Bungee Cord   1-30-12

Hello,

     One of my sons spent his high school years marching in a competitive drum line.  Never having been in a drum line, I was quite unaware of the complicated nature of drumming, and the terminology they used.  One of the terms that he and his drum line spoke of was the word “clean.”  “Clean”, I came to learn, meant that all the snare drummers, whether two or ten, were striking their drums with their sticks in perfect unison, a very difficult feat given the rapid sticking that they did.  “Clean” was the name given to perfect percussion, “dirty” was the name given to a snare line that was not in precise rhythm.

     During my stint of unemployment, I have had the chance to worship in numerous churches.  Recently, I was at a church where the service opened with an anthem by the children’s choir.  Their song began with a slow melodic tune, gently flowing out of the mouths of the couple of dozen lower elementary aged kids who stood in the front of the church.  But then, as if struck by the Spirit, the piano suddenly jumped into a New Orleans jazz beat, and the children perked up and their song was transformed into a bouncy and snappy tune, supplemented by mild swaying and vigorous handclapping, a transition to a tune more attuned to the restless nature of such aged children.

     As I sat in my pew with a smile on my face, my drum line attuned ears picked something up…..their clapping was not clean….far from it.  It had little synchronization, and sounded much more like popcorn being popped than a rhythm being clapped out.  As I heard it, I thought to myself, “what a wonderful message these children are making in front of our eyes and ears as we begin worship”.  The message of course was, the church is not a place only for “clean” people, as a matter of fact quite the contrary.  The church is actually a place for “dirty” people.  What an incredible message that those children gave us about who was welcome to come into the presence of God and worship him.

     So, if your life is out of rhythm…if you ears are deafened by an unrelenting voice of guilt…if you find yourself teased and put down because you march to the beat of a different drummer….if your hands are clumsy when it comes to holding on to the drum sticks of faith… if you aren’t very good at the marching of walking the walk and talking the talk…simply put…..if you aren’t a very good drummer …….then ……there’s a drum line for you.  God’s drum line.  The drum line that those kids were clapping in.  The drum line that began with a march to the  cross by a dozen “dirty” drummers following their drum master in a cadence of forgiveness and mercy, and that same drum line that took up the cadence of new life as they followed that same drum major out of the Easter tomb.  A drum line that has never really become perfectly clean.  A drum line, however, that never gives up, gathering every Sunday and inviting anyone and everyone to join in the drum master’s life giving march.

     I always found it amazing how my son’s drum line became cleaner and cleaner, coming closer to pounding out a synchronized beat as it practiced and practiced, week after week.  In a world that is pretty good at beating people down….maybe even you…. Let me invite you to be part of this drum line, God’s drum line,  that seeks to pound out a clear beat of hope, mercy, grace and peace.  You don’t have to be clean to join in.  But you will be amazed, I am sure, that as Jesus, the drum major works with you week after week, you will find your heart and life filled with a cadence that beats with the pounding nails in a cross and the grinding of a tomb sealing boulder….a cadence like none other in the world, and a cadence to carry into the world.

     Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace,

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

     

The Bungee Cord 1-22-12

Hello,

     This week I found myself standing in the express line at the grocery store having been sent on a mission to gather the ingredients for a corn and bean salsa that my wife was going to make.  The sign above the cash register said, “12 items or less”.  I looked in my basket and counted fourteen items, and although the sign didn’t say “give or take a few”, I assumed that is what it meant.

     As I walked into the “express line of 12 items or less…give or take a few”, I found myself standing behind a young man of high school age who was incredibly tall.  Considering that my eyes lined up with the bottom of his shoulder blades, my guess is that he was at least 6’6” tall, and probably more.  He was lanky tall; thin and spindly.  My guess is that he weighed about as much as I did when I was his age, and I peaked out at 5’9”.

     It has been a while since I have found myself standing next to someone of his height, but there in that “express line of ….” I felt really, really small.  With my stature, the only time that I feel big at all is when I am surrounded by a bunch of preschoolers who have come up to the front of the church for the children’s message.  So, feeling small is not an unusual feeling for me.  But standing next to this sequoia of a young man, the measure of my smaller stature was magnified….and I felt really, really small.

     I don’t know if you have ever felt this way.  Maybe you, like me, have also felt this way when you are being evaluated by people from the “HR” department.  Or maybe you have felt the magnification of your smallness as the doctor tells you that you will have to wait 2 months to receive the treatment you need.  Or maybe you have felt very small when you are with a bunch of friends who are touting their accomplishments and your life has just crumbled in your hands.  The person who wrote the Psalms felt the microscopic nature of his stature as he looked at the stars of the skies and ask, “what is humanity that you, O LORD, would mindful of it?”

     It seems to me that in reality we are very, very small…..even the tallest among us.  And the fact also is that our stature compared to an ant is not all that grand compared to our stature in as we stand next to the vastness of creation and the majesty of God.   And if we should thoughtlessly squash an ant whose path should happen cross ours, or if we should intentionally squash it because it strayed into our kitchen….what, then, might happen to us if our paths should happen to cross God’s or if we should wander unwanted into his kitchen.  It is no wonder that every time in the Bible, the first response of those who find themselves in the presence of God is fear, and in the case of the Christmas shepherds they were fearfully, fearful (“sore afraid”).

     The great wonder and joy of the Good News of Jesus is that, in fact, even though we are smaller than ants to God, God actually cares about us.  And if that is hard to believe, God proves his care for us measly humans by becoming one of us, identifying with us, and even…..dying for us!   God is not about to squash any of us, for although we might feel small in his presence, he sees each one of us as immense and huge – for he has placed on us a value of measureless worth: the life of Jesus, his Son.  And even though the water that splashes upon us in Baptism may be very small – as small as a few drops or a barrel full of water – the Word that comes with that water is HUGE: “You are my beloved son/daughter, with you I am well pleased.”

    So, this week, know this: if the world says you are small and insignificant, and you can see the world’s foot dropping down upon you, the world’s attempt to squash you will be in vain, for the one whose power created this world will place himself between the world’s boot and you and will not let you be crushed…that is what the cross is all about.  And, if the deeds of your days mark you as a nobody, a “miserable sinner” (and in truth they really do), the deed of God has marked you as “child of God” for whom he has a place in his heart and a room in his eternal kingdom, no matter what….that, too, is what the cross is all about.

     You and I, as we stand in the presence of God, we are indeed small; really, really small.  But God has shown us, in Jesus,  that to him, there is no one bigger in his eyes than you and me.  So fear not….fear not the power of the world…fear not the might of God.

Have a great week!

God’s grace and peace,

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord - 1-16-12

Hello,

     This week has brought snow to Western Pennsylvania.  Friday 6-8 inches of soft, fluffy snow landed here.  As it fell it looked just like one of those shake-up things where the flakes flutter their way to a gentle landing.  Like goose down, they cover the shivering ground and soften the stark winter landscape.

     Saturday morning I went up (or is it down?) to the place that we are building our house.  The building site is on top of the hill looking west to capture the hills and the sunset.  The price we pay for having the beautiful view is the journey up the hill to get to the view.  The road that takes us up the hill is a test to the quality of our car’s shocks, and the gripping power of our tires as it squiggles its way up the incline.  When I arrived at the beginning of the “road” up the hill, I discovered that I was the first one to try and ascend the hill in the freshly fallen snow.  If the snow covered incline wasn’t enough to call into question the possibility of making to the site, the snow covered the road, hiding it like a quilted blanket draped atop a lost belt.

     I bought myself a four-wheel drive pickup this summer in anticipation of just such an event.  So, I flipped the dial to 4HD (High Drive), and turned upwards.  Having traversed this “road” many a time when it was visible, I had some idea of where it was, even though I couldn’t see it.  I knew about how far away from the fence line it lay and where the turns come and go.  I can’t say that I always stayed in the middle of this serpentine path, but thanks to repetitive travel, I made it to the top of the hill without getting stuck on the way.

     As I think about the reason that God throws open the doors of the church every week and invites us to come in, it seems to me that it is much like my snow-clad ascent.  The repetition of worship is meant to give us eyes to see where the road is, even when we cannot see it.  When one thing after another piles on our lives, landing like elephants instead of  goose down and deep ditches of despair hide with a devouring hunger to our right and to our left, the repetitive journey with the one who is the Good Shepherd (read Psalm 23) gives us eyes to see a path of hope.  When one failure tumbles upon another failure piling neck-high drifts in our future, the repetitive journey with the one opens up each day with a fresh start gives us eyes to see a path of purpose to try again.  When one hurt after another hurt becomes a white out of pain, the repetitive journey with the one for whom the pain of sin was swallowed up in forgiveness gives us eyes to see a path of peace.  God opens the doors of his church every week, not to keep some sort of holy attendance….or even to teach us how to be good people, doing the right things….God invites us to come and repetitively spend time with him so that we can see the path of hope, peace, meaning in a world that repetitively is covering that road up.

     I wish that I could tell you that going to worship every Sunday will keep you from falling into ditches of despair, confusion, and struggle.  I cannot.…but this I can tell you… the repetitive time that you spend with the Lord and his people on Sunday mornings will give you eyes to see that road, even when it is covered up,  and you won’t get stuck as often as you would otherwise….and when you do get stuck, all it takes is one word, “Help”, and you will find that there is a community of people who care about you who will come and pull you back up on the road.  You will find that they won’t arrive and laugh at you.  They won’t stand on the road and tell you how stupid you are.  They won’t ridicule you about your life driving skills……because they have all been in the ditch before, too.

     I know that some Sunday mornings (or every Sunday morning) it seems like not much happens in attending worship… the music is bad, the sermon is boring (What! Even when I am preaching????), the people are petty…. More might be happening for you than it appears.  Every Sunday, no matter what, worship sets us on the path of hope, peace, forgiveness, and meaning…and as we travel that path week after week, we develop eyes to see that road …. even when it is covered with 6-8 inches of snow.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace,

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 1-9-12

Hello,

     “We church it up a lot.”

     After watching the Pittsburgh Steelers loose to the Denver Bronco’s, I was watching 60 Minutes.  They were doing a segment, maybe you saw it, on brothers serving together in the armed forces.  One set of brothers had enlisted against their mother’s wishes, and when they were asked by the reporter how their mother feels about the dangers they face every day, the one brother said that when they talk to her they, “church it up a lot.”

     “Church it up?” the reported asked back.

     “Yeah.  We soften it up.  We tell her that everything is fine, and it will all be ok.”

     When I heard this phrase that I had never heard before, it made me sadly ponder; is this what people think the Church, the Christian faith, is all about?  Softening up the hard truths of life.  Telling people that everything is fine when it is really not.  Promising it will all be ok, when the future is very fragile and ominous.  “Churching it up.”

     In that there is a phrase whose meaning seems to be well known amongst many, a group from which I had been previously excluded, I can only conclude that “churching it up” must be a rather common view of what the Church, the Christian faith, is all about.

     I wonder what Jesus, who the Bible tells us is the cornerstone of the Church, thinks about this characterization of the church.  Would he, who found himself betrayed by his best friends, abandoned by those who said they would always have his back, and hung on a cross having been falsely accused would want his church to soften up the harsh realities of life that he, himself, battled to the death?  Of course not.  Would he, whose tears in the garden were so heartfelt that they were as blood, want his church to be blind to the real, human pain that he knew and felt?  Of course not.  Would he, who watched his mother cry at the foot of his cross and was who was held in the death grip of a tomb, want his church to be the spoon full of sugar to help the medicine go down (as in Mary Poppins)?  Of course not.  Would he want me, a pastor, or his church to lie?  Of course not.

     It seems to me that Jesus, who calls himself “the truth”, would expect the Church, to be a place where the truth….not a lie….is found.  That is why when I am sitting with someone who has found out that their spouse has been cheating on them, I don’t say, “Now, now.  It’s not that bad.”  No, what I say is that not even the deepest hurts and betrayals can scare Jesus away from you, and by his strength betrayal will not get the best of you.  That is why when I am with someone who is sitting in a jail cell I don’t say, “Now, now.  It is just fine.”  No, what I say is that there is no hole so deep that Jesus will not jump into it with you and will hold you when you no one else will and will not let your actions rob you of your name, “child of God.”  That is why when I am holding the hand of one who has just lost a dear loved one I don’t say, “Now, now.  It will all be okay.”  No, what I tell them is that Jesus well knows the pain and emptiness of grief, and by the power of his resurrection he will touch you with a healing balm and wrap you in his peace so that the bitter winds of death might no longer chill your bones.

     I am certain that Jesus wants the church to be a place where the brokenness of life is not ignored, minimized or sugared.  If that is what he wanted, he wouldn’t have needed to suffer and die.  Jesus wants the church to be a place where the brokenness of life is taken seriously, dealt with forthrightly, and mutually experienced.  That is why he suffered and died….and that is why he rose from the dead.

     So, let me propose a new image for the phrase “church it up”.  When you look in the mirror and see someone who has made a mess of their life….when you find yourself in the hands of the callous powers of the world….when you are in such a fog that you can’t see beyond your nose…there is a place and a people and a God who will embrace you and hold you when life is falling apart….there is a place and a people and a God who will stand beside you battle life’s bullies with you…there is a place and a people and a God who will be eyes of hope for you when you cannot see.  That is what the church, and the Christian faith is all about.

     In this frame of mind, let me invite you in all things to “church it up”.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace,

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

    

     

The Bungee Cord 1-2-12

Hello,

  After watching the New Year arrive, I set my sights on my bed in hopes of getting a swig of sleep before an early morning awakening to go and preach at a church that the Internet estimated to be about an hour away. The church had two services, 8:30 and 10:45, which meant that I needed to be on the road by 6:45.  It was still very dark when I hopped in my car after scrapping the ice from the windshield.  The patchy fog made the morning even seems earlier as the earth was joining me in shaking loose the fog.

   I climbed my way out of the valley in which I am living, and turned south on the major two-lane highway on my way to a church that I had never been to before.  Within a mile of turning south I heard a crunching noise underneath the tires of my car, and with a quick look to my right I saw the mini-van in the ditch that had left debris on the road from its accidental trip off the road.  With no other traffic around, I decided that I should check to see if there was any one in the mini-van.  So, I turned the car around, turned on my brights and crept slowly toward the mini-van that was resting up against a power line pole.  The front nose of the car was crunched in, the windshield was cracked, and the passenger window had crumbled.  I eyed the interior and saw no one there, but as I glanced around I saw a silhouette standing on the other side of the road in a driveway.  I drove up to the silhouette and discovered it was a teen-age boy making a call on his cell phone.  As he talked, I pulled into the driveway and I asked him if he had been the driver of the mini-van, to which he nodded as he spoke on the phone.  He didn’t look very disheveled, and so I asked him if he was alright, to which he nodded as he continued his conversation, saying, “Yes, mam,” several times.

   As I pulled out of the driveway and headed back on my way, it occurred to me, “What would have I done if he had been hurt?”  There was a church depending upon me still over an hour’s drive away?  Of course, I would have stopped, but I know that my mind would have been divided over concern for the boy and concern for congregation awaiting my leadership.  After all, I couldn’t be in two places at the same time.

   It got me to thinking, that this season of Christmas shows us that what we cannot do, God can, and does!  When God came across a humanity, which includes you and me, that had crashed and crumpled in the fog of life, he stopped everything that he was doing to attend to our wounds – fully, completely and undistracted – being born in a Bethlehem manger.  Nothing in the universe was more important to him and nothing ever will be.  His death on the cross shows that.

   And yet his full presence in the manger did not distract him from every speck of dust and ray of light in the universe that was counting on his attention.  When we look to the vastness of the universe and ask ourselves, “When I consider the universe, why would God care about me? (Psalm 8)”  The answer is that God can and does what you and I cannot.  Even the best human multi-tasker can only shift their focus from one thing to another.  And even with cell phones and computer skyping, we can only be in one place at one time.  Yet God is not so bound.   God has shown himself able to focus his complete attention on more than one thing at one time, and he has shown himself to be completely present in more than one place at a time.  We see this clearly in Jesus, where the infinite God took on finite flesh and bone.

   So, if you find yourself skidding off the road this week, banged up and bruised…fear not….God is not too busy to stop and set his complete attention on you…that is what this Christmas season is all about.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace,

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger