties with Your reassuring promises. Amen.

The Meyer Minute for October 16, 2020

Such timing! Congregations that use the traditional lectionary readings will offer worshippers an election special this Sunday. “Then the Pharisee went and plotted how to entangle him in his words…. ‘Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?’ But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ They said, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s’” (Matthew 22:15, 17-21). 

Separation of church and state, right? Maybe not as much as we think. Dr. Jeffrey Gibbs asks some commonsense questions. “Pay Caesar what is his and God what is his? Does Caesar own some things that do not belong to God? Are there things that are not the rightful property of the God of Israel, whose reign is invading the world through Jesus? No. Perceiving a balance in Jesus’ response results in an understanding foreign to the Gospel of Matthew.” (Concordia Commentary, 1125). 

Our separation of church and state would have been inconceivable to people in the first century Roman Empire. The head of government, Tiberius Caesar, was also the chief priest of Roman religion. Prayers and sacrifices were offered to him for the welfare of all. The Greek word for “Gospel” was applied to Caesar himself! Religion and public culture weren’t compartmentalized as they are for us. Therein is the twist for Sunday’s worship. 

Gibbs: “Pushing aside the designs of his opponents, Jesus’ last words carry the weight of his response: pay God’s things to God! What can this mean? To pay to God what belongs to God is to behold the man who stands in their midst and to know whose Son he truly is and to follow him because in him the reign of God has come near. To give to God what is God’s is to repent and to follow his Son in trusting and obedient discipleship” (1126). 

Do we get entangled in the Pharisees’ trick if we separate God’s rule from us when we vote? “‘He catches the wise in their craftiness,’ and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’ … You are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:19-20, 23). 

The Meyer Minute for October 15, 2020

Many months ago, I was asked for a list of my favorite hymns. What is it that makes a hymn your favorite? Of all on my list, the top hymn is “Awake, My Heart, with Gladness.” One reason is that this Easter hymn tells me why I can always be calm, always upbeat. 

“This is a sight that gladdens—What peace it doth impart! 

Now nothing ever saddens / The joy within my heart. 

No gloom shall ever shake, / No foe shall ever take 

The hope which God’s own Son / In love for me has won. 

“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.” 

Almost every day this melody and many of its words are in my mind. What makes that happen? With this hymn the answer may be an impressionable youth. When Mom and Dad took us to church Easter Sunday, this was always, always the very first hymn sung. Sung and sunk into my life. Been there ever since. Says something about teaching hymns to children. 

“Now I will cling forever / To Christ, my Savior true; 

My Lord will leave me never, / Whate’er He passes through. 

He rends death’s iron chain; He break through sin and pain; 

He shatters hell’s grim thrall; I follow Him through all.” 

(Lutheran Service Book 467: 3, 5, 7).