The Meyer Minute for August 31, 2021

Martin Luther about devotion. “It happens often that in my meditation I come across such rich thoughts, that I disregard the other six petitions (of the Lord’s Prayer)…. I have learned much more from this kind of listening than I could have from much reading and reflection.” (“A Simple Way to Pray”) 

That happened to me the other morning. “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there” (Psalm 139:7-8). That last line stopped my reading. When I die, You are there.

I admit I’m apprehensive about death, not death as a theological topic, but I’m fearful about my own dying. I know what I believe, but a voice whispers, “What if you close your eyes and there is nothing. You are no more?” Psalm 139 says God is. “I am who I am” (Exodus 3:14). God is not just omnipresent; He is here with me now, and He will be at my side when He calls me to Himself. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). My mistake is thinking about myself when that time comes. No, Dale, let yourself go and focus on Jesus. “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).

After sharing my apprehension with some pastors, they essentially shot me down. Where’s the empathy? When we hear sermons about Christian confidence in death, we think…or I do; is this only me? “Something must be wrong with me because I’m fearful.” C.F.W. Walther: “Many preachers picture the Christian as a person who does not fear death.  That is a serious misrepresentation, because the great majority of Christians are afraid to die.  If a Christian does not fear death and declares that he is ready to die at any time, God has bestowed a special grace upon him.  Some have expressed this sentiment before their physician told them that they would not live another night, but after that they were seized with a terrible fear.”  (Law and Gospel, 313)

Thoughts not from a sermon but from the Spirit in devotion.

Comments

[Dennis H. Bennett]

Dale..
Thank you for your honesty and willingness to reveal the very weakness I, and many Christians experience...that of "What if it's not real?"
I suffer in that moment, bringing me to remember my favorite Gospel verse, "I have called you by name. You are mine." (Imprinted on a plaque from my vicarage youth group!) Is 43
Seems to me those who shout the loudest need to revisit Numbers 22