The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for November 23, 2020

What are you thankful for? In this awful year, there are no flip answers to that question. There’s much we can complain about but, whatever our answers, our answers will lay bare our hearts. 

Giving thanks is not unique to Christians. All people are God’s people, and the Creator planted in all people a sense for Himself and the eternal, whether we acknowledge Him or not.  A subset of all people is nominal Christians. Names on church rolls, occasional attendance at services, these people are thankful, but less from the heart, more from conventional lip service. This week still others, praying you and I are among them, understand what Martin Luther meant when he said, “We are all beggars.”   

From the prophet Habakkuk: “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God the Lord is my strength” (Habakkuk 3:17-19). 

No one likes the terrible trials of 2020, but we beggars trust that through this ordeal our faith is being refined. There is “a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 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 1:5-7). 

“We worship You, God of our fathers, we bless You;  

Through trial and tempest our guide You have been. 

When perils o’ertake us, You will not forsake us, 

And with Your help, O Lord, our struggles we win. 

“With voices united our praises we offer  

And gladly our songs of thanksgiving we raise. 

With You, Lord, beside us, Your strong arm will guide us. 

To you, our great Redeemer, forever be praise” 

(Lutheran Service Book, 785:2,3).  

“What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits to me? I will offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call on the name of the Lord” (Psalm 116:12-13).   

The Meyer Minute for November 20, 2020

The “Beltline” is a main street in Collinsville. The other day cars were lined up on the shoulder, unusual because the stores on the Beltline have ample parking. Ah, they were lined up for a drive-through Covid test. This morning’s New York Times shows a far greater lineup of cars outside of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, all waiting to be tested. 

In Sunday’s Gospel lesson, Jesus previews the final judgment, sheep and goats lined up for the verdict, not if you have Covid but will you receive the heavenly inheritance (Matthew 25:31-46). That’s a deceptive passage. I don’t mean Jesus is being deceptive; what’s deceptive is how we hear it. Because Jesus presents it as something future, we hear it as “not now but yet to come, someday.” That’s where Jesus’ enemy, the devil tricks us. “And if 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). Latch onto the present tense, “who judges impartially.” You and I are being judged right now by God. People in line for the test already have Covid or do not. When your final judgment comes, it’s already been decided. 

God’s judgment is according to works. People stumble at the Athanasian Creed, “those who have done good will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evil into eternal fire,” but it’s true, taught by Matthew 25 and many other passages. The standard of judgment is the commandments, “do this and you shall live” (Luke 10:28). Obey authorities God has placed over you” (Fourth Commandment). Help the life and health of others (Fifth Commandment). Honor marriage and be sexually pure (Sixth Commandment). Don’t damage others’ property (Seventh Commandment). Don’t say or post what hurts another’s reputation (Eighth Commandment). How’s America doing on all that right now? On earth, history will judge us. In the final line, God already has evidence against us. 

Which would bring us to despair if we didn’t have Jesus. “I am Jesus’ little 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” (Lutheran Service Book, 740:3). There’s nothing left for us now except to do good to others. “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40). Our Covid conduct is being watched. 

The Meyer Minute for November 19, 2020

My creative juices weren’t flowing this morning. Usually I have a theological idea the day before posting a Minute, and then come morning I watch the news or scan the newspapers to find something to make my theological thought “sizzle.” Our lives are so media saturated with short and showy that a preacher needs something to invite people into deeper thinking. Not my idea; goes back at least to St. Augustine. 

This morning nothing seemed new in the news. Pundits plowed the same ground. And those stupid commercials! Most obnoxious to me is the GMC commercial with a young couple. She pops into the kitchen and presents him with matching jewelry, which he trumps by taking her outside to show her the two GMCs he bought. All this in front of a million-dollar modern architecture house. Who lives that way?  Then it hit me.  

There’s nothing mysterious, nothing sublime in life today. Covid-19 has worn us down. As those of “humble estate” were exalted in Mary’s day (Luke 1:46-55), our exhausted spirits need to be lifted high. Longinus, an otherwise unknown first century author, wrote “On the Sublime.” Talking about public speaking, he says, “nothing contributes so decisively to the grand style as a noble emotion in the right setting, when it forces its way to the surface in a gust of frenzy, and breathes a kind of divine inspiration into the speaker’s words” (chapter 8). We are not getting, not going to get “noble emotion” from most of today’s surround sound media.   

The sublime, Longinus said, “breathes a kind of divine inspiration.” He found an example in Moses. “So too the lawgiver of the Jews, no ordinary person, having formed a high conception of the power of the Divine Being, gave expression to it when at the very beginning of his Laws he wrote: ‘God said’ – what? ‘Let there be light, and there was light; let there be land, and there was land.’” (chapter 9). 

“Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these?” (Isaiah 40:26). “God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). “Great indeed is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory” (1 Timothy 3:16). Lift us, Church! 

The Meyer Minute for November 18, 2020

I’m filled with contradictions about God. Yes, “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to” (2 Timothy 1:12), but how real is God to me as I go about the day’s activities? How is it for other church people?  

 

“In short, the modern world quite literally “manages” without God. We can do so much so well by ourselves that there is no need for God, even in his church. Thus we modern people can be profoundly secular in the midst of explicitly religious activities. Which explains why so many modern Christian believers are atheists unawares. Professing to believe in supernatural realities, they are virtual atheists; whatever they say they believe, they show in practice that they function without practical recourse to the supernatural…. The call to follow Jesus Christ runs directly counter to this deadly modern pressure toward secularization.” (Os Guinness, The Call, 149)  

 

I’m deep into study and beginning serious writing for the Concordia Commentary on 1 Peter. He wrote to people like us, Christians being strongly influenced by a culture that gave, at best, lip-service to the gods. Here’s part of Peter’s advice to us who sometimes play the hypocrite. First, you are being judged right now for how you are living “You call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds.” Therefore, second, make it your business to obey His commandments. “Be holy in all your conduct.” Third, fear God. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). Fourth, there’s more to the fear of God: “Knowing that you were ransomed…not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Peter 1: ). Finally, because of Jesus, be filled with hope. “Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13-19).  

 

Martin Luther: “It is impossible to hope in God unless one has despaired regarding all creatures and knows that nothing can profit oneself without God. Since there is no person who has this pure hope…and since we still place some confidence in the creature, it is clear that we must, because of impurity in all things, fear the judgment of God” (Heidelberg Disputation, 11). “Soon, and very soon we are going to see the King.” 

 

 

The Meyer Minute for November 18, 2020

I’m filled with contradictions about God. Yes, “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to” (2 Timothy 1:12), but how real is God to me as I go about the day’s activities? How is it for other church people?  

 

“In short, the modern world quite literally “manages” without God. We can do so much so well by ourselves that there is no need for God, even in his church. Thus we modern people can be profoundly secular in the midst of explicitly religious activities. Which explains why so many modern Christian believers are atheists unawares. Professing to believe in supernatural realities, they are virtual atheists; whatever they say they believe, they show in practice that they function without practical recourse to the supernatural…. The call to follow Jesus Christ runs directly counter to this deadly modern pressure toward secularization.” (Os Guinness, The Call, 149)  

 

I’m deep into study and beginning serious writing for the Concordia Commentary on 1 Peter. He wrote to people like us, Christians being strongly influenced by a culture that gave, at best, lip-service to the gods. Here’s part of Peter’s advice to us who sometimes play the hypocrite. First, you are being judged right now for how you are living “You call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds.” Therefore, second, make it your business to obey His commandments. “Be holy in all your conduct.” Third, fear God. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). Fourth, there’s more to the fear of God: “Knowing that you were ransomed…not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Peter 1: ). Finally, because of Jesus, be filled with hope. “Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13-19).  

 

Martin Luther: “It is impossible to hope in God unless one has despaired regarding all creatures and knows that nothing can profit oneself without God. Since there is no person who has this pure hope…and since we still place some confidence in the creature, it is clear that we must, because of impurity in all things, fear the judgment of God” (Heidelberg Disputation, 11). “Soon, and very soon we are going to see the King.” 

 

 

The Meyer Minute for November 16, 2020

I’m an early riser, insanely early, the stars still shine brightly. “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul” (Psalm 143:8). For Hebrews the day began at sundown, rest came before work, family before contending with other people. Before you awoke this morning, God was restoring you.  

“Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love.” How do you “hear” of God’s steadfast love? It must be what Elijah finally heard after the noise of earthquake and fire, the “still, small voice” of God assuring him it will be well (1 Kings 19:12). The voice so gentle it’s easily drowned out by the babel of news and entertainment on TV and internet. Why do we let them fill the tapes that play in our heads? “In quietness and trust shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). 

The psalmist remembered better days in the past. Can you read Psalm 143 and not think of the days before Covid? “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands” (5). It’s not just pre-Covid I’d like back. It’s all the days of youth, of energy equal to the demands of the day, of sunshine and spring. “Remember the Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them'” (Ecclesiastes 12:1). I disagree. In troubled times, in aging, “We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.” “I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails!” (6-7).  

My Lord Jesus prayed this psalm, this prayer. Probably in the morning. He too was an early riser, under the same stars I see in the darkness. “For your name’s sake, O Lord,” he prayed, “preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!” (11). His Father answered that prayer. After death, resurrection. After today, a brighter tomorrow. No to that verse from Ecclesiastes, there is pleasure even in these days, turning it all over to God. “Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8). 

The Meyer Minute for November 13, 2020

Some weeks ago, I wrote that Diane and I had returned to in-person church. I’ve had people tell me they appreciated that because they also were conflicted, they love going to church but caution told them not to worship in person. There are legitimate constitutional arguments to be made pro and con for the state forbidding in-person worship during a pandemic. What concerns me more is making in-person worship a litmus test if a church member is faithful, or not. 

“Don’t you believe in God? Won’t He keep you safe? ‘We must obey God rather than men’ (Acts 5:29).”  

“Ah, but I’m wary about going. I’ll watch the stream. I’ll do my devotions, but look at the rising numbers. Listen to medical experts. Right now I’m scared.” 

“What does the Bible say? “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).   

Let’s think this through. First, 1 John 4 is talking about God’s love casting out fear of punishment for our sins, not the fears that come from the perils of daily life. Many things threaten us in this fallen world, not just sin. So we take all our fears to our heavenly Father, our "very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). When we do, our emotion becomes awe that God will help us, His beloved but fearful creatures. That’s what the Bible calls the “fear of the Lord,” “the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10).  

Second, attending in-person worship doesn’t save us. Jesus’ Word does. In worship God comes to us through His Word and Sacrament, which work faith and Christian growth in us, and so our normal should be, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!” (Psalm 122:1). But these aren’t normal times. People wary of group worship can trust God’s working through the Word streamed and read in devotion.  

Third, we should be careful about burdening the consciences of believers. Many faithful churchgoers substituted virtual for in-person out of respect for authorities placed over us, faithfulness to the Fourth Commandment. It’s also a Fifth Commandment issue. Shall a person with pre-existing conditions put his/her life at risk when Fourth Commandment authorities have told him/her to avoid crowds? Shall I go and risk the health of another? Martin Luther said, “it cannot be either safe or honest for a Christian to speak against his conscience.”  

“God be with you ‘til we meet again.”  

The Meyer Minute for November 11, 2020

This morning’s newspapers, we get three delivered, all have front page stories honoring veterans and reporting today’s observances. Some photos and many words. True eloquence is often briefer, and certainly more memorable. If you visit the Department of Veteran’s Affairs in Washington D.C., as I once was privileged to do, you see a plaque at the main entrance. “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” The quotation, from Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address, has put in my mind that honoring those who serve, just like saving faith in religion, shows itself in works. 

On another trip to D.C., I visited the Viet Nam Memorial. Conversation among the visitors to the wall was quiet, subdued. Some people were tracing out the names of family and friends to take home, making this day of honor something to be daily in their homes. Not far from the wall stands a sculpture group, “The Three Soldiers,” three servicemen in combat gear from different ethnic backgrounds. I was keeping a distance, but an older couple went right up to the stature group. The wife urged her husband to stand near the statues so she could take a picture of him with the statues as background. He motioned “no.” It was too solemn a moment.   

Martin Luther, born November 10th was baptized the same day and given the name “Martin” after Martin of Tours, whose feast day is today, the 11th. Legend has it that when Martin met a poorly dressed beggar, he took his military sword, cut his cloak in half, and gave half to the cold beggar. That good work was motivated by love. What follows may first seem strange.  While there are many reasons why our veterans served, Christian faith sees military service as a demonstration of love. Martin Luther put it famously, “Christians live not in themselves but in Christ and their neighbor. Otherwise they are not Christian. They live in Christ through faith, in their neighbor through love. By faith they are caught up beyond themselves into God. By love they descend beneath themselves into their neighbor.” (Freedom of a Christian, 1520). 

Today we display the flag on our front porch, and take in the many photos and countless words, but it’s in quiet reflection we best honor our veterans. And with good works: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” 

The Meyer Minute for November 10, 2020

“God is good all the time” is a faith statement I’ve heard from many Christians. “All the time?” With oh so much bad going on in our world, you might wonder. Martin Luther was born on this date in 1483. Here’s what he says about 1 Peter 3:15, “In your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy.” 

“This is the procedure: You must sanctify Him in your hearts, says St. Peter; that is, when our Lord God sends us something—whether good or bad, whether it benefits or hurts, whether it is shame, honor, good fortune, or misfortune—I should consider this not only good but also holy, and I should say: ‘This is pure precious holiness, and I am not worthy of being touched by it.’ Thus the prophet says in Ps. 145:17: ‘The Lord is just in all His ways, and holy in all His doings.’ When in such maters I give praise to God and regard such works as good, holy and precious, I sanctify Him in my heart.  

“But those who run to the lawbooks, complain of suffering wrong, and say that God is sleeping and does not want to aid what is right and to prevent what is wrong—they dishonor God and do not consider Him just or holy. But he who is a Christian should say that God is in the right and that he himself is in the wrong, and he should regard God as holy and himself as not holy. They should say that God is holy and right in everything He does. God wants this. Thus the prophet Daniel says…, ‘Lord, everything Thou hast done for us Thou didst do on the basis of right and truthful judgment, for we have sinned. Therefore let the shame be ours, and let the honor and praise be Thine.’  

“If we sing, ‘Thanks be to God’ and ‘Thee, God, we praise,’ and say, ‘God be praised and blessed’ when misfortune strikes us—that is what Peter and Isaiah call sanctifying the Lord properly.” (Luther’s Works, 30, 103-104). 

The Meyer Minute for November 9, 2020

The Meyer Minute for November 9, 2020 

There’s Law and there’s Gospel. Each has different effects. The Gospel, the main preoccupation of the Church, brings us peace. “Peace I leave with you,” says Jesus, but then our Teacher draws a sharp contrast, “not as the world gives do I give to you” (John 14:27). The world gives us strife. That’s because people pursue their own self-interest, whatever that might be. Witness our election drama.  

The apostle Peter wrote to Christians who were a miniscule minority within the larger Roman society of Asia Minor. They were afraid that the majority would inflict its will on these minority Christians, not only to their disadvantage but even to their physical harm. True, the Christians were generally doing no wrong, but they were shunned, and rabble rousers could easily stir up popular will to inflict harm on them. Christians could not appeal to a Bill of Rights; they were at the mercy of those in power.  

It’s original sin that prompts people to seek their own self-interest, which is not the way of Jesus, but people do it, sometimes we Christians included. People with like interests come together, what James Madison called “factions,” and seek to exercise influence and power over others. In the Roman Empire when Peter wrote, power was raw. There was no constitutional check on self-serving human nature except whoever had more power.   

The framers of our Constitution saw the effects if fallen human nature is not checked. “As long as the reason of man continues fallible, and he is at liberty to exercise it, different opinions will be formed…. The latent (hidden) causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man.” That shows itself in various ways, including,  “an attachment to different leaders, ambitiously contending for pre-eminence and power” and this, among other causes, has “divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other, than to cooperate for their common good.” (James Madison, “The Federalist,” No. 10).  

When Peter wanted to join a public fight, Jesus told him to put away his sword (Matthew 26:52). The figurative “swords” are out in our national drama, but we’re different, “peculiar” people (1 Peter 2:9). How can we be peacemakers? “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4).