The Bungee Cord  9-14-20

Hello,

 

I am a big fan of sports. I enjoy watching the games on TV, going to games, playing games, and rooting for my team (The Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois….perennially on the bottom of the pile).  So, I am glad for the re-entry of sports into life, although I hope its re-entry doesn’t cause more problems in this Covid fight.

 

Last night I turned on an NFL game, Cowboys vs. Rams.  As I was watching, they were showing pictures of this new stadium that the Rams now plan in. It is an amazing structure. Swooping roofs, covered patios, waterfalls and ponds, state of the art everything.  The announcers said that it cost $5Billion dollars to build!  I guess a million here, a million there, and then it starts adding up to real money (lol).

 

Thing was: it was empty. Not a soul in the stands.  The luxury suites looked vacant.  No cheerleaders or mascot (that is because they had to stay outside on the steps).  Only the football team and personnel.  Otherwise, it was empty.

 

I am sure that the day will come when it will be filled to the brim with people.  There will be people walking all around the stadium.  Venders calling out their wares.  Cheerleaders and mascots.  Fans rubbing shoulders as they sit in the narrow placed seats, jumping up and down, and yelling with all of their might.  But yesterday, it was empty.

 

With some exceptions, over the course of these last 6 months, churches have been empty, too.  This church, St. James Lutheran, has been empty since the pandemic began.  We have not gathered inside this building as a measure of care for our neighbor. Fortunately, in the warmth of the summer  and with cooperation of the rain we have been able to gather outside, outside the empty building.

 

Truth is, however, that most churches have been becoming more empty over the last 50 years.  Gone are the days when people would arrive a half hour early to get a seat.  Gone are the days when choirs filled their lofts.  Gone are the days when the roof and the walls shake from the commotion going on inside.  Although some churches have been packed and loud, for the majority of Christian churches in this country, they have become emptier, and some of them empty.

 

Call me a fool, but I have great hope that the current emptiness of many things, will make much clearer the level of importance of the various things that have gathered us.  I am all for the joy, excitement and cathartic expulsion of emotions that stirs in people when they are in a football stadium. However, I am far more anticipating the joy that fills the heart of a high school kid who is struggling through life, when a piece of bread and a sip of wine are given to them, “Given and shed for you!”  I am far more anticipating the hope that fuels a person’s soul when the burdens of life are bearing down and a person gives that one a hug and says with Christian conviction, “We love you.  We are with you.”  I am more anticipating the thrill that comes from an organ with all the stops pulled and people singing from the bottom of their lungs, as I am just plodding my way through my daily life.  I am more anticipating the peace that blankets someone who has just really made of mess of life, and someone sits down next to that one in the pew and says with Christ-felt care, “How are you doing?”  I am more anticipating the sense of relief running up and down a person’s spine who is trying to be someone in the world, and hears from God himself the utmost of worth, “You are my child.”  I am more anticipating the awe and wonder when the grief of death is met head on with the power of the resurrection of Jesus, “Now all the vault of heaven resounds!”

 

I look forward to the day when that pricy stadium gets put to use, but I am looking with greater anticipation as the love of God which led God to pay a price far greater than the building of that stadium is a-stir amongst the people who gather in the magnified presence of God in each and every church.

 

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger