REMEMBERING DR

REMEMBERING DR. WALTER A. MAIER

By Paul C. Neipp

From Christian News, 2/2/1987

Reading about the recent death of Hulda A. Maier, the loving wife and helpmate of Dr. Walter A. Maier whom the Lord took to himself in heaven some 37 years ago, recalled to my mind many precious memories I had while I was at the Seminary. In 1935, as president of the student body, I had many opportunities to see him [Dr. Maier] personally. On a number of occasions when I went to his home he’d say, “Jump in the car. I’ve got a few calls to make.” And then he’d visit some very sick patents and pray at their bedside. He would take them by the hand and solemnly speak to them about sin and then speak glowingly about the love of God in Christ Jesus. I witnessed him fall on his knees, pouring out his heart in storms of prayer, battering the gates of heaven like some mighty hero, who was on intimate terms with his Lord and Savior.

Several times I went with Dr. Maier to Skid Row in the slums of St. Louis and heard him preach to what some call “the dregs of human society.” To me those soul-stirring messages equaled, if not surpassed some of the sermons he preached to his global audiences over the Lutheran Hour. When word got out that Dr. Maier would come on a certain evening, these so-called bums would urge their buddies and acquaintances to come and hear him and the hall would be packed. Some of these derelicts had been successful businessmen, professional men, gifted men who had been an asset to their community, but had destroyed themselves or been destroyed by alcohol, the temporary cure-all which had been rightly labeled “the demon rum.” These miserable souls had been broken by family problems, divorce, runaway sons or daughters, gambling debts, and the crushing juggernaut of the unpredictable vicissitudes of life.

“Do thyself no harm” Dr. Maier pleaded with them as he preached a sermon about the jailer at Philippi who was about to commit suicide, Acts 16:18. “Do thyself no harm,” don’t commit suicide! Don’t take your own life. Then he preached to them about the horrors of spending an eternity in hell, and you could almost smell the smoke. Some of the men sobbed their hearts out. Then, when he preached the saving Gospel of Christ crucified for the sins of the world, including their sins, and made them feel that Christ Jesus loved them in spite of their glaring sins, some wept for joy and cried, “Amen! Amen!” “Praise the Lord,” showing that at one time they had been under the influence of God’s Word.

That was Maier, the man-of-God, the lover of souls, the humble but brilliant scholar whom the atheists, the false teachers of religion, and the religious quacks, hated, slandered, defamed, denounced and vilified. That was the man who was an inspiration not only to the majority of Lutheran Pastors but to conservative ministers of other denominations and was dearly beloved by the laity. And that was the man who was also the object of professional jealously by a few that could not bear being eclipsed by this Titan among giants.