The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for December 21, 2012

Several friends have asked, “What are you going to get Diane for Christmas?”  The answer is simple.  “What could the woman possibly want?  She has me!”  An old, worn-out male joke, I know, but an introduction to today’s present.

What could you or I possibly want when we have God? “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”   This is the greatest present of all, that the great God…  Think about that, the God who created you, me and the whole universe, who knows everything about us, who is ever with us…  This God wants to be your heart-throb.  He loves you jealously and wants you to love Him back.  (Deuteronomy 6:5)  When our love for Him grows cold, as the Ephesians did, He invites us to turn back to loving Him again. (Revelation 2:4)  He’s waiting for you.  Didn’t the prodigal learn that the hard way?  (Luke 15:11-32)  Why shouldn’t our resolution for the New Year to always be with Him? “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)   

This present is different than the other presents God gives us.   We can see people and things and stuff and life and families and church but can we see this present?  No, but this mysterious present does have a focus, a face that should always be before us.  “God, who said ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)  “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8-9)

So what more could you want?  “Whom have I in heaven but You?  And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”  (Psalm 73:25-26)  We usually think of the Ten Commandments as ten rules, ten restrictions, ten negative things, ten no-fun things.  But the better way to look at them is God’s ten presents, His presents for our life together and His presents that lead us to Himself and Heaven.  What more could you want?  Merry CHRISTmas! 

PS:  There are a few commandments I didn’t open...yet.  We’ll get to them when we come back January 7^th.  

The Meyer Minute for December 20, 2012

Untie, rip, throw…we all know the drill.  Who picks up all the wrapping paper at your house?

The next present from God that we open says, “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.”  This is God’s gift to you of rest, of blessed rest, rest that can restore you in body and soul.  This is the rest most of us will enjoy in coming days.  We’ll be off from work, time with family, time for hobbies, time for whatever, and one of the most counter-cultural pleasures to indulge in, time to waste (which I believe is godly every now and then).

“Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.” (Exodus 20:9-10)  Because this command is fulfilled in the One who says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest,” most Christians today do not keep Saturday as a required day of rest. (Matthew 11:28)  That said, neither Old nor New Testament tells us not to rest.  “Come apart into a deserted place and rest a while,” Jesus bids His disciples.  (Mark 6:31).

Rest reminds us that we are saved by grace, not by works.  (Ephesians 2:8-9)  Rest reminds us that before God we are all equal.  The authority and power of people that we observe in our day-to-day life are set aside as we all rest before God.  (Exodus 20:10)  Rest refreshes our bodies and souls for work that is to come.  Work is our thankfulness for grace.  In fact, we are more productive when we regularly cease work in order to rest.  (Psalm 92:12-15).  When we slow down our whirring minds to rest, we are receptive to “the one thing needful.” (Luke  10:42).  In our earthly times of rest, we look ahead to the heavenly rest that remains for the people of God.  (Hebrews 4:9)  This rest happens in church, in worship.  Therefore we should “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is.”  (Hebrews 10:25).  But the gift is not confined to church services (and heaven will not be an unending earthly church service!)  Therefore we engage in personal and group devotion outside of church.  (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)  The Spirit of God is a silent and unseen hunter.  His blessings best penetrate the heart when the target is not moving.  “In repentance and rest is thy salvation; in quietness and confidence is thy strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)  Don’t just do something; sit there.

Rest is God’s gift that keeps on giving.  Of course!  That is the way our Father is to us His beloved children.

The Meyer Minute for December 18, 2012

After Newtown, family gatherings at Christmas and opening presents have poignancy.  How precious and fleeting are these times together!  Let’s open another present from God because I happen to know on good authority that this gift will be especially appreciated now.

Untie, untie, rip off the wrapping, rip off the wrapping, open, look in.  Another fragment of stone: “Honor thy father and thy mother that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.” 

This is God’s present of family, of parents and children living together in honor, respect and love for each other.  When I was a kid, I remember being thrilled by some presents, the Lionel train, the Schwinn bike, an Erector set.  I was always disappointed when I opened a present and got clothes, bummer.  Now that I look back, one of the greatest presents I got was a good family.  We appreciate so much in hindsight.

This present goes beyond your home.   In addition to family, this is God’s gift of order and authority.  Families, immediate and extended, give order to society.  We live on streets, in recognizable homes.  “There’s the Young house, the Piacenti house, the Joyce house.”  We have our place; there is an order.  With that order, God gives authority.  On God’s behalf parents have authority over children.  It spreads throughout society.  City officials, police, fire…they have authority under this commandment.  Their positions are to serve and protect us on God’s behalf and our response should be willing obedience (so long as they do not force us to violate God’s ways, Acts 5:29).  In this light we see another dimension of the Newtown tragedy: disobedience to authority, shattering the order of life, and ripping the heart out of God’s gift of family.  He willfully broke God’s present.

 

 

The Meyer Minute for December 17, 2012

King Herod was an evil man who, St. Matthew tells us, slaughtered children in Bethlehem in an attempt to eliminate Jesus.  “Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.’” (Matthew 2:17-18)

How broken hearts yearn, how from the depths we pray:

O come, Thou Dayspring from on high, and cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadow puts to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

 

O Come, Desire of nations, bind in one the hearts of all mankind;

Bid Thou our sad divisions cease and be Thyself our King of Peace.

 Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

 

The Meyer Minute for December 14, 2012

"Should we open another present from God?"

"Yeah, and I'll bet it's going to be another piece of broken stone."

Untie, untie, rip, rip, throw away, throw away, open.  "Thou shalt not bear false witness.” 

This present is people who will speak up for you.  Even when you do something wrong, these people will “put the best construction on everything.”  Yes, there will be people who run you down, ouch in the heart, but God gives you people who will speak up for you. These people are the truest friends you can have, like Jonathan speaking up for David before King Saul.

"Want to open another one?"

"Yup, and I bet I know what will be inside.  Another stone and this one will say, “Thou shalt not steal.”  But I wonder what this inside-out way of looking at the commandments will say about, "Thou shalt not steal"?

Untie, untie, rip, rip, throw away, throw away, open.  Sure enough.  "Thou shalt not steal."

This present is things and stuff.  God gives us things that we need for life, like food and housing and some money.  When we are running short on necessities, God invites us to ask Him, "Give us this day our daily bread."  Sometimes God gives us stuff, stuff that we don’t really need but it’s nice to have. God has given Americans lots of stuff, so much that we imagine we can't live without it.  Ever been to Darfur, to the barrios of Caracas, slept on a park bench?  Thank God for this overflowing box of things and stuff!  Let’s take care of it, let’s not hurt other peoples’ things and stuff, and let's share with those in need.

Fragments of stone and old letters?  "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody." (2 Corinthians 3:2)

The Meyer Minute for December 13, 2012

We're tempted in these last days before Christmas to resent our circumstances.  The rushing to get things done, the straining of the budget, personality clashes, perhaps a loved one sick...We easily resent these intrusions upon the peaceful spirit of Christmas.  We would much rather have the circumstances of angels, flitting about, singing hymns, not a care, rather than our present circumstances.

Joseph had been emotionally upset.  His bride-to-be was pregnant and he wasn't the father.  The big impersonal government forced them on a long trip to Bethlehem.  Pregnancy isn't easy and there's nothing in the Bible saying Mary rode a donkey.

The feelings you have battling the crowds are probably not unlike the feelings Joseph and Mary had.  You need a last-minute gift.  They needed a place to stay...and have that baby.  These aren't the circumstances of angels but of humans.  That's the way it is.

And that's why Christmas is.  It's sinful to resent our circumstances.  If things were just as we desire, the coming of God would be another nice ornament in a life that needs no salvation.  The Savior didn't come for the angels but for us, just the way we are.

 

The Meyer Minute for December 12, 2012

Let’s open another present!  Remember, God is giving us presents so good that He doesn’t want us to wait to open them.  So we untie the imaginary bow, rip off the wrapping paper, throw it to the floor (who ends up picking up all that paper?), open the box, and voila!  We find another fragment of stone.  On it this inscription: “Thou shalt not kill.”

This is God’s gift of life.  “God created man in his own image.  Male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27)  “I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14).  Thus far God has brought your life through illnesses and protected you through accidents.  “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” (Psalm 91:11)  To take care of this gift, God gives doctors and nurses, police and fire, military personnel and others whose calling is the protection and improvement of life.  Thank You!

There’s more in this box.  Jesus says, “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)  Life to the full is spiritual as well as physical.  Before you were born, God intended this abundant life for you, “which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:10).  When it looks to us, looks can be deceiving, looks to us that life has ended, God’s Son promises, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26) 

The shooter in Oregon, religious radicals who kill in the name of their god, undisciplined drivers holding phones and jeopardizing life…  When Lazarus died, “Jesus wept.” (John 11:35)  God pleads with us, “Thou shalt not kill.”  Don’t break this precious gift of life! 

The Meyer Minute for December 11, 2012

Here’s a peek inside the classroom as I was speaking to seminarians in their final year before going out to lead churches. 

I shared that over the years I have come to realize how impure I am, that I really am the chief of sinners because of what goes on within me.  They watched closely.  Is he going to reveal something scandalous?  No, there’s no scandal.  I’ve been a reasonably good Sunday school, parochial school, seminary, religious person.  What’s shameful in me is on the inside.  “From within, out of your hearts, come evil thoughts,” Jesus says, and lists some really bad things. (Mark 7:21-22)  That said, I moved closer toward my point.  Each of you is just as impure on the inside as I am.  Getting closer to my point and now it’s time to deliver it.

The church and seminary teach us how to hide our sin.  The hearts of seminarians and pastors are as impure as they come and, what we don’t recognize unless we probe our inner thoughts and feelings in light of God’s commands, we unconsciously learn from the patterns of seminary and church how to conceal from ourselves and others the shame of our own impurity.  “Who can discern his errors?” (Psalm 19:12)  The same is true for laypeople.  Go to church, go through the motions, maybe even mechanically do daily devotion…  Satan works subtly in our church systems to mute our individual realization that I desperately need a Savior, that you need Jesus. “The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner.  So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship.  We dare not be sinners.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Life Together,” 110) 

The church establishment tells us that Advent is a time of repentance.  If we’re serious, Advent will be soul-wrenching.  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

“ ‘Tis Thine to cleanse the heart, to sanctify the soul, to pour fresh life on every part, and new create the whole.  Dwell, therefore, in our hearts; our minds from bondage free: Then shall we know and praise and love the Father, Son, and Thee.  Amen.”  (Starck, 179)

The Meyer Minute for December 10, 2012

How’s your Christmas shopping going?  This Christmas God is giving all of us some presents.  Maybe you’re thinking, I know, it’s Jesus.  Well, it is Jesus but God is giving us more presents than Jesus and He’s letting us open them right now.  So let’s take the first present, take off the bow, rip off the paper and throw it on the floor (who ends up picking up the paper?) and see what God has given us.

Hmmm…  Inside this box is a fragment of stone that says, “Thou shalt not covet.”  That’s a present, “Thou shalt not covet”?  Yup, and a great gift it is.  This present means you don’t have to keep up with the Joneses.  You don’t have to envy and try to get what they have.  Better car, nicer home, handsome husband, pretty wife…  With this gift from God you know that the grass is greener on your side of the fence.  Sure, there are things that you’d like to have but this present frees you from being enslaved to desire for what other people have.  “Thou shalt not covet” is God’s gift to you of contentment.

Instead of thinking of the commandments as ten rules, ten downers, ten “don’t have any fun,” think of the commandments as gifts from God for our well-being.  Then why does He say, “Thou shalt not?”  Simple.  He doesn’t want us to break the wonderful present He gives us.  “Thou shalt not covet” is God’s gift of contentment.    

The Meyer Minute for December 7, 2012

Above the old easy chair in my bedroom is a copy of a painting by John Constable, a famous 19^th century British artist known for painting landscapes.  Constable was fascinated by the sky.  He said the sky is the “principal instrument for expressing sentiment.”  (Great Museums of the World: National Gallery, Washington, p. 149)

The prophet Isaiah used the sky to express his deep religious sentiment.  “Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down!” (Isaiah 64:1)  Aren’t there days when you wish God would come down in a very visible way, come down and once and for all eliminate evil?  Be careful what you wish for!  You know some shameful things about yourself, sinful things.  And there are more you’re not aware of.  “Who can discern his errors?”  (Psalm 19:12)  “How then can we be saved?”  Isaiah’s answer is to plead to our heavenly Father for mercy.  “Do not remember our sins forever.  Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all Your people.” (64:9)

Children imagine animals in the clouds.  Adults, sometimes world-weary, see more.  Advent, these weeks before Christmas, is time to see God’s coming from heaven, coming in the past as the babe of Bethlehem, coming now with a good word of forgiveness and hope, and coming in the future on Judgment Day in a way all will see.   What will you see today when you look to the sky?