By Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier III
Our loving God has placed people in our lives who have had a blessed impact on us. There have been many such people in my life. In this brief article, I will mention only three: my grandfather, father, and uncle.
GRANDFATHER
Grandfather Maier (the Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier I) died (January 1951) before I was born, so we were never together here on earth. However, he has had a profound influence on my life because of what I have heard about him, read about him, and because of his published writings.
He has been an encouragement to me, and our path through life has certain similarities. He received his Ph.D. in Semitics from Harvard University. I received the same degree from the same institution in almost the same area of study. He was a professor of Old Testament at one of the seminaries of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (hereafter Missouri Synod); so am I. He wrote a commentary on the Book of Nahum. I have written commentaries on 1 Kings 1-11 and 1 Kings 12-22 and am currently working on a commentary on 2 Kings.
My grandfather was also a great evangelist and was the founder of and first speaker on the radio program, “The Lutheran Hour,” which began in 1930 and is still proclaiming the Gospel worldwide. He was a powerful preacher of God’s Word, and his radio sermons have been published and preserved in several volumes. I love reading his sermons, which are an inspiration to me, and sometimes in my preaching I use one of his sermon illustrations.
FATHER
The man who had the most influence on me was my father, the Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier II (died October 2019). He was a superb preacher, an exemplary pastor for 17 years, and then a professor of New Testament at Concordia Theological Seminary (where I am a professor of Old Testament) for more than 40 years.
He was a wonderful teacher of theology. I was blessed to learn from him from boyhood to close to the time of his death. This learning took place in various settings, including at the dinner table, during family devotions, in confirmation class, and in the seminary, where I had my father for five courses dealing with New Testament epistles.
Much of what I teach, preach, and write today comes from what my father taught me. He was also a zealous defender of God’s Word against false doctrine.
In the 1950s, the Missouri Synod began to be infiltrated by wrong methods of interpreting Scripture. My father was one of the leaders of a movement opposing this erroneous handling of God’s Word. He staunchly upheld the divine inspiration, truthfulness, and inerrancy of Scripture. In that capacity as a leader, he was elected a vice president of the Missouri Synod at the pivotal New Orleans convention of 1973, and he served in that office for 22 years. His zeal for the Word has been an inspiration to me.
UNCLE
Finally, I definitely want to mention my uncle the Rev. Dr. Paul L. Maier (my father’s younger brother), who died in February 2025.
Paul, a man very gifted by the Lord, was a brilliant historian, lecturer, speaker, and writer. He was unsurpassed in his ability to present large amounts of interesting information (derived from his research and learning) in a clear, understandable way, and with a delightful sense of humor.
Paul, for five decades, was a professor of history at Western Michigan University, where he also, for 39 years, was the chaplain for the Missouri Synod. He wrote many scholarly articles and authored several books, including a biography of his father; books dealing with Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost; historical novels; and mystery/adventure novels set in the present day (and all related somehow to the Christian faith).
His greatest service to the church, in my opinion, was as a Christian apologist, that is, a defender of the faith against attacks from the unbelieving world. He served as a vice president of the Missouri Synod for 12 years.
We thank God for those in our lives who have had a beneficial impact on us. I am truly grateful for my grandfather, father, and uncle, who taught me to fix my eyes on Jesus, to be strengthened by Christ, and to serve Him with joy.
The Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier III has been a regular pastor on “Worship Anew” since 1998. He currently teaches in the Exegetical Department at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Pictured above from left to right are the Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier II; grandfather, the Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier I; grandmother, Huldah Maier; and uncle, the Rev. Dr. Paul Maier.