The Bungee Cord  5-29-18

Hello,

    My son and I went out this morning to play a quick nine holes of golf.  The forecast was for a hot and humid day, so our hope was to beat the heat.  When we arrived there were very few cars in the lot. We went into the clubhouse to pay and discovered that two older guys had just paid.  We would be behind them.

     Since we and they had to first go to our cars, get on our shoes, and pull out our clubs, we, being younger, thought that if we hurried we could beat these two “older” guys to the tee and not have to dawdle behind them. So, we sped out way to the tee, and did, indeed, get to tee off before them.  However, just as we were walking off the tee, there they were.  They on their cart, and we about to pick up our bags and walk.

     I suppose that we could have pressed on in front of them but knowing that they really had the tee first and they were in carts, I told them that they should go ahead and tee off, and that we would play behind them. They were most gracious, saying that we didn’t need to do that.  But it was the right thing to do to let them play, and so they did.

     One guy’s shot went far to the right, the other’s went far to the left.  Surely a slow round of golf, my son and I thought.  They walked off the tee, thanking us, and hopped into their cart, sped off down the path, and then took a hard left across the path to the hole…..a very mushy piece of ground….and they got stuck!  Their cart sunk into the muck, going deeper and deeper as they spun their wheels.  One of the guys got out of the cart to try and push.  Unsuccessful.

     So, my son and I took a look at one another and did the only thing we could do….play through them…..NOT!  No, we plodded through the muck, joined the guy behind the cart, and pushed with him.  The cart was freed, and with a wave of thanks the two of them went on to play ahead of us (as a matter of fact, playing faster than we could keep up).

     Why was giving them a push the only thing we could have done? Because I have been one who has been pushed out of the muck.  More than once in life, I have taken a path through a mucky piece of land, gotten stuck, only to sink deeper as I have spun my wheels.  The times that I speak of, of course, have not been on a golf course, but have been in life. There is plenty of mush in life, and I have a pretty good way of finding my way into it.

     And when that has happened, along has come one who certainly could play a round of life much speedier and precisely than I but has allowed me to venture ahead….along comes one who walks through the muck that I have gotten myself into and given me a push.  Sometimes that push comes from the pronouncement of forgiveness, or the blessing of communion at the altar when I am worshipping.  Sometimes that push comes from other people who knowingly or unknowingly are the hands of the Lord.  More often than I can count, I have been pushed out of the muck, allowing me to play on in life, and generating a wave of thanks to the pushers.

     Why did I push those guys out of that muck….why do I find myself pushing other people out of the muck they have driven into?  Because I have been pushed.  I bet that you have been pushed, too.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Bungee Cord 5-22-18

Hello,

     There was a guy, and some of you of my vintage might remember him, who made it his mission to get on camera during major sporting events…the Super Bowl, World Series, Basketball Payoffs.  When he was on camera, you knew it because he always sported the same multicolored fro-wig and he was waving a sizable sign that said, “John 3:16”.  Of course, he was directing people to the Bible, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”  Many have said that this verse is the heart of the Christian message, so with his sign and his hair, he was endeavoring bring the Christian message to a huge audience.

     I don’t know how successful he was.  I don’t know how many people who saw him found a Bible and opened it to John 3:16, and I don’t know how many people who read this verse were captivated by it and found their way into a life-giving relationship with Christ.  All I know is that I would not have done what he did.

     When I say that I don’t mean that I don’t mean that I would not have donned funny hair and tried to get the Christian message out to the world (although truthfully, I am a bit too reserved to do that).  What I mean is that I probably would not have written what he wrote on his sign, and here’s why.

     Although I don’t think it was ever intended to be so, this verse in our day has taken on a message of fear and warning.  “Sure, God sent his Son into the world out of love, and you had better believe it….or else!”  For a long time, that is the message I heard from it, too.

     But as I have wandered with Jesus, it has become clear to me that this verse is meant to be a word of hope and promise, not warning and fear. It has become clear to me that God is not one who bullies people, “Be my friend, or else!”  It has become clear to me that God is not one who is so desperate for love that he threatens people to love him (and what kind of love would that be?).  It has become clear to me that God is not one who tries to scare people into heaven. That is not the kind of God I see in Jesus, the Son of God, who was sent into the world, dying on a cross and rising from the grave.

     No, the kind of God that I have come to see is one who raises up my belief in him by standing between me and the world’s bullies and says, “If you want this one, you have to go through me first.”  The kind of God that I have come to see is one who is not desperate for love, but overflowing in love, loving me into loving him.  The kind of God that I have come to see is not one who tries to scare me into his arms, but instead wraps me in his arms when things are really scary.  And for me, this God that I have come to see and know is not spoken of in John 3:16, alone. The God that I have come to see and know is spoken of in John 3:16 and John 3:17.

 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. (3:16)

 ‘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. (3:17)

     As you can see by verse 17, the Christian message is not one of a God who is seeking to condemn.  It is one of a God who is determined to save….save you, save me, save the world.  That, I find to be, a message that captures my heart and takes hold of my life.

     So, if by chance you are watching a sporting event on TV and you see some guy with weird colored hair getting on camera….holding a sign that says, “John 3:16,17”….well, believe it or not, it might just be me!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace,(ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord 5-15-18

Hello,

     A big spring storm came through yesterday, and I watched it in the protective cover of my house.  The big windows to the west and east provided me with plenty of sight to see it’s fury.  When the storm began, my two dogs were with me in my loft, but as soon as the thunder started rolling in the distance, my older dog, Duncan, headed for the basement. He’s become quite averse to storms and loud noises at his older age.  My younger dog, MacMahon, rested comfortable on the floor, only occasionally lifting his head when thunder clapped.

     When all of the sudden a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, so near to our house that I could see (and smell) its earthly connecting spot.  Even though it was in the middle of the afternoon, the sky lit up when it struck, and the sound that came with it was immediate and shook my house.  Windows rattled.  The rafters creaked.  Needless to say, MacMahon jumped up, and I sat up straight.  What a powerful awakening!

     The storm, of course, had not suddenly gained power over me, it is just that when the lightning strikes and thunder peals were far in the distance, I wasn’t aware of the degree of the storm’s power.  The booms and the flashes made little to no impression on me.  But when the lightning bolt struck near my home, an impression was definitely made.

     In my mind, that is the whole point of the Christian faith. Christians confess the witness that in Jesus Christ God came visibly near (near enough to smell?) to us in order that God would make an impression on us.  And what is that impression? The power of God’s love for us.  It is not that God’s love suddenly gained power when God struck near to us in Jesus, it is just that in the incarnation (God becoming human in Jesus) that power hit with a brightness and intensity that comes with a near hitting lightning bolt.  God aimed his love to strike as close as God could to us, to shake up our lives and rattle our hopes.  Sure, God’s love has been thundering throughout all of time and space (even outside of time and space), but lest that love leave us unmoved, God, in Jesus bolted upon us in human form, and continues to strike closer than we can imagine in water, bread and wine.

     CRASH! BANG!  I LOVE YOU!                         

     Jesus said that he came to bring life…to wake us up out of the doldrums of our days, to shatter the dark shroud of our fear and shame, to rattle us loose from hopelessness and contentment with what is, to stand us strong on our feet against despair, and to sit us up straight in thankfulness and praise of the one who has us in his power.

     Sometimes God’s love seems so far away.  Sometimes it seems so quiet when it rumbles.  Thank God, that God is not willing to let me sadly and slovenly slumber in faraway rumbling and flashes of his love for me. No, for me, and for you, God is aiming a “love-bolt” that strikes so near that it will leave you with an impression…..a great impression!

     CRASH! BANG!  I LOVE YOU!

     Get ready to be stirred!

Have a great week!

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

Hello,

     As I was driving home from a pastors’ Bible Study that I go to every week as part of my preparation for writing my Sunday Sermon (all Lutherans use the same Bible passages each week, so we pastors get together to dig into things together), a large pileated woodpecker flew in front of me and grabbed ahold of the trunk of a tree.  Of course, it had to be a strong trunk upon which this pileated woodpecker landed because pileated woodpeckers are BIG birds!  Almost 20 inches long with a wingspan of 30 inches.  Red crested, black backed, and white stripes under their wings.

     The thing about pileated woodpeckers, due to their size, is they are also powerful birds.  Their smaller woodpecker cousins leave their mark in their pursuit of bugs that live in the wood of the trees, but when a pileated woodpecker starts hammering its beak on a tree it has the force and the impact of a wrecking ball.  When a pileated woodpecker starts pounding on a tree, no bug is safe.

     Anyway, as I saw this pileated woodpecker, it occurred to me that if Jesus had ever seen one, he may have said of himself, “I am a pileated woodpecker.”  I say this because it is clear to me that when God sent his Son into this world, he wasn’t sending some small downy woodpecker whose power limited it to just pounding away at soft trees.  No, when God sent his Son into the world, he sent him with the power to tackle the trees with the thickest bark and the hardest wood.  No insect can be burrowed so deep, or hidden behind a hardened knot that Jesus, the pileated woodpecker, cannot reach it.

     When I saw that pileated woodpecker today, it opened my mind to a very powerful and important truth about Jesus, a truth that I sometimes forget.  And that truth is that when it comes to me, Jesus is a pileated woodpecker.  Jesus is determined to get a hold on me, and that determination is not that of a downy woodpecker, but a pileated one. Sometimes I can find myself pretty deeply burrowed in the mess of my life with my shame and guilt taking me deeper and deeper into the wood.  Sometimes I can find myself fearfully hidden behind my solid failures.  The world does a pretty good job of toughening up the bark all around me.  The tap, tap, tap of a downy woodpecker is no sound of hope….but the thunder of a pileated woodpecker…..now that is a sound of hope.

     I suppose that there are days when the wood of your life, and the depth of your burrow is within the reach of a downy woodpecker, but if today, or any day,  is a day that you find yourself well beyond the scope of a downy woodpecker, let me remind you, as God reminded me today, that Jesus is not a small, timid downy woodpecker.  No. Jesus is a pileated woodpecker and he attacks the trees of this world with unstoppable might, pounding away at them until he has found you and gathered you into his embrace.

     I am sure, that if Jesus would have seen one, he would have said of himself, “I am a pileated woodpecker!”

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord 5-1-18

Hello,

     I just returned from New York City, having attended and hosted a wedding reception for my son who lives in Brooklyn.  It’s kind of a long story, but this wedding celebration has been kind of a long story, too.  My son married a gal in New York who is from China and whose parents live there. So, when they decided to get married, they had a simple ceremony in New York in December, had a family ceremony in China in February, and had a reception for New York friends last weekend. It has been great being able to expand the wonder of their love across continents and across months.

     Anyway, the reception wasn’t until Saturday evening, so that left us some time to wander around New York.   We went to see the 9/11 memorial, which is a moving sight, and then from there we went to have lunch from where we could see the statue of liberty.  When we got to the place where we were to have lunch, I was floored!  Thousands, and thousands of people …lined up for at least 10 and maybe even 12 blocks, lines six or eight wide.  Moving at a snail’s pace.  It was amazing.

     Fortunately, they were not lined up to go to the restaurant that we were heading for.  They were lined up to catch to boat to take them out to the Statue of Liberty so they could stand in its shadow and get a close look at it.  From the looks of it, they might be standing in line for days…maybe even months.  As I saw that line….and could see the Statue of Liberty from afar…I wondered, “what is motivating these people to wait in such a line?”  Personally, I can’t imagine what it would be.

     Interestingly enough, I have not seen such lines extending out the doors of churches.  Oh sure, older folks tell me of the days that you had to be at church 45 minutes early to get “your” seat, but those days are long gone and so is the societal motivation that seems to have driven that phenomena.  With the exception of some, most churches have “immediate seating”, and I have often joked with folks as I have met them outside, “Better hurry in so you will get a seat!”

     As much as it is a mystery to me as to why folks would stand in lines winding their way through the streets of New York City like a enormous boa constrictor, it is likewise a mystery to me why such lines to not form at churches on Sunday morning.  And this is the reason why: inside the church are the people of God, whom Jesus says he has empowered with a love to love and be loved that is found nowhere else in the world….the love of the divine laying down his life.  So, there is the mystery, if that is the kind of love that is given, felt, found, and embraced inside the doors of every church, why isn’t there a line extending blocks long trying to get it?  Wouldn’t you want to be lifted up in that kind of love?  Who wouldn’t?

     Here’s my answer; the wrong message has gotten out.  The message that has gotten out of what is offered inside churches is the makings of good people.  The church is a place where good people go, where good people gather together, where good people ride on their high horses of goodness looking down on the worms of the world.  I don’t know how that became the message that the world seems to hear about Christianity, but that certainly is not the message that Jesus, the Christ, is speaking.

     Remember, when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, he didn’t ride in on a mighty stallion, he rode in on a donkey…and animal of humility and compassion.  Remember, when Jesus hung on the cross, he didn’t condemn those who had nailed him there, he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.” Remember, when Jesus met lepers, who no one else would go near, he would touch them.  Remember, when a woman caught in adultery was thrown in front of Jesus, he didn’t throw stones at her.  He freed her from her misery.

     No church is a perfect witness and expression of the kind of love that Jesus fills it with because every church is full of sinners, but Jesus does fill every church that bears his name, with that kind of love. So, if you are tired of putting up with the kind of love that the world has to offer, love that is fragile and does not last, let me invite you to an orchard producing fruits of love that do not rot, that do not poison, that do not wither….the orchard that grows in churches filled with divine, self-giving love.  And by the way, if there’s a line blocks long to get in……believe me, it is worth the wait!

Have a great week,

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger