The Bungee Cord. 1-25-21

Hello,

 

“If God is for us, who is against us?”, so say’s the Apostle Paul in the 8^th chapter of the book of Romans.

 

When I hear this verse, I see myself cornered in a dark alley having been chased by a gang of bullies salivating over me with violence ready to pummel me and leave me maimed and maybe even dead.  And then all at once from behind a locked door in the wall steps Jesus, the Son of God, and he says, “This one is my friend, and you’re going to have to get through me to get to him.”

 

And suddenly their bravado starts to melt.  The huge thug who embodies my sins lowers his arm that had been raised with a metal pipe, and it becomes no more than a cane to help him stand.  The ugly witch-like menace suddenly closes her mouth and the screeching voice pounding my failures into my ears with, “What a looser you are!”, suddenly goes silent.  The slick dressed mafia boss guy who has brought his henchmen to keep the world’s pressure up on me to do his soul sapping business, timidly reaches into his pocket and starts passing jelly beans around.  And that shadowy figure whose face is covered in a ski mask – a ski mask woven with dark threads of Covid19, cancer, heart disease, tragedy, and the like – pulls its mask off to reveal the face of a sunken cheeked person on their death bed.

 

When Jesus says, “This one is my friend, and you’re going to have to get through me to get to him,” all the wild-eyed bullies of the world are suddenly revealed for who they really are compared to Jesus…. helpless wimps.  And why do they all shrink in his presence?  Because he has already beaten them…. beaten them to death, when he took them on as he hung on the cross.  When Jesus said, “It is finished!”, so were they.  Done was their brutal power in this world.  Done was their menacing laughter and snickering.  Done was their reign of terror in people’s lives.  They had met their match in Jesus on the cross, and they were finished.

 

But Jesus wasn’t finished.  By the power of God Almighty, Jesus rose from the dead and left all of those deadly gangsters dead in the grave.  Jesus walked out of that tomb.  They did not.  Jesus walked out of that tomb to lead a victory parade of life – life freed from these bullies – even the bully of death.  Of course, the bullies try and hide under rocks and come slithering out to attack us, but when they do attack, they find that “Jesus is with us always, even to the close of the age.”, and soon they find themselves one by one joining their cross-killed comrades in the Good Friday tomb.

 

When I hear this verse, “If God is for us, who is against us?”, I see that whole gang of bullies turn tail and try and run away as if they were scared dogs.  I see that whole gang of bullies try and scatter like a bunch of cockroaches when the exterminator comes and turns the light on.  I see that whole gang of bullies head for cover like a bunch of mice when the cat darts into the room.

 

“If God is for us (and God is!), who is against us?

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger