The Bungee Cord

Hello,

Does God care about who will win the college football championship game tonight?

I do. I am hoping that Indiana will beat Miami. It’s not that I am anti-Miami or that I am a big Indiana fan, actually quite the opposite since Indiana crushed Illinois this fall in our game against them. But in this game, I find myself rooting for Indiana. Why? Well, it is always fun to see a cellar-dweller team rise out of nowhere, like a phoenix, suddenly coming to life. Indiana, as you may know, has lost more games in its history than any other major college team. Year after year it has dwelt among the dregs of the Big-10. Much like people asked of Jesus, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”, the same, football wise, has been said of Indiana, “Can anything good come out of Indiana?”

Well, this year we may find out. I’ve been impressed with Indiana’s quarterback who seems to be a well-grounded person. When he won the Heisman Trophy, he acknowledged that the award was really a team award, and even more so credited his resiliency in sports and life to his mother who has been in a knock down battle with Multiple Sclerosis. When he speaks, he also gives glory to God, not so much in crediting God for his victories, but rather for God’s steadfast presence and blessings in life that have come his way. Interestingly, he even took the Heisman Trophy to show the priests in his hometown parish.

Although I have never heard it asked of him, “Does God care about who will win the college football championship game?”, it is my feeling that he would answer in the same manner as I, “No.”

Sometimes when I hear people talk about the way that God works in the world, it sounds like some people do think that God cares about football victories, as if God was on their side…seeking to reward them for their righteousness, their hard work, and their devotion. But as important as a football game might be to those who are playing or cheering , when I read the Bible, it seems that there are other things that bear far more import in God’s desires.

What might be more important than a football game? Surely the relationship of love and trust that is held between God and all people. So important is this to God that he sent his Son to take to the grave anything that might come between the world and God. Even as clearly, the Bible tells us that the plight of people is more important. The plight of the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, the naked, the imprisoned lie heavily on God’s heart. So personal are these plights that Jesus has said that whenever we reach out in Christlike care to such as these, we are reaching out to Christ, himself. The list of things superiorly important to God than a football game could go on and on, forever: peace between nations, care of the earth, hope for the dying, strength to battle despair, calm to overcome fear.

I have always thought of sports as great momentary diversions from the weight of the world. They give us something to stick out our necks for that really doesn’t matter so that when we encounter those things that really matter, we have had some practice. They give us a display of talent and ability that might lead us to use our talents and abilities in things that are of great consequence. They help us see that the good guy doesn’t always win, but those who have been trampled upon sometimes overcome their tramplers.

I’ll be watching the football game tonight, because I appreciate the diversion that it gives me. More importantly, however, I will be in church on Sunday, because I need the nourishment that it gives me to face the far more consequential things that I daily encounter and which are far dearer in the heart of God than a football game.

By the way, Indiana 35, Miami 24.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord 1-12-26

Hello,

I walked into church yesterday, and I was caught off guard. Christmas was gone.

Gone were the trees and the decorations that adorned them. Gone were the garlands draped over the windows and doorways. Gone was the manger scene that sat near the altar. Gone were the trumpeting angels that hung near the cross. Gone were the advent wreath and its blue candles. Gone were the candelabras that lighted the main aisle. Gone were the banners that proclaimed the Christmas story. Gone. Christmas was gone.

What remained was the barren walls. What remained was the altar, the lectern and the pulpit clad in their normal clothes. What remained was the large cross that hangs on the stone wall in the front of the church. What remained was the baptismal font, unadorned. What remained was the un-candled pews and aisle. It was stark and bare.

As I considered what I walked into yesterday, it was a visible reminder of the rhythm of the life of the Christian faith. There are those moments in the life of faith that are full of splendor and magnificence, like Christmas and Easter, spiritual discoveries, and bonfires of joy. But most of the life of faith is plain, unadorned, and unremarkable. It is more like the weight training and conditioning that basketball teams fill their days with between games. It is more like the vacuuming and cleaning that is done to keep a house livable. It is more like the reading and studying that is done to pass a class. It is the prayers said before meals, the ride to the doctor given to an elderly neighbor, the hymns sung and the Bible heard week after week, the daily remembrance of your Baptism when you wash your face, and the blessings that you bring to the world through your vocation. The life of faith is more often stark and bare.

As a pastor, I strive to make sure that the jubilation of Christmas and Easter is powerfully palpable in our worship services, and it is my hope that the extravagance of grace that all who attend experience will ignite a roaring fire of God’s love for them, that that fire might be to the world a stubborn smoldering fire that won’t go out….that the red hot cinders of hope, peace, mercy and joy might be unextinguishable. Additionally, as a Pastor, I strive to make sure that every Sunday is like a new log placed on that fire so that when the splendor and magnificence is gone there still might be a place in this cold and chilling world where people might come together and warm their hands to love their neighbor, where people might fill their lungs with air that changes their coughing into singing, and where people might come and have their shivering transformed into thanks and praise.

As I look back on the great gala of Christmas, I find myself thankful for the burst of God’s grace that exploded around me. And as I look forward into the weeks ahead, I find myself thankful for the campfire around which I can always find divine warmth when life is stark and bare.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord

Hello,

This past Saturday, I went to see the Fighting Illini basketball team beat Penn State. Oskeewowow!

But I almost missed it.

My fellow college friend from my days at the University of Illinois, Mark Hoffman, lives in the Gettysburg area, and we zoom at halftime of basketball and football games to either prepare ourselves for a second half let-down, or a rousing victory. Earlier this fall I checked the Illinois baskeball schedule and saw that we (Illinois!) were playing Penn State on Jan. 3, an away game for us. We decided that we should break out our orange and blue and go to the game. So, I bought tickets and reserved a Hotel at State College, Pennsylvania.

Last week at the half-time of our football victory (Oskeewowow!) we finalized our plans to meet at State College at the hotel around 4 in the afternoon, eat, and then go to the game. Later that night at 11:00 or so, I got a text from Mark, “THE GAME IS IN PHILADEPLPIA!” He had heard some comment on a sports broadcast that mentioned in passing that the Illinois/Penn State baskeball game was going to be played at a legendary arena in Philadelphia!

So, I got my computer out and looked up the Illinois schedule and it said, “ILLINOIS AT PENN STATE”, and then I noticed in very small letters in the neighboring column, “To be played at the Palestra in Philadelphia”. So, when I woke up in the morning, I called my friend and discovered we were able to change our plans, and that I would instead drive to his house and go to Philly from there, and come back to his house late at night after the game. And that is what happened.

Good thing that he found out that the venue was not at Penn State, as we had expected. Otherwise, we would have found ourselves at Penn State, banging on the door of the arena wondering where everyone was, and we would have missed the thrill and the wonder of going to see the Illini play.

My near miss basketball experience got me to thinking about how often this sort of thing happens, and unlike me with the Illini, we find ourselves in the wrong place and missing what we had hoped to be part of.

When Sunday morning comes the schedule that the world prints in all capital letters that this is a time for peace, renewal, family relationship building, enjoyment, and relaxation…..and in big letters it says that the venue for these things are in a Lazy-boy chair drinking a couple of cups of coffee, under warm covers where you can enjoy a few extra winks and casually read a good book, or gather around a table with the family over a hearty brunch, or getting ready for having people over to watch the Steelers (what a slippery win it was last night for them!), or just flying by the seat of your pants with nothing planned….and it is true that a degree of what each venue promised might be found there…much like a degree of what we had hoped to find at the Penn State arena if we had gotten and discovered an intramural basketball game going on….the fact of the matter is that all those things that we hope to experience on Sunday morning are really being played out in a different place: at church.

Yes….at church! If you look closely at the schedule that the world puts in front of you every Sunday morning, you’ll see in the neighboring column announcing the day’s events, “To be played out in church”. Every Sunday in the legendary arena of the church you will be enveloped in a peace that passes all human understanding as you gather to be caught up in praise to God who incredibly unconditionally loves you. Every Sunday in the legendary arena of the church you will be blanketed by the love of those around you as the unparallelled page turner of grace is read amongst you. Every Sunday in the legendary arena of the church you will gather around an eternal family at the Lord’s table and be fed a heal that will transform your heart. Every Sunday at the legendary arena of the church you will be part of a victory celebration that would make a Steelers Super Bowl championship seem less thrilling than the pop of a snap gun. And every Sunday morning at the legendary arena of the church you can find yourself raised up as on eagle’s wings as God holds you in the palm of his hand.

Like my friend’s 11:00 p.m. text, although the world may direct you elsewhere, I am sending you this Bungee Cord to tell you that the game that you are wanting to experience will actually be played at church this Sunday! Alleluia!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord. 12-29-25

Hello,

Did you ever notice that there is no “should” in Christmas. The story of Christmas, at least the Biblical story of Christmas, is one of sheer gift.

I suspect that there has been a time, or times in your life when someone has given you something, and when that has happened to you, if that which has been given to you is of significant value, (tickets to an Illinois basketball game, a piece of jewelry that you had saved up for years to buy, a world famous doctor who makes an appointment for you) you say to the giver, “I should give you something for this.” And the giver puts out their hand like a traffic cop yelling stop, says, “No, No. Just take it.”

Moments like that are the things upon which relationships are made and built. In this transactional world in which we live, a world in which backs are scratched but hearts are left untouched, gifts given as sheer gift are pilons for a skyscraper sized relationship that no wind, quake or storm can topple. When a parent says to a child, “No matter what you do, you will always be my child,” that child can step into the trap filled world with confidence and hope. When a person says to another, “Here’s my telephone number. You call me no matter what time of the day it is, even the middle of the night, and I’ll be there for you,” that is like sealing a friendship with superglue. “Just take it.”

Such gifts are not like poker chips to be cashed in when the giver needs help. Such gifts are not shackles of never ending duty and allegiance. They are not given out of guilt or pity. They are acts of love, and to say, “I should give you for this,” diminishes the degree of love in which they are given.

When God gave you and me the gift of Jesus, his Son, God’s desire was to do only one thing, love us. God was not looking for some compensation for his generosity. God was not hoping to make us permanently carry a debt to him. As a matter of fact, to say to God, “I should give you something for this,” would be an affront to the motivation in God’s heart that led God to give us a gift of such personal worth to God. “Just take it.”

Over and over again, the Bible tells us that God has given us Jesus unconditionally. Such giving may trigger a profound “Thank you!” from us, but more so God means it to ever more deeply wrap us in his embrace, and when that happens we are changed….changed into people who are driven by being loved. Changed from people who look what they can get out of people, to look how they can do as God does, abundantly fill people. Changed from people who ask others, “What have you done for me, lately?”, to people who never stop asking others, “What can I do for you.” Changed from people who seek to do God’s will out of duty and obligation, to people who simply live their lives as who they are, beloved Children of God.

As the world has gotten ahold of the Christmas story, the world always adds a “should” to it, but my hope is that this Bungee Cord will open your ears to the announcement of the Bethlehem angels,

10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah,[b] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,[c] praising God and saying,14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”[d] (Luke 2)

Notice….there is no “should”.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord. 12-15-25

Hello,

For centuries Christians have taken four weeks to prepare themselves for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus, these four weeks are called Advent. At our church we light a candle each week on an Advent Wreath to experience the increasing brightening of our world that culminates in Jesus’ birth. As the Gospel of John says, “the light (Jesus) shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”

As part of that candle lighting, some sort of devotional meditation is read. This year, I am going to share those readings that I have written with you in my Bungee Cord, and I invite you to create an Advent wreath in your home and light a candle each week as you and a friend or family join in the devotion. You needn’t go and buy something fancy, placing four candles on a table, either in a straight line or in a square works fine. That is what we do in our home. If you haven’t started your advent wreath yet, join in these on this last week.

Before dinner, my wife and I sequentially light a candle each week and spiritually prepare ourselves for Christmas. As the waning sun darkens our world, a world that is already dark enough, I invite you to discover the power of Jesus’ promised presence gaining light in your life. The devotion for the fourth week of Advent focuses on the shepherds, witnesses to the Son of God.

By and large, shepherds in Jesus’ day were not highly regarded. They were known to be crafty and sly, the kind of people who you would keep your eyes on if they were walking by. Their daytime job was to oversee the needs of the sheep: lead them to pastures where they could eat and to water where they could drink. Although they were to be on guard for the sheeps’ safety during the day, that responsibility was magnified at night when predators would seek their prey. The common way to watch over one’s flock by night was to herd the flock into a cave in which the animals would spend the night, and the shepherds would stand guard at the cave’s entrance. To leave the mouth of the cave could mean death to the entire flock. So, the decision to go to find the Messiah was a decision of life and death. With that in mind, we light the fourth Advent candle, the shepherds’ candle.

The Shepherds, the witnesses to the Son of God

Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.

God: Hey., shepherds.

Shepherds: Yes. Is that you, Lord?

God: It’s me alright, and I have a job for you.

Shepherds: Why are you talking to us. We’re surprised that you know us. We’re just simple shepherds, tending sheep.

God: Well, I do know you, and I have chosen you to witness the birth of my Son in the world.

Shepherds: What? Say that again.

God: I’ve chosen you to witness the birth of my Son in the world, to see him wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger and then tell on the mountains what you have seen.

Shepherds: Sounds like something too big for us to do.

God: Maybe too big for you, but not too big for me.

Shepherds: Ok, Lord, but hold onto us tightly.

God: I’ve got you. Let’s get to work!

Light the fourth candle, the shepherds’ candle.

Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. (continue singing as the Advent wreath is lit)

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

 The Bungee Cord. 11-8-25

Hello,

For centuries Christians have taken four weeks to prepare themselves for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus, these four weeks are called Advent. At our church we light a candle each week on an Advent Wreath to experience the increasing brightening of our world that culminates in Jesus’ birth. As the Gospel of John says, “the light (Jesus) shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”

As part of that candle lighting, some sort of devotional meditation is read. This year, I am going to share those readings that I have written with you in my Bungee Cord, and I invite you to create an Advent wreath in your home and light a candle each week as you and a friend or family join in the devotion. You needn’t go and buy something fancy, placing four candles on a table, either in a straight line or in a square works fine. That is what we do in our home. If you haven’t started your advent wreath yet, join in these last two weeks.

Before dinner, my wife and I sequentially light a candle each week and spiritually prepare ourselves for Christmas. As the waning sun darkens our world, a world that is already dark enough, I invite you to discover the power of Jesus’ promised presence gaining light in your life. The devotion for the third week of Advent focuses on the angels, the heralders of the Son of God.

Angels have a long history in the Bible, from the first book of the Bible, Genesis, to the last book, Revelation. Both the Hebrew (O.T.) and Greek (N.T.) word for angel literally means messenger, and that is what the angels of Jesus’ birth story do, they bring the message of the Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem to the shepherds. The angel, whose name was Gabriel brought the news to Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God. Sometimes angels are heavenly creatures who fill the sky with God’s glory, but as Hebrew 13:2 tells us, at other times the messengers of God (angels) are simply people like you and me. As you light the third advent candle in your home, consider how God might be using you to bring the message of God’s self-giving love to the world.

The Angels, the heralders of the Son of God

Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.

God: Hey, angels.

Angels: Yes. Is that you Lord?

God: It’s me, alright, and I have a job for you.

Angels: Why are you talking to us? We’re surprised that you know us. We’re just simple angels, singing in your heavenly choir.

God: Well, I do know you, and I have chosen you to announce the birth of my Son to the world.

Angels: What? Say that again.

God: I’ve chosen you to announce the birth of my Son to the world, to fill the skies with my glory and bring my light to those who have walked in deep darkness.

Angels: Sounds like something too big for us to do.

God: Maybe too big for you, but not too big for me.

Angels: Ok, Lord, but hold onto us tightly.

God: I’ve got you. Let’s get to work!

Light the third candle, the angels’ candle.

Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord. (continue singing as the Advent wreath is lit)

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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