Hello,
If you have
missed the Bungee Cord for the past several weeks, it’s because I was in China
for my youngest son’s wedding ceremony to a gal he met in NYC and whose family
still lives in China, GuangZhou, China to be exact. It is in southern China and is a city of 20
million people. We travelled around, a
bit to see life outside of the city, and spent a couple of days in Hong
Kong. It was an amazing experience;
discovering a new land (for me) and the people who live there. I could write more than you would care to
read about my experience, but alas the Bungee Cord isn’t meant to be about me
and where my reach takes me, it is meant to be about Jesus and where his reach
takes him.
Was Jesus there,
in GuangZhou?
Well, if you
count the presence of Jesus by the number of Christian churches you see, I have
to say that I didn’t see any (of course, I didn’t see all of GuangZhou). We visited numerous Buddhist temples where
throngs of people had come to make their start in the Chinese New Year. It was clear to me that many of the people
who went to the temples did so with deep religious fervor, and I am sure, because
I was told so, that for some it was directed by an ingrained habit. The gist of the people’s temple visit was to
secure good fortune for the year to come.
For centuries,
Christians have operated with the philosophy that it is our responsibility to take
Jesus to places where he isn’t acknowledged, and I do believe that as one who
has been inundated with Christ’s love, that everywhere I, like my dogs coming
in from playing in the mud, leave the wet mark of God’s grace and mercy where
ever I tred. Hopefully, my footsteps
left a clear marking of Christ’s abiding love that is carried in me in
GuangZhou.
Having said that,
during my visit I came to see that if I thought I was bringing an alien Jesus
to China, I was wrong, because it was clear to me that Jesus was already there,
long before I was there, and long before any person bearing the name of Christ
was there. When I looked into the faces
of the people, I couldn’t help but hear the words of John 3:16,17 run through
my mind, “For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the
world to condemn the world, but in order that the WORLD might be saved through
him.” The old folks who walked with
labored steps…the middle aged people jumping on the bus and riding bikes…the
school kids decked out in their school defining uniforms….the toothless babies
carried most often by their fathers in baby carriers on their chests…….before I
got there…..long before I got there, Jesus was there loving each and every one
of them…..loving them from the cross.
In my pastoral
experience, there has always been a tendency for “us’in and them’in” by
Christians: us believers, them unbelievers; us who walk the talk, and them who
talk the walk; us good folk in the pew, and them bad folk out there; us who are going to heaven, and them who ain’t; us who have our doctrine right, and them who
got it all wrong; us who we can trust,
and them who we have to be careful about; and on and on and on. However, the more I am confronted by Jesus
Christ in my life, I have come to see that Jesus is not so concerned with “us’in
and them’in”. Jesus is concerned with “all’in”. Jesus lived for all. Jesus died for all. Jesus rose for all.
I was reminded of
Jesus’ “all’in” every day when I walked around GuangZhou when I heard the ever
present Disney tune, “It’s A Small World After All”, ringing through the city
from the loudspeakers that were attached to the street cleaners that daily
sprayed the city streets with water. As
one who has been sprayed with the Baptismal waters of God’s grace, I couldn’t
help but see the grace of God splashing upon the streets while being reminded
of the small world for which the Son of God came. I don’t think that the city official that
chose that piece of music, a piece of music that has been played by the street
cleaners for decades according to my daughter in law, chose it as a visual
reminder that I saw, but regardless of their intentions, I was reminded that
when it comes to Jesus, there’s no “us’in and them’in”. There is just “all’in”.
And with that
reminder echoing in my ears, I hope that I treated the people of GuangZhou with
the love that God was already at work doing…..love that they might come to see
more clearly through the streets that were marked by my wet, Christ soaked
feet. That is also my hope every time I
write this Bungee Cord, that as I stride into your lives via my words I am
leaving the wet footprints of one who has been splashing his love into your
lives far before I ever did.
Have a great
week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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