Hello,
I thought that in this time of social distancing, it would be a good thing to re-tell you of why I call this writing “The Bungee Cord”.
Some 25 years ago as I looked out into the congregation that I was serving, I noticed a section of the population that was not well represented: 18-25 year old’s. Believing that every child of God is of vital importance to God, I decided that I would try and reach those who were not coming to church. Thus the birth of “The Bungee Cord”. At the time, Bungee jumping was a big deal, and as I tried to think of an image that spoke to my hopes of embracing people with God’s love who were not coming to church, it seemed to me that a bungee cord did the trick.
“The Bungee Cord” was meant to function as a bungee cord of God’s grace. After all, I believe that the truth is that no matter how near or far one finds themselves to God, God’s love is un-snappable, holding each of his children tight, reaching out to them as far away as they might roam/fall/be pulled and always lovingly gathering them under God’s wings, like as Jesus said, a mother hen does her chicks.
Well, now that we are all in the position of not sitting in the church pews on Sunday mornings (at least for a while), I hope that the “Bungee Cord” will be a way for us to be gathered together in the loving Grace of God. Every time I write the “Bungee Cord” I do so with the intention of conveying God’s grace through it. For me, God’s grace, not judgment of guilt or harassing to obey, is the power that God uses to change lives, bring hope, enliven peace, and create joy. Although to some, the ongoing chatter of God’s grace may become a dulling drone, I believe that because the world engages us in an ever-ongoing verbal assault of value and worth based upon what we have to offer and what we have done…..I believe that the voice of God’s Grace needs to break into that noise.
Here’s the truth. You are of such value to God that God sent Jesus to die and rise for you. In Jesus’ death, God, like a massive black hole of love, gathered unto himself everything that might separate you from God…everything that might try and stake a claim on you….and when Jesus died, so did all that God had gathered up in him. Dead. No voice. No claim.
And when Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning, God he took ahold of us with new life and breathing new life into us, said “Awake oh sleeper, and live.” And you are of such value to God, that God not only has invested God’s self in every moment of your life and every cell of your being, but God has made an eternal investment in you as God has a room for you in God’s eternal mansion….WITH YOUR NAME ON IT! And God has promised that when the final trumpet of this life blows, Jesus will take ahold of us with resurrection power and bring us home…home for good.
Why does God so value you and me who are mere specks in the universe? Grace. Amazing grace. Unfathomable grace. Incredible grace. Overwhelming grace. Incomprehensible grace. Grace that some people find too hard to believe. But God’s grace isn’t grace only when we believe it, it is grace that holds onto us, whether we believe it or not…grace that is there when we need it. When we are falling out of control, when we have roamed into paralyzing danger, and when we have been pulled and tugged by life-sapping powers…….and isn’t that where we find ourselves now in this world-wide onslaught of Covid-19?
We need God’s unyielding grip of Grace…..and I hope that this Bungee Cord has helped you feel it!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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