The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for October 13, 2021

Disappointed this 13^th, unlucky 13^th day of October. My Chicago White Sox were eliminated in their American League Championship Series playoff. Congratulations to the Houston Astros for outplaying the Sox but you dashed our hopes. After a thorough rebuild of the team, a core group of young stars, sights set on the World Series, a full stadium of fans in black saw the Sox go down.

You live, you’ll be disappointed. Following our five grandsons, our hearts break when disappointments in school and sports bring them to tears. Life seems to move cruelly on, and we experience hurts deeper and more bitter than sports. A young parent dies of cancer, lifetime savings are defrauded, a love walks out on you, despite all your effort a career goal is not met, and on and on. Sometimes we’re disappointed because people act unjustly. Sometimes because others show no mercy. Other times there is no explanation. Sports is a metaphor for life, and losing a game reflects greater disappointments that come to us all.

Students were talking yesterday about things they are struggling through. “You can’t control things,” they said, but I disagreed a bit. You can control how you react. Somewhere Oswald Chambers wrote that we shouldn’t be surprised by disappointments because we’re imperfect sinners living in a broken world. Disappointments should be refining times when faith responds with acceptance and a look toward tomorrow. That a Christian meets disappointment with hope shows that God is already breaking in with something better, and Christian hope thrives on the full revelation that is coming, when “Perfect love and friendship reign through all eternity” (Lutheran Service Book, 649:5). The Sox will be back next year!

The Meyer Minute for October 12, 2021

Have you ridden on a yellow school bus? Not too comfortable. Hard seats. Straight backs. Little leg room. Adults would rather take a luxury coach. The Law of God is like a yellow school bus. Thou shalt. Thou shalt not. Do this, and we strive to do it, but often not perfectly. Don’t do this, but sometimes we do what we are not supposed to do. There are rewards for how you perform in work and life, and there are punishments. You feel the bumps at work, in family life, at school, just from living. All these bumps, the effects of the Law in our lives, have a purpose. To bring you and me to confess our sinfulness, our total inability to save ourselves now or for eternity. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). 

“Before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:23-24). “The law was our guardian.” The Greek word for guardian was a slave who led the master’s children to school. So, think yellow school bus taking children to where they learn good things. Every day we experience the consequences of being sinners in a fallen world, feel the bumps of life, and are eager to get off the Law bus and go to Gospel School.

Jesus greets us and says, “Come unto me.” Gospel school is wherever Jesus teaches us His words of forgiveness, help, and hope. The Law brings you to Gospel School at church on Sundays. The Law brings you to Gospel School every day when you have your devotions. At Gospel school our teacher Jesus says, “I forgive you. I will teach you the way of faith, the way to heaven, and give you grace for daily life.”

You’ve probably heard the nursery ditty: “The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round. The wheels on the bus go round and round all day long.” Every day for Christians is Law and Gospel, “all day long.” The best times of every day are when the bumps of the day bring us to see Jesus welcoming us to Gospel School.

The Meyer Minute for October 11, 2021

In yesterday’s Gospel (Mark 10:17-22), a rich young man told Jesus he had kept all the commandments, and in an outward way he probably had. The heart, however, is a different thing, and that’s where God looks, at your heart. To make a whole-hearted disciple, Jesus told the rich man to sell everything and follow Him. Should we do that too? “Unite my heart to fear your name” (Psalm 86:11).

Can we just say Jesus is speaking figuratively? You really don’t have to get rid of everything, but do “love the Lord your God all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). But is that a way to have our cake and eat it too? “You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). My opinion: Jesus means it literally, and sincere Christians are indeed doing what Jesus says.

Everything we are and have has been given to us, ultimately by our Creator and Redeemer. Believing that, we give money to the work of the church and acquire and use possessions for family and friends, the second great commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:30). Sure, we also use money to indulge ourselves, but the Spirit continues to sanctify the Christian trajectory of our lives to give it all away. Isn’t that what your will and estate plan do? Provide for family, charity, and church? “Lord, I’ve signed the documents giving it all away.” Following Jesus, don’t we zero out worldly mammon as we move toward eternity with God? “I will give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever” (Psalm 86:12).

The Meyer Minute for October 8, 2021

Second thoughts led Dr. Daniela Lamas to write an editorial titled, “My Patient Didn’t Need Honesty” (New York Times, October 7; A17). I’m glad she wrote about it, and should she ever be my doctor, I will ask her to tell me the truth.

A critical care doctor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Dr. Lamas writes about a man diagnosed with colon cancer, which might have been cured but he refused to face reality. Untreated for many months, “he arrived in our unit one night last winter, his cheeks were gaunt, his body wasted and abdomen protruding. He was also angry.” When she gave her grave prognosis, “he lashed out. There was nothing wrong with him, he insisted.”

Dr. Lamas persisted, which she second-guesses, but the truth is what I would want my doctor to share. “‘I wish there were something we could do, but the cancer is too advanced. You’re dying.’ …he turned his head away, as if to avoid my words. I pressed on. ‘It could be hours now. I don’t think you will make it through the night.’ He yelled, ‘Get out!’ with all that his failing body could muster. He didn’t want any more of our lies.” “Denial was my patient’s only defense mechanism. And as soon as the words left my mouth, I realized how cruel it was to take this defense from him in the final hours of his life.”

As death approaches, we have nothing, our only hope is Jesus Christ. The implanted word has taught us we cannot deny our end, and raging against death is futile. I’m thankful for caring doctors like Dr. Lamas but also thank the Spirit for every person, every family member, every pastor who comes to a bedside with hope in the death and resurrection of Christ. “If death my portion be, / It brings great gain to me; / It speeds my life’s endeavor / To live with Christ forever. / He gives me joy in sorrow, / Come death now or tomorrow.” (Lutheran Service Book, 745:3). Dr. Arnold Kuntz: “Life narrows down and crisis comes. And suddenly only one thing matters, and there, in the narrow place, stands Jesus.”

The Meyer Minute for October 7, 2021

Jesus, ascended and at the right hand of God, is overseeing all things for the good of His Church. Theologian N.T. Wright likens it to Jesus being in the world’s control room. How’s it turning out? Quinnipiac reports that 72% of Americans polled from October 1 through 4 are not satisfied with the way things are going in America. Seminary chapel and Sunday worshippers regularly pray for the nation and our leaders, but is the control room hearing our prayers?

Timothy Snyder is a history professor at Yale University. Interviewed today on “Morning Joe,” he said two things that perked up my thoughts. First, we should spend less time in front of screens, but here you and I are, in front of our screens. Less time on line, he said; more time reading newspapers. Which leads to the second point that got into my head. Professor Snyder said we need to pay much more attention to local news than we do today. As a kid, I delivered “The Chicago Heights Star,” all the local news, but no more. Here in Collinsville we used to have “The Collinsville Herald,” but no more. The best we get is the Belleville News-Democrat, as thin as a newspaper can be and very, very limited on our town’s news. TV? “Local news” means the metropolitan region, which usually doesn’t include Collinsville. What do let into our heads? National news, world news, metro news, or no news. Nothing about the city council, local police reports, local economy, and so on.

How well is Jesus is guiding? If I reflect upon my personal life, our family, our congregation, and what I experience in our town, it’s going well. Are there challenges? Of course. Sin and evil, temptations and trials, godless people and injustice, illness and death are all around, but the word of the Lord Jesus is enabling me to cope. A cartoon, sorry I can’t read the artist’s name, shows a man hoping to enter heaven. St. Peter says, “Actually, you had a pretty great life, but you were looking down at your phone and you missed it.” Good people are in mass media but one result is we’re easily deceived into being dissatisfied. If all politics is local, so is Christian living. Jesus in the control room is indeed taking good care of His people.  

The Meyer Minute for October 6, 2021

Redeeming Technology: A Christian Approach to Healthy Digital Habits” has just been released by Concordia Publishing House. Written by Brian Smith, a psychiatrist, and Trevor Sutton, a pastor, this release could not be more timely.

Whistleblower Francis Haugen testified yesterday before a Senate consumer protection subcommittee. “I’m here today because I believe Facebook’s products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy. The company’s leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer but won’t make the necessary changes.” Lawmakers “asked how Facebook had amplified dangerous speech leading to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, how misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines spread on its services, and how false information contributed to ethnic violence in Ethiopia and Myanmar” (New York Times, October 6; A1, 22). “Ms. Haugen’s documents show that Facebook understands its impact on teens but has done little about it. According to its internal research, 82% of teens experienced emotional issues in the last month, including poor body image, anxiety and depression” (Wall Street Journal, October 6; A16).

It’s high time for church people to get earnest and study the impact of digital communication upon us. Think it doesn’t influence you? “Technology affects us all. We are all citizens of a brave new world. No one is impervious to the influences of technology and nonstop media stimulation. Even if you are a Luddite, technology is still influencing your mental, physical, and spiritual health. Not only is modern technology profoundly shaping the world, but it is also rapidly altering bodies and souls—transforming brains, relationships, religion, communication, families, and communities. Like the proverbial frog in the pot, we are marinating in a digital media environment, largely unaware of the temperature rising around us until we are boiled. Like it or not, we are all in the pot together” (“Redeeming Technology,” 16).

The impact upon our religious life is profound. To put it in old-fashioned language, this is affecting the salvation of souls for whom Christ gave His life and now gives His Spirit to have life and have it abundantly. Yesterday I gave a copy of this new book to each of the students in my preaching class. May every pastor and every caring Christian have this on their radar screen. Thank you, Concordia Publishing House. 

The Meyer Minute for October 4, 2021

One of my Bible reading problems is who is wicked? The “wicked” show up in many psalms, Psalm 10, for example. “In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor” (verse 2). You think of drug dealers, sex traffickers, gang members, heartless people who do violence to others. They are out there alright, but does talk of the wicked apply to us who live relatively safe and secure lives?

Psalm 10 redefines my definition of wicked people. They scheme (2), are driven by desires (3), are greedy for gain (3), proud (4), bluster, successful (5), and could care less about God. “There is no God” (4). I see people like that all the time. These are people in all our lives who live without fear of God. “There is no God” (4). God has forgotten” (11). “You will not call to account” (13). Wicked in these ways are all around us. Now the psalm becomes relevant, it begins to feed my devotional musing. So many think, “‘God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” Seems to go that way in life, right? People in media and daily life, people who will never go to jail, scheme, are greedy, succeed, and so much more without God.

“But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands” (13-14). How does God do this? Christians meditate upon the psalms in light of Jesus Christ. “Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none” (15). That was the cross. All wickedness, our sins as well, were called to account and punished. That said, what about now? “Why, O Lord, do you stand afar off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (1). Is the cross only history? Where is hope?  Our devotion and yearning look forward to the Last Day, Judgment Day upon every wickedness and sin, the day when God decisively and eternally ends evil. “Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted” (12). God is now breaking into a wicked world through the Gospel the Church proclaims. No small part of our preaching is the Day when “man who is of the earth may strike terror no more” (17). 

The Meyer Minute for October 1, 2021

Happy October 1^st, changing leaves, cooler, sweatshirt weather, love it! Nature’s changes are prominent in the psalms, occasions to praise the Creator’s incomprehensible greatness. So it was, but today? We compartmentalize everything, and we easily limit God’s presence to church.  

From medieval monk, Brother Lawrence: “The most holy practice, the nearest to daily life, and the most essential for the spiritual life, is the practice of the presence of God, that is to find joy in his divine company and to make it a habit of life, speaking humbly and conversing lovingly with him at all times, every moment, without rule or restriction, above all at times of temptation, distress, dryness, and revulsion, and even of faithlessness and sin” (“The Practice of the Presence of God,” 68). Isn’t that another way of saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”? (Matthew 22:37).  

Reflecting on his life, St. Augustine does what we often don’t. He makes every issue a conversation with God. For example, “Thanks to you, my God. Whence and whither have you led my memory, that I should confess such things as these to you? For great as they were, I had forgetfully passed them over. And yet at that time, when the sweet savor of your ointment was so fragrant, I did not run after you. Therefore, I wept more bitterly as I listened to your hymns, having so long panted after you” (“Confessions,” 9.7.16).  

Did you notice that “the practice of the presence of God,” as Brother Lawrence called it, was something that Augustine had to develop? To his natural aging Augustine added intentional effort to see God present in every moment of his life. That the saving grace of God through Christ is free, not in any way earned, should increase our desire to know His presence in every moment of life. Thus, October becomes an invitation not just to enjoy nature but to marvel in the cathedral of God’s creation. “He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills” and so much more. “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love” (Psalm 147:8, 11). “Abide with me! I need Thy presence every passing hour.”