The Bungee Cord  1-8-19

Hello,

“Ladies and watermelon, we are watermelon watermelon watermelon watermelon, please watermelon watermelon watermelon watermelon.  If there is watermelon watermelon watermelon watermelon a representative will watermelon watermelon watermelon.  As we watermelon watermelon watermelon, please make sure that watermelon watermelon watermelon watermelon.  We will be landing shortly, watermelon watermelon watermelon.  Thank you.”

Amid the stirring of the engine outside my window, the purr of the fan circulating air inside the cabin, and the stirring of the people around me, a flight attendant began to speak over the p.a. system on my flight back from visiting my folks, and the quote that I began with is what I heard.  It isn’t the first time that this sort of thing has happened, as a matter of fact, it seems that the p.a. system on nearly every plane that I have been on has been less than clear.

I hope that what I was being told was not too terribly important because I have no idea what the content was. No one subsequently yelled at me for not doing something, and fortunately, we landed safely and I got off the plane without any difficulties.  So, I guess that the muffled message caused no harm.  But what if the message had been something to do with preparing for a hard landing…..or telling me to be patient in getting off the plane as someone was ill and needed to be cared for….or if the toilet was overflowing and we shouldn’t use it.  I am quite certain that airlines must be aware of their unintelligible  p.a. systems, but for some reason they haven’t deemed it important enough to rectify.

I am pretty sure that, for many, reading the Bible is akin to my airplane experience.  Amid all the hum of unknown historical circumstances, amid the rumbling of words and phrases that use vocabulary and concepts that are foreign to the reader, amid the stirring of different interpretations tossing about in one’s hear to what is being read…..watermelon, watermelon, watermelon is about all that is heard.

Likewise, I am quite certain, that like airline companies, the Christian church is well aware of the unintelligibility of what is heard coming off the pages of the Bible, and it hasn’t done a very good job of rectifying the problem.  Not that the Christian church hasn’t tried….different versions of the Bible, using different vocabulary, speaking in ways to reach a particular audience.  But it isn’t easily done, and for many people the Bible is a muffled mush of watermelon.

So, today, I am going to try and do something about that.  Today, I want to pen to you a passage of Scripture that I find to speak the witness of the Bible with absolute clarity and articulation.  Although there are thousands of pages and thousands of words that are worth reading in the Bible, I believe that the words that I am about to transcribe encapsulate all those words with an amplification that can be heard loud and clear.  Listen to this, 

“Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:35ff)

Can it be any clearer?  “nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Hope you heard that.

Have a great week,
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger