The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for June 30, 2011

John Adams addressed the Continental Congress on July1, 1776.  Thomas Jefferson said that Adams was, "not graceful or elegant, nor remarkably fluent," but spoke "with a power of thought and expression that moved us from our seats."  It indeed was effective.  The next day July 2nd, in 1776 the delegates approved the Declaration of Independence.

Adams wrote to his wife Abigail: "The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America.  I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.  It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.  It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more."

On July 4th the delegates voted a second time for the Declaration of Independence.  At noon on July 8th it was read to the public and officially signed on August 2nd.  Today, 235 years later, we are entering a long Independence Day weekend that will be celebrated much as John Adams wished.  May we also observe our freedom with "solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty."  (David McCullough, John Adams, p. 127, 130).

We'll be off until July 11.  Enjoy the holiday and be safe.

The Meyer Minute for June 29, 2011

More about time, while you and I still have some left.

 

“Rabbi Levy saw a man running in the street and asked him, ‘Why do you run?’  He replied, ‘I am running after my good fortune!’  Rabbi Levy tells him, ‘Silly man, your good fortune has been trying to chase you, but you are running too fast.’”  (Wayne Muller, “Sabbath,” p. 48)

 

Remember this one, “Slow down, you move too fast, you’ve got to make the morning last?”  In the Old Testament, God required that the seventh day be a day of rest, of time with family and time with Him.  In the New Testament we read that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Sabbath: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  (Matthew 11:28)  St. Paul warns us not to get legalistic, that times off can be times of spiritual blessing. “Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.  These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”  (Colossians 2:16-17)

 

With the long weekend coming up…rethink the rhythms of your life…and don’t run so fast that the Spirit of Jesus can’t bless you!

 

 

The Meyer Minute for June 28, 2011

Growing up in the 50's, summer was full of time.  Long, hot days and three months of recess from school seemed endless.  No complaint!  My complaint now is that summer isn't much different from the rest of the year.  Adults, maybe children too, don't have enough time.

"Have enough time."  We routinely talk about time as a commodity, something you have or don't have enough of.  "I'm running short on time."   "Can you spare me a minute?"  Time is a thing.  That's not necessarily the way it is.

The Bible leads us to think of time more as a place.  The first commandment tells us to have no false god in our heart.  The second or third commandment, depending on how you number them, says to revere God with our lips.  Heart...lips...what's next?  "Remember the Sabboth day to keep it holy."  That is, after heart and lips, worship God in time.  Time isn't under the commandment that says, "Thou shalt not steal," time as a thing, but is the place where you live and  worship God.

When you're busy or enjoying a long, slow summer day, try thinking of the day's time as your placee, your cathedral of thanks and service to God.

The Meyer Minute for June 27, 2011

This is the time of year when many of our graduates are getting ordained and beginning their pastoral ministries.  38 years out of the Seminary...how do I look at these freshly minted pastors?  How do you look at young people? 

 

We are all equal before God, equally sinners, equally saved by Jesus, equally offered hope by Christ's resurrection.  Age doesn't make you better before God the impartial judge (1 Peter 1:17).  True, young people should respect their elders, Fourth Commandment, but that's for orderly life this side of heaven.  The only difference I can think of between younger and older people is that we're farther down the road.  We've had more experiences, more lessons in the school of hard knocks, and hopefully gained insights about Christian living that only the Spirit can give over long years.   Our role?  To tell how it's been for us, not dictate to them.

 

I once joked to a student that computers are a fad, that we'll be going back to carbon paper.  He stared at me and said, "Sir, I have no idea what you're talking about."  God bless our new pastors.  May they grow in the faith, hope and love that are in Christ Jesus.  We'll need that from them as they prepare us for eternity.

The Meyer Minute for June 24, 2011

A long-time friend is struggling with cancer.  Her husband writes, "viewed from God's perspective, it is an opportunity to have Him draw us closer to Him.  He is allowing a time of testing.  He does not desire bad from this testing."  Those are healthy words, alive with hope.

When I was working my way through school by delivering milk, an old co-worker told me this story about hope.

In those days of home delivery, if you could have asked the lady of the house where she was going in the darkness of the early morning, she would have said, "To the front door to bring in the milk."

When you ask, "How do you know that it's here?" she replies simply, "I just know it's there."

"Did you hear the milk truck or the bottles clanging?"

"No, I just know it's there!"  She brushes past you, opens the door, puts her hand out into the darkness and...sure enough...the milk bottles are there.

That's hope.  For my friends with cancer, for you, reach confidently into the darkness because God's word has promised you good.  "Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God" (Psalm 43:5).

The Meyer Minute for June 23, 2011

I went to bed worrying about money.  When I’ve gone on to that city of gold and precious stones (Revelation 21), our children and grandchildren will be left struggling with a massive national debt.  Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office reported that federal deficits will “probably decline markedly” in the next few years but, quoting now from today’s Wall Street Journal, the CBO “projected long-term deficits expanding rapidly beyond that as a result of the rising costs of Medicare and other health programs as the population ages.”  The report says, “The budget outlook for both the coming decade and beyond is daunting.”  “Daunting.”

One of the wisest economists to ever live was Joseph.  As the chief operating officer of Egypt, he stored grain during seven years of bumper crops.  Was he criticized for that?  But when seven years of famine came, the people had grain and his savings plan was vindicated.  (Genesis 41) 

We’re not talking about giving up chocolate for Lent.  We’re really talking about love.  Will we collectively forego some of our entitlements in these good years…and they’re still relatively good compared to the Depression…so that our children and grandchildren aren’t crushed by our undisciplined spending habits?  Self-denial.  Has a Jesus ring to it, doesn’t it?  “Daunting,” the report said.  Worry can be good.

 

The Meyer Minute for June 22, 2011

A key to relationships is not simply spending time together but how you spend time together, specifically how you look at each other.

A scientist named Aylmer married a beautiful woman named Georgiana.  They loved each other deeply, and, since life was slower back in those days...The story was set in the 1700's...Aylmer and Georgiana spent much time with each other.

But...

Georgiana's beauty had one flaw, a small crimson birthmark on her left cheek.  The more time they spent together, the more Aylmer obsessed about that one physical flaw.  Georgiana, wanting to please her husband, also obsessed about it and consented to let her husband, the scientist, concoct a potion to remove the mark that was ruining their life.  He did...and when the potion removed the birthmark, it also took Georgiana's life.   Her imperfection was part of her being.  His obsession with perfection destroyed the marriage and her life.

The story is called "The Birthmark" and was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

How will you spend your time with family today?  Sin makes us rationalize our obsession with other people's imperfections.  The love of Christ suggests that we look at one another in a better way.  "Love covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8).

The Meyer Minute for June 21, 2011

Life has a way of battering us; how do you endure?  Surrounded by people; how do you cope with deep-seated loneliness?  OK, those couple questions should pretty much cover most of us today.

1 Peter 1:5 describes Christians as people “who through faith are shielded by God’s power.”  The word “shielded” sounds a bit military and indeed the original Greek word pictures a fortress.  As a Christian, you’re in a fortress…but what is this fortress we cannot see?  St. Peter says it’s God’s power through faith.  Now God’s power we can understand.  With His little finger the Almighty could ward of all the bad things that come our way and He often does…but sometimes the fortress walls still seem to be breached.  The power Peter has in mind is different than brute force.  It’s God’s Spirit surrounding you with trust that the assurances of the Bible are true.  That’s the power of God’s Spirit “through faith” and that’s the fortress in which Christians live. 

To put it another way, the fortress is the story, the story of God and Christ and all the biblical saints and sinners who encourage us on our pilgrim way.  “I love to tell the story for those who know it best, seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.” 

The Meyer Minute for June 20, 2011

The writers of the Bible never tire of telling how God's Word impacts lives.  That's why conservative Christians read it, hear it, study it, and try to make it their manual for living.  When you look at your daily life through Bible eyes, you see reminders of truth in things that other people think are ho-hum.  I had one of those experiences Saturday.

 

Needing some compost for my gardening project, I went to the Seminary's massive compost piles.  My eyes fell upon an Easter lily that someone had thrown away.  How symbolic, I thought.  We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ when Easter rolls around but often toss the hope that comes from the resurrection when the lilies have faded.

 

Gardeners know that a lily that has bloomed can be planted in the yard and it will bloom again and again and again.  So I scooped up that tossed lily and planted it where I'll see and enjoy the blooms to come.  Such symbolism!  Instead of tossing hope on the pile of dying stuff,  Christians immersed in the Word have a hope planted by the Spirit that will bloom again and again and again.

 

That was my experience.  Do you see reminders of God in things that other people just pass by?

The Meyer Minute for June 17, 2011

"God Allows U-Turns," is a series of stories edited by Allison Bottke.  This story comes from Michael Powers.

Brian "was a special education student at the small high school I attended.  He was constantly searching for love and attention.  It usually came for the wrong reasons, from students who wanted to have some 'fun'.  He was the joke of the school..."

Mike defended Brian, even had him over to the house.  "Hey, Mike," Brian asked, "How come you're not like some of the other kids at school?"  Mike told him about the love of God the Father.  "Brian really opened up to me.  He explained that his dad had left him and his mom when he was five years old.  He told Brian that he couldn't deal with having a son like him anymore, then he walked out of Brian's life and was never seen again.  Brian told me that he had been looking for his dad ever since.  "Now I know why the tears kept flowing that day in my bedroom.  His search was over.  He found what he had been looking for since he was five years old, a Father's love.  "He would never again be alone."

There's a place for you in your Father's house this Sunday.