Hello,
A fact that many may not know about me: I was a skate-boarder.
In elementary school I owned a skateboard, as did many of my
friends. My skating was in the
nascent years of skateboarding. My
skateboard did not resemble at all the long, wide skateboards of today. Mine looked more like a flattened
loaf of Italian bread with wheels underneath. It was just big enough to get both feet on it, and it was
not designed for all the trick-doing that modern skateboarders do. It worked well to roll along sidewalks,
but the main thing that we did with our skateboard was to find a paved hill…..a
street, or such…..and bomb down the hill with reckless abandon.
The best hill was the blacktopped walk that led from the elementary
school, Madison School, down to the blacktopped play area that housed the
basketball courts. My recollection
of that hill is that it was very steep, 60 degrees at least (well, maybe that
is a bit of an exaggeration). We
would line up on top of the hill, sequentially set our skateboards down on the
pavement, and with one foot on the board and the other foot providing
propulsion, we would see who could keep balanced atop their skateboard while
most rapidly bombing down the hill.
Those of greater skateboarding efficiency would serpentine their way
down the hill, shifting their weight from side to side. Many a time balance would be lost and
someone would go tumbling off their skateboard….scraping their hands and knees
on the pavement and rolling like a rolling pin on the adjacent grass. Of course, no one had a helmet or
pads…they didn’t exist in those days.
Looking back on it, it seems a little crazy to plunge down those hills,
almost inviting bodily injury.
Without knowing it them, with my adult-hindsighted evaluation now, I would
say that for the sake of the thrill and challenge, we deemed the pain and
suffering that could happen well worth the risk of taking. Of course, we well underestimated the
degree of pain and suffering that could actually occur.
The Bible characterizes Jesus in images of his day: shepherd, sower of
seeds, mother hen gathering in chicks.
I think it would be appropriate to update those images and add
“Skateboarder”. Reading the Bible,
I see Jesus plunging headlong down steep hills, risking life and limb all for
the sake of the thrill of bringing hope to the despairing, life to the
lifeless, forgiveness to the outcast sinners, and peace to the fearful. Many people thought him crazy to
descend so recklessly into people’s lives, yet even after having been warned of
the risk, he intently set his face down the hill. Jesus was akin to the skateboarders of my youth.
Not that caution and carefulness are all bad, but in our world today
where helmets, pads, seatbelts,
and carseats are the norm, it seems to me that the image of Jesus as
Skateboarder is a good one for us to remember. When Jesus says to us, “Follow me.”, he is saying that standing on top of a
hill, one foot on his skateboard and the other propelling him on his way. “Safety First” was not his slogan….and
good thing it wasn’t, because if that was his slogan, where would I be? Hopelessly despairing….lifelessly
existing…..abandoned in my sin….shattered in fear….dying at the bottom of the
hill which I had rolled down.
So, if you’re down at the bottom of the hill, exhausted from the tumble
that you have taken, here’s good news.
Jesus is already on his skateboard, and with the thrill and challenge of
making his way to you with his saving grace, he is waving on those who bear his
name (Christian) to join him….risking with him…to bomb down that hill and to
share in the thrill of reaching you with God’s saving grace and mercy!
Have a great week!
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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