The Bungee Cord   9-39-19

Hello,

      Close, but no cigar!

     This is a phrase that is often found in my vocabulary. When I am playing pickle ball, and the ball hits slightly out of bounce, I find myself saying, “Close, but no cigar (see-gar).”  I don’t remember exactly where I picked it up, but I think I picked it up from the days that the travelling carnival came to our town and parked itself in Robin’s Park, which was right across the street from my house.  The park was a big open field, covering a peat bog (so I was told), where little league diamonds were housed, junior football practice took place, and where we kids played our neighborhood football and baseball pick-up games.

     But once a year, in the summer, the carnival would come to town for a week with its rides, cotton candy, and games.  One of the games was the sledge hammer challenge. You would get a big sledge hammer, hit a mat that was connected to a pole, and up the pole would go a metal ball that if you hit the mat with significant force, the ball would ring the bell at the top of the pole.  If you rang the bell, you got a prize…..a cigar.  If you didn’t ring the bell….well, “close, but no cigar.”

     You see, close, when it comes to the sledge hammer challenge, wasn’t good enough….no cigar.  And likewise, when it comes to salvation, close is not good enough….no cigar. When it comes to salvation, there is no middle ground.  After all, if you are dropping a net into the ocean to pick up someone who is bobbing up and down in the waves, and the rope from the helicopter is not quite long enough to save them, close is not good enough.

     But notice, when Jesus came into this world, he came all the way into the world…not just close to it, but all the way into it.  He didn’t just pretend to take on human flesh, he incarnated himself in it.  He didn’t just come close to the pain and struggles of life, he ran smack into them and took them on.  He didn’t just come close to dying, he breathed his last on the cross.  And he didn’t come close to rising from the dead and just peek out of the tomb on Easter Sunday morning, he stepped out with a victory march and is still making that march today.  When Jesus came to save, Jesus didn’t just come close….he came all the way.  Rang the bell!

     There may be a lot of really good things that come close to being able to save us….friends, family, productive work, wealth and money, fun and excitement, and the rest….but when it comes to pulling us with forgiveness out of the holes we make in our lives, or pulling us out with new life of the 6 foot hole that we will all find ourselves in one day, all those things can only come close.  No bell. No cigar.

     So, this week as you stroll through the carnival of your life…with all the challenges, thrills, fears, and confusion….take a look at a particular pole that stands in your path, the pole of the cross, and see how Jesus hit it with all of his might, the might of God Almighty, and hear his final cry from that pole, a cry of victory over every sin that might try and claim you or me.  And hear the ring from that cross-pole, “It is finished!” And then see the prize that Jesus has won, not a cigar, but new life!  And then hear Jesus say to you as he hands you the prize that he has won….a prize that no one can take away…. “Here, this is for you.”  Alleluia!!!!!!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord   9-23-19

Hello,

     Over the 37 years of my ministry, I have done lots of funerals. Funerals are one of the things that every pastor finds themselves doing.  I have done funerals for nearly every age of person.  Some of the funerals have been laden with grief, and some have been blanketed in peace.  Many times the people who gather bring with them a mixture of both.  Saying “good bye” leaves a hole in people’s hearts, a hole that never really goes away, but by the grace of God in time it is filled with blessed memories and thankful hope.

     One of the things, I believe, that has happened is that the Christian faith has become a lifetime of preparation for one’s funeral. Maybe you have heard someone say, “Are you prepared to meet your maker?”  When this becomes the focus of the Christian faith, the impression that folks get is that the Christian faith is really all about how to get to heaven when you die.

     Now, don’t get me wrong.   When I do funerals, I proclaim with all the gusto I can muster the power of Jesus resurrection over death, power which has opened the gates of heaven.  Thing is, though, I believe that the power of Jesus resurrection is a power that brings us hope not just on the day that we die, but also in every day that we live.  As I have come to know Jesus and the depth of his love for me, I am convinced that the Christian faith is far more meant to be a daily journey with one who loves every step he takes with me (even the step into the darkness of death), than a destination at which I can hardly await to arrive.

     Someone once said to me, “But Pastor, Heaven is about eternity, and doesn’t that make it more important?”  

     My response, “Well, when Jesus talked about eternal life, he wasn’t only talking about life after death, but he was talking about filling every moment of our lives with eternity.”  Because Jesus’ death and resurrection shattered the shackles of time, every tick of the clock is like the a splashing stone making ripples when tossed into the water.  It doesn’t just abruptly end and get relegated to the past, but instead it emanates into the future with hope and peace.  Our days are not preparation for eternity, they are empowered by eternity. 

     And so it is with the power of eternity that we stride ahead in life.  Failures, tragedy, sin and even death are no more than branches strewn in our path that are ground into mulch by a divine chipper, Jesus Christ.   Nothing is more powerful than his love.  Nothing can stand up to his forgiveness.  With the power of Christ in our lives, the stark paths of our lives take on a heavenly sheen.

     Christians have prayed the Lord’s Prayer since it rolled off of Jesus’ lips, and if you have ever noticed each of the petitions concerns the things that we face in our daily lives.  When we have concluded the petitions, we conclude this prayer with a doxology, “For thine is the kingdom, and power and glory forever and ever.” There is one little word in that doxology that sort of flies under the radar of our thoughts, but is in actuality the foundation of why we pray…..and that word is “for”.  It is “because”, or “for” the “forever and ever” nature of God’s kingdom, and power and glory that we place ourselves in God’s hands every step of our journey of life, even the step we take into the darkness of death.

     So, where ever you are in your journey in this life, you aren’t simply travelling toward something (heaven), someone (Christ) is travelling with you!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord   9-16-19

Hello,

     I was flipping through the channels the other day and landed upon a international swim meet for physically challenged swimmers. Apparently it was the world finals, and the participants were simply amazing.  For some of the races, all the contestants were wheeled to their starting blocks in their wheel-chairs, and the participants swam without the use of their legs.  In another race, the swimmers were all blind, and to know when they were reaching the end of the pool, a person reached out from the poolside and tapped them on the head with a tennis ball which was attached to a pole.  Race after race was simply amazing.

     I was inspired by these athletes; their resolve, their dedication, their adaptation.  It all nudged me to tackle life in their example.

     We do have a way of giving accolades to those who find themselves dealing with unique struggles to the point that they are able to accomplish amazing things.  These accolades are well deserved and need to be sounded loudly.

     Given the absolute propriety and importance of the support and encouragement that these battlers receive, it seems to me that it is likewise proper and important to remember those whose struggles are overwhelming and all consuming.  I think about those folks for whom life is so heavy that even getting out of bed is an amazing achievement.  I think about those folks who are treading along a path of increasing struggle as they age, and finding the courage to face the next day is a tremendous task.  I think of kids who ride the bus all alone every day, and that step onto the bus seems higher than an Olympic high jump.  I think of a severely autistic teen, locked in the prison of their own mind, and the parents who try daily to bring a ray of peace and hope to their child.

     The world does a pretty good job of encouraging and praising folks who make it to the spotlight (and that is good!), but maybe not so good in doing so for those who struggle in the shadows.

     Over and over again the Bible tells us that our value does not come from what we do, but from who we are.  “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.”  (1 John 3:1)  Fact is we all find ourselves holding cards that are difficult to play.  Sometimes we play them well.  Sometimes not so well.  Either way, God is cheering us on as his children.  He applauds when we do well.  He applauds when we have small successes.  And even when we fail, God does not sit on his hands, instead God reaches down to set us on our feet again, and when our knees won’t hold our weight, God embraces us and holds us tight when we are shaking in fear.

     So, no matter where you are in the struggles of your life, in the spotlight or in the shadows, know this; God treasures you.  God treasures you with the life of his Son, Jesus, who died for you to claim you as his own, and rose from the dead so that God would have you with him forever. When Sunday morning comes, let me invite you to come and experience the depth of God’s love and delight in you as we celebrate the Easter victory over and over again.  And if the depth of your struggles might make the trek to church too hard and long, know that we will be praying for you, asking God to give you courage and strength, and asking God to open our hearts to you.

     Some give encouragement to those who battle by saying, “there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”  That is not what God says, because God knows that is not encouragement for those who are so burdened that they cannot move.  God says this, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

The Bungee Cord   9-9-19

Hello,

     It is dangerous to shave with an electric razor!

     Since I am “semi-retired” (My current job is to be the interim pastor for congregations while they search for a new pastor after their previous pastor has left.), I allow myself the luxury of not shaving when I have no pastoral responsibilities.  This week, that meant that I went from Wednesday to Sunday shave-less.  I have never had a very heavy beard.  In college, when we would have beard growing contests, I was in the lightweight division, and usually lost.  But as I have aged, my beard has filled in somewhat, and has also changed color to distinguished grey.  So, this past Sunday morning I had a good “GQ” stubble growing.

      My alarm went off at 6:30 on Sunday.  I crawled out of bed, shuffled into the shower, and after I dried off, I stepped in front of my mirror to shave.  I picked up my razor, an electric one, and applied it a-buzzing to my bearded face.  All was going well as I removed the stubble from the left side of my face, but when I got to my moustache, my razor immediately stopped!  One look, and I knew why.  The charge had was all used up.  I reached into my cabinet and pulled out the cord and charger, plugged it in, and figured all would be fine….but it was not.  It would not work.  The “battery low” light just kept on blinking.  No buzzing.  No shaving.

     I wasn’t quite sure what to do.  My face was still half bearded.  I briefly considered going to work as is, just to see if anyone noticed (hahaha).  Because I have always used an electric razor, I couldn’t even pull out a blade and shaving cream.  I don’t have either.  It occurred to me that I might have saved my old electric razor, so I opened up the cabinet to see if my memory was serving me right.  And it was.  There in the back of the cabinet was my old razor.  

     Of course, the reason that I replaced my old razor was that it wasn’t shaving very well, anymore.  I think it was around 15 years old.  But without another option, I pulled it out, and hit the power button on it. Red lights started blinking on it. “Battery low.”  But it did make a soft and labored hum.  Realizing that my time was limited, I quickly applied to my face. It was making a dent on my stubble, but a slow and incomplete dent.  But I pressed on, in hopes that the battery would not give out before the job was done. Fortunately it did not. Unfortunately, the job that it did was not perfect, but I decided that it would have to be perfect enough….a couple of stray stubbles and a less close of a shave.  So, I went to work a bit lopsided, shaved.

     If anyone noticed, they didn’t say anything. People tend to be polite. Nonetheless, I resolved to make sure that from now on I would fully charge my razor more often.

     To have a shaver lose its power is really a minor thing in the grand scheme of things.  But to have the thing you lean on for help when the world is collapsing around you run out of power, now that is a terrible thing.  That is why the verse from Hebrews 8 carries so much weight for me, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.”  

     Jesus power never runs out.  When a person needs forgiveness, Jesus will always have the power to forgive. When a person needs strength to make it through struggles, Jesus will always have the power to hold them tight.  When a person has fallen in a hole of their own making, Jesus will always have the power to jump into that hole with the person and lift them out. When a person is being bullied, shunned, or shamed by the world, Jesus will always have the power to push through that crowd and stand in harms way.  Life hits everyone….everyone….with tough blows, and that is why I am thankful to know that no matter what comes, Jesus’ power will be there.

     It may be dangerous to shave with an electric razor, but one of the greatest things to know and count on in life is that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.”  Jesus’ power never runs out.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

    

The Bungee Cord   9-2-19

Hello,

     I was watching “Family Feud” the other day, as I often do just to lighten my mind, and the question that was asked was, “Name an event where it is not right to laugh out loud.”  When the answers were given, I was not shocked to hear a couple of the most popular ones to be “a funeral” and “a trial”.  But I was a little surprised to hear this one as being near the top: “a church worship service.”

       Maybe “surprised” is not the right word.  I think the right word would be “disappointed”.  It is disappointing to me that the weekly celebration of the greatest victory of all time, Jesus’ Easter victory over sin and death, has somehow become  known as a gathering where outbursts of laughter are deemed out of place.

     It is true that deep and profound matters are dealt with when Christians come together to worship on Sunday morning: the plight of the poor, the weight of our sins, the reality of failure, the emptiness of grief, the gloom of worthlessness, the prowling of death.  All very serious things.  

     But maybe when we come to church on Sunday morning, we see what happens to all of those serious and dour things.  When Christians bring the entirety of their lives with them to worship – the good and the bad, the easy and the hard, the smooth and the rough – nothing is swept under the rug.  Instead everything finds itself toe to toe with Jesus Christ….you know, the one who stretched out his arms, opened his heart and like a cosmic black hole of God’s grace drew into himself every enemy that might stake a claim on you or me, put an end to them on the cross, and then left them breathless in the tomb that he walked out of….and when those same things stand under the gaze of Jesus on the weekly anniversary of that tomb exit, like Steve Erkel nose to nose with Mike Tyson, they quiver and shake, because they know what is going to happen to them.  And in my mind, there is nothing in the world funnier than seeing the mighty ogres of this life cower and quake, slink their tails between their legs, and with terror in their eyes swirl, as if in a flushing toilet, deep into that Easter tomb’s abyss.

     I remember when I was a kid watching the TV Batman series, where Batman and Robin would take on the arrogant and sinister criminals of Gotham City.   I remember watching them tussle and wrangle with the likes of the Joker and the Riddler. And I remember laughing as the words “BAM!”, “SMASH!”, and “CRUNCH” lit up the screen.

     I am disappointed to hear that the world thinks that one of the top events that laughing out loud would be out of place is Sunday morning worship, because there’s a lot of “BAM!”, “SMASH!” and “CRUNCH!” going on.   Maybe we should invite someone who thinks that laughing out loud is out of place, and have them see if they can hold their laughter in!   

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Have a great week!

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger