Monday, October 14, 2013

The Bungee Cord 10-14-13


Hello,
     The first egg has arrived. Brown. Smaller than a grocer’s egg.  Kate found it in one of the laying boxes about a week ago, and since its discovery there hasn’t been another egg yet.  The egg sits in our refrigerator, and when people come to visit, it isn’t too long after their arrival that Kate asks, “Do you want to see the egg?”  No one has of yet said, “No.”
     With the arrival of our first egg, there is an innate promise of more eggs.  An egg a day per hen, so we are told.  Also, those who know about these things tell us that the size of the eggs should increase.  Four eggs a day.  Four hens.  28 eggs a week!  A virtual avalanche of eggs soon to come our way.  What will we do with all these eggs?  We will probably find more and more ways to place eggs in our diet, as will our friends.  Egg salad sandwiches….deviled eggs….eggs on salad….hard boiled eggs for lunch…egg nog to drink (there are eggs in egg nog, aren’t there?)…  Who knows what feast of eggs lies in front of us.  A promise of things to come, all held in one small egg that sits in our refrigerator.
     The Christian message finds its heart in a different arrival.  The messiah has arrived.  Brown skinned.  A simple man, smaller than the mighty rulers of the world.  Discovered in a manger by mere shepherds, along the sea shore by hard working fishermen, in towns and villages by hated tax collectors, and in an Easter garden by lowly women.  Those who know of things messianic tell us that the increase of his dominion is without end….leading to the day that “ at the name of Jesus
 every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 
11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father.”  A virtual avalanche of grace and mercy to come our way.  And what will we do with all this grace and mercy?  We will probably find more and more ways to place it in our lives and in the lives of others…grace and mercy to spur on hope when we have failed….grace and mercy to transform guilt when we have sinned….grace and mercy to bind enemies as friends…grace and mercy to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, and visit the outcast…grace and mercy to bring death to life, wipe away the tears from every eye, and have us dwell in the house of the LORD forever… Who knows what feast of grace and mercy lies in front of us.  A promise of things to come, all held in one small man named Jesus who lay in a manger, hung on a cross, rose from a tomb and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
    So, as I make my way the church doors on Sunday morning, let me ask, “Do you want to see the messiah?”  I hope you will say “yes” and follow me in!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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