The Bungee Cord 12-27-16

Hello,

Here’s a Christmas message….

Last night we ended our Christmas Eve worship service singing Silent Night

Silent Night, Holy Night all is calm, all is bright

Round yon virgin, mother and child

Holy infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace….sleep in heavenly peace.

Listening to this lovely Christmas song, you and I might come to believe that that 1^st Christmas was a lot different than this Christmas.  That Christmas, a Christmas where everything was calm, where everything was bright.  This Christmas: 

· a Christmas where a truck is driven into a crowd gathered by a church,

·a Christmas where millions of people have lost their homes and many their lives in a bombed city,

·a Christmas where babies cry out for mothers who heroin has stolen away from them. 

The world on this Christmas is far from calm….far from bright.

 Fact is, though, even though the Christmas carol might lead us to think otherwise, our world and that world are really quite alike. 

·Battles raged all around the world as the Roman Empire tried to expand and hold on to its territories,

·people lived in fear of being pulled out of their homes by angry soldiers who decried all restraint,

·babies cried out hopelessly for mothers who died in bringing them into the world. 

Fact is, our world and that world are quite alike.

So today, Christmas day, if you feel like the world is a big mess, remember this: it was a big mess on that first Christmas day.  And maybe that is the most important thing to remember about that first Christmas day…the world was a mess…and yet, …. And yet, God stepped into it.  Today we hear these words from the Gospel of John, “No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”  In Jesus, we see as clearly as we can see, just what kind of God we have.  We have a God who steps into messes.

 We have a God who when things were falling apart,

·God didn’t fold…

·didn’t cash in his chips…

·didn’t cut his losses. 

In Jesus, we see that we have a God that went all in.  A God that totally invested everything that he had, his very self. 

That might not be such a big deal if God was some minor investor…someone who although was very passionate about what he saw going on….didn’t really have the means to do anything about it.  But that is not the case with God.  Our Gospel lesson tells us today that this God of ours is not just a major investor….he is the only investor. 

·He is the one who has created all things…things seen and things unseen. 

·He is the one whose power put everything in motion, and he is the one whose power holds everything together. 

·He is the one who brought light into being, and he is the one who no darkness can overcome.

And it is because of this, that we have a God who steps into messes, that you and I can do as was said of Jesus on that first Christmas day…sleep in heavenly peace.  The world may indeed be rumbling and shaking, but on this Christmas day, feel the embrace of our God on you. 

·Hear his sing his lullabye of grace and mercy softly, but powerfully in your ear. 

·Rest  in the strong arms of God, and as one whom God calls as his child see if you don’t feel peace….divine peace….heavenly peace welling up in you. 

We can rest our heads on our pillows tonight and wake up to face the world with confidence, courage and strength …not because the world is all calm and bright… but because God will be with us, and we have a God who with all of his power and might steps into mess of this world and holds onto his children.

Sleep in heavenly peace.

Amen

The Bungee Cord  12-13-16

Hello,

     We, Lutherans, try to hold back the rush to Christmas and engage ourselves in patient waiting during the 4 weeks before Christmas, Advent.  It is hard for me.  Hard because I am surrounded by and shaped by an impatient culture.  I find myself groaning when my computer doesn’t immediately answer my request.  I find myself frustrated by packages that come by “snail mail” when all my other mail snaps to my arrival with e-mail.  I find myself worrying about not hearing from someone during a trip in bad weather, expecting them to call on the road rather than when they arrive home.  Waiting and impatience have always been tandem riders, but in the world where we live where waiting is losing a battle to instant gratification, I find it getting ever harder to wait.

     Which brings me to my current object of delayed gratification and waiting: a new puppy that we are adding to our household.

     Those of you who have been long-time Bungee Cord readers know that I have a dog, Duncan.  He is a Gordon Setter, and he and I have been scampering through life as buddies for the last 9 years.  He’s still got a lot of vigor in him, but his age is beginning to make itself known.  His jowls are becoming a bit salt and pepper.  He grows weary of playing keep away outside sooner than he used to.  Laying around has become his favorite hobby.  He’s getting old…older.

     A friend of ours told us that the thing to do when your dog is getting older is to get a puppy…get a puppy to keep the old dog younger and to have the old dog teach the puppy the rules of the road.  Well, we took the advice.  I got on the internet and started hunting Gordon Setter puppies in Pennsylvania.  I found several sites and sent them e-mails to see if they had any puppies to place.  In less than 5 minutes (didn’t have to wait!), I got a response from a breeder in Pittsburgh who said that his dog had just had a litter of puppies that would be ready by Christmas….the wrinkle being that the litter was in Lexington, Kentucky with his dog.  Kate and I thought it over.  A long-time breeder (more than 40 litters), healthy dog parents, not too far away……I called him, and by evenings end, we became soon to be “parents” of a Gordon Setter puppy.

     But we had to wait…and we are still waiting.  He was born October 20^th, and so the soonest we could get him would be 8 weeks, around December 20^th.  Our initial plan was to pick him up after the Christmas rush, but when my kids, who were coming home for Christmas, said, “You mean we won’t be able to see the puppy?”, we moved things up.  So, next Tuesday, the 20^th, Kate, I, and Duncan are going down to Lexington to pick the puppy up.

     Now that the 20^th is nearing, our waiting time is coming.. to an end, and even though the waiting has been paired with impatience and anxiousness, the waiting has been a good thing.  Because we have had some waiting time we have been able to get our house ready for a gnawing puppy.  We have also had time to figure out where his kennel is going to be and make some plans for training him.  And…we have had time to figure out what we are going to name him. (His name: McMahon….a Scottish name for a Scottish breed, and the namesake of a famous Gordon Setter owner, Ed McMahon.)  The waiting time has also allowed us to see what a wonderful dog Duncan has been…he doesn’t run off, he doesn’t mess in the house, he doesn’t demand constant attention….remind me again, why are we getting a puppy!?  The waiting time has allowed us to be ready for McMahon….and that will be a good thing.

     Waiting is hard.  But waiting is worth it…..especially when the waiting is for Christmas.  The waiting of Advent gives us time to clear the clutter of the past year out of our lives so that Jesus can have a new fresh start in making his home in our lives.  The waiting of Advent gives us time to take hold of the future, rather than let it take hold of us, and decide where in our lives Christ will be.  The waiting of Advent gives us time to see the blessings that have been ours over the year, and ponder the adventure of the year ahead.  The waiting of Advent gives us time to be ready…ready for Jesus…and that will be a good thing!

Have a great day.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord 12-5-16

Hello,

     I normally do not crash parties to which I am not invited, but last Friday I did, and I am glad that I did.

     Every Friday I eat my lunch at the local mall’s foodcourt, “Foodcourt Friday”.  There’s an elevated eating area in the foodcourt that I find a place to dine, and I spend the lunch hour making myself available for folks to come and chat with me.  Sometimes folks come, and sometimes I lunch alone.  The conversations that transpire range from significant to trivial, but in an attempt to make myself more available to folks, I eat my Friday lunches at the finest dining establishment in the area, the foodcourt of the Greensburg Mall, and I invite people to join me.

     To my surprise this past Friday, when I arrived at the Foodcourt, the elevated area that I claim as mine, was nearly full.  Fortunately, I was able to find an open table amid the 25 that were already taken.  After I sat down I noticed that not only was the area unusually full, but it was also unusually loud.  That is when I realized that I was crashing a party.  I was in the middle of a special needs class’ Christmas trip to the mall.

     These students who appeared to be of high school age, which in my layman’s observation, were a class of fairly high functioning kids, yet as the longer I sat among them I could see some of the struggles that they tackled each day of their lives.  Also, as I sat among them, I came to vividly see the advent promise of Jesus to daily come into our lives.  I saw it in the students, and I saw it in their teachers.

     I saw it in the students who obviously valued one another as dear friends and in their delight to be journeying together through life.  In a world that measures a person’s value on what they can do, and determines that there are “most valuable” among us, I saw something entirely different amongst those whose party I had crashed.  I saw these young folks value those around them for something far more substantial, for who they were: young people with lives to live and hearts to love.  The very thing that Jesus values in us.

     And the teachers….I saw them joking and laughing with their students, connecting with each one in nothing less than a heartfelt way.  Joking with them about being “cool”.  Gently helping them in social skills.  Patiently wiping ketchup off of one of the student’s pants and coat.  Belly laughing with one of the students who although he was unable to talk told a joke through his Ipad.  I saw these teachers value their students for something of unmeasurable substance, for who they were:  young people with lives to live and hearts to love.  The very thing that Jesus values in us.

     In saw the grace of Christ incarnated amongst those whose party I had crashed, and when they left me to “walk around the mall”, I realized the blessing that their company had given to me.  Although it was never directed at me, I felt it.  I felt value for something of unmeasurable substance, for who I am: a person with a life to live and a heart to love.

     In this Advent season where we ask the question, “Why did God send his Son into the world?”  I saw the answer last Friday during my Foodcourt Friday.  God values us for who we are: people with lives to live and hearts to love.  That is what the incarnation of Christ is all about, and I hope that is what is seen and experienced every Sunday morning when folks come to church and gather together on the elevated platform around the table of the Lord.

     If you’re in the Greensburg area on Fridays between noon and one, let me invite you to the mall’s foodcourt to dine together, sharing God’s unmeasurable love.  But no matter where you are, let me more importantly invite you to gather around the Table of the Lord on Sunday, and dine on the substantial love that God has for you….love that brought Jesus into the world, love that brings Jesus into every day of your life, and love that will be there when this life and the world is no more.

     Come and crash the party!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 11-28-16

Hello,

     I am now soaring in the Friendly Skies, coming back home from a Thanksgiving holiday with my adult kids in Colorado.  Two of my sons live out here, so the altitude is of less consequence for them, but for the rest of us low-landers the altitude is a force of nature to be dealt with.

     Denver sits at one mile above sea level, and at one mile I find myself breathing a bit more heavily than usual after I have taken a walk around the park.  We spent most of our time in Breckenridge, nearly two miles above sea level, where I discovered myself having to gather my breath after shoveling the 2 inches of light snow from the sidewalk.  (Although my fatigue may be related to my ever out of shape condition, I believe most of the blame goes to the thin air.)  One day we drove up further into the mountains, Vail, to take the gondola to the top of the mountain, 11,570.  The views were spectacular there, but the air was thinner yet.  The three short flights of stairs to the restaurant had us all huffing and puffing.  A little oxygen treatment would have been a welcome friend.

     Often when I write the Bungee Cord I speak of the crushing power of life when we have failed, or messed things up, and when that happens we can all take comfort in the strength of God to lift us up.  But what about those times when we find ourselves on mountain tops, when we have had a great success, or when life is going really well?  When the vistas are full of soaring hopes.  Above the tree line that blocks the views.  But also, where the air is thin?

     I know that I find it to be true that the air is thinner when I am on a mountaintop.  The air that I draw in is often times less full of the awareness of the struggles of others and I take my blessings for granted.  On the mountaintop my lungs have less space for humility as the pride of my accomplishment takes up a lot of room in them.  The air has far less molecules of mutuality in it on the mountaintop as I stand above others, alone at the top.

     There are people who have told me that they don’t feel a need to go to church because their life is going just fine.  Maybe if and when they confront troubles and confusion, they would come to church.  But they tell me that they don’t see the need to go to church when they find themselves on a mountaintop, taking in great and wonderful vistas.

     Well, when and if you are on a mountain top in life and you wonder what the need for Christ or church is in your life, let me offer this challenge.  Take a deep breath.  Take a deep breath and see how thin the air is on the mountaintop.  See if you don’t find yourself panting from your daily walk.  See if you don’t find yourself trying to catch your breath to deal with just the simple things that get in the way, like two inches of soft snow.  See if you don’t find yourself huffing and puffing when you come upon flights of stairs.  See if you don’t find yourself saying that on oxygen treatment would be a welcomed friend.

     If you do, and I think you will, because I do, there’s an oxygen treatment to take in: church/worship.  In the tank of the church filled with the presence of Christ, the air if rich and full…full of gratitude and thanks, full of humility and care, full of community and forgiveness.  Church/worship is an oxygen treatment that brings strength to tired muscles.  It pumps compassion and care into our veins.  It awakens us from the drowsiness caused by thin air and gives us the energy to take on the adventures of life with alert and focused minds.

     Church/worship isn’t only there when we are traveling through life’s valleys.  It is also there when our life takes us to heights that soar above our wildest dreams.  And if that is where you are this week, let me invite you to come to worship/church this Sunday for an oxygen treatment.  I know that you will find it to be a very welcome friend.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernbeger