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

The Bungee Cord  11-22-16

Hello,

     What if there was a parade and no one came?

     The Greensburg Holiday parade was this past Saturday.  Not many people came.  The weather was atrocious.  It was 74 and sunny on Friday, 60 and beautiful on Saturday morning, and then at 10:00 on Saturday morning a front came through.  Temperatures dropped into the mid 30’s.  Rain and snow.  Thrashing winds destroyed umbrellas.  Parade time was noon, and as noon approached the curbsides were pretty bare.  It was miserable.

     I think that most of those who froze parade-side were related to someone in the parade.  Band parents.  Political friends.  Dance troop moms and dads (although I saw numerous little girls in their dance outfits heading back home before the parade began.)  Brave scouting families.  Normally the streets are lined 2 or three deep with kids ready to pounce on candy being jettisoned their way.  But not this past Saturday.  Parents must have decided the weather was a gift from God to keep their kids home and thereby off an unusual dose of sugar.

     It wasn’t that no one came, but compared to usual, it was hardly anyone.  All of which got me to pondering, “Who are parades for?  The watchers?  Or the paraders?”

     Of course the answer is both.  But what if you only had one.  What if you had a parade and no one came?  Or what if everyone came, and there wasn’t a parade?  Putting it this way, I have decided that a parade is a parade without the crowd, but without the parade it isn’t a parade.

     So, what if there was a parade and no one came?

     There would still be a parade.  The bands would play.  The flag corps would march.  The dancers would dance.  The politicians would politic.   The septic company trucks would rumble by and the fire engines would light up the road.  Even if no one came to watch, there would still be a parade.

     But what if you had a Sunday morning worship service and no one came to worship? 

     Maybe you had never thought about worship this way before.  Most of us ask the question of worship’s value saying, “What will going to church today do for me?”  In light of this year’s Greensburg Holiday parade, maybe a more essential question might be, “What will going for church today do for the world?”

     As with a parade and its paraders, worship provides the place for worshippers to blow their horns of grace, dance their way to the communion table, carry the flag of their faith in honor, and for people of divine hope to create a holy disturbance in a sleepy, gloomy world.  Parades and worship slice through despairing times with a rhythm of joy.  Parades and worship celebrate gifts and talents when the world is focused on its troubles.  Parades and worship awaken purpose and meaning when life if dull.  Parades and worship celebrate victories that have turned the world up-side-down.  The world needs parades.  The world needs the church to worship.

     Come on and join the parade….the parade of hope, peace, joy, forgiveness, and love…this Sunday morning at worship.  The world needs worship’s parade….the world needs you to be there!

Have a great week,

God’s grace and peace,

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord  11-14-16

Hello,

     I woke up about 1:15 last night, and if I wouldn’t have looked at my clock, I would have thought that daybreak had arrived.  The sky was completely clear of clouds and the moon was incredibly bright.  It was so bright that the light that it cast into my house was nearly enough to read by, and vivid shadows fell on the outside ground.  The brightness had been forecast and even named, “the super moon”.  Last night’s rendezvous with the moon was the closest encounter for the last 68 years, so the scientists said.

     Of course, the light that emanates from the moon does not come from the moon, at least the moon does not produce it.  The light comes from the sun.  The moon just reflects it, and as I discovered in the wee hours of last night, it is reflected most brightly when there is nothing blocking it and when it is closest.

     As one who bears the name of Christ (i.e. Christian), I see a lot of myself in the moon (I realize that I just set myself up for comments about likenesses to “the old man in the moon”, or “green cheese”.).  Although I, like the moon, may generate some energy and power, the truth is that the power that Christ has given me to reflect in the world is incomparably mightier and brighter.  And I have also seen that Christ’s darkness dissipating grace is most profoundly reflected upon others when there is nothing blocking it between me and they, and when I am closest to them.  Just like a super moon.

     There are, of course, many things that get in the way between others and me.  Many of my own making.  My greed….my narrowmindedness….my arrogance….my thoughtlessness…just to name a few.  And although I can’t do anything to declutter the things that others pile up in our interpersonal space, I can do something about the things that I hoard that get in the way.  Repentance.   It is a daily task, empowered by the grace of God.

     And then there is that other thing about the degree of reflection of the light of Christ from me to others; my distance from them.  I know that, like the moon, the closer I am to others the brighter the reflection.  Yet, I find myself falling into the temptation to keep a distance from many.  I have a way of naming others “them” instead of “us”.  It is less work, less painful, and less bothersome to orbit in isolation.

     But God won’t let me.  God, in Christ, has joined my orbit, and has brought into my orbit everyone in Christ’s orbit.  Jesus is drawing me ever closer to others.  That is what Jesus does when he draws me to church on Sunday morning.  That is what Jesus does when he opens my heart to others in prayer.  That is what Jesus does when he gathers me around his table.  That is what Jesus is doing through the writing and reading of this Bungee Cord!

     It was nice to wake up in the middle of the night and not stumble my way through darkness.  No bruised shins from bumping into a dresser.  No tumbling from tripping over shoes.  No stubbed toes from kicking a wall.  It is my hope that such delight does not only happen in my house, but in the world…..not once every 68 years….but every day.  “Shine, Jesus, Shine!”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger