The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for November 30, 2012

I once wrote that a threat to the well-being of the church is church members who don’t know the Bible.  Many Christians have “favorite” Bible verses.  Here is one of many verses that I find very not only intriguing but also very challenging personally.

Exodus 3:11-12 – “Moses said to God, ‘Whom am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?’ He said, ‘But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.’” 

I find that intriguing because Moses asks for proof, that’s understandable, who wants to get out on a limb?  But God says, “Just do what I say.  When you lead the people back to this mountain, then you’ll know in hindsight that My promise is true.  In other words, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)  “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen….  By faith Moses left Egypt…. By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as if on dry land….” (Hebrews 11:1, 27, 29).    

So the Exodus passage challenges me.  Do I trust the promises of God against all the evidence?  How is it for you?  

The Meyer Minute for November 27, 2012

"Parting is such sweet sorrow," wrote Shakespeare.  Many families gathered for Thanksgiving are once again scattered.

When his son-in-law Jacob left, Laban said, "May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other" (Genesis 31:49).

God's watching, said  Laban.  Though separated by distance, God watches that we all act justly, mercifully, and walk humbly before Him (Micah 6:8).

For his part, Jacob knew that God traveled with him.  "Surely the Lord is in this place," he said on an earlier journey (Genesis 28: 16).  Your loved ones are not alone out there; God's with them...

...with His mercies.  As Jacob once prayed, "I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant."  (Genesis 32:10)  Taking time in daily prayer for your family will bless them...and it will calm your worries.

 

The Meyer Minute for November 26, 2012

Is Christ your king?  Yesterday many churches observed "Christ the King" Sunday and the Gospel reading was from John 18, Pontius Pilate interrogating Jesus.  "Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, 'Are you the King of the Jews?' Jesus answered, 'Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?'  Take that question personally. Do you say Christ is King on your own or do you say it because the people around you are saying it?  Do you say Christ is King on your own or do you say it because everyone else is singing, "Crown Him with many crowns" and you enjoy the sing-along?  Am I a Christian when it is convenient or am I a convicted follower of Jesus Christ?

C.S. Lewis put it this way. "Christ says, 'Give me all.  I don’t want so much of your money and so much of your work – I want you.  I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.  No half-measures are any good.  I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down.  I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out.  Hand over the whole natural self…I will give you a new self instead.  In fact I will give you myself, my own will shall become yours.',(C.S. Lewis, “Beyond Personality,” in “Sermon Illustrations for the Gospel Lessons,” CPH, 1982, p. 81)

"Lord, I believe; help my unbelief." (Mark 9:24)

 

 

The Meyer Minute for November 16, 2012

"We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing," begins a Thanksgiving hymn.  As we move toward Thanksgiving Day, let's remember those who cannot gather with family and friends.

The men and women in our Armed Services...far from home...preparing themselves for personal peril.

The men and women of our fire and police departments...on duty for our protection.

College students too far away to come home...

The workers at airports...

Those who still have to feed the cattle and milk the cows...

The men and women in correctional institutions...the guards who work to keep our society safe...and remember, too, the incarcerated, many of whom feel their sin more keenly in the holiday season.

The nurses and doctors on duty in hospitals and long-term care facilities...and those they serve.

Those alone in their addictions and emotional struggles.

Community religious leaders...reminding their congregants that man does not live by bread alone...and missionaries overseas, comforted by faith but still far from their native land.

For all those who labor while we rest, we will give You thanks, O Lord, and for all those painfully alone and hurting, we offer our intercession.

Diane and I will be taking next week off.  We wish for you and yours a safe and spiritually enriching Thanksgiving celebration.

The Meyer Minute for November 15, 2012

Christians in America are specially blessed to be able to openly profess our beliefs.  Below are two paragraphs from a Roman official named Pliny who sought advice from the Emperor Trajan about how the government should deal with Christians.

 

"In the meanwhile, the method I have observed towards those who have been brought before me as Christians is this: I asked them whether they were Christians; if they admitted it, I repeated the question twice, and threatened them with punishment; if they persisted, I ordered them to be at once punished: for I was persuaded, whatever the nature of their opinions might be, a contumacious and inflexible obstinacy certainly deserved correction. There were others also brought before me possessed with the same infatuation, but being Roman citizens, I directed them to be sent to Rome.

 

But this crime spreading (as is usually the case) while it was actually under prosecution, several instances of the same nature occurred. An anonymous information was laid before me containing a charge against several persons, who upon examination denied they were Christians, or had ever been so. They repeated after me an invocation to the gods, and offered religious rites with wine and incense before your statue (which for that purpose I had ordered to be brought, together with those of the gods), and even reviled the name of Christ: whereas there is no forcing, it is said, those who are really Christians into any of these compliances: I thought it proper, therefore, to discharge them. Some among those who were accused by a witness in person at first confessed themselves Christians, but immediately after denied it; the rest owned indeed that they had been of that number formerly, but had now (some above three, others more, and a few above twenty years ago) renounced that error. They all worshipped your statue and the images of the gods, uttering imprecations at the same time against the name of Christ."

 

That was written in the year 112 A.D.  Today, 1900 years later, will people see that you and I are are convicted Christians?

The Meyer Minute for November 14, 2012

Maybe it's an insight, maybe fewer functioning brain cells, whatever the reason, I'm valuing more and more the simplicity of the Ten Commandments.  By "simplicity" I don't mean simplistic.  These ten words (that's actually what the Bible calls them, "words") can cut deep into our emotions and challenge our will.

Thanks to USA Today for the diagram of relationships in the Petraeus scandal.  What if the general and Paula Broadwell had let the commandment about adultery pour cold water on their desires, and even better, made them ask, "What's going on in my being that I'm going down this slippery slope?" The FBI says Mrs. Broadwell sent harassing e-mails to Mrs. Jill Kelley. That wouldn't have happened if the word about bearing false witness had been heeded.  And General Allen's thousands of "flirtatious" e-mails to Mrs. Kelley?  Sir, how do you have time to do that?  "Thou shalt not steal."

The ten words or commandments are the way to live a holistic life, good with God and a good conscience toward others.  Of course, they require us to be accountable for our actions and desires. "'It's an old narrative that those at the top often become poisoned by their power,' said Peter Singer, director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution. 'We've unfortunately seen the same thing in business, politics, sports, etc. on a regular basis.  The difference is, I guess, we've come to expect the worst in these other once respected institutions, sadly even in the church.'" (USA Today, November 14; 6A)

Can you recite the Ten Commandments?

The Meyer Minute for November 13, 2012

I fondly remember evening meals when I was growing up near Chicago.  Every meal started with grace and then we dug into whatever Mom had prepared.  We also dug into conversation.  Most of the table talk was mundane, quickly forgotten.  But you know, that’s when God did – and still does – some of His best for a family.  When you’re gathered around a meal, talking about everyday things, there’s always an opportunity to share a good word with one another from God.

 

Today many families seldom eat together because of the press of busy schedules.  We’ve justified it with a false distinction between quality and quantity time.  You need both.  Recommitting to the old habit of family meals gives quantity time from which quality moments spring.  You’ll find it one of the most effective tools for good parenting and better marriages.  Awaiting you is more than the grace of the mealtime prayers.  The greatest grace awaiting you in family meals is that in the midst of everyday talk you can share with one another God’s words of help and hope.

 

“Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest and let Thy gifts to us be blest.”

 

 

The Meyer Minute for November 12, 2012

“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.” (Romans 5:7)  Veterans Day we honor the men and women who knew that military service could cost them their lives but still they served.

 As a little girl, Danielle Green-Byrd had two goals: to attend Notre Dame and to serve in the military.  She did both, attending Notre Dame on basketball and academic scholarships, and entering the Army in 2004.  On a hot, May day in Baghdad, “the soldiers took turns doing surveillance duty on the roof.  As she walked near the front of the building, two rocket grenades exploded nearby.  She grabbed her M4 rifle and took cover.  ‘I was in a kneeling position, about to turn the lever from safety to fire, when something hit me,’ she said.  Her ears ringing, her body numb, she remembers being really angry.  ‘Then the numbness wore off,’ she said.  The pain was unbearable.  Her left arm below the elbow was blown off.  Most of the muscle in her upper arm was gone, too.  Her left leg was busted open.”  Danielle spent 8 months recovering at Walter Reed Hospital.  She went on to earn two masters degrees and is now a counselor for the Veterans Administration in Orland Park, Illinois.  Her story is just one from the many veterans who put their lives on the line to protect America.  Created by George Washington in 1782, 1.7 million Americans have received the Purple Heart.  Thanks to Donna Vickroy of the Southtown Star for Danielle’s story (November 11; 12)

“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Isaiah prophesies that the day of peace will come.  May it be our goal and our work.  “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.  He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.” He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.  They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.  Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.  Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”  (Isaiah 2:3-5)

The Meyer Minute for November 9, 2012

"Opa, I've got a problem."

"What is it, Drew?  But first remind the people who you are."

 "I'm Drew, writer #3 on the writing team. My full name is Andrew Dale Bailey, but everybody calls me Drew B.  I'm 20-months-old.  OK, Ops?"

 "Yup.  So what's your problem?"

"Everybody loves me.  Daddy and Mommy love me the mostest.  How can anybody not love wonderful little me? Here's my problem. Last evening I got a baby brother. 7 pounds, 4 ounces, whatever that means.  Opa, now Mommy and Daddy can only love me half as much!  I want to cry!"

"Well, Drew B, that's what you would think but I'll tell you what Oma and I learned when we had babies.  Love doesn't divide. Love multiplies.  Your Daddy and Mommy will love you more and more and they'll have lots of love for your new brother too.  Love multiples because God is love.  God gives us Himself to share.  Drew B, what's your new brother's name?"

"Jacob Thomas Bailey."

"Wonderful!  Thomas is the name of your Daddy's Daddy.  Good heritage.  And Jacob comes from a Hebrew word that means 'to follow.' He's the second born; he follows you.  Your name is Andrew.  The disciple Andrew was known as the 'Introducer' because he introduced people to Jesus.   So you help introduce Jacob to God's love.  When you share God's love, there will always be more.  Got it?"

Big people, got it?

The Meyer Minute for November 8, 2012

The fallout is guaranteed to continue but the voting is over.  We have not elected a savior to any office in this land, be that to the Oval Office or to the seats of your local government.  What we have done is elect fallible men and women who need both our prayers and our vigilant attention.  Let us hope that all the newly-elected pause to reflect the trust laid on them and then agree with David who said, “I am this day weak, though anointed king.” (2 Samuel 3:39)

 

In retrospect this long and wearisome campaign should have made us keenly aware of the contrast, the clear contrast, between the gentle and good rule of God’s Spirit in our hearts…

 “Come unto Me and I will give you rest…” and the ultimate shallowness of political promises and programs, even from the best of people.  

 

The poet reads the contrast right:

 

“Trust not in rulers, they are but mortal;

Earthborn they are and soon decay.

Vain are their counsels at life’s last portal,

When the dark grave engulfs its prey.

Since mortals can no help afford,

Place all your trust in Christ, our Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia” (Lutheran Worship 445, 2)