The Bungee Cord  11-26-19

Hello,

     As the airwaves and shopping centers fill the air with songs of the season (actually, for us Christians, the season is Advent…not Christmas), I thought that I would try something new with the Bungee Cord, and fill the internet with different songs of the season…..Psalms.  The book of Psalms was the hymnal for the people of God.  Each of the Psalms has a specific focus and purpose.  People knew them, knew them by heart.  So well did they know them that when the first line was said/sung, that was as good as saying/singing the whole thing.  An ancient “Name That Tune” sort of thing.

In the branch of the church of which I am a Pastor, a specific Psalm is designated to be part of the worship service, and so during Advent (the four weeks before Christmas), I thought that I would “sing” the designated Psalm each week in my Bungee Cord, and fill the internet with the songs of the season.

Week 1 of Advent: Psalm 122

I was glad when they said to me,
   ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’ 
Our feet are standing
   within your gates, O Jerusalem. 

Jerusalem—built as a city
   that is bound firmly together. 
To it the tribes go up,
   the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
   to give thanks to the name of the Lord. 
For there the thrones for judgement were set up,
   the thrones of the house of David. 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
   ‘May they prosper who love you. 
Peace be within your walls,
   and security within your towers.’ 
For the sake of my relatives and friends
   I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’ 
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
   I will seek your good.

There is one line in this Psalm that as a kid, I just could not understand, “I was glad when they said unto me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”  As a kid, going to church every Sunday morning was not the highlight of my week. Getting up early on Sunday morning (we always, and I mean always, attended the 8:30 service instead of the 11:00), was an unwanted wakeup time.  Going to church and spending time with a bunch of old people when I could have been watching cartoons was a pain.  Having to listen to what seemed like an hour of a droning sermon was torture.  Trying to sit still and not fall asleep was nearly impossible.  I was not glad when my folks said unto me every Sunday morning, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”

Something obviously changed, after all, I am a Pastor, one who calls people into the house of the Lord Sunday after Sunday, and what changed was this: as I continued to go to church, I came to see something that drew me there, drew me there like a super-magnet.  Jesus was there.  In a more profound way than his presence with me every day, I experienced the presence of Jesus in church and worship.  

I think of the Bethlehem shepherds who were told that in a stable they would encounter the one who would change their lives forever….literally, forever.  And so they “made haste” to go to that place.  When I invite people to church, I, likewise am inviting people to come to a place where they will encounter someone who will change their lives forever….literally forever.  A pastor friend of mine said this, “If people believed that Jesus was really there in church/worship every Sunday morning, who wouldn’t come!”

“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.’”

Have a great week,

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger