The Meyer Minute

May 2010

May 3

Today oil begins to hit Louisiana wetlands and an ecological catastrophe is underway. Oil rigs like the Deepwater Horizon are really towers of which we only see the top. One of the tallest towers in the world is an oil rig, the Petronius Platform in the Gulf of Mexico. It rises 2,000 feet above the ocean floor.

The most famous tower in the Bible is the Tower of Babel. “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.” (Genesis 11:4) That didn’t sit well with the Almighty, who confused their language and scattered the tower builders all over the earth. Towers can show the heights of human genius but also lure us to forget our fallibility.

We’re not nomads. We live in civilization, towers and all, but the fall of towers reminds us that our greatest works are always flawed because they’re the work of sinners. When a tower in Siloam collapsed, killing 18 people, Jesus drew a moral. “Do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you;’ but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:4-5)

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 111:10)

May 4

As you know, law enforcement officials found a car bomb Saturday night in Times Square. From the White House down to the NYPD, government officials are all over it.

Did you know? From Genesis to Revelation you can find theocracies, monarchies, republics, empires, dictatorships and even times of anarchy. Maybe that’s why Romans 13 distills the responsibilities of government down to basics. “Rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad…. If you do wrong, be afraid, for he (government) does not bear the sword in vain. For he (government) is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” Whatever the form of government, God wants it to protect people from wrongdoers, including car bombers.

Pray for government, Paul says, “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life…. This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:2-5) Scary as car bombs and terrorism are, thank You, God! Bless government’s temporal care for all people so that the church can witness to our eternal peace, Jesus Christ!

May 5

Shift the blame, that’s our human heritage. Adam said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:12) Ever since it’s been, “Don’t blame me! It’s not my fault.”

Consider Greece. One out of three Greeks is employed in government civil service, jobs guaranteed for life. That’s entitlement gone wild. The shadow economy, payments you don’t report to the government, is about 25%. By comparison, the shadow economy in the United States is about 8%. The Greek government is losing $30 billion a year to tax evaders. Slow national suicide, so Prime Minister Papandreou announced $32 billion dollars of cuts in government spending. Not in my backyard! Today strikes are being held in Greece to protest government cutbacks. Emily Tomaidis, 29-years-old says, “This crisis is not my fault, I won’t accept these austerity measures.” (New York Times, May 2; A13)

Some time in growing up, we realize it is our problem, whether we caused it or not. It surely wasn’t Jesus’ problem but He took our sins upon Himself to save us. Are we like Jesus, taking other peoples’ problems upon ourselves? Or are you like our father Adam? “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

May 6

Barbara Brown Taylor writes about a friend whose father, a mechanic, died from a heart attack. “He kept a clean shop, and before he went home at night he scrubbed his hands with a boar’s bristle brush, washing away the grime of the day. But as careful as he was, his hands stayed stained in places, and it was that my friend was looking for. Turning his father’s big hand over in his own, he saw the motor oil in the fingerprints, the calluses dark from years of hauling engines, and he smiled. ‘It’s him,’ he said. ‘They tried to clean him up, but look, they couldn’t. It’s my daddy. It’s really him.” (in Paul Scott Wilson, “Setting Words on Fire,” p. 23)

Morticians try to make us look good in death…just as we try to make ourselves look good to others in life…but we are what we are. Only God makes us clean in life and in death. God, “being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” (Ephesians 2:4-5) We believe that, but it’s the grime, the grime of your work today, grime cleansed through faith in God’s forgiveness, that makes you a credible witness of His love to others.

May 7

This is the date of Germany's surrender in World War II. On the 5th, representatives of the German High Command came by train to Rheims, France. On the 7th at 2:30 a.m....yes, 2:30 a.m....they announced they were ready to sign the papers of surrender.

James Ballard was there. He had landed at Omaha Beach, was later wounded, and after recovering was assigned to the staff of Brigadier General "Beetle" Smith. It was serving Smith that young Ballard witnessed the surrender. He died last month, April 13th, at the age of 85.

His daughter Mary Ballard Deffenbaugh said, "It's hard for those of us so much younger to realize that his generation was pretty private about things. We talk about everything today. I wish Daddy had told me more stories. But he came from a time when people felt that some things are not meant to be spoken." ( Claire Martin, "The Denver Post," April 25; 34A)

"Still waters run deep." Some things are too horrible, other things should be too shameful to talk about. "The prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil" (Amos 5:13). The reserve of older people is something to emulate, not regret.

May 10

For this Monday after Mother's Day, consider what Martin Luther wrote about honoring parents.

"To fatherhood and motherhood God has given the special distinction...that He commands us not simply to love our parents but also to honor them. With respect to brothers, sisters, and neighbors in general He commands nothing higher than that we love them. Thus He distinguishes father and mother above all other persons on earth, and places them next to Himself.

"For it is a much greater thing to honor than to love. Honor includes not only love but also deference, humility, and modesty, directed (so to speak) toward a majesty hidden within them. It requires us not only to address them affectionately and reverently, but above all to show by our actions, both of heart and of body, that we respect them very highly and that next to God we give them the very highest place. Young people must therefore be taught to revere their parents as God's representatives."

May 11

Way up! Yesterday the Dow Jones went up 404 points. After big stock market declines in recent days, way up is great news. But why did the Dow rise so much? Because countries in the Euro zone finally committed to bailing out countries in debt trouble, like Greece, Spain, and others. Does this mean that European countries will get their act together? Not necessarily, no more than it means that America will clean up our own debt problem. It just means that today’s passing news encouraged the stock market. Tomorrow’s news may have a different psychological effect. Today’s investors may become tomorrow’s sellers.

So true to human nature! We opt for what will benefit us short term and put off long term reality. Put in place disciplines for your eternal salvation, disciplines like Bible reading, prayer, and church going? Or put them off to deal with today’s problems, lesser problems to be sure, but right now the problems in your face? “The time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.” (2 Timothy 4:3) The stock market moves on itching ears. Your eternal destiny depends upon prioritizing the one thing needful. Dear Lord, discipline us to invest our spiritual energies for our…way up...long-term benefit!

May 12

4:30 this morning… I needed to get to campus early but there no way I was going to venture out in this. A monstrous thunder storm was attacking our home in Collinsville. So I retreated to a cup of coffee and opened the Bible. Psalm 148 seemed appropriate, a psalm about nature. “Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do His bidding.” Hmmm…. This storm is doing God’s bidding? The older I get the more I fear bad weather. You’re scaring me, heavenly Father.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep….” (Genesis 1:1) How awe inspiring must that have been! “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” God asked Job. “Have you seen the storehouses of the hail? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed?” (from Job 38)

Meditating in the refuge of home, I was reminded again that I am a creature, limited and vulnerable. “I hear the mighty thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, how great Thou art!” Yes, the storm did God’s bidding.

May 13

Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest. In her newest paperback, “ Leaving Church ,” she recalls a time when she was overly busy. “My daily contact with creation had shrunk to the distance between my front door and the driveway.” At the end of those busy days, she took walks, but usually paid attention to nothing except the concrete ahead of her. “Only then did I smell the honeysuckle that had been there all along….” From that smell she draws the conclusion, which I borrow for my point today, “The same God who had breathed the world into being was still breathing” (p. 5).

“The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). Indeed, the sights and smells that surround you this spring day are God’s breath to you of the fullness of life.

Why did Ms. Brown miss it for so long? “The obvious answer was that I was a priest, with more crucial things to do than to go for a walk around the park.” How we religious forget our creaturely status! Our faith will be more appealing to others and vital to us if we go outdoors today and breath more slowly and more deeply.

May 14

The Psalmist prayed, "Have mercy on me, O God, for my enemies are hounding me; all day long they assault and oppress me" (Psalm 56:1).

Tomorrow, the 15th, is National Peace Officers Memorial Day. Many flags will be flown at half staff to honor the thousands of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. God routinely deals with us through intermediaries. Himself unseen, He works good in our lives through the people who pursue honorable careers of service to others. Police officers are such servants of God. Through them the psalmist's prayer is answered in our daily life and the enemies who would hound us, assault and oppress us are restrained.

Such mercies should not be taken for granted. That mighty empire, "Rome was a state without most of the institutions needed to run a state. There was no permanent civil service...The concept of a police force did not exist...All the authorities could do to enforce law and order was to hire their own ruffians." (Anthony Everitt, Cicero, p. 10f.)

So in this blessed country, let us lower our flags to half staff to honor the fallen and raise a prayer of thanks for the mercies God gives us through law enforcement officers.

May 17

Whoa! Last Thursday’s Minute totally missed the fact that it was Ascension Day. That’s easy to explain, of course. Unlike Christmas and Easter, Ascension gets no PR from the media and few churches have special Ascension Day services. So it never entered my mind until I went into the daily chapel service here at the Seminary, sat down, and slowly caught on. Did you wake up last Thursday and say, “Ah, Ascension Day!”?

There’s no shame in our slowness. The life of faith is not an easy way to live, though it is God’s way for us. When Jesus ascended, He withdrew His visible presence from us. The first disciples were left, as we are left, to trust the promises He makes. They were often slow to catch on, and I often plod along. “We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Are you coming? He asks. Here at Concordia we are blessed to have daily chapel services which help us lagging believers catch up. What do you have in your daily schedule that gets you in synch with the Spirit? A devotional book in your desk drawer? Christian teaching or music in your ear? We all woke up and knew today is Monday. What discipline will lift your spirit from mundane Monday? “Draw us to Thee!”

May 18

You’ll want to turn on the TV news this evening. They’ll be broadcasting some very interesting news segments about God. You’ll also be able to get these reports about God on the radio and internet. Even better, tonight’s segments are the first in a series of segments about God.

Ancient Israel started out as a theocracy, God governing the people through leaders like Moses and the priests. When Israel wanted to be like other nations and have a king, Samuel warned them about taxes and military drafts but still Israel wanted, and got, kings. Some were good; others bad. In the New Testament Israel was ruled by the mighty Roman Empire. Sometimes Rome was a kind overlord; others times not. With that long history of different kinds of governments, it’s not surprising that the Bible doesn’t say too much about how government should function. One thing the Bible does say very clearly is that government, whatever form it takes, “is God’s servant to do you good.” (Romans 13:4)

Which brings us back to tonight. In one way, tonight’s news reports about elections in Arkansas, Kentucky and Pennsylvania are about God. God’s purpose for our representative government is to be His “servant to do you good.” Stayed tuned to see how voters want good to be accomplished!

May 19

It’s graduation time and that can mean college pranks. In my college days some students emptied a classroom building of all its chairs and put them on the other side of a small lake. In the 1980s some students at Johns Hopkins, sick of school food, pilfered the cafeteria spoons and planted them in the quad. In 1965 students at the University of Virginia coaxed a 250 pound calf up and onto the roof of the famous domed pantheon designed by Thomas Jefferson. Thanks to Garrett Graff of the “Washingtonian” for those last two stories (May, 2010).

The patriarch Jacob was no stranger to trickery. Conniving with his mother, he stole the blessing of the firstborn from his older brother Esau. Jacob worked for 7 years to marry beautiful Rachel but when the veil was pulled back, surprise, Laban had slipped him Leah. And when Laban and Jacob divided their herd, Jacob’s trickery gave him the better sheep (Genesis 27, 29, 30).

Pranks can be harmless and humorous or, as Jacob demonstrates, they can go too far. When I got my Ph.D. from Washington University some undergrads zipped open their gowns, pulled out bottles, and spent the ceremony drinking. Dear God, let the pranks of the season be harmless and help us keep our young people safe. Amen.

May 20

Yesterday my co-worker Fred told me that he was going to the graduation of his grandchild from 8^th grade. “Do they wear gowns?” I asked. “Yes,” Fred said and then spoke proudly about his grandchild’s ability.

While Fred was watching those gowns, I sat in the yard and saw the gowns of high school graduates walk into the Seminary chapel for their baccalaureate service. I started to think about the grief of their parents. Grief comes when you experience a loss…and it’s not only on the death of a loved one. When your child graduates from high school, you’re beginning to lose a special part of your life. Grief grows by degrees. Diane and I stood silently and watched our oldest daughter, freshly out of law school, leave home to drive, car-loaded, to Washington D.C. to begin her career. Our house had an emptiness, a grief. “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5) Both of our daughters have done very well in their careers and our grief has become a more mature love. Like Fred, we can be proud of our graduates, however small or large their gowns.

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

May 21

When Diane and I arrived at our first church, someone, the previous pastor I presume, had put this on the church sign. “Don’t be afraid of the future. God is already there.” That’s always true, true for graduates going into an unknown future and true for you and me whatever tomorrow may bring.

The Lord said to Jacob, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go…. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Genesis 28:15)

“The Lord replied (to Moses), ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14).

“When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.” (Deuteronomy 20:1)

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you…. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.” (Isaiah 43:1, 2)

Jesus says, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

“Don’t be afraid of the future. God is already there.”

May 24

Yesterday morning I took a walk into Forest Park and soon found myself in the middle of runners, thousands of them, getting ready for a 5K race called, “Make Tracks for the Zoo.” I kept on my walk but in time sat down and watched when the runners came by. For a good 15 minutes I watched, thousands of people making tracks.

Yesterday the church celebrated the outpouring of the Spirit on Pentecost. Tongues of fire on the heads of the first disciples must have been a sight, but what gathered the Pentecost crowd that Sunday morning long ago was the sound of the disciples speaking about Jesus in their native languages. “When they heard this sound, a crowd came together.” (Acts 2)

Today’s New York Times tells of struggling churches in Harlem. “In the 1940s and ‘50’s the church was vibrant and bustling…. Those were the days of the blue laws, when few businesses were open on Sunday, which meant there were few excuses to skip service. The church was the absolute center of the community.” (A20) It’s changed. Few churches had as many worshippers yesterday as there were runners in the park. People gathered on Pentecost because the Spirit led the disciples to speak so people could understand in their own languages. The church needs that same Spirit again.

May 25

As CEO of Gillette, Mr. James Kilts turned around that famous but stagnant maker of razors. In his book, “Doing What Matters,” Kilts wrote about Gillette’s research.

“The Gillette development process involves contacts with more than 100,000 shavers annually to gain insight on every aspect of shaving…. Men shave an area of 48 square inches; women shave an area of 412 square inches—9 times larger. But, on average, a man’s beard has the same number of hairs as a woman’s legs and underarms combined. The number of hairs on a man’s face? That would be between 7,000 and 15,000…. The rate of growth of a whisker? One quarter of an inch a month. How much facial hair will the average man grow in a life-time? Try 26.5 feet. And how much time will he spend removing it? About 780 hours (32.5 days).” (106-107)

Research makes for better products and that benefits us all. On the other hand, companies know more about us than we can imagine and therefore their marketing can subtly influence how we spend and act. Whatever, next time I shave, I will praise. “O Lord, You have searched me and known me! I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” (Psalm 139:1, 14)

May 26

The schoolbook controversy in Texas raises the question of American exceptionalism. Is America a special country unlike any other? Some Christians say “Yes” because they believe America is God’s country and we are His new people to today’s world.

“Pride goes before a fall.” God had singled out Judah as His own but Isaiah laments, chapter 63, “Our adversaries have trampled down Your sanctuary. We have become like those over whom You have never ruled, like those who are not called by Your name.” (Vv. 18-19) To get a feel for their shock, imagine America being taken down by Islamic extremists or reduced to insignificance by growing China. What’s this? We thought we were immune because America is God’s exceptional nation!

But Judah went into captivity. “You have hidden Your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter.” (v. 8) Martin Luther: “So we are in the hand of God, and even though we are evil, He thrusts us into the lump, into a Babylonian captivity, until the clay has been worked through better so that it becomes more pleasing.” (In “For All the Saints,” II, 12) Are Americans so exceptional that God won’t judge us?

May 27

"Oh, say, can you see?" To look at the flag flying high lifts our eyes, but when it flies at half-mast to honor those who died for us, the flag can lift our souls even higher.

"I now make it my earnest prayer, that God...would incline the hearts of the citizens...to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow citizens of the United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field" (George Washington, in On Two Wings, p. 20).

In our me-centered culture there is a fear of heights, a fear of sacrificing your time and treasures, and in war your very life, for the high ideal of serving others. But the One who has most influenced this nation and world was lifted high for others. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

"Take away the acrophobia of our souls that we may breathe the pure air of high ideals and lofty purpose without becoming light-hearted. For the sake of the world, for the sake of peace, for the sake of America, for conscience' sake, help us to do the right thing. Amen." (The Senate Prayers of Peter Marshall, p. 69)

May 28

2009

May 4

Sometimes you don’t pay attention to warnings until something bad is in your face. In my case, it’s from my face, sneezing and coughing. I was traveling last week, nine airplane trips, most in small regional jets. I chuckled at Vice President Biden’s advice to stay out of planes until Saturday morning when I knew I had caught a whopper of a cold. Diane and I watched the symptoms and “this little piggy” flu hasn’t come to Dale, just a cold.

If you heed every warning from every quarter, you’ll become a basket case afraid to leave home. Lord, give us discernment! In the Bible God gives us warnings about physical, spiritual and emotional health. “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4) Beyond that, use your reason, like the little piggy who built his house of bricks. No divine revelation, just good reason that got him through tough times. It takes both, obedience to the revelation and good reason. Even then, all the care in the world can’t avoid troubles coming to us in our sinful world. So the Savior still teaches us to pray, “Deliver us from evil.”

May 5

When you pray, what do you ask God for? Should you ask Him for anything?

“Should you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them.” Commenting on Jeremiah 45:5, Oswald Chambers wrote, “There is nothing easier than getting into a right relationship with God except when it is not God Whom you want but only what He gives.” (April 27)

That prompted a discussion in my Seminary class about our requests to God. Students tried to find that fine line between a “God gimme” attitude and “Aw, shucks, I can’t ask God for anything.” There is a line and Jesus gives it to us. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). So Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “The disciples always see only Christ. They do not see Christ and the law, Christ and piety, Christ and the world. They do not even begin to reflect that; they just follow Christ in everything” (“Discipleship,” 167)

To follow that line, Jesus gave us actual words and a model for prayer. “Our Father, who art in heaven….” Take that whole prayer as your daily companion and use its pattern for the words of your own prayers and the Spirit will bring you to the greatest thing, your Father in heaven.

May 6

Herbert Morrison was a reporter for WLS radio in Chicago. On this date in 1937 Morrison was broadcasting live from Lakehurst, New Jersey. The occasion was the arrival of the Hindenburg, a huge German dirigible. As that great airship was mooring, routinely so it seemed, it suddenly burst into flames. 35 people on board were killed. A navy crewman on the ground also died. As the tragedy unfolded, Morrison cried out, "Oh the humanity!"

Jesus was once asked about an accident. A tower had fallen, killing 18 people. He said, "Unless you repent, you too will perish" (Luke 13:5). Death is always lurking near us. Not just the possibility of an accident, but an eternal death, an eternal separation from the kindness of God. Acknowledging how close death is...and then trusting the One who died for our sins and rose to give us eternal life...That's repentance. Oh, how humanity needs repentance.

Martin Luther wrote:

In the midst of death's dark vale Powers of hell o'er take us. Who will help when they assail? Who secure will make us? Thou only, Lord, Thou only! Thy heart is moved with tenderness, pities us in our distress..."(Lutheran Service Book, 755).

"Oh, the humanity!"

May 7

Two different stories in today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In daylight hours on Monday, three-year-old Joshua Childers wandered away from his home. Little Joshua’s dad was asleep because he works a night-shift and his mother was on the phone for five minutes. Time enough for Joshua to disappear. 52 hours later he was found, a mile and a half away, dirty and scratched, and asked for a glass of milk.

The other story: While Christopher Coleman was at a gym, someone murdered his wife Sheri and two sons Garett and Gavin in their home. The family had been receiving threats and was concerned. The husband works as a security guard and the wife had been a military MP. A security camera had been installed and the subdivision was secluded and monitored, but that wasn’t enough.

Two different Mother’s Days coming up. How can you absorb good news and bad news without concluding that there is no sense and justice in life? The only answer I know is to absorb the events of each day with two days in your heart and mind, Good Friday and Easter. When you’re in the depths of sorrow and death, remember the promise of resurrection. When you’re celebrating life, remember the cross. Both are Christ’s days, and we’ll be torn between them until we will see Him face-to-face.

May 8

My name is Connor. I have something to say. Happy Mother’s Day!

My mommy loves me. She feeds me, dresses me, and changes my diapers. My mommy pushes me in my stroller. She walks with me. She carries me. My mommy takes me to interesting places, like McDonalds, like the doctor when I get sick. My mommy teaches me to talk. She teaches me “No” when I try to climb up on furniture. She teaches me the word “Owie” when I fall and cry. But the word my mommy knows best is love. I don’t know who God is, Opa works on that, but I do know my mommy. My mommy plays with me. She snuggles with me. She loves me.

Opa here. That was very nice of you, Connor. You are learning to honor your mother and your father, and that’s what this Mother’s Day is all about. You’re right, Connor, about not knowing much about God but one of the things that we do know is that God gives us His love by giving us mommies and daddies. That goes on from generation to generation. So thanks for leading us in saying, Happy Mother’s Day!

May 11

Saturday was a pleasant, sunny day in St. Louis, perfect for the wedding of Dawn Fedder and Daniel Burroughs. Dawn is from Collinsville, an American citizen, but Daniel is a French citizen. To make their marriage legal on both sides of the Atlantic, they had to go through international red tape that culminated in being married in a court house last Tuesday. So when Saturday came and they stood before me in church, it looked like a traditional wedding ceremony but in fact was the church blessing a marriage already solemnized.

That illustrates that marriage is essentially an institution of society and not of the church.

When God instituted marriage, He had the care of all people in mind, Christians and non-Christians alike. Weddings began to be solemnized in churches as Christianity became the dominant religion in western countries, but the priest or minister still serves as an agent of the state. I know a minister who discovered that the bridal couple had gotten their license in the wrong county, not the county the church was in, and so after the church ceremony they drove to the county line where he legally pronounced them husband and wife.

It’s not just about two lovers… Marriage is about bride, groom, God and society. “Marriage should be honored by all” (Hebrews 13:4).

May 12

Now we’re hearing that Americans’ improved savings habits are jeopardizing the economic recovery. “Sustained increases in household saving would cause a difficult period of restructuring for the American economy, which has become increasingly driven by consumer spending. Such spending makes up about 70% of the nation’s gross domestic product.”

To be fair, read far enough and you hear experts say savings are the way to go, both nationally and for our families. “More savings lead to more investment, which promotes economic growth, which leads to better living standards. At the family level, social critics, economists and even many consumers seem to agree that a forced financial conservatism may be for the better.” (New York Times, May 10; A1, 16)

My grade school teachers made me memorize from Proverbs 6: “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. How long will you lie there, you sluggard? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest—and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.” No doubt that verse stuck with this kid because it was talking about ants. Little kids step on ants. Now that we’re adults, let’s not step on their lesson to us!

May13

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Hide that in the inner chamber of your heart and you’ll get through the day. Jesus’ sayings are sometimes hard to understand, so when He promised to speak openly about the Father, it was a high religious moment for the disciples. “Now you are speaking clearly…. Now we can see that You know all things….” We do have those great “now” moments, times when Christian faith seems so clear, so applicable, so relevant.

Tempering the moment, Jesus said, “I am leaving the world; I am going back to the Father.” Offsetting those high religious moments, we have troubled times when Jesus doesn’t seem near, when the “now” of religious insight gives way to doubt about His presence for our good. Name the situation where God seems absent in your life. The “now” of insight into the ways of God becomes the “back then,” before faith bumped up against the real world. It’s in those times when Jesus seems distant but the world so oppressively near that His Spirit can form in you more mature faith. Then hear the words hidden deep in your heart, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

May 14

Back in 1800 the editor of the New London, Connecticut, "Bee," advertised:

"Here are various news we tell, of love and strife,

Of peace and war, health, sickness, death and life...

Of old mismanagements, taxations new,

All neither wholly false, nor wholly true." (Mitchell Stephens, "A History of News," p. 201)

Can you believe what you read?

A friend of mine down at the gas station likes to say, "Dale, when the Big Guy calls me, I'm going to tell him I'm a friend of yours."

To which I say, "You know, that won't be your normal audit. H&R Block won't go with you. You have to appear on your own." Instead of tell Him you know me, tell God you know Jesus.

Which is why, I'm convinced, a thinking person will be driven to read the news and the Bible too. We are responsible for knowing the truth and one day you and I will be called to answer for it.

May 15

A baby was baptized in our church last Sunday, a baptism accompanied by an old bit of ritual. When the pastor invited the congregation to join in praying the "Lord's Prayer," as Protestants call it, the "Our Father" as Roman Catholics call it, he placed his hand on the baby's head. That little gesture symbolized that the congregation was praying that prayer of Jesus on behalf of the child.

"Our Father," not my Father. American society obsesses on the individual. That's not true in every society and it wasn't the case in bible times. Read the Bible carefully and you'll see that the pronoun "you", which we instinctively take to mean one individual...Read carefully and you'll see that many times that word "you" is plural. It's out of that plural mindset that we pray for one another. So the pastor placed his hand on the baby's head and we all prayed for that baby.

Maybe you don't think of yourself as a great intercessor for others. Try something simple today. Identify someone and for that person pray, "Our Father who art in heaven."

May 18

A pastor said, “Sometimes I am so overwhelmed and I plead and plead with God for coworkers… I don’t get my prayers answered immediately, but they always get answered in God’s time.”

He’s a pastor in a rural area, not so demanding in America but where he’s serving it is demanding, in China’s Henan Province. Christianity is exploding in China and Henan Province has only one pastor for every 20,000 Christians. Ministry under pressures like that doesn’t, can’t, fit our nice little traditional American box of one pastor for one congregation. (American Bible Society “Record,” Spring/Summer 2009, p. 9ff.)

“Think out of the box.” I’m tired of that parlor game for armchair Christians. Thinking out of the box may come up with something true but…and I wrote my Ph.D. on this…true doesn’t mean that people will act on it. You have to convince people that something is true, get them to agree with it, and then act on it. It’s not just thinking; it’s think…and do.

In growing churches, traditional ministry is taking new shapes, often to the chagrin of traditionalists. In declining churches, like most American mainline denominations, our understanding of professional ministry is a defensive reaction to shrinking numbers. Either way, events are taking us “out of the box.” God is leading, like it or not.

May 19

The recession’s severe impact upon the Seminary has me desperately clinging to some of God’s promises, especially this one: “Call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me” (Psalm 50:15).

When I read that entire psalm, not just the one verse, I get an attitude readjustment. The preceding verse says, “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High.” Give thanks in the recession? Give thanks in serious, even terminal illness? Give thanks when you’re beside yourself because of relationship problems? Give thanks in the day of trouble?

Read the psalm yourself. There are godly and godless people. The godless may pay lip service to the deity but take care of themselves. You, on the other hand, really trust your loving Father to take care of you, and sometimes you trust despite the evidence. Really, read the psalm. The whole psalm says so much, like how can you give God mindless worship on Sunday when you realize He doesn’t need you but still He loves you? So you’re in the day of trouble? First thank Him, then call on Him with confidence that He will deliver you.

We miss so much when we just hang onto single Bible verses. The more verses you meditate upon, the better for you.

May 20

When we kids were having troubles, Mom used to say, “The sun is still shining.” We all have our cloudy days, and for those days it’s interesting to think about clouds in the Bible.

After the Exodus from Egypt, “there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain… The Lord descended to the top of Mount Sinai ” (Exodus 19:16,20). God came close to His people in that cloud, but by that cloud He protected them from seeing His glory. No one can see His glory and live (Exodus 33:20).

When Jesus took His disciples up to the Mount of Transfiguration, “a cloud appeared and covered them…. A voice came from the cloud, saying, ‘This is My Son, whom have chosen. Listen to Him’” (Luke 9:34 ). The divine cloud tells us to hear the words of Jesus.

Tomorrow the Church will remember the Ascension of Christ. “He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight” (Acts 1:9). The divine cloud again! Jesus was taken into the glory of God, the glory He set aside when He came to earth with forgiveness, love and hope. Ascension draws the Church on with the words of the ascended One, “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27 ). Yes, “The sun is shining!”

May 21

Daughter Elizabeth was talking with three-year-old Christian about what he wants to be when he grows up. Several days later they drove by a church. Here’s how the conversation went.

Christian: “Opa pastor at that church?”

Elizabeth: “No, Christian, Opa is at another church. Christian, do you want to be a pastor when you grow up?”

Christian: “No… I want to be a dinosaur.”

Commencement activities begin today at Concordia Seminary. Will our graduates be going out as dinosaurs? Dinosaurs are about the past, and if the pastors and deaconesses we send out tell you about a 2000-year-old Jesus, if they go out as curators of a museum, they will be dinosaurs leading their church to extinction.

“The Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates….” (Hebrews 4:12). With a fire that God is active here and now, there will be no extinction, for wherever the Good News of Jesus Christ is preached, the Spirit is present to work lively faith.

“The church is prepared to face every crisis that arises,” my friend told me and then added, “that arises in 1953.” Fidelity to the past is important…but equally important is faithfulness to God’s word for the here-and-now. Pray for what the next generation will be as it grows up!

May 22

"Oh, say, can you see?" To look at the flag flying high lifts our eyes, but when it flies at half-mast to honor those who died for us, the flag can lift our souls even higher.

May 26

Did you spend Memorial Day weekend in your backyard, barbequing, gardening, with friends and family? Our neighbors didn’t. Their home, behind our house, was empty this weekend because they lost it to foreclosure. The recession isn’t going away. At first it was subprime mortgages, mortgages that perhaps should have never been made. Now the recession is moving on prime mortgages. Responsible people who have lost their jobs are falling behind on their payments and losing their homes.

“When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we’d first begun.” True, a hundred years from now, let alone ten thousand, the loss of your home won’t seem so big…but now it does, and now is where we live and now is where we give in to despair or are sustained with hope. Who of us can say something inspired to overcome the devastation of losing your home?

“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20). Jesus has been there. The best thing we can share with the hurting, the truth for all of us, is this: “Jesus knows our every weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer.”

May 27

Andrew Purves always assumed he had no middle name. His parents told him he was born prematurely and given emergency baptism and therefore they didn’t have time to pick a middle name and, in fact, disagreed about his first name. When Purves, a British citizen, had to reapply for his passport, he made a copy of his Latin baptismal certificate. “To my utter amazement I discovered I had a middle name! I ran downstairs and announced to my three teenage children that I had a middle name.

“‘What’s your middle name, Daddy?’ ‘Well, it’s my father’s mother’s maiden name.’ ‘What’s your middle name, Daddy?’ ‘Well, it’s the name of a minor nineteenth-century Scottish novelist.’ ‘Daddy, we don’t care. What’s your middle name?’ ‘In fact, it’s quite a common name in the border region of Scotland.’ Voices were now raised. ‘We don’t care! What’s your middle name?’ I replied, ‘Hogg.’ At that point my children took great delight in snorting out, ‘Daddy’s a pig!’” (“The Crucifixion of Ministry,” p. 36)

Do you know where your name locates you in your family history? Do you think of your name as specially given to you in Baptism? And if not first given to you in Baptism, do you now consciously think of your name as the name of a follower of Jesus Christ?

May 28

When I was a parish pastor, an occasional walk-in said, “Reverend, I could use some help. I’m on my way to…their destinations were different but they were always traveling someplace… I’m on my way to wherever and I’m out of money. Can you help me out?” Sincere or doing a con job on me? So I’d say, “Take this voucher over to the police station and they’ll help you out.” Our ministerial alliance had developed a system with the police department that separated the con men from those sincerely in need of help. It was a great system…and a just system.

President Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Though devised and administered by humans, courts are to serve God’s purpose of justice for all people. Every person is a child of the Creator. Through the church God shows His justice to repentant sinners through the message of the cross. Police departments and courts and other government entities are God’s way of caring for all people, not just Christians. Are we Christ followers wearing blinders that limit God to the Sunday sanctuary? May the new appointee to the Supreme Court serve God’s purpose of justice for all people. “I urge intercession for all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1Timothy 2:1-2).

May 29

When Naomi decided to return to her family home, she told her widowed daughters-in-law “Go back. Why would you come with me?” But Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.” (Ruth 1) Love of others led Ruth to go with Naomi.

Last week Phil Mickelson announced an indefinite leave from the PGA tour. His wife Amy was diagnosed with breast cancer and will soon undergo surgery. The popular golfer could have come up with reasons to stay on the tour but that’s not the direction love took him. Love of others led him to be with his wife and their children.

When I meet with a couple to be married, I wish for them a time when they can sit together, know the kids have been raised and the bills paid, and through it all they have become the best of friends. We are so hurried it’s not easy to stop doing and be with the ones closest to us. Maybe the directions you go give insight on your love of others versus your love of self.

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May 2010