Hello,
Why do you call this “The Bungee Cord?”
Nearly 25 years ago when I was the pastor in a small Ohio town, I noticed as I looked out at the congregation that a certain segment of that small town was missing, 18-35 year old’s. Knowing that Jesus died for them, too, I tried to think of a way to reach them with that great news. So, instead of waiting for them to come to me, I decided to go to them via a new technology that had just become available: email.
One of the “ah ha” things that I learned in seminary was that God is a God of zealous grace. So zealous is he for those that he loves that he will stop at nothing to love them into his embrace. He died for them. And so zealous is he for those that he loves, that he is not about to let his dying love would not be in vain. He will not let them go. 1 John 3:1 says it so well, “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.”
With this “ah ha” in mind, another new “technology” came to mind as a visual expression of God’s zealous love: a Bungee Cord….as in Bungee Jumping. (Those of you who were around then can remember what a fad it was…a fad that I never jumped into!) It seemed to me to be the perfect image for what I was trying to accomplish, reach folks in the 18-35 year range. After all, for many that is a time of jumping into life in a bungee jumping way. Prepared, or unprepared, everyone in that stage of life takes that leap into new adventures. By dubbing the e-mail that I would weekly send to them “The Bungee Cord”, I was hoping to tell them two things about the adventure that lay ahead. First, they weren’t jumping alone. God, like a Bungee Cord, was holding them tight. Second, no matter where their adventure would take them, God would never let them go, and, like a Bungee Cord, pull them back into his embrace.
How do I know that God’s love is so Bungee Cord-ly zealous? Well, Jesus tells a story of a father who had two sons (18-25 years old?), one who brashly asked for his inheritance while his father was still quite alive. Then, as if jumping off a bridge, that son went on an adventure in a faraway land, far away from his father and the life that his father had tried to instill in him. So hair raising was this adventure that he found himself starving while he was keeping pigs alive…..and then Jesus says that something amazing happened…..Jesus said, “but when HE CAME TO HIMSELF” he realized there was hope.
When Jesus said, “HE CAME TO HIMSELF,” that young man realized who he was: the son of a loving father. Even when he had plunged into a canyon of despair deeper than he could have ever dreamed of, his father’s love still reached him, and as the story goes, pulled him back. And as he was pulled back to his father, he discovered that his father was still looking for his return. Before he could reach his father, his father ran out to him, embraced him, put the finest clothes he had on him, and put the family ring on his finger, and threw a party for him!
There’s more to the story, showing how the father also held the other brother tightly, too….but I’ll save that for another time. This story has traditionally been called the parable of the “prodigal son”, but I think a better title for it would be “The Bungee Cord Zealous Loving Father”. (I know, a bit long for a title….but it fits, I think.)
Over the years my audience has widened to people of all ages, because as I have aged beyond the 18-35 year old bracket, I have discovered that every day for me is a step into a hair-raising adventure. I need to know, and likewise I want everyone to know, that no jump is made alone, and no matter where that jump will take a jumper, God will not let go and will bring the jumper back into God’s embrace.
So, whether the jump you took this morning when you stepped out of bed was terrifying or mild, I hope that in reading this Bungee Cord you will take that jump with great courage and empowering hope. “See what love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.”
Have a great week,
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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