The Bungee Cord. 12-14-20

Hello,

 

This upcoming Sunday is the last Sunday of Advent, the waiting is just about over.  I don’t know about you, but for me this year of waiting has had a whole different feel to it.  The shroud of Covid restrictions and the gloom of sickness and death has almost numbed be to await the upcoming joy of Christmas.  But maybe that is the central point of the coming of Jesus.  Jesus doesn’t just come when everyone is joyful and having a great time.  Jesus comes no matter what!  When times are joyful, his coming magnifies the joy.  When times are dismal, his coming brings a light of hope that no worldly light can give.

 

In my years of being a pastor, I have encountered people who do not want to have the funeral of a loved one in the church, because they don’t want sadness to enter their mind when they come to church.    Although I hear what they are saying, for me, I need to know that Christ meets me no matter how I am feeling.  As a matter of fact, it has been true that on some of the saddest days of my life I have found peace and hope as I have gathered with others in the House of the Lord. 

 

We, unfortunately, are not meeting in person during this advent as we try to care about our neighbor.  But we have been providing a video experience, and although it is not nearly as dynamic as sitting together is song and praise, I hope that it has proven to you that nothing, not even Covid, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Likewise, it is my hope for the Bungee Cord.

 

So, as you are sitting on the edge of your seats anticipating the final segment of my Advent story, let me invite you first to privately, or with your family, continue your Advent waiting in the devotional.

 

Advent 4

 

 

Psalm 139

⁷ Where can I go from your spirit?
   Or where can I flee from your presence? 
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
   if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. 
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
   and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, 
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
   and your right hand shall hold me fast. 
¹¹ If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
   and the light around me become night’, 
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
   the night is as bright as the day,
   for darkness is as light to you. 

 

We give you thanks, Almighty God, that you fill the darkness with glad tidings.  As we await the brightness of your Son….when sun and moon need no longer shine, when darkness and death will no longer be known,  when manger and stable are transformed into an eternal feasting table….enlighten us with a glimpse of your glory so that our lives might be lights to prepare your way.  Amen

 

Light One Candle

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

Cubic Zirconia (The story, in its entirety, can be found on my Facebook page)

 

They were crushed.  All that practice.  All that work.  For nothing.  “Maybe we should just give up,” they said one to another. 

“No! No!”, said Old Lady Rogers to them.  “I love listening to you guys.  You make my day!  I feel alive….like a teenager…..when I hear you singing.  Listen, I’ve got tickets for the Neil Diamond concert, too.  And I think there should be a warm up band for him.  I’ve got an idea.  I will rent out the old barn and I’ll invite all of my friends who are coming to the concert with me, and you can be the warm up band for us.” 

“That’s really nice of you,” Ms. Rogers, they all said to her, “But we don’t need your pity.” 

“You think I pity you?  No way!  I just want to be warmed up for my concert, and I think you can do it.” 

“Well, ok.  You’ve done so much for us, so we owe you something.” 

So, Old Lady Rogers rented out the Old Barn and the guys brought all of their equipment over to it on the afternoon of the Neil Diamond concert.  As they were setting up, they were all saying to each other about how psyched they were to go to the real concert, and they just wanted to get this over with. 

They went back stage at the Old Barn and awaited the “crowd” to arrive.  At 4:30 they heard a familiar voice echoing in the Barn.  Old Lady Rogers.  “Welcome!  Welcome everyone!  Do I have a treat for you.  Let me present to you the best Neil Diamond cover band in the nation, Cubic Zirconia!”  The crowd erupted….really erupted!  And as the guys nervously shuffled out on stage, they saw that the Barn was packed!  Shoulder to shoulder people in their 50’s and 60’s with gray hair….but not only that…. in the clutter of people was also a whole bunch of their classmates….brought their by their parents who had heard them ridicule the singers. 

They started off their set with their favorite, “Forever in Blue Jeans”.  Sang “Song Sung Blue”, “Craklin’ Rosie”, “Brother Love’s Travlin’ Salvation Show”.  They figured they would finish with “Sweet Caroline”, because everyone would probably sing along.  But before they could start, Old Lady Rogers ran on stage, in her Michael Jordans, and grabbed a mic, and said, “Aren’t these guys great!”  The crowd erupted….really erupted.  They’ve got one more song to sing, and I want you to sing along with them.  But there’s someone else I want to sing along with them….. 

And from backstage out walked Neil Diamond.  He did his Neil Diamond strut, walked up to each of the guys, hugged them and went to the Mic.  “Hey everybody, O heard there was a warm up for my concert, and I wasn’t about to miss it.  I need to be warmed up, too.  And by the way….I heard that a bunch of people who know nothing about my music told these guys that they don’t sound like me at all.  Well, this isn’t the only time I am going to be with these guys…..someone needs to carry on my sound….I am going to work with these guys, and I won’t stop until they sound just like me ….Cubic Zirconia.….Neil Diamond!

 

Have a great week,

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger