The Meyer Minute

The Meyer Minute for November 9, 2016

Even though last night was a late night, I’m an early riser, even when I’m dead-tired. Went out early and bumped into an old friend. “Morning,” I mumbled, and then added, “Wow, what a night!” “What do you mean?” my old friend asked. “Duh, the election! You voted, didn’t you?”

My friend – I’ve known him for years and assumed I knew him well – said, “Well, no.” “What? You didn’t vote?! How come?” He said, “Hey, I’ve been around a long, long time. I’ve seen how it goes. Was the election important? Yeah, but it’s not the biggest thing on my mind.”

This is turning into a challenging conversation. “Well then,” I pushed back, “what is on your mind?” “Look,” he said, “elections come; elections go. Parties come; parties go. Aren’t you supposed to get up every morning and do what is right? Aren’t you supposed to live by some higher standard than political gain? Hanging your hope or disappointment on some election, isn’t that shallow?”

Hmm… He got me thinking. Should I see the elections in a different way, a higher way? Maybe politics isn’t the beginning or the end of the world. Whoops! Forgetful me! I forgot to tell you who my friend is who challenged me: God. Call it morning devotion. Life goes on; God is. Win or lose, keep living His life.

The Meyer Minute for November 8, 2016

Today we vote. There have been other times when our nation was deeply divided, not just now, and Christians were set against each other. President Abraham Lincoln was a student of the Bible and his second inaugural address shows how its divine wisdom shaped his leadership.

“Both [sides] read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces [slavery], but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. ‘Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!’” (Matthew 18:7; KJV).

Romans chapter 1 teaches that God lets people do what they want, at least for a time. Whoever wins when the polls close tonight can thank God but should not presume that heaven is aligned with his or her platform. Election winners have been given an opportunity but time will tell. As President Lincoln wisely said, “The Almighty has His own purposes.”

“The will of God is always best / And shall be done forever;

And they who trust in Him are blest, / He will forsake them never.

He helps indeed / In time of need, / He chastens with forbearing;

They who depend / On God, their friend, / Shall not be left despairing.”

(Lutheran Service Book, 758, 1).

The Meyer Minute for November 7, 2016

“May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles” (Psalm 25:21-22).

Lead America, O God, out of our divided and dangerous present. America sincerely invoked You in the past but now is guilty of lip-service. We cannot know Your ways for this nation as we cast our votes. I cannot claim that my vote is Yours; You are great but I am small. Your eyes search the depths of my heart and scrutinize the paths I walk. “Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long” (Psalm 25:5). May we who follow Your Son live disciplined lives, gladly obeying Your commandments with integrity and uprightness. May all who wait on You so care for our fellow citizens that they ask the hope that is in us. Whether the way ahead be easy or hard, work Your will through us so that this nation be a people of justice and righteousness living in Your holy fear.

“Trust not in princes they are but mortal; earthborn they are and soon decay.

Naught are their counsels at life’s last portal, when the dark grace doth claim its prey.

Since, then, no man can help afford, Trust ye in Christ, our God and Lord.

Halleluiah! Halleluiah!”

Only when we are distant from tomorrow, only when we look back, will we in some small measure see the mercy of Your ways. For now we wait upon You, O God, and entrust this nation to Your care by prayer today and many days to come. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Meyer Minute for November 4, 2016

Congratulations to the Chicago Cubs, and to the Cleveland Indians too! You gave us one of the greatest World Series of all time… and you took our minds off of the election, off troubles at work, off paying bills, off of our calculated responses to situations. Cubs and Indians, you let us be simple followers of baseball. Thank you!

The great Creator put a rhythm into our creaturely lives. “He sleeps and rises night and day,” Jesus said about a worker, and invited tired disciples, “‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat” (Mark 4:27; 6:31).

The alternation of work and rest gives opportunity to thank the Creator for His grace in redeeming us. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work… You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:14-15). That Old Testament Sabbath is fulfilled in Jesus. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Being simple followers of sports takes us out of our self-centered lives. Thank you, Cubs! Taking our thoughts off ourselves to rest with Jesus marks the simplicity of following the Savior to heaven. “That they may rest from their labors…” (Revelation 14:13).  

The Meyer Minute for November 3, 2016

Our old house needed a new roof, and yesterday was the day. Roofers came at 7 am and went at it, taking off the old shingles and tarpaper, checking the wood, and then replacing the old with the new. I got home at 4 pm, in my suit… suit signals a different kind of life…and sat on the deck to watch this crew of four. “I couldn’t do that,” I kept thinking. I’m afraid of being up on the roof, I couldn’t carry those heavy bags of shingles, I couldn’t bend and nail, I couldn’t do all that with a heavy tool belt…  Suits sometimes think the world revolves around us but yesterday was a strong reminder to me to respect everyone who works hard.

I watched and went theological, which is what I do in my nice suit. With respect came sadness that we in the church sometimes show a superior attitude toward those who aren’t like us. They spoke a language I don’t understand, their heart language. I presume they were saying things like, “I need the nail gun” or whatever, but maybe they were talking about the suit watching them from the deck. Getting the love of God into the heart language of people is what mission is about, and celebrating the gathering of different faces and tongues into the kingdom of God is what heaven will be. “Behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…” (Revelation 7:9).

The roofers worked until dark, a reminder to me, “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day” (John 9:4).

The Meyer Minute for November 2, 2016

What does our culture celebrate? And most revealing, what observances of popular culture are Christians uncritically joining?

Today is the “Day of the Dead.”  “Families across Mexico spend the night with their departed loved ones in cemeteries decorated with marigolds (the traditional flowers of the dead), sugar skulls and cardboard skeletons, tissue-paper decorations and fruits and nuts.” The Day of the Dead has come to the United States, “to become a part of mainstream popular culture, much like the Easter bunny or Santa Claus.” “A highlight will be a series of ofrendas or altars – installations which pay tribute to people who have died….”

This is different than our grandkids putting on spooky costumes. “The ultimate thing about the Day of the Dead is that it is a beautiful way to deal with death,” said Cesareo Moreno, curator of the National Museum of Mexican Art in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. “It doesn’t avoid it. It embraces the idea of death as a part of life.” (Kyle MacMillian, Chicago Sun-Times, September 23, 2016; Agenda 13).

That’s a far different culture than the one we followers of Jesus live in. “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26). “Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand; when the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be beaten down by it” (Isaiah 28:18). “They are surprised when you do not join them,” said Peter to the culturally different Christians of his day (1 Peter 4:4). Is Jesus’ life so deep in you, so deep in our church, that we are culturally different?

“The powers of death have done their worst, But Christ their legions hath dispersed.

Let shouts of holy joy outburst. Alleluia” (Lutheran Service Book, 464, 2).

The Meyer Minute for November 1, 2016

Emails, texts, TV, Google, Facebook… The problem with our devices is they seduce us into the moment. How many instantaneous communications make you happily say, “I am so blessed!”? The corrective to device drudgery is seeing your monitor through the lens of eternity.

Today is All Saints Day. A favorite passage for the day are Jesus’ Beatitudes, Matthew 5:1-12. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Seeing God, heaven, eternity. “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat, For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17). And there will be no more devices to pester you. You’ll want for nothing because you will have perfect communion with God.

Our modern communication devices are wonderful in many ways. I have no desire to go back to party lines and carbon paper, but I feel sorry for people who are seduced into thinking that life is on their phone or pad. Balance. Pestered though you may be, blessed are you right now. You have Jesus’ promise. “Your reward is great in heaven.”